Saturday 6 January 2018

Pope St. Pius X on the Indefectibility of the Church and the Prophecies of St. John Bosco



"When Gregory assumed the Supreme Pontificate the disorder in public affairs had reached its climax; the ancient civilization had all but disappeared and barbarism was spreading throughout the dominions of the crumbling Roman Empire. Italy, abandoned by the Emperors of Byzantium, had been left a prey of the still unsettled Lombards who roamed up and down the whole country laying waste everywhere with fire and sword and bringing desolation and death in their train. This very city, threatened from without by its enemies, tried from within by the scourges of pestilence, floods and famine, was reduced to such a miserable plight that it had become a problem how to keep the breath of life in the citizens and in the immense multitudes who flocked hither for refuge. Here were to be found men and women of all conditions, bishops and priests carrying the sacred vessels they had saved from plunder, monks and innocent spouses of Christ who had sought safety in flight from the swords of the enemy or from the brutal insults of abandoned men. Gregory himself calls the Church of Rome: "An old ship woefully shattered; for the waters are entering on all sides, and the joints, buffeted by the daily stress of the storm, are growing rotten and herald shipwreck" (Registrum i., 4 ad Joannem episcop. Constantino.). But the pilot raised up by God had a strong hand, and when placed at the helm succeeding not only in making the port in despite of the raging seas, but in saving the vessel from future storms..."

"These memories, Venerable Brethren, are a source of unspeakable comfort to Us. When We glance around from the walls of the Vatican We find that like Gregory, and perhaps with even more reason than he, We have grounds for fear, with so many storms gathering on every side, with so many hostile forces massed and advancing against Us, and at the same time so utterly deprived are We of all human aid to ward off the former and to help us to meet the shock of the latter. But when We consider the place on which Our feet rest and on which this Pontifical See is rooted, We feel Ourself perfectly safe on the rock of Holy Church. "For who does not know," wrote St. Gregory to the Patriarch Eulogius of Alexandria, "that Holy Church stands on the solidity of the Prince of the Apostles, who got his name from his firmness, for he was called Peter from the word rock? (Registr. vii. 37 (40)). Supernatural force has never during the flight of ages been found wanting in the Church, nor have Christ's promises failed; these remain today just as they were when they brought consolation to Gregory's heart—nay, they are endowed with even greater force for Us after having stood the test of centuries and so many changes of circumstances and events.


Kingdoms and empires have passed away; peoples once renowned for their history and civilization have disappeared; time and again the nations, as though overwhelmed by the weight of years, have fallen asunder; while the Church, indefectible in her essence, united by ties indissoluble with her heavenly Spouse, is here to-day radiant with eternal youth, strong with the same primitive vigor with which she came from the Heart of Christ dead upon the Cross. Men powerful in the world have risen up against her. They have disappeared, and she remains. Philosophical systems without number, of every form and every kind, rose up against her, arrogantly vaunting themselves her masters, as though they had at last destroyed the doctrine of the Church, refuted the dogmas of her faith, proved the absurdity of her teachings. But those systems, one after another, have passed into books of history, forgotten, bankrupt; while from the Rock of Peter the light of truth shines forth as brilliantly as on the day when Jesus first kindled it on His appearance in the world, and fed it with His Divine words: "Heaven and earth shall pass, but my words shall not pass" (Matth. xxiv. 35).

We, strengthened by this faith, firmly established on this rock, realizing to the full all the heavy duties that the Primacy imposes on Us—but also all the vigor that comes to Us from the Divine Will—calmly wait until all the voices be scattered to the winds that now shout around Us proclaiming that the Church has gone beyond her time, that her doctrines are passed away for ever, that the day is at hand when she will be condemned either to accept the tenets of a godless science and civilization or to disappear from human society. Yet at the same time We cannot but remind all, great and small, as Pope St. Gregory did, of the absolute necessity of having recourse to this Church in order to have eternal salvation, to follow the right road of reason, to feed on the truth, to obtain peace and even happiness in this life."

Pope St. Pius X, Iucunda sane (Encyclical on Pope St. Gregory the Great), 12th March, 1904, (para 7-9)



The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, by Rembrant (1633)

The above encyclical of Pope St. Pius X cites an allegory of Pope St. Gregory the Great comparing the Church to the Barque of St. Peter in the midst of a great tempest. This was a deliberate allusion to the accounts of Christ's calming of the storm in the Gospels. Alongside the symbolism of the Battle of Lepanto, this very same theme predominates St. John Bosco's famous prophetic Dream of the Two Pillars. A prophecy which seems to be of especial significance this year, considering the fact that we have a very rare occurrence of a "blue and blood moon" on 31st January this year - which is the feast day of St. John Bosco himself. This is the first occurrence of a "blue and blood moon" in over 150 years, and will also appear during yet another "super-moon" phase (the last of three consecutive such appearances), when the moon is at its closest point to earth.

The last time a "blue and blood moon" lit up the night skies was on 31st March, 1866, while St. John Bosco was still overseeing the construction of the Basilica of Our Lady of Help of Christians in Turin, which wasn't completed until 1868. During its construction, St. John Bosco insisted on incorporating several prophetic elements into the architecture of the Basilica itself, based on the various prophetic dreams and visions he had experienced over the years.  The most notable of aspect of these curious additions to the architecture of the Basilica was an allusion to a prophetic date pointing to some time in the 20th century as the moment of another great Marian victory:

...additional work on the Church of Mary Help of Christians was in progress. Each of the two belfries flanking the facade was to be surmounted by an angel, nearly eight feet tall, fashioned from gilded wrought copper, according to Don Bosco’s own plan. The angel on the right held a banner…bearing the word “LEPANTO” drilled in large letters through the metal, while the one on the left offered…a laurel wreath to the Blessed Virgin standing atop the dome.
In a previous design, the second angel too held a banner on which the figure “19” was drilled through the metal followed by two dots. It stood for another date, “nineteen hundred,” without the final two numbers to indicate the specific year. Though ultimately, as we have said, a laurel wreath was put into the angel’s hand, we have never forgotten the mysterious date which, in our opinion, pointed to a new triumph of the Madonna. May this come soon and bring all nations under Mary’s mantle.

(Lemoyne, Biographical Memoirs IX, p276)

In an earlier blog post found here, I had compiled several pieces of evidence (including the famous dream of the March of the 200 Days) which suggested that the date hinted at in this engraving was the year 1999. The turn of the millennium saw the appearance of a series of astronomical phenomena beginning in 1999 which was identical to the Signs in Heaven described throughout Sacred Scripture. These Signs in Heaven herald the moment when the head of the ancient Serpent is crushed under the feet of the Woman Adorned with the Sun, and Satan is cast down to the earth by the Archangel Michael towards the end of the world, dragging down a third of the heavenly host with him. This is among a clustering of other prophetic signs which mark the end of the period of the short time of Satan - which I argue in my book Unveiling the Apocalypse: The Final Passover of the Church, encompasses a total period of 100-120 years. In my book, I propose that the subdivision of this figure into a separate, yet interrelated and overlapping 100-year and 120-year timeframes was in order to distinguish between the two very distinct prophetic elements contained in chapter twelve of the Apocalypse, which requires us to differentiate between the moment Satan is cast down to earth in great fury towards the end of his period of greater power, and the moment when the flood sent forth from the Dragon's mouth is finally swallowed up. 

Although a great victory is won in heaven at the moment Satan is cast down to earth, the evils brought about as a result of the "short-time" allotted to him continues unabated for another brief duration thereafter (an additional 20 years on top of the century given over to the Devil itself). It is only once the Devil realises that he has been cast down to earth that he sends forth a flood of impurity which threatens to sweep the Woman away:


Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers[b] has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
(Rev 12:7-17)

Although the end of the century given over to the Devil ends with the victory achieved in Heaven during the Great Jubilee Year of the Incarnation - when the head of the ancient Serpent is crushed under the feet of the Woman Adorned with the Sun, the true end of the short time of Satan only comes about when the flood spewed forth from the Dragon's mouth is swallowed up by the earth. In my book, I argue that the true beginning of the short time of Satan was at the dawn of the 20th century, after Pope Leo XIII had consecrated the entire world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1899 - the same year as an alignment of all seven classical planets. It is these rare alignments of the seven classical planets which I propose is symbolised by the seven stars held in the hands of Christ, which are one and the same as the "keys to death and Hades". The very same keys which are entrusted to the Successors of St. Peter, to determine the final destiny of humanity:

In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. (Rev 1:16-18)

It thus seems that it is the series of the planetary alignments of all seven classical planets which occur at the end of the Sabbath Millennium discussed by the Early Church Fathers (according to the chronological schema of St. Bede the Venerable), which are singled out for particular importance. The short time given over to Satan at the end of the Sabbath Millennium is made in answer to the demand that Peter is to be sifted like wheat - which is the sister passage in the Gospels to the handing over of the keys:

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32)

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matt 16:18)

It is no coincidence that the vision of the period of Satan's greater power was given to the same Pope whose pontificate would witness the beginning of the period of the sifting of the Successors of St. Peter, when the shaft to the Abyss was opened with the keys of death and Hades:

And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. (Rev 9:1-2)

And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city... (Rev 20:7-9)

With the recent charges of heresy being levelled against the true Successor of St. Peter, we have now reached the pinnacle of the sifting demanded of Peter, when Satan has finally been able to point to the soiled garments of the Roman Pontiff in his role as Pontifex Maximus (High Priest), and claim that he has won victory over the Church instituted by the King of kings:

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by. (Zech 3:1-5)

In the wake of the Filial Correction issued on 24th September, 2017 - the feast day of Our Lady of Ransom (under whose form we find the devotions of Our Lady's Dowry and Our Lady of Walsingham), we now know the exact form this accusation has taken. In light of the prayer of Christ for Peter's never-failing faith, as affirmed by the dogmatic constitution of the Church Pastor aeternus concerning the indefectibility of the Church, we can rest assured that this charge being levelled against the true Successor of St. Peter is patently false. As Pastor aeternus explicitly states, the Apostolic See was gifted with an indefectible nature in the never failing-faith of the Successors of St. Peter, so that it can endure with rock-like strength for all of time: 

That which our lord Jesus Christ, the prince of shepherds and great shepherd of the sheep, established in the blessed apostle Peter, for the continual salvation and permanent benefit of the Church, must of necessity remain for ever, by Christ's authority, in the Church which, founded as it is upon a rock, will stand firm until the end of time.

For "no one can be in doubt, indeed it was known in every age that the holy and most blessed Peter, prince and head of the apostles, the pillar of faith and the foundation of the Catholic Church, received the keys of the kingdom from our lord Jesus Christ, the savior and redeemer of the human race, and that to this day and for ever he lives" and presides and "exercises judgment in his successors" the bishops of the Holy Roman See, which he founded and consecrated with his blood.

Therefore whoever succeeds to the chair of Peter obtains by the institution of Christ himself, the primacy of Peter over the whole Church. "So what the truth has ordained stands firm, and blessed Peter perseveres in the rock-like strength he was granted, and does not abandon that guidance of the Church which he once received"
(Pastor aeternus, Chap 2, para 1-3)

So the fathers of the fourth Council of Constantinople, following the footsteps of their predecessors, published this solemn profession of faith: "The first condition of salvation is to maintain the rule of the true faith. And since that saying of our lord Jesus Christ, You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, cannot fail of its effect, the words spoken are confirmed by their consequences. For in the Apostolic See the Catholic religion has always been preserved unblemished, and sacred doctrine been held in honor. Since it is our earnest desire to be in no way separated from this faith and doctrine, we hope that we may deserve to remain in that one communion which the Apostolic See preaches, for in it is the whole and true strength of the christian religion...It was for this reason that the bishops of the whole world, sometimes individually, sometimes gathered in synods, according to the long established custom of the Churches and the pattern of ancient usage referred to this Apostolic See those dangers especially which arose in matters concerning the faith. This was to ensure that any damage suffered by the faith should be repaired in that place above all where the faith can know no failing.

The Roman pontiffs, too, as the circumstances of the time or the state of affairs suggested, sometimes by summoning ecumenical councils or consulting the opinion of the Churches scattered throughout the world, sometimes by special synods, sometimes by taking advantage of other useful means afforded by divine providence, defined as doctrines to be held those things which, by God's help, they knew to be in keeping with Sacred Scripture and the apostolic traditions.

For the Holy Spirit was promised to the successors of Peter not so that they might, by his revelation, make known some new doctrine, but that, by his assistance, they might religiously guard and faithfully expound the revelation or deposit of faith transmitted by the apostles. Indeed, their apostolic teaching was embraced by all the venerable fathers and reverenced and followed by all the holy orthodox doctors, for they knew very well that this See of St. Peter always remains unblemished by any error, in accordance with the divine promise of our Lord and Savior to the prince of his disciples: "I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren."[60]

This gift of truth and never-failing faith was therefore divinely conferred on Peter and his successors in this See so that they might discharge their exalted office for the salvation of all, and so that the whole flock of Christ might be kept away by them from the poisonous food of error and be nourished with the sustenance of heavenly doctrine. Thus the tendency to schism is removed and the whole Church is preserved in unity, and, resting on its foundation, can stand firm against the gates of hell.
(Pastor aeternus Chap 4, para 2;4-7)

The indefectibility of the Church was upheld by Pope St. Pius X himself, which is a sad irony, since it is this saintly pontiff who lends his name to the SSPX - one of the chief sources of the current opposition to the pontificate of Pope Francis. It is quite likely that Pope St. Pius X had the prophetic dream of St. John Bosco in mind when he was quoting Pope St. Gregory the Great's metaphor of the Barque of St. Peter enduring the tempest, given the fact that there are few other similarities connecting these visions. St. Pius X notes that the conversion of England was won under the pontificate of Pope St. Gregory, who coordinated the Gregorian Mission spearheaded by St. Augustine of Canterbury. This was the first large scale mission known to have been sponsored by the Holy See itself, and achieved great success with the conversion King Æthelberht of Kent; and was aided by the Irish missionaries who were already evangelising the north of Britain. 

In the same encyclical on St. Gregory the Great and the Barque of St. Peter in the storm, Pope St. Pius X alludes to the famous prophecy of St. Edward the Confessor concerning the future fate of England, which was symbolised by the cutting down of a tree:

Today, on the contrary, although the world enjoys a light so full of Christian civilization and in this respect cannot for a moment be compared with the times of Gregory, yet it seems as though it were tired of that life, which has been and still is the chief and often the sole fount of so many blessings—and not merely past but present blessings. And not only does this useless branch cut itself off from the trunk, as happened in other times when heresies and schisms arose, but it first lays the ax to the root of the tree, which is the Church, and strives to dry up its vital sap that its ruin may be the surer and that it may never blossom again. (Pope St. Pius X Iucunda sane)

St. Edward, who reigned from 1042-1066, was the penultimate Anglo-Saxon king, and was renowned during his own lifetime for his exemplary life of holiness. On his deathbed the King witnessed a famous vision, which has since been recognised as a prophecy that his beloved country would be estranged from the Catholic faith for three centuries, after which it would re-flower and "bear fruit". The prophecy was quoted by Ambrose Lisle Phillipps in a letter to the Earl of Shrewsbury in 1850 after the conditions brought about by the Catholic Relief Act of 1829 allowed the return of the diocesan episcopacy to England, which occurred after Pope Pius IX issued the papal bull Universalis Ecclesiae in 1850.

"During the month of January, 1066, the holy King of England St. Edward the Confessor was confined to his bed by his last illness in his royal Westminster Palace. St. Ælred, Abbott of Rievaulx, in Yorkshire, relates that a short time before his happy death, this holy king was wrapt in ecstasy, when two pious Benedictine monks of Normandy, whom he had known in his youth, during his exile in that country, appeared to him, and revealed to him what was to happen to England in future centuries, and the cause of the terrible punishment. They said: 'The extreme corruption and wickedness of the English nation has provoked the just anger of God. When malice shall have reached the fullness of its measure, God will, in His wrath, send to the English people wicked spirits, who will punish and afflict them with great severity, by separating the green tree from its parent stem the length of three furlongs. But at last this same tree, through the compassionate mercy of God, and without any national (governmental) assistance, shall return to its original root, reflourish and bear abundant fruit.' After having heard these prophetic words, the saintly King Edward opened his eyes, returned to his senses, and the vision vanished. He immediately related all he had seen and heard to his virgin spouse, Edgitha, to Stigand, Archbishop of Canterbury, and to Harold, his successor to the throne, who were in his chamber praying around his bed." (See the full article on the Catholic Encyclopaedia article here)

The prophecy of St. Edward the Confessor can be found in the Vita Ædwardi Regis, an early biography of the king which was commissioned by his wife Queen Edith and written within a year of his death (c.1067). This text survives in an extant manuscript dating to around 1100, which is housed in the British museum. Although the version above quoted by Phillipps differs slightly from the original, cited below, we can find all the major elements in it.

The green tree which springs from the trunk
When thence it shall be severed
And removed to a distance of three acres
By no engine or hand of man
Shall return to its original trunk
And shall join itself to its root
Whence first it had origin
The head shall receive again its verdure
It shall bear fruit after its flower
Then shall you be able for certainty
To hope for amendment


The green tree or shoot represents England, the trunk is the Catholic Church. The offshoot of the trunk is removed to a distance of three acres, which represent three centuries. After which the shoot returns to the trunk and re-flowers, which refers to the return of the episcopacy in 1850, three hundred years after the Anglican Church broke away from Rome during the English Reformation under King Henry VIII. The tree bearing fruit after its flowering is still yet to come, when the full conversion of England will inaugurate the Second Pentecost, as foretold by numerous other prophecies such as those of La Salette:

On September 19, 1846, we saw a beautiful Lady. We never said that this lady was the Blessed Virgin but we always said that it was a beautiful Lady. I do not know if it is the Blessed Virgin or another person. As for me, I believe today that it is the Blessed Virgin. Here is what this Lady said to me:

“If my people continue, what I will say to you will arrive earlier, if it changes a little, it will be a little later. France has corrupted the universe, one day it will be punished. The faith will die out in France: three quarters of France will not practice religion anymore, or almost no more, the other part will practice it without really practicing it. Then, after [that], nations will convert, the faith will be rekindled everywhere. A great country, now Protestant, in the north of Europe, will be converted; by the support of this country all the other nations of the world will be converted...
(Our Lady of La Salette to Maxmin Giraud)

In this respect, it is interesting to note that the conversion of England plays a pivotal role in St. John Bosco's prophetic dream concerning the March of the 200 Days. The dream of the March of 200 Days is set among a section of the memoirs containing three prophecies, the first of which is connected to St. Dominic Savio's vision of the Pope, the Great Monarch and the future conversion of England:

...there will come a great warrior from the North carrying a banner and on the right hand that supports it is written: "The Irresistible Hand of the Lord." At that very moment there went out to meet him the Venerable Old Man of Lazio, holding aloft a brilliantly glowing torch. The banner then increased in size and turned from black to snow-white. In the middle of the banner, in letters of gold, there was written the name of Him who is able to do all things. The warrior with his men bowed and shook hands with the Venerable Old Man.
(You can find the full text of the three prophecies here).

We can see the similarities between the above prophecy and that of St. Dominic Savio below, where like the "Venerable Old Man of Lazio" (who represents the Pope), the pontiff holds aloft a flaming torch to enlighten a nation residing in spiritual darkness:

One morning as I was making my thanksgiving after Communion, a very strong distraction took hold of me. I thought I saw a great plain full of people enveloped in thick fog. They were walking about like people who had lost their way and did not know which way to turn. Someone near me said: ‘This is England’. I was just going to ask some questions, when I saw Pope Pius IX just like I have seen him in pictures. He was robed magnificently and carried in his hand a torch alive with flames. As he walked slowly toward that immense gathering of people, the leaping flames from the torch dispelled the fog, and the people stood in the splendour of the noonday sun. ‘That torch’, said the one beside me, ‘is the Catholic Faith, which is going to light up England.’”

The conversion of England is foretold in many prophecies to inaugurate the beginning of the Second Pentecost - including those of the 1846 version of La Salette, and the famous prophecy of St. Malachy which is widely believed to be authentic. So St. Dominic Savio's vision here is clearly associated with the new springtime envisioned by Bl. John Paul II and Bl. John Henry Newman. The first prophecy of St. John Bosco then continues with the theme of the Second Pentecost:

Things follow too slowly upon each other, but the great Queen of Heaven is at hand; the Lord's power is Hers. Like mist She shall scatter Her enemies. She shall vest the Venerable Old Man with all his former garments. There shall yet come a violent hurricane. Iniquity is at an end, sin shall cease, and before two full moons shall have shone in the month of flowers, the rainbow of peace shall appear on the earth. The great Minister shall see the Bride of his King clothed in glory. Throughout the world a sun so bright shall shine as was never seen since the flames of the Cenacle until today, nor shall it be seen again until the end of time...
(Biographical Memoirs)

Note the mention here of "two full moons" shining "in the month of flowers", which may be of some importance to our present scenario, since in addition to the blue and blood moon which occurs on Jan 31st this year (the feast of St. John Bosco), there will be another blue moon in the month of March 2018 - which is a possible contender for the "Month of Flowers". This blue moon occurs on the 31st March, 2018, which also coincides with Holy Saturday, which commemorates Our Lord's descent into Hades and the Harrowing of Hell (recalling Christ holding the keys to death and Hades in his hands in the Apocalypse).

The theme of the Second Pentecost is continued in the second prophecy of St. John Bosco concerning the March of the 200 Days, which as well as being directly associated with the Dream of the Two Pillars, also contains imagery strongly reminiscent of the Third Secret of Fatima:

It was a dark night, and men could no longer find their way back to their own countries. Suddenly a most brilliant light shone in the sky, illuminating their way as at high noon. At that moment from the Vatican came forth, as in procession, a multitude of men and women, young children, monks, nuns, and priests, and at their head was the Pope.

But a furious storm broke out, somewhat dimming that light, as if light and darkness were locked in battle. Meanwhile the long procession reached a small square littered with dead and wounded, many of whom cried for help.

The ranks of the procession thinned considerably. After a two-hundred day march, all realized that they were no longer in Rome. In dismay they swarmed about the Pontiff to protect him and minister to him in his needs.

At that moment two angels appeared, bearing a banner which they presented to the Supreme Pontiff, saying: "Take the banner of Her who battles and routs the most powerful armies on earth. Your enemies have vanished: with tears and sighs your children plead for your return."
One side of the banner bore the inscription:
Regina sine labe concepta [Queen conceived without sin], and the other side read: Auxilium Christianorum [Help of Christians]. 


The Pontiff accepted the banner gladly, but he became distressed to see how few were his followers.
But the two angels went on: "Go now, comfort your children. Write to your brothers scattered throughout the world that men must reform their lives. This cannot be achieved unless the bread of the Divine Word is broken among the peoples. Teach children their catechism and preach detachment from earthly things. The time has come," the two angels concluded, "when the poor will evangelize the world. Priests shall be sought among those who wield the hoe, the spade, and the hammer, as David prophesied: 'God lifted the poor man from the fields to place him on the throne of His people.'" 


On hearing this, the Pontiff moved on, and the ranks began to swell. Upon reaching the Holy City, the Pontiff wept at the sight of its desolate citizens, for many of them were no longer. He then entered St. Peter's and intoned the Te Deum, to which a chorus of angels responded, singing:
Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. When the song was over, all darkness vanished and a blazing sun shone. The population had declined greatly in the cities and in the countryside; the land was mangled as if by a hurricane and hailstorm, and people sought each other, deeply moved, and saying: Est Deus in Israel [There is a God in Israel]. 

From the start of the exile until the intoning of the
Te Deum, the sun rose 200 times. All the events described covered a period of 400 days.

So it appears to be fully evident that the various prophecies of the future conversion of England were firmly in the mind of Pope St. Pius X when he composed his encyclical on Pope Gregory the Great. This is especially important to us today, since the bishops of England have recently announced they plan to rededicate England as the Dowry of Mary in the year 2020 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham (which is closely associated with St. Edward the Confessor). This year will see yet another rare alignment of all seven of the classical planets on 4th July, 2020, an event which we noted earlier symbolises the opening and closing of the Abyss. Could this be the moment which marks the true end of the short time given to Satan, when the flood poured forth from the mouth of the Dragon is finally swallowed up? If so, it would see the end of the current storm which is currently buffeting the Barque of St. Peter, in a scene which was repeatedly recalled by Pope Benedict XVI:

"Excita, Domine, potentiam tuam, et veni. Repeatedly during the season of Advent the Church’s liturgy prays in these or similar words. They are invocations that were probably formulated as the Roman Empire was in decline. The disintegration of the key principles of law and of the fundamental moral attitudes underpinning them burst open the dams which until that time had protected peaceful coexistence among peoples. The sun was setting over an entire world. Frequent natural disasters further increased this sense of insecurity. There was no power in sight that could put a stop to this decline. All the more insistent, then, was the invocation of the power of God: the plea that he might come and protect his people from all these threats.

Excita, Domine, potentiam tuam, et veni. Today too, we have many reasons to associate ourselves with this Advent prayer of the Church. For all its new hopes and possibilities, our world is at the same time troubled by the sense that moral consensus is collapsing, consensus without which juridical and political structures cannot function. Consequently the forces mobilized for the defence of such structures seem doomed to failure.

Excita – the prayer recalls the cry addressed to the Lord who was sleeping in the disciples’ storm-tossed boat as it was close to sinking. When his powerful word had calmed the storm, he rebuked the disciples for their little faith (cf. Mt 8:26 et par.). He wanted to say: it was your faith that was sleeping. He will say the same thing to us. Our faith too is often asleep. Let us ask him, then, to wake us from the sleep of a faith grown tired, and to restore to that faith the power to move mountains – that is, to order justly the affairs of the world.

Excita, Domine, potentiam tuam, et veni: amid the great tribulations to which we have been exposed during the past year, this Advent prayer has frequently been in my mind and on my lips. We had begun the Year for Priests with great joy and, thank God, we were also able to conclude it with great gratitude, despite the fact that it unfolded so differently from the way we had expected. Among us priests and among the lay faithful, especially the young, there was a renewed awareness of what a great gift the Lord has entrusted to us in the priesthood of the Catholic Church. We realized afresh how beautiful it is that human beings are fully authorized to pronounce in God’s name the word of forgiveness, and are thus able to change the world, to change life; we realized how beautiful it is that human beings may utter the words of consecration, through which the Lord draws a part of the world into himself, and so transforms it at one point in its very substance; we realized how beautiful it is to be able, with the Lord’s strength, to be close to people in their joys and sufferings, in the important moments of their lives and in their dark times; how beautiful it is to have as one’s life task not this or that, but simply human life itself – helping people to open themselves to God and to live from God. We were all the more dismayed, then, when in this year of all years and to a degree we could not have imagined, we came to know of abuse of minors committed by priests who twist the sacrament into its antithesis, and under the mantle of the sacred profoundly wound human persons in their childhood, damaging them for a whole lifetime.

In this context, a vision of Saint Hildegard of Bingen came to my mind, a vision which describes in a shocking way what we have lived through this past year. “In the year of our Lord’s incarnation 1170, I had been lying on my sick-bed for a long time when, fully conscious in body and in mind, I had a vision of a woman of such beauty that the human mind is unable to comprehend. She stretched in height from earth to heaven. Her face shone with exceeding brightness and her gaze was fixed on heaven. She was dressed in a dazzling robe of white silk and draped in a cloak, adorned with stones of great price. On her feet she wore shoes of onyx. But her face was stained with dust, her robe was ripped down the right side, her cloak had lost its sheen of beauty and her shoes had been blackened. And she herself, in a voice loud with sorrow, was calling to the heights of heaven, saying, ‘Hear, heaven, how my face is sullied; mourn, earth, that my robe is torn; tremble, abyss, because my shoes are blackened!’

And she continued: ‘I lay hidden in the heart of the Father until the Son of Man, who was conceived and born in virginity, poured out his blood. With that same blood as his dowry, he made me his betrothed.

For my Bridegroom’s wounds remain fresh and open as long as the wounds of men’s sins continue to gape. And Christ’s wounds remain open because of the sins of priests. They tear my robe, since they are violators of the Law, the Gospel and their own priesthood; they darken my cloak by neglecting, in every way, the precepts which they are meant to uphold; my shoes too are blackened, since priests do not keep to the straight paths of justice, which are hard and rugged, or set good examples to those beneath them. Nevertheless, in some of them I find the splendour of truth.’

And I heard a voice from heaven which said: ‘This image represents the Church. For this reason, O you who see all this and who listen to the word of lament, proclaim it to the priests who are destined to offer guidance and instruction to God’s people and to whom, as to the apostles, it was said: go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation’ (Mk 16:15)” (Letter to Werner von Kirchheim and his Priestly Community: PL 197, 269ff.).

In the vision of Saint Hildegard, the face of the Church is stained with dust, and this is how we have seen it. Her garment is torn – by the sins of priests. The way she saw and expressed it is the way we have experienced it this year. We must accept this humiliation as an exhortation to truth and a call to renewal. Only the truth saves. We must ask ourselves what we can do to repair as much as possible the injustice that has occurred. We must ask ourselves what was wrong in our proclamation, in our whole way of living the Christian life, to allow such a thing to happen. We must discover a new resoluteness in faith and in doing good. We must be capable of doing penance. We must be determined to make every possible effort in priestly formation to prevent anything of the kind from happening again. This is also the moment to offer heartfelt thanks to all those who work to help victims and to restore their trust in the Church, their capacity to believe her message. In my meetings with victims of this sin, I have also always found people who, with great dedication, stand alongside those who suffer and have been damaged. This is also the occasion to thank the many good priests who act as channels of the Lord’s goodness in humility and fidelity and, amid the devastations, bear witness to the unforfeited beauty of the priesthood."

(Address of his holiness Benedict XVI on the occasion of the Christmas greeting to the Roman Curia,
20th December, 2010)

(I would like to point out that credit for some of the key insights presented above must be credited to my good friend Fr. Richard Heilman. Father is currently attempting to draw up much needed recruits for his "Nineveh 90" prayer campaign. Please join him @ https://www.romancatholicman.com)



99 comments:

Jason R. said...

Reading this timely blog post filled me with such hope for our immediate near future, replacing a lot of despair over the attacks on the Holy Father, as well as other grim news about the current state of our world, both spiritually and otherwise, to which there seems no easy or impending remedy. It was a goid reminder fir me personally to never fall into despair and remember that over everything that occurs, Our Lord has a firm grasp over events, and Our Lady is our cobstant advocate... many thanks for this!

Bridget said...

Hi Emmett! So do you know why the bishops chose 2020 for the rededication??? I read the link to the article in the catholic herald but I didn’t really understand what was significant about 2020.

Emmett O'Regan said...

Thanks Jason! I think that we can and should remain positive for the near future, even if the storm is still battering the Barque of St. Peter.

I don't really know why they have singled out this year Bridget. It is significant for me though, since I had already pointed to the significance of this year in my book, concerning the planetary alignment and the end of the 120 year element of the prophecy of Pope Leo XIII.

JMC said...

Like Jason, I too found this entry to be a fountain of hope. Many people pooh-pooh prophecy, but I find it highly encouraging. With current troubles being showcased as the possible fulfillment of ancient prophecies, it's nothing short of positive proof that, no matter how bleak the current circumstances may seem, everything is unfolding precisely as God has planned it.

Thomas said...

Without such prophecies is is easy to despair. The world seems to get more evil by the day, and ominous things such as the weather, hurricanes, earthquakes, cyclones in some places and the fact that the ocean is losing oxygen could make people think the God has left us or was never there and our belief and hope is in vain. It looks like God will act when even the godless have no hope for the future.

homas said...

"Before all that arrives, great disorders will arrive, in the Church, and everywhere. Then, after [that], our Holy Father the Pope will be persecuted. His successor will be a pontiff that nobody expects.

"Then, after [that], a great peace will come, but it will not last a long time. A monster will come to disturb it."

Let us pray daily for the safety of the Pope. Some people really hate him.

Emmett O'Regan said...

Well said Thomas! It disturbs me how many Catholics now profess their open hatred of the pope, and label those who remain obedient to the Magisterium as "papalotars". It is an all too familiar label for me, since so many of my fellow countrymen have been martyred under cries of this charge. Could you give us the link to your blog again Thomas?

Thomas said...

https://cagedliberty.blogspot.com

I don't post too often, especially now that my semester at graduate school started. But I haven't abandoned it. Quality over quantity.

RC said...

Emmett
A pope can fall into error. He is prevented from extending errors against faith or morals to be held by the universal Church in the authentic magisterium by the assistance of the Holy Spirit.

So is the stuff from airplanes and interviews with scalfari not authentic magesterium? The soul annilhation etc?

Anonymous said...

Bishop Schneider said, “One has to continue to profess the immutable faith and pray still more for the Pope and, then, only God can intervene and He will do this unquestionably.”

However, the Bishop was also frank about the limits of obedience to all that a pope says and does. Many faithful Catholics are known to be struggling with the issue during this very controversial papacy.

Schneider pronounced that Catholics “have to bear in mind that the Pope is not the creator of the truth, of the faith and of the sacramental discipline of the Church. The Pope and the entire Magisterium “is not above the Word of God, but serves it, teaching only what has been handed on” (Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum, 10). “

“Third”, he emphasized, “the Pope cannot be the focal point of the daily life of the faith of a Catholic faithful. The focal point must instead be Christ.”

“Otherwise, we become victims of an insane pope-centrism or of a kind of popalatry, an attitude which is alien to the tradition of the Apostles, of the Church Fathers and of the greater tradition of the Church.”

Bishop Schneider concluded with the "hope that after the current crisis the Church will reach a more balanced and sane attitude towards the person of the Pope and toward his sacred and indispensable ministry in the Church."

Thomas said...

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/issues/october-6th-2017/how-online-propaganda-is-tearing-the-church-apart/

Emmett O'Regan said...

Speeches during airplane journeys, etc. are all made in a private capacity. I would argue that even some of his off-the-cuff daily homilies don't always make the cut as magisterial. That stuff about soul-sleep is nonsense, which is being twisted by the far-right. You've seen the way propaganda was used here RC. The political far-right leaning American Catholic media big-hitters have it in for Pope Francis, and are defaulting to Gallican mode to forward their anti-papal agenda. Don't be hood-winked. You will find this opposition and caricaturizing of Pope Francis is a deliberate to derail the scope of papal primacy. You'll probably even find that it is a few far-right politicians pulling the strings behind all this media hostility, and what it all boils down to is the love of the almighty dollar. The media big-wigs living in the lap of luxury don't care much for Pope Francis' love of the poor and commending modest living, and they are using a non-existent "heresy" in AL as a huge stick to beat him with and either ignite a schism, or permanently restrict the scope of obedience to papal authority. What I see circulating in the media is a litany of lies based on some small grains of truth, which are being twisted and magnified in order to make the Pope look like a monster. I have enough academic theological training to see behind all this bluster, and read widely enough in a variety of sources to be able to establish the truth behind the lies. If you are only reading or viewing one media outlet, you are liable to being deceived. Satan hates the pope more than anyone. He will stop at nothing to fragment the Church and the Roman Pontiff is his main target to tear down and trample upon. He is lashing out with great fury. Don't fall for his lies.

RC said...

Emmett the stuff from scalfari came from interviews in la republica and scalfari as well as being an atheist is also extremely left wing. To the best of my knowledge the interviews were never rebuffed by the vatican press office, so the question has to be asked is scalfari either a)delusional b)downright lying or c) using the pope for his own agenda? It would alieviate an awful lot of my own fears if as you say this stuff is not magesterial?

I know your a busy man but I do value your opinion which is why I might do your head in :) just another couple of points if you dont mind?
What happens if one pope seems to contradict another one? How could both be indefectible if their teachings seem opposed? E.g AL v FC? Wouldn't one of them be in error? Does an encyclical hold more weight than an exhortation?

Would you agree Emmett the vast majority of Catholics have been in schism for several decades? There was mass dissent against humanae vitae from huge numbers of clergy and laity? Statistics point to outright rejection of church teaching from the pews on contraception,divorce,abortion and euthanasia right through to belief in the real presence, thus aren't the vast majority of catholics schismatic as it stands?

Last question? A professor priest has now stated contraception has to be allowed reading Al 8? Do you honestly think Humanae vitae is going to be gutted? Seems lucifer has been lashing Out from the days of Pascendi? The book of the apocalypse seems in full swing...and the dragon made war against those keeping the commandments and the testimony of Jesus?
Go raibh maith agat

Anonymous said...

Everyone who leaves the Barque will perish. That is what the devil is doing. St John writes that we know can discern the spirit of antichrist by seeing who disobeys legitimate authority. He tries in every subtle way to make obedience and unity seem foolish with gossip, innuendo, evil suggestions, misunderstandings, factions, conspiracy theories. He has actually has convinced some Catholics that they know more and are holier than the pope and that if they obey the one that God has set over them they might lose their souls!

See every schismatic in history. All have left convinced that they are the True Church. No difference this time.

Emmett O'Regan said...

Those Scalfari interviews are nowhere near magisterial! It's second-hand material reconstructed from an old man's memory. Even if it was recorded, it still wouldn't be magisterial. The only way you know something is properly magisterial is if it is put in the AAS, and only a few documents makes the cut. Pope Francis is not a theologian in the sense that Pope Benedict XVI or St. John Paul II were, so he isn't going to be as theologically precise when speaking off the top of his head. When he is putting together documents, he is consulting with the best theologians in the world, so you don't have to worry about heresies creeping into magisterial documents.

The different magisterial of popes always differ, because a lot of the teachings contained in the authentic magisterium is reformable - meaning it is subject to further change, development and revision, to suit the needs of particular historical circumstances. In FC, it was considered to be imprudent to admit some D&R to Holy Communion (e.g. for those who were convinced their previous marriage was invalid, but couldn't obtain an annulment for unjust reasons), because it could lead to confusion. It wasn't not allowed because it was heretical - which is nonsense! It is only disciplinary practice, and doesn't affect doctrine. Just in the same way the liturgical changes after V2 were to do with discipline, not doctrine (which I think was imprudent to allow to happen, but far from heretical). The same goes for married priests, this is discipline, and the pope could even change this practice if he wishes. What the current papal critics consistently fail to highlight is the fact that the guidelines concerning the D&R in FC actually "contradicted" the previous magisterium of Pope Paul VI, who first introduced the internal forum solution during the 1970's. There wasn't anywhere near as much a fuss created about when Pope Paul VI introduced this practice.

So, you have to ask what has changed. Why the big fuss with this pope, to the extent they are calling him "the worst pope in history" and the "first formally heretical pope", or even the False Prophet of the Apocalypse. It's all to do with politics. The far-right don't like him because of his focus on social justice for the poor, which they think is "communist", or his teachings on the environment - which they see as bad for the economy. So they are doing every they can to blacken his name, twisting everything he says into something he didn't, like "its ok to be homosexual" (he didn't say that), or that "hell doesn't exist" (he didn't say that either), just to stoke dissent. He said no one can be condemned for ever - meaning in this life. There should always be a chance for repentance is what he meant, not that hell doesn't exist. Pope Francis goes on about the reality of the Devil far more than his most immediate predecessors.

Emmett O'Regan said...

If you ask me, I think a lot of American politicians are pulling the strings behind some elements of the English speaking Catholic media, such as EWTN and the Register, CWR, etc., purely for their own agenda. Many politicians want to see the Catholic Church weakened (e.g. Masonic ones), especially the authority of the pope, who they feel has too much influence over voters and consumer practice. This is why you are seeing this new trend towards Gallicanism emerging - which was similarly politically oriented towards restricting papal authority. I think the similarities to the Gallican template is too systematic to be accidental. I think a political lobby group is purposely steering it in this direction, and is manipulating the right-wing Catholic media for its own ends. The dissent being stoked against the magisterium atm won't just affect this papacy, but all future papacies. If you can dissent from one magisterium, why not another? If this level of dissent is allowed to continue, will weaken the Catholic Church for ever. The vast majority of the media scorn is not Pope Francis' fault either - this hatred is being deliberately manufactured. He is being undermined on all levels, and there is some serious profiteering going on for doing so. Sites like 1P5 are raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations, even though it isn't a charitable organisation helping the poor. It's sole purpose is to incite hatred against the pope, and it is turning this into a business operation. Books like "The Dictator Pope" are raking it in. There is absolutely no money to be made in defending the pope, only scorn and derision.

I would agree that the vast majority of Catholics don't obey the magisterium. But we live in a counter-culture, and this is the way society has shaped them to be. I wouldn't say they are in outright "schism", as you would have to take subjective culpability and environmental reasons into consideration. Otherwise you would have to adapt a Jansenist take that the vast majority are heading straight to Hell, which contradicts most concepts of theodicy (the righteousness of God). I think this will see a turnaround in the future though, and we can collectively get back to practicing the Faith more rigorously.

The Holy Spirit will always protect the Church from heresy. It is Catholic dogma that the Church has to remain a perfect society to the end of time in order to fulfil the Great Commission. If it did not remain perfect, it simply could not fulfil this commission, which is why it is indefectible.

rose said...


Emmett
"In the wake of the Filial Correction issued on 24th September, 2017 - the feast day of Our Lady of Ransom (under whose form we find the devotions of Our Lady's Dowry and Our Lady of Walsingham)...

I don't understand what you are referring to in this statement. Does Our Lady of Ransom have something to do with Our Lady of Walsingham? They have different feastdays. Please clarify. Interesting for me as I am in a diocese where we have the Mercedarian Order founded by Our Lady of Ransom. They are a small community but very devoted to Our Lady. I am fortunate to be able to wear her scapular and she is more commonly referred to as Our Lady of Mercy these days.
thanks,
rose

Anonymous said...

Patrick F says,
If there are people who really 'hate' this Pope then they can hardly claim to do so because they love the Catholic Church - its a contradiction.

There are many people out there who are deeply concerned with what is happening during this Papacy. From my own personal experience these are the people who go to Mass regularly, are often found at Eucharistic Adoration, adhere to the doctrine found in Humanae Vitae, etc. These are people who know their Church and love their Church.
You, Emmett, have clearly placed the blame at the feet of the far-right for orchestrating the animosity towards the Pope. However, the Pope appears to have inadvertently gathered around himself some 'groupies' most of whom frighten the lives out of the devout people I referenced above. There are many on the far-left who believe they have their pope and try to give the impression that they are speaking on his behave (such as Cardinal Schonborn at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick). This only further exacerbates the problem.

Anonymous said...


Pope Francis has commented about Judas Iscariot https://cruxnow.com/church/2014/10/29/pope-francis-judas-was-a-sinner-but-no-worse-than-anyone-else/

and the following are Pope Francis' words from https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2016/june/documents/papa-francesco_20160616_convegno-diocesi-roma.html : I came across — I expect you know it — the image of that capital in the Basilica of St Mary Magdalene in Vézelay, in the South of France, where the Camino de Santiago starts: on one side is Judas, hanged, with his tongue sticking out, and on the other side of the capital is Jesus the Good Shepherd who carries [Judas] on His shoulders, who takes him with Him. This is indeed a mystery. But these mediaeval people, who taught the catechesis with figures, understood the mystery of Judas. And Fr Primo Mazzolari gave a fine discourse, one Holy Thursday, on this, a beautiful discourse. He is a priest, not from this diocese, but from Italy. An Italian priest who really understood the complexity of the logic of the Gospel. And Jesus is the one who got his hands really dirty. Jesus got the most dirty. He was not a “fastidious” man, but he went to the people, among the people, and accepted the people as they were, not as they should have been.


Are we to believe that Judas didn't go to hell? Are we to believe that Jesus, the Good Shepherd forgave him?

RC said...

I believe,and I am very much open to correction on this,but given Our Lords words "it would have been better for that man if he had never been born", it is reasonable to speculate that Judas may indeed be in hell, there is also evidence from countless exorcisms to attest that he is,including Annilise Michel case. However it cannot be said with absolute 100% certitude as a man can repent right up to his last breath,and only God knew the state of his soul at death.

Anonymous said...


Matthew 27.3: "Judas repented and returned the money"

The Acts account doesn't even have him hanging himself, it has him buying land with the money and "falling headlong," as exegetes point out, probably from a roof. Certainly not suicide. (Acts 1.18)

> Are we to believe that Judas didn't go to hell?

That is manifestly none of our business. (cf. Luke 13.23)


Meditate on Matthew 18.23-34. Christ's death wiped the entirety of the debt we owed to God away. All of it, so we may be with God throughout eternity. Are we, then, to go and demand from others what we were unable to pay for ourselves? Do we think the sins of others are a higher debt load before God than what it took to redeem we ourselves? Shall we rejoice to receive the Kingdom only to then turn and attack others and demand that they pay what we could not?

This obsession with condemning others, attacking the Pope, putting people into hell...It was the sinners who rejoiced when Christ walked among them, the Pharisees seethed with indignation and hate because the entire system of rules, laws, and regulations by which they justified themselves in their own eyes (and by which they controlled others) collapsed around their ears. And Jesus said the prostitutes are entering heaven before them! (Matthew 21.31)

"I thank you God, that I am not like others. I do all the right things." And the man walked away without being justified, because he exalted himself. (Luke 18.11)

"And because you say, 'We see,' your sin remains." (John 9.41)

"Circumcise, then, the foreskin of your heart, and do not be stubborn any longer." (Deuteronomy 10.16)

Anonymous said...

Acts 1:18 in the Douay-Rheims bible says "And he indeed hath possessed a field of the reward of iniquity, and being hanged, burst asunder in the midst: and all his bowels gushed out."

All of the Gospel is our 'business' If someone betrayed Jesus, we need to know the consequences and avoid betraying Him ourselves.

Anonymous said...

Yes, it would be too harsh to say they are culpable for schism. I agree.

I just mean that schism is the work of the Devil. Didn't he deceive Eve into distrusting God and disobeying Him? Looking at the state of the world around us I wouldn't be surprised to find out that there are demons everywhere tempting us to form factions and divide. Even the propagandists are being influenced, IMO. He especially wants Catholics to voluntarily walk outside the ark.

JMC said...

Most of us speculate that Judas is in Hell; that phrase "would have been better if he had never been born" certainly seems to indicate that. However, we must also bear in mind that the Church has never definitively proclaimed anyone to be in Hell, not even Judas, simply because repentance is possible right up to the very last microsecond before death. For all we know, Judas may have hanged himself, and then spent the last seconds of his life trying to undo that rope and frantically repenting. The only definitive answer to that question is to be found on the other side of the grave.

Emmett O'Regan said...

I agree JMC, it is all just speculation. It's not really for us to know anyone's eternal destiny. That is something uniquely personal between each of us and God Himself that can only be ultimately revealed on the other side of this vale of tears. I think those are some wise comments above. And yes Patrick F, the left are a big problem as well. The way of the Church has always been the Via Media, and I think Pope Francis is staying mostly in this direction, even if it is slightly to the left of what most devout Catholics would like. He absolutely isn't a heretic, and can't be, because this isn't what the Catholic Church has taught about herself since Vatican I. We need to stay the course and to keep following the pope. God will never allow St. Peter to be replaced with a wolf, because it is dogma that the Catholic Church must remain a perfect society in order to fulfil the Great Commission. This can't be fulfilled if we have an heretical pope at the helm, occulting the visible head of the Church.

Anonymous said...

Emmett, you said "...It disturbs me how many Catholics now profess their open hatred of the pope, and label those who remain obedient to the Magisterium as "papalotars"."

What exactly has the pope/magisterium actually taught that one needs to remain obedient about?

sam

Emmett O'Regan said...

"Nor must it be thought that what is expounded in Encyclical Letters does not of itself demand consent, since in writing such Letters the Popes do not exercise the supreme power of their Teaching Authority. For these matters are taught with the ordinary teaching authority, of which it is true to say: "He who heareth you, heareth me"; and generally what is expounded and inculcated in Encyclical Letters already for other reasons appertains to Catholic doctrine. But if the Supreme Pontiffs in their official documents purposely pass judgment on a matter up to that time under dispute, it is obvious that that matter, according to the mind and will of the Pontiffs, cannot be any longer considered a question open to discussion among theologians." (Pope Pius XII, Human generis, par 20)

Bridget said...

Hi everyone! Sorry, off topic again, but who else has been keeping an eye on Our Lady of Zaro? The message to Angela on January 8th caught my attention because there’s mention of the earth “trembling” alongside an image of the child Jesus holding a globe that begins to turn. Hmmmm. The next day, January 9th, there was a major earthquake in Central America. I’m not sure if any of this is significant/connected, but I just wanted to share!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/earthquake-honduras-tsunami-warning-1.4480376

And from the official Facebook page...

Message from our lady of zaro in 08.01.2018

This evening, mother showed up all dressed in white, the edges of her dress were golden. Mom had a big white coat covering her head too. In his arms he had Jesus baby, he was not tiny, he had a white tunic; mama held him close to his chest and in his hands had a long crown of the Holy Rosary of light. Jesus had the orb in his hands.
Mom was beautiful and smiling, even though she was hiding her pain. Mama rested her feet on the flower carpet and the boss had a-Star Crown. There was a big light around.

Praise Jesus Christ

" dear children, thank you that even tonight you are here in my blessed woods to welcome and answer my call.
My children, I love you immensely, I love you children and my greatest wish is to see you all safe.
Children Beloved, if you are here, it is not a case, but you have been called. God calls each by name, always, and if you have answered my call this evening, it is because God called you, spoke to your heart, and you listened and you came.
Children Children, each of you is called, each of you has a very specific task. I'm here to prepare for the great battle.
My children, hard times are waiting for you, hard times are in front of you, but you will be enlightened by my love, nothing will happen to you if you let yourself
My children, to be strong, you must renounce yourselves, deny any attachment to earthly possessions and do an act of total abandonment to God. Children, only of from all that is ground you can see and understand which project has God for you.
My children, this evening I ask for prayer for my beloved church, pray for it, pray for my chosen and beloved children.
Pray for children, pray for families, the project of the enemy is to to faith and destroy domestic hearths, wants to destroy domestic churches.
My children, even this evening I ask you to deliver prayer exclusive: your homes must be like headlights that shine and light, not darkness. Pray, pray, pray."
Then the globe in the hand of Jesus child began to turn, and mother said, " the earth will tremble, tremble again. Pray and do not fear."
Then mom blessed everyone. In the name of the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.



Anonymous said...

let me rephrase: what has this pope taught/issued specifically that we MUST be obedient to? As in if we don't obey every word, then it will condemn us.

Anthony W said...

To Emmett.
You are absolutely right we must support Pope Francis.

God bless

RC said...

Pope Pius XII was consecrated as a bishop on 13th May 1917!!! Coincidence?

Anonymous said...

Patrick F says,
Emmett, on reading "Pope St. Pius X on the Indefectibility of the Church and the Prophecies of St. John Bosco" I kept thinking of Fr. Gobbi. I believe that you referenced him in a previous post, especially in relation to his message of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart before the year 2000. Because it didn't happen the way many expected (or hoped) he was ridiculed. Do his revelations tie in here?

chris said...

What will you say when another new mass is introduced?

https://gloria.tv/article/QUBKwRFbxhQF6k62fuHRC3As8

the new board is the already existing secret commission that is working on an ecumenical mass. Its next meeting will be on February 12.

chris

JMC said...

I can't explain it, but something about that site feels dodgy. I'd take that story with a HUGE grain of salt until something more concrete comes out from a reliable site.

chris said...


Pope Leo emphasizes the connection between faith and worship — it is essential! The infamous founder of Protestantism, Martin Luther, once said: “Tolle Missam, tolle Ecclesiam” — “If you take away the Mass, you take away the Church.”

He was right on this point, in a certain sense.

Note also that Leo XIII says that the Anglicans made changes to the Mass “under the pretext of returning to the primitive form,” which is precisely what Paul VI and his cohorts claimed they were doing when introducing the New Mass, and which is precisely what Pope Pius XII had condemned in 1947 as “antiquarianism

chris

Anonymous said...

The mass has always changed over time. We don't have love feasts anymore, right? Discipline has also varied with the times. Early disciples used to take the Eucharist to home altars. Don't fall into the traditionalists' trap. Read Church history. They thrive on the ignorance of most modern Catholic, making them doubt the Church.

If the Church fails, Jesus wasn't God. Failure includes becoming an instrument of damnation.

JMC said...

Discipline changes with the times. Doctrine and dogma do not. Its a confusion about the difference that has so many people raising a fuss over AL; I admit I was one of them before Emmett clarified the issue,
.
To sum it up, Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI both pointed out that there were those who were unjustly denied annulments. Their first marriages were, in fact, invalid, and thus they actually were free to remarry and still be admitted to Holy Communion. It is the problem of such situations that AL was written to address; it is NOT a blanket permission for D&R to receive Communion. It's sad that the mainstream media have confused that issue to the point that many who are not so entitled will think they are; they have confused a lot of issues, particularly with this Pope, that have more and more of the faithful questioning Pope Francis left, right, and center. Those responsible for this misdirection will have a lot to answer for someday. May God have mercy on them.

Mary ELlen said...

Turning our sights to the heavens we had the full solar eclipse in August of 2017 (the sign of Jonah - repentance) and the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter on November 13, 2017 announcing the coming of judgment (Libra). On January 31st we have the first super blue blood moon since 1866. Repetance and sacrifices are what God is requesting. May the Church lead this effort through humility, mercy and love.

Lent begins on Valentine’s Day this year, the day we honor love, and ends with Easter, April Fools Day, the day those who do not believe in the resurrection will look foolish. God has a sense of humor.

The “Vatican” news dated December 24, 2017 0 January 6, 2018 appears to agree with JMC’s comments above. I am grateful for your clarity, JMC. Thank you. The news media went sideways in a hurry on Amoris Laetitia.

Terry Nelson said...

God bless you Emmett and your unfailing support of the Holy Father - I may use a couple of your comments down the road, if you don't mind. My fidelity to the Holy Father is very much grounded in the heroic witness of the English martyrs and others who died for their allegiance to the Pope and firm faith in the Real Presence. You are like them. Thank you!

Emmett O'Regan said...

Thanks Terry! It's good to know that there are other defenders of the Holy Father like yourself, who haven't been compromised by this coordinated attack on him in the Catholic media. Quote as much as you like. Yes, the English and Irish martyrs stood firm in their support for the pope with their very lives. I think this is why this level of division still hasn't affected us across the pond in the same way as it is dividing America. I am sure it is deeply troubling for you. Keep fighting the good fight!

RC said...

http://www.lepantoinstitute.org/pope-francis/pope-francis-awards-architect-safe-abortion-fund-pontifical-honor/

RC said...

Emmett,
The very best of luck with your books and work on prophecy,I genuinely hope they gain the widespread recognition and distribution they deserve. You are probably one of the foremost experts worldwide on the subject. Despite our differences we share a lot of common bonds and I've come to regard you as a friend,hopefully one day when I'm home you will sign your book for me? Good luck mo chara.

Jason R, you are a fine man and i will continue to think and pray for you. I apologise once again for the rocky start we got off to but I've come to realise you have a heart of gold and i hope Our Lady of sorrows stays close to you always. I hope to look in on the site every now and again to check you are ok.

Mark W,jmc,bridget,peter from oz, you are fine people one and all, the very best of luck to you all.

For the sake of my sanity and my soul I'm taking a break from Catholic news for a while. Articles like the one I posted above are like sticking knives into myself, i cant take anymore of it, catholic media whether it be so called left wing/progressive or so called right wing/trad have good people with good intentions on both sides. Unfortuneatly they both have a destructive,vitriolic venom among each camp and im sick of Catholics ripping each other apart like baying wolves! There should be no labels in catholicism other than Roman! No left wing no right wing,its getting disgraceful and mortally wounding to the bride of Christ and there is fault on both sides!!!! Its time to focus all my spare time on prayer,in the immediate period for my homeland and the defeat of the current attack on the rights of the unborn in Ireland. Our Lady of Knock and St Patrick save Ireland!

Slan a chara

Anonymous said...

Patrick F says,
JMC, you wrote in a recent post that "Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI both pointed out that there were those who were unjustly denied annulments. Their first marriages were, in fact, invalid, and thus they actually were free to remarry and still be admitted to Holy Communion."
Can you give me examples of just invalid marriages. I ask so that I can try to understand where Pope Francis is coming from.

If AL wishes to address such situations then the Pope, I believe, has done a very poor job in presenting the case. It is no wonder that people are confused - they are left prey to all sorts of media misdirection.
Also, where one opens a door, just a little, to allow for such invalid marriages, it won't be long before the stampede knocks the door down and clergy will give clearance for the receipt of Communion to all and sundry out of ignorance or false compassion.

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Anonymous said...


Mr. O'Regan,
In all sincerity, I would like to ask you to help me understand what I am to make of the following events/occurrences/patterns related to Pope Francis:
1. His stifling of the Vatican Bank reform;
2. His halting or failure to implement Pope Benedict XVI's plan to stop homosexuals (who have been the predominant pedophiles and ephebophilasts) from entering the priesthood;
3. His constant shots at faithful Catholics, especially those who prefer the TLM;
4. His reference ro aggregious abortionist and LGBT activist Emma Bonino as "one of Italy's greats";
5. His awarding of the Order of St. Gregory the Great Medal to a woman who founded an organization to fill the "gap" in funding for third world abortions that was created when President Trump reinstituted rhe Mexico City Policy. A woman who has also disrupted masses to scream about gay rights;
6. The scandal of his close advisor, Maradiaga, being paid outrageous sums by a catholic school and using some of that money to house a man who is not a Catholic, may--reportedly--be in a "relationship" with one of Maradiaga's bishops and who administers the Eucharist as a chaplain....who is neither a priest nor a Catholic!;
7. The lenient punishment (being sent on retreat) of a priest for whom Pope Franci's friend Coccopalmiero was pushing for a bishopric when said priest was found--in the Vatican--with an apartment full of cocaine and men having a sex party;
8. His sacking of Cardinal Muller and others at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith with no reason given;
9. His harsh treatment of Cardinal Sarah;
10. His ignoring Christ's own words as related to divorced adulterers;
11. His dissolution of the JPIII institute and naming of several men who support divorce, married priests and contraception to the "refounded institute" (both dissolved and refounded in one document);
12. His attempts to devolve power which are fracturing the Church. Countries that share borders, such as Germany and Poland, now have different pastoral practices and are in disagreement regarding the administering of sacraments. What of universality? Are we now Orthodox? Are their going to be hundreds or thousands of different church? Will Polish Catholic or German Catholic or Candian Catholic now denote different churches, each of which will self govern? Will an American Catholic traveling in Mexico be told not to attend Mass unless he or she can find and American Catholic Church in their travels?

Honestly, I am neither a theologian, a philosopher, a well-versed Catholic nor anything else that qualifies me to discern the meaning of this pontificate. To me, however, there seems to be one insult after another to Christ, to the Pope's forebears and to faithful Catholics. In truth, my faith is sustained by reading the CCC and believing that we must accompany the Church to her cross and that we are in the time of religious deception that is shaking the faith of many believers.

I don't think I am alone, either. Men who certainly are not traditionalists (as if that is so awful) like Father Gerald Murray, Robert Royal, Phil Lawler, etc. are quite faithful to the office of the Holy Father but seem extremely concerned with the personage of Pope Francis. And the list is growing.

Thomas said...

Guys, my grandmother thinks that she's dying. She is a pagan. I pray for her conversion everyday and gave her a green scapular. I want to see her again when I die. Please pray that she embraces the faith before death. I don't want to be separated from any of my family or friends forever.

Anonymous said...

If you read any teachings of the Church you will learn 2 things: 1) the Church will remain firm and faithful until the end of times; 2) there will be a great apostasy and a great religious deception. Both are true. You cannot oppose one with the other. The apostasy takes place OUTSIDE the Church, because it it happened within the Church point 1 would be false. The antichrist will present himself as the true Christ, doing the miracles of devils, and the world will pay homage to him. He will put to death anyone who will not worship him.

For some reason people are ignoring point 1.

I'll tell you what. If Western Europe chases away the pope (such as because he tells them to welcome migrants) I expect the justice of God to fall on it. We are living in a time where the more abuse and stones you hurl at the pope, the more you are exalted by the masses. But truth rarely is with the masses, and they are easy to misdirect with propaganda.

Emmett O'Regan said...

RC, I consider you a friend as well mate. I will certainly sign your book mo chara. I think you are wise to stay away from the Catholic media for a while until things start to calm down. There is a vicious war going on between the right and left, which is confusing a lot of people. This is the point described in St. John Bosco's vision, it seems. The way of the Church has always been the "Via Media" - the middle path. It is only there that we can find peace, and the Barque can be anchored between the two pillars. Hopefully we will see the New Springtime of the Church soon.

Emmett O'Regan said...

Thomas, take comfort in the hope that your grandmother will see the light before she passes. Only God knows the state of a person's soul at the point of crossing over. My prayers are with her and with your family at this sorrowful time for you.

Anonymous said...

"We are living in a time where the more abuse and stones you hurl at the pope, the more you are exalted by the masses."

Are you referring to the current pope? I think polls show the masses very much approve of the current pontificate. If anything, I think your opinion is very valid with previous pope, but it's tough to buy into in today's case.

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Sr. Marianne Lorraine Trouve said...

Hello Emmett,
There's a lot of confusion in the Church right now, and many good Catholics are troubled by the very strange things coming out of the Vatican these days.
For example, the pope just awarded the papal honor of St. Gregory to an extreme promoter of abortion in Holland, Lilianne Ploumen, their Minister of Development.
What are good Catholics supposed to make of this? That it's perfectly OK to promote abortion--to the extreme, she is very radical on this point--and then get a papal honor?
To point out these things is not to attack the pope or be a bad Catholic, but to raise some serious and honest questions about what's going on.

Papal infallibility is one thing, and is only exercised under very strict conditions. The Holy Spirit does not necessarily protect the pope from making bad mistakes.
As we say in America, "Houston, we've got a problem!"

Sr. Marianne Lorraine Trouve said...

Hello Emmett,
One other thing, about the Don Bosco prophecy. A while ago I had found the original source for this, in the complete set of the biography of the saint published by the Salesians (many volumes!) It was a dream that he told the boys about but did not write down himself. As I recall, three of the boys later recorded what he said. It seems to me that it's best not to read too much into this dream, because it's basically coming from a secondhand source, and the boys may not have even remembered well what he said (it was years later). His purpose in telling the boys these dreams was not to satisfy their curiosity about future events, but--good educator he was--to motivate them to live well their Christian lives then and there.
Just my two cents...

Anonymous said...

Mr. O'Regan:
Can you clarify what you mean when you say " There is a vicious war going on between the right and left, which is confusing a lot of people.".

It occurs to me that people are either faithful Catholics or not. I don't see room for a right/left paradigm in the Church. For instance, a person who upholds and abides by the eternal truths and teachings of the Church (even those with which they disagree) are Catholic. People who go to Mass most weeks but who dissent loudly and actually partake in activities that are antithetical to and in violation of the Church and Christ are not Catholic. For instance, somebody cannot be pro-choice, pro-SSM and Catholic.

Is it not a charitable thing for both the dissenting Catholic to abstain from communion or for the faithful to tell the dissenters that they should not be receiving communion in a state of mortal sin? Should we not warn them against giving scandal to the faithful?

Again, there is no right or left "in" the Church. There may be people who are hardened leftists or right wingers who call themselves Catholic but anybody who identifies most strongly with an ideology aside that is not totally inline with the Church is not a Catholic. There's no way around that: if you're Catholic then Christ and the Church at the center of your life and everything else radiates outward from there. It's not Catholic to subscribe above else to partisan beliefs, attempt to shoehorn Catholicism into those beliefs and, when a belief cannot be made to *seem* Catholic, to agitate for Catholicism to change the teaching.

MightyRighty said...

Apropos of nothing I came across the following link recently -
http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/topic/102138-the-great-catholic-monarch-of-prophecy/?page=12

Poster Kafka has some interesting points.

JMC said...

Anon, I cannot provide specific examples of such invalid marriages. For one thing, that information is deeply personal and private and is not available anywhere. Secondly, I did not offer that explanation from anything I myself found, but was merely paraphrasing something Emmett said in an earlier post. If you're looking for specifics, he would be the one to ask.
.
Since I have been similarly challenged on things I've said before, I would like to set the record straight for everyone here. I am not a professional researcher. I'm the kind of person who reads something somewhere, and remember it if it makes an impression; I don't keep back issues of magazines or log where online I found something; thus I am unable to provide citations. I know this makes me an unreliable source for anything. I just mention, in a conversational manner, things I've read or experienced myself, and leave searching for specifics to those who are much better at online research than I will probably ever be. (I was well into my forties before I ever came anywhere near a computer for the first time, so I've never really mastered such things; I'm in my sixties now, and you know what they say about old dogs. ;D)

Anonymous said...

Patrick F says,
JMC thank you for your honest answer to my question. I am probably in a similar situation to yourself - reading lots of bits and pieces and trying to get a handle on what is going on. The reason I asked you the question is this. I read recently, (where? I do not remember), that lots of marriages are invalidated by the married couple using contraception. Makes sense to me. In effect the couple are blocking the graces that come from the sacrament of marriage. I am sure that there are other similar examples. Therefore, there are probably many invalid marriages out there. However, their own behaviour has brought about the invalidity.
I can think of cases where one spouse could invalidate the marriage and the other innocent. I don't believe the numbers are large though.

Emmett O'Regan said...

I agree, that woman should never have been given that honour Sr. Lorraine. I don't know what was going on there. Pope Francis does make some awful blunders, but this does not mean he can teach heresy in the authentic magisterium, as some people are suggesting. Peter is just a weak, frail human being with imperfections like everyone else. I don't know the ins and outs of what went on in this affair.

Personally, I think the March of the 200 Days is key to interpreting the dream of the two pillars. It has the stamp of Don Bosco all over it. It reminds me of the "here comes everybody" sketch in James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake.

There are many reasons which invalidate a marriage. When a Church tribunal declares a putative marriage to be invalid, it is stating that the bond never existed in the first place because of some defect at the time the vows were made. So there is a percentage of invalid marriages out there, which seems like a Sacramental marriage according to ecclesiastical law, but actually isn't in the eyes of God. The whole concept of annulling marriages is based on this logic. It therefore stands to reason that a portion of seeming D&R civil unions are actually the valid bond in the eyes of God. It is the couple themselves who initiate the Sacrament, not the officiating priest.

Rachmaninov said...

The award for the Dutch woman was simply a diplomatic award given as protocol for being part of a delegation. The same happened in Saint John Paul II's time.
The Pope did not give this as a personal gift. Again half truths reported
Stephen Walford

JMC said...

Patrick, I was not aware that the use of contraceptives could nullify a marriage. Since, as Emmett says above, invalid marriages are due to some defect AT THE TIME THE VOWS WERE MADE, I wouldn't think contraception would fall into that category. Only my opinion here; I really don't know. Emmett, would you care to weigh on in this one?

Emmett O'Regan said...

Thanks for clearing that up Stephen. I thought that might be another propaganda ploy to blacken the name of the Holy Father. We need to scrutinize everything the Catholic media are throwing at Pope Francis right now.

If there is no openness to life at the time the vows were made, I think this invalidates a marriage, since marriage is about bringing children into the world. If someone was planning to contracept the entire marriage and never have children at the time of the vows, then it is not what marriage is about. I'm not a canon lawyer though, so don't know every aspect of what can make a marriage invalid. If someone never intended to keep their vows at the time they were said (e.g. if they were having an ongoing affair with a third party they wished to continue), this can invalidate a marriage as well. There are a variety of defects which can render the vows null. As St. Jacinta said, many marriages are bad, and are not willed/accepted by God.

Anonymous said...

Really? So my wife was using contraception at the time of our vows. We both confessed and she stopped the practice three years ago (we've since had two more children, thanks be to God). However, by this logic we're not validly married so I'm fathering children and engaging in the reproductive act with somebody to whom I'm not married?

Emmett O'Regan said...

It depends on intent, not whether anyone was using contraception at the time of the vows. If the person making the vows was totally closed to children in the future, this would potentially invalidate the marriage. The whole thing is a quagmire I don't want to get into. This is a blog about the Apocalypse, not Catholic Answers Forums.

Anonymous said...

If there are clergy reading this blog, please note that Emmett posted that he is not a Canon Lawyer. Therefore if you have questions about ministering to your parishioners in the light of Amoris Laetitia then you should ask a Canon Lawyer or your bishop on its interpretation.

Leo D. Lion said...
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Anonymous said...

NO - NEVER EVER
Peter

Emmett O'Regan said...

Homosexuality will always be intrinsically evil, and marriage can only be between a man and a woman. So you don't have to ever worry about that happening.

Emmett O'Regan said...

Here's the appropriate canons concerning what invalidates a marriage:

Can. 1095 The following are incapable of contracting marriage:
1/ those who lack the sufficient use of reason;
2/ those who suVer from a grave defect of discretion of judgment concerning the essential matrimonial rights and duties mutually to be handed over and accepted;
3/ those who are not able to assume the essential obligations of marriage for causes of a psychic nature.

Can. 1097 §1. Error concerning the person renders a marriage invalid.
§2. Error concerning a quality of the person does not render a marriage invalid even if it is the cause for the contract, unless this quality is directly and principally intended.
Can. 1098 A person contracts invalidly who enters into a marriage deceived by malice, perpetrated to obtain consent, concerning some quality of the other partner which by its very nature can gravely disturb the partnership of conjugal life.
Can. 1099 Error concerning the unity or indissolubility or sacramental dignity of marriage does not vitiate matrimonial consent provided that it does not determine the will.
Can. 1100 The knowledge or opinion of the nullity of a marriage does not necessarily exclude matrimonial consent.
Can. 1101 §1. The internal consent of the mind is presumed to conform to the words and signs used in celebrating the marriage.
§2. If, however, either or both of the parties by a positive act of the will exclude marriage itself, some essential element of marriage, or some essential property of marriage, the party contracts invalidly.

Emmett O'Regan said...

Can. 1102 §1. A marriage subject to a condition about the future cannot be contracted validly.
§2. A marriage entered into subject to a condition about the past or the present is valid or not insofar as that which is subject to the condition exists or not.
§3. The condition mentioned in §2, however, cannot be placed licitly without the written permission of the local ordinary.
Can. 1103 A marriage is invalid if entered into because of force or grave fear from without, even if unintentionally inflicted, so that a person is compelled to choose marriage in order to be free from it.
Can. 1104 §1. To contract a marriage validly the contracting parties must be present together, either in person or by proxy.
§2. Those being married are to express matrimonial consent in words or, if they cannot speak, through equivalent signs.
Can. 1105 §1. To enter into a marriage validly by proxy it is required that:
1/ there is a special mandate to contract with a specific person;
2/ the proxy is designated by the one mandating and fulfills this function personally.

Anonymous said...

Patrick F says,
Emmett, I am sorry for opening the can of worms on marriage invalidity. You are right that this blog is about the Apocalypse and not some other forum. And while I still feel an urge to add my two pennies worth I will desist.

Emmett, can I bring you back please to something I asked above and you may not have seen? On reading "Pope St. Pius X on the Indefectibility of the Church and the Prophecies of St. John Bosco" I kept thinking of Fr. Gobbi. I believe that you referenced him in a previous post, especially in relation to his message of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart before the year 2000. Because it didn't happen the way many expected (or hoped) he was ridiculed. Do his revelations tie in here in the sense that the triumph occurred when Satan was cast down?

Emmett O'Regan said...

Personally, I think so Patrick. Sorry for missing your earlier comment. I was distracted.

Anonymous said...

I'll just leave in here that many modern (20th) century alleged prophets said that there will be division in the Church, not just Our Lady of Akita. Now if I were to say that one of them insisted that Peter was the rock, I don't expect many suspicious of the pope to change their minds. If Mother Mary said that she would be with the pope to receive his prayers in many prophecies, we should be wary of the emerging schism and cleave to the rock.

For example, if the pope were to give a award to someone who is pro-abortion, we have to ask WHY. Just being pro-abortion doesn't negate any good she might do in her life. This is rational. We see what is good in others and reject the bad. But that doesn't mean there is no good to take in. Aristotle was a pagan but the Church still took in what was good about his teaching. They would have to prove that the pope awarded her BECAUSE she was pro-abortion, not in spite of it. But they focus on that one particular aspect to foment mistrust of the pope.

Aprígio Melo said...

Helo emmett
I would like to ask two simple and fast questions:

About wedding and chastity: can a couple of teenagers (or whatever) that fornicates whatever the situation knowning thats wrong, and then intent to get married to clean up the things...how does this fit before Gods eyes?

About Pope Francis: I really apreciate your point of view of things that are happining around him....you give me a lot of hope on the near Second Pentecost, but one thing disturbing me.... all the signs that he is allyied with freemansonary, which are infiltrated in the Vatican, and all the talk about he is helping in building an One World Religion ( we know that the Catechism dont say everyone will be Catholic, but many want to), etc. what do you thing about?

JMC said...

As for teenager fornicating, here is my own personal opinion.
.
The Sacrament of Matrimony is one of the Sacraments of the Living, which means that, like Holy Communion, one must be in the state of grace to receive it worthily. That means one must go to Confession beforehand.
.
They've changed the name of the Sacrament of Penance to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, but the requirements are the same: You must be truly sorry for the sin, which requires that you intend not to commit the sin again. Now if the hypothetical couple was fornicating before the wedding...well, being married they won't be sinning again, but are they really sorry they sinned in the first place?
.
One of the sacramental graces conferred in Matrimony is the grace to tolerate and accept each other's weaknesses. But when people receive a Sacrament in the state of mortal sin (which fornication is, and it's questionable whether the absence of true contrition means the sin has not been forgiven), they do not receive the sacramental grace. So you have a married couple who discover that the little annoying habits they could ignored in the first flush of true love are starting to get on their last nerve. Things escalate over time, and before you know it, they're thinking about divorce. Additionally, when both parties were in the habit of "sleeping around" before they met each other, is it any wonder we have a skyrocketing "cheating" rate?
.
Again, all this is only my own opinion. It's an opinion I've held since I was in high school in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the "used car" argument first began making the rounds.

Emmett O'Regan said...

Hi Aprigio,

I don't specialise in moral theology, but that first scenario you describe concerns objective grave matter and subjective guilt. If the teenagers fully understand their situation is objectively grave, then they are subjectively guilty and in a state of mortal sin - which needs to be immediately repented of and confessed.

The conspiracy theories surrounding Pope Francis should be dismissed. Even if the Freemasons managed to install "their man" on the chair of St. Peter, it would be useless, since he would not be able to teach heresy or encourage immorality in the papal magisterium. The Holy See is offered the protection of the Divine assistance of the Holy Spirit to ensure the purity of Catholic doctrine, so that it can remain a perfect society until the end of time, in order to fulfil the Great Commission. Catholics believe that Catholicism will triumph through the ministries of the Angelic Pope and Great Monarch before the "One World Religion" is established by the Man of Sin. This takes place after the Great Monarch (the "restraining force" of 2Thes 2) lays down his crown on the Mount of Olives. So chronologically speaking, these conspiracy theories do not align with the events foretold in Sacred Scripture, Tradition, the Magisterium and authentic private revelations.

JMC said...

As for the comment about all the talk about the Pope being in line with Freemasonry...Well, there have been many hints given by Popes that his cardinals have limited his authority, prevent him from saying certain things or taking certain actions, etc., etc. There are even rumors that a Pope risks his life if he opposes certain elements in the Curia; it's led to a conspiracy theory that Pope John Paul I was murdered because he intended to go ahead with the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart despite opposition from his cardinals. How true it is, and if any of it is true, to what extent, I certainly have no way of knowing. But the fact that the suspicion even exists means there is certainly something going on that is not due to the Pope himself. This means all his supposedly working to promote one world religion may not be his own will at all; he may be operating under some form of coercion.
.
Most famously at Fatima, but in other Marian apparitions as well, Our Lady has warned us repeatedly that the Pope increasingly needs our prayers. That, too, leads credence to the "coercion" hypothesis. But people will believe what they want to believe. I believe that's why Our Lady also placed such emphasis on praying for the conversion of sinners. And I also firmly believe the one thing she asked for that has an importance higher even than that of the daily Rosary is the Five First Saturdays of Reparation. I encourage both in the firmest possible terms.
.
God bless you all.

JMC said...

Thanks, Emmett. I don't know how true it is, but there's a story that the Masons were, at some point in history, able to get "one of theirs" on the Chair of Peter, and found that very uselessness that you mentioned. Because no Pope can teach heresy, from the Masons' point of view, it was as if he suddenly was opposed to everything they stood for.
.
I do have to remember that protection when the conspiracy theory rears its ugly head... ;D

chris said...


http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2018/01/satan-is-in-vatican-of-pope-francis.html


Sunday, January 14, 2018

"Satan is in the Vatican" of Pope Francis said World Renowned Exorcist Fr. Amorth in 2016 before his Death

chris

chris said...




What started all this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

scroll down to see francis on bus with pose of free masonry

https://veritas-vincit-international.org/2015/01/18/hand-signals-of-freemasonry-explained/


Aprígio Melo said...

Thank you so much for The answer emmett... i asked you about freemansonary after i read some prophecies of our lady to Stephano Gobbi... i think they are putting a lot of pressure on our two beloved popes.

Anonymous said...

Patrick F says,
I must be in the Masons too. It wouldn't be too hard to get a photo' of most men, who are wearing a suit jacket, reaching into an inside pocket.

As regards 'satan is in the Vatican', have a read of the opening pages of Windswept House by Malachi Martin and the enthronement of satan back in the 1960s'.

Bridget said...

Hi all!

Did anyone else notice that on today, the day of prayer for legal protection of the unborn, the gospel reading mentioned the “binding of the strong man”? I wonder if this is a timely reading tying the end of abortion to the end of Satan’s greater power?

Gospel MK 3:22-30
The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus,
"He is possessed by Beelzebul," and
"By the prince of demons he drives out demons."

Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables,
"How can Satan drive out Satan?
If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
And if a house is divided against itself,
that house will not be able to stand.
And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided,
he cannot stand;
that is the end of him.
But no one can enter a strong man's house to plunder his property
unless he first ties up the strong man.
Then he can plunder his house.
Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies
that people utter will be forgiven them.
But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will never have forgiveness,
but is guilty of an everlasting sin."
For they had said, "He has an unclean spirit."

Anonymous said...

The hand sign with index, little finger and thumb extended is American Sign Language for "I love you". See this link: http://lifeprint.com/asl101/topics/i_love_you.htm
Nothing satanic about that...

Also, the presence of extreme discord and division in the Church is Satan's work. And we know that this division and discord extends even to the people in the Vatican, hence, "Satan in the Vatican." Father Amorth didn't say it was specifically about Pope Francis, only that it was "in the Vatican".

Pray for the Pope. Pray for Christian unity.

KM

chris said...

Card. Burke speaks up

Posted on 22 January 2018 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf


Anger and frustration, fear and ignorance (and being a lib), can lead people to say stupid things. The ignorant or sub-optimally bright would suggest that Card. Burke might “lead a schism”.

CWR has an interview with Raymond Card. Burke. There is a transcript of an audio interview.

Some important points.

First of all, he says that he, too, is getting from people all over the world that there is great confusion growing in the Church.

[…]

Cardinal Burke: […] What frightens me a great deal about the present situation of the Church is what I would call a politicization of Church life and of Church doctrine. This is easily done by the secular media but it is also being aided and abetted in the present time by certain Church leaders and theologians and other commentators. This is not a question of being in favor of the “Francis Revolution”, as it is popularly called. It is not a question of being “pro-” Pope Francis or “contra-” Pope Francis. It is a question of defending the Catholic faith, and that means defending the Office of Peter to which the Pope has succeeded. And so, to defend what the Church has constantly taught and practiced can never be seen as some kind of political action against the “other” political movement, as it is called – the “Revolution” in the Church – and can never be seen as being contrary to the Papal office.

In fact, the greatest service that any one of us can give to the Holy Father is to speak the truth of the faith, and this then assists him in being what the Second Vatican Council rightly calls the principle of the unity of all the bishops and of the Church itself.

There is just no other way to view it, and I find it first of all ridiculous, but secondly very harmful, that people who simply present the Church’s teaching to the best of their ability are accused of being against the Holy Father or are accused of being divisive in the Church – even to the point of being accused of leading a schismatic movement in the Church. These are techniques that are used to advance certain agendas, [Alinksy? Of course. The ones twisting the truth are libs.] and we ought not to be intimidated by them or to be led [in]to silence by them. Rather, we should be encouraged even as Our Lord Himself encourages us, to speak the truth and to give witness to it in our daily lives.

chris

chris said...


ordo ab chao

chris

chris said...


Is this the earliest promo for veganism??

chris

Daniel 1:11-15New International Version (NIV)

11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.

15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.

Aprígio Melo said...

Well...Caim was a Veganist...the first assassin...lol.

chris said...


JMC said;
There are even rumors that a Pope risks his life if he opposes certain elements in the Curia; it's led to a conspiracy theory that Pope John Paul I was murdered because he intended to go ahead with the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart despite opposition from his cardinals. How true it is, and if any of it is true, to what extent, I certainly have no way of knowing.

There is evidence and documentation that JP1 was going to make changes and expose the workings of the vatican bank and some of its' questionable operations and dealings. It is easy to find this info and pictures of a bank official that "hung themselves" under a bridge in rome.
Another piece of this pope francis masonic friendship started early when he, Francis made a change and appointment to the vatican bank directorship, to a man with broad and visible one world order money allegiance.
This as well as the admiration and vocal support of Obama, who is and was as anti christian a politician, all has continued to amass the the situation as it is today.
chris

Leo D. Lion said...

http://voxcantor.blogspot.com/2018/01/vatican-to-persecute-its-own-bishops-in.html?spref=tw

Jason R. said...

I wish I could remember who it was that introduced me to the idea of the magnetic poles of the planet swapping (not a hypothesis, as it has been proven to have hapoened in the past), and some of the potential catastrophic natural disastrous events that would accompany such a shift (Mark W. Or MightyRighty perhaps?).

Anyways, whoever it was, I thought you might find this link interesting:

https://undark.org/article/books-alanna-mitchell-spinning-magnet/

P.s. @MightyRighty, thanjs very much for the link you posted above, Kafka definitely made some extremely interesting points, and though I don't agree with all of them (e.g. the Ron Conte interpretation of Revelations I think is narrow compared to the multi-covered approach Emmett takes in his book, though as full disclosure I'm not a fan of Conte's in general). I was intrigued when the poster Kafka revealed he has an idea of who the GM may be.... I have a feeling myself that it will be someone from the last ruling Hapsburg dynasty, a descendent of Blessed Karl of Austria, perhaps a grandson or great-grandson of Otto von Hapsburg (remembered for among other things giving Ian Paisley what for during a session of the EP addressed by Pope St. JPII when Paisley tried shouting diwn the Pope as the Antichrist, with the already elderly Otto being the main person to eject Paisley in disgrace from the chamber). As the inheirtors of the Holy Roman Empire, I think the titular head of the Austrian Empire, Kingdom of Hungary, etc., would be a strong contender for the GM (may be the grandson of Otto, or maybe a great-grandson?). As a member of the group that is advancing the cause of Karl of Austria's beatification I definitely have a bias in this guess though.

Jason R. said...

P.p.s. I've always had a suspicion that the Miracle of the Sun, and more exactly the part which saw the Sun seemingly rushing toward Earth, as a foreshadowing of some sort of solar activity that might explain part of the mass destruction seen in the 3rd secret; a shift in the magnetic poles and the deadly solar particles that would get through the atmosphere during such a shift could very much for the bill as to the "how".

Stephen Ho said...



"Amoris Laetitia: Anatomy of a Pontifical Debacle"
https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/2464-amoris-laetitia-anatomy-of-a-pontifical-debacle

TruthLover said...

ANTIPOPE FRANCIS SATANIC QUOTES 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Yt9cS7gqiQ

TruthLover said...

ANTIPOPE FRANCIS: TOP 10 REASONS WHY HE IS AN ANTIPOPE (the false prophet)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7PuFtr7FWQ

TruthLver said...

Muslim converts to Pope Francis: ‘If Islam is a good religion…as you seem to teach, why did we become Catholic?’
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/muslim-converts-to-pope-francis-if-islam-is-a-good-religion...as-you-seem-t

Carlos said...

Thank you for this post filled with hope. I took the liberty to quote it here:

https://casorosendi.wordpress.com/2018/02/01/a-tale-of-two-moons/

One more time: thank you, Emmett! I thank God for the great gift he has given us through you!

luis_rcoelho said...

those of you who left the church, calling it 'norvus ordo' are traitors and cowards, because not once Our Lady or Jesus suggested us to leave the church just because she has long been infiltrated by ecclesiastical freemasons and jewish communists. The catechism, 675, teaches us that the church has to go through the same passion process as Jesus suffered: betrayal, abandonment, mockings, humiliations and suffering.
The saints have told us that the church is where the pope is [B16}, and that who is not rooted on the Rock, is not on the path of salvation.
God's church is only one!!