Even, however, if we leave it to God and to Peter’s true successors to sit in judgment of these things, it is nonetheless certain that the Council was deflected from its purposes by a group of conspirators and that it is impossible for us to take any part in this conspiracy despite the fact that there may be many satisfactory declarations in Vatican II. The good texts have served as cover to get those texts which are snares, equivocal, and denuded of meaning, accepted and passed. Archbishop Lefebvre (I Accuse the Council)
Archbishop Lefebvre: "The Conciliar Church is heretical & schismatic"
In this modernist crisis of the Church (Vatican II) I have explained how there is “essentially” 4 groups of positions maintained which the average laymen must find themselves deliberating upon. The modernist that holds to Vatican II (some still think it is a dogmatic Council) who thinks we are in a new springtime; the pseudo-traditionalist(s)/conservatives (cloaked modernists; who come in varying degrees) stating the Council “was not all bad” and just needs clarification; the hard line traditionalists (who reject Vatican II wholesale/ recognize we have had modernist Popes to be later judgedfor teaching heresy) and the sedevacantists who reject Vatican II wholesale and state (due to “ipso facto” loss of office we have had no Pope since the Council). Note: There are broader distinquishments to be made between the varying positions but for brevity sake we want to focus upon this sole impotent argument of the pseudo traditionalist camp(s). Let us further expose the pseudo-traditionalist position and how illogical it is.
Argument- “We are not fighting the Council (it is valid) as a whole or all texts themselves we are fighting the spirit of Vatican II” You will hear this impotent argument coming out of the varying pseudo traditionalist camps (the Neo-SSPX included) but let us logically ask ourselves a question. If the Council’s spirit was bad how could a “bad spirit” produce orthodox or traditional texts? The Holy Ghost is 100 percent truth not 95 percent truth as the Neo-SSPX implies in their new position on Vatican II. We know the Council was not dogmatic and not an act of the solemn Magesterium but how does this pseudo traditionalist argument fly in light of logic? If the Holy Ghost were present at Vatican II there would be no error nor heresy… yet there are. If the Holy Ghost was not present at the Council and the Council “is in error” and “teaches heresy” (religious liberty) how does the Neo-SSPX say we can accept 95% percent of the texts as if we can at all accept the Council?The answer is a Catholic cannot and hence ‘the Resistance”.
Certain pseudo traditionalists like the Neo-SSPX believe the Holy Ghost teaches only 95 percent truth (given their position on the Vatican II texts.) 1 Cor 14: 33: For God is not the God of dissension...
If the Holy Ghost is not the author of ambiguity and confusion why do these pseudo traditionalists argue as such? Pseudo traditionalists like Michael Matt of the “the Remnant” will argue it is “the liberal media distorting Vatican II”. But does Michael Matt not know that Vatican II taught the liberal heresy of religious liberty that has been previously condemned by the Ordinary infallible Magesterium (*not all that is infallible comes by way of the Extraordinary Magesterium)? All those in "full communion" with Modernist Rome belong to another religion, therefore, to be out of communion with this Vatican II new religion is a "good thing'. “This Reform, since it has issued from Liberalism and from Modernism, is entirely corrupt; it comes from heresy and results in heresy, even if all its acts are not formally heretical. It is thus impossible for any faithful Catholic who is aware of these things to adopt this Reform, or to submit to it in any way at all. To ensure our salvation, the only attitude of fidelity to the Church and to Catholic doctrine, is a categorical refusal to accept the Reform.” Archbishop Lefebvre The Pseudo traditionalist groups now including the Neo-SSPX do not do as such.
"The Remnant is poison for your soul"
Verily, it was, and still is not, outside liberals, who “distorted the documents” it was Masons, Modernists, Marxists and liberals themselveswho plotted, made the documents and thence interpreted the documents. In laymen’s terms it was the Popes and prelates themselves!“You will recognize the tree by its fruit.” The fruits are before us, evident, clear. The fruits which come from the Second Vatican Council and the post conciliar reforms are bitter fruits, fruits that destroy the Church. When someone tells me, “Do not touch the Council; speak, rather, of the post conciliar reforms,” I reply that those who made the reforms- it was not I who made the reforms – say themselves: “We are making them in the name of the Council. We made the liturgical reform in the name of the Council; we reformed the catechism in the name of the council.” And these are the Church’s authorities. It is they, consequently, who legitimately interpret the Council. Fortunately this operation of exploding the erroneous ideas of the Council has already begun, and begun satisfactorily with the work of Professor Salet in the Courrier de Rome on The Declaration on Religious Liberty. His conclusion is that this declaration is heretical. Archbishop Lefebvre ( I Accuse the Council).Now we have pseudo-traditionalist Bishop Fellay trying to sell his new position that religious liberty as taught by Vatican II “may be able” to be understood in the light of Tradition. This is not true because Vatican II establishes that all men now have a civil/public right to practice whatever religion he chooses and thus places “false religions’ on the same plain as the true religion. It is the unseating of the Social Kingship of Christ (amongst the nations). It is indeed a very grievous heresy coming from the Masonic sect. Can there be any worse heresy that to dethrone our King and place man and his false religions on this same throne as Christ and His only Catholic Faith? Thus this watering down by Bishop Fellay (and the other pseudo trad groups who simply accept "religious liberty") is theological pseudo-trad rubbish and Catholics must resist.
Bishop Fellay handed over a heretical/schismatic Declaration in 2012 which HAS NEVER OFFICIALLY been retracted. He is the dissident.
Furthermore, we are not fighting just a “bad spirit’ we are fighting modernists(non-catholics) themselves who carry with them a bad spirit due to their pride.Thus their new doctrines are not only error but heresy in many cases. These men never held the Catholic Faith but rather a twisted and gross modernist version thereof (due to the new humanistic philosophy; over inflated human dignity). The texts themselves are proof alone. “The more one analyzes the documents of Vatican II, and the more one analyzes their interpretation by the authorities of the Church, the more one realizes that what is at stake is not merely superficial errors, a few mistakes, ecumenism, religious liberty, collegiality, a certain Liberalism, but rather a wholesale perversion of the mind, a whole new philosophy based on modern philosophy, on subjectivism.” Archbishop Lefebvre The Neo-SSPX now wants their followers to believe that it is sufficient to say we oppose the “errors” of ecumenism, collegiality and religious liberty’ mixed in with “the need of clarification of ambiguous documents”. But is this sufficient and can a Catholic accept this? The answer is of course not. We are dealing with the pastoral implementation of a new modernist man centered religion which soon ends in the formal unification of all religions (under the banner of Marxist/masonic “absolute equality”). “So, they are no small errors. We are not dealing in trifles. We are into a line of philosophical thinking that goes back to Kant, Descartes, the whole line of modern philosophers who paved the way for the Revolution.” Archbishop Lefebvre Our lady has warned long enough! The Neo-SSPX and the other pseudo-traditionalist groups do not listen to Our Lady. What is going on the current Society chapels is diabolical and not of God.
John Venari states Vatican II was protestant and a revolution but states "let there be no difference between the SSPX and FSSP (accepts VII)!" Why? Because now the Neo-SSPX has changed their position on VII. If you can explain to me how this is logical you will receive a "gold star" to place on your refrigerator
Certain pseudo traditionalists (Chris Ferrera included) argue that they are at war with “the neo-catholics” and yet they are no different. They are every bit as “neo-cat” as the ones they accuse.The Catholic Church has never taught you can commune with modernists and this is exactly what the pseudo-traditionalist camps try to do. They even now get together in their varying positions in a certain “pseudo traditionalist ecumenism” which Archbishop Lefebvre completely abhorred and told souls to avoid (read the book “Impossible Reconciliation by Fr. Rioult). "The current Pope and bishops no longer hand down Our Lord Jesus Christ, but rather a sentimental, superficial, charismatic religiosity, through which, as a general rule, the true grace of the Holy Ghost no longer passes. This new religion is not the Catholic religion; it is sterile, incapable of sanctifying society and the family." Archbishop Lefebvre (Spiritual Journey pg. 9)Rorate Caeli, the Remnant, Society of St. Pius X/DICI, Michael Voris, Father Zuhlsdorf are all poison for your soul. #EagleoftheWest
TCK Radio: Pseudo Traditionalist Ecumenism
Rebranded= Pseudo-Traditionalism
Once again ask yourselves how is it logical to assert the “spirit of Vatican II’ was bad yet the texts themselves were not tainted? Here is proof of the new man centered religion which proudly professes this certain self exalted human dignity12. According to the almost unanimous opinion of believers and unbelievers alike, all things on earth should be related to man as their center and crown. Gaudium st Spes Pope Paul 6thThus placing man upon his own throne. This is blasphemy! This is literally the masonic/satanic principle of self exalted man and yet the pseudo traditionalists argue there are still good in those texts in Vatican II so let us keep it? Nonsense! Catholic teaching states that when one departs “from a part of the whole” he ceases “to be in that whole altogether”. And whosoever shall keep the whole law, but offend in one point, is become guilty of all. James 2: 10 Thus, Vatican II by ceasing in one point (religious liberty)ceases to be Catholic altogether and therefore must be rejected altogether. Modernists and liberals wrote Vatican II not Catholics and they will be later judged by the Church accordingly. Therefore we must continue to resist by not taking in any part of Vatican 2 NewChurch until the Popes and prelates return to Tradition themselves (outright rejection of the Vatican II Revolution).[Vatican II was] “the letting loose of the forces of evil for the ruin of the Church.” Lefebvre, “The Council or the Triumph of Liberalism” [French], Fideliter, No. 59 (Sept.-Oct. 1987), p.33.And so now we must avoid altogether the Neo-SSPX chapels.
The Pseudo traditionalist camp argues we can call the “Council” legitimate and simply tie ourselves into “the Church” and yet the Catholic Church teaches one cannot tie themselves into heresylet alone a WHOLE NEW RELIGION(there is no intent of these modernists to even convert)! The Pseudo traditionalist camps refuse to believe there is heresy in the Council and hold to the opinion “its not that bad”….this is the current delusional position of the Neo-SSPX which rots away daily now growing like a cancerous tumor upon the Church. “We are not up against a little thing. It is not enough for them to tell us: “You may say the old Mass, but you have to accept it [the Council].” No, it is not only that [the Mass] which divides us, it’s doctrine. That’s clear. Lefebvre, Fideliter, No. 66 (Sept.-Oct. 1988), pp.12-14. The Neo-SSPX is now another hybrid Pseudo Traditionalist outlet stating we can accept the Council as a whole but resist a few errors and ambiguities and fit ourselves into “the Church” (which it is not due to this new modernist religion).
In addition, the Pseudo traditionalist camps refuse to believe a “new Church’ has been created and yet the facts state otherwise.We have new rites, new sacraments, new humanistic (masonic) philosophy, new bibles, new catechisms, new mass, new theology, new doctrines, NewChurch (even admitted by John Paul II). Further, the pseudo traditionalists do not understand the difference between true organic development of doctrine and total rupture from Tradition which ultimately results into a position of error. Make no mistake Pseudo-Traditionalism is just as erroneous/poisonous as the Sedevacantists they will tell you to stay from. “This Council represents, both in the opinion of the Roman authorities as in our own, a new church which they call themselves the "Conciliar Church." Archbishop Lefebvre Are you still not convinced that these pseudo traditionalist groups are “in communion” with not “just a bad spirit” but rather “in communion with a cult of the ungodly”? Let us see what modernist Pope Paul 6th has said on the “Council”. But we call upon those who term themselves modern humanists, and who have renounced the transcendent value of the highest realities, to give the council credit at least for one quality and to recognize our own new type of humanism: we, too, in fact, we more than any others, honour mankind; We have the cult of man. - Address of Paul VI, Council’s Last General Meeting, December 7, 1965, Italian Translation. Brethren, the cult of man, is FreeMasonry!
"I love me some pseudo-traditionalism. I love this comfort of appearing to be in the Church!!"
So how does one argue it is “just a bad spirit” and people gobble it up like delicious Sunday morning pancakes? It is because it is a more comfortable position. I can appear to be "in the Church' and resist some errors here or there. This is pseudo-resistance and something Fr. Pfluger apparently missed out on in seminary. This is like St. Athanasius communing with the Arian churches and saying "let us get rid of the error of Arianism". It is illogical and has no basis. You cannot find this position in Catholic teaching nor in our Churches history. We are fighting a whole new religion and I have given only just a few examples as proof. How does one commune with those who do not hold the Catholic Faith themselves? The answer, is that, these pseudo traditionalist groups/apologists are poisoned themselves, with theological ebola and are rotting. Our fight is not just against a bad spirit nor just a few errors here or there we are battling a whole new subjectivist man centered religion; a NewChurch loaded with heresy.“I accept the Rome of all time with its doctrine and with its Faith. That is the Rome we are following, but the Modernist Rome which is changing religion? I refuse it and I reject it. And that is the Rome which was introduced into the Council and which is in the process of destroying the Church. I refuse that Church.” Archbishop Lefebvre The Neo-SSPX has selfishly distorted and misrepresented who Archbishop Lefebvre was and what he really stood for.
How did Archbishop Lefebvre answer Bishop Fellay’s/Neo-SSPX’s future new position of “let us enter the Church to make it Catholic” (as illogical and uncatholic as that even sounds…) “To stay inside the Church, or to put oneself inside the Church - what does that mean? Firstly, what Church are we talking about? If you mean the Conciliar Church, then we who have struggled against the Council for twenty years because we want the Catholic Church, we would have to re-enter this Conciliar Church in order, supposedly, to make it Catholic. That is a complete illusion. It is not the subjects that make the superiors, but the superiors who make the subjects.
How did Archbishop Lefebvre refute Bishop Fellay’s/Neo-SSSPX’s future new position on the Conciliar Church being the “visible church” as excuse to re-enter it? ... This talk about the "visible Church" on the part of Dom Gerard (another pseudo traditionalist of his times) and Mr. Madiran is childish. It is incredible that anyone can talk of the "visible Church", meaning the Conciliar Church as opposed to the Catholic Church which we are trying to represent and continue.
How did Archbishop Lefebvre answer the Neo-SSPX’s claim that it is not necessary to be transparent before the faithful in terms of what they believe?
Bishop Fellay tried hiding his heretical/schismatic Declaration of 2012 and got caught red handed. No wonder they were trying to hide and conceal! "The Catholic faithful have a strict right to know that the priests to whom they have recourse are not in communion with a counterfeit Churchwhich is evolutionary, pentecostalist, syncretist." (Abp. Lefebvre, Open Letter to Cardinal Gantin, Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops. Econe, 6th July, 1988.)
“We are suspended a divinis by the Conciliar Church and for the Conciliar Church, to which we have no wish to belong (but Bishop Fellay does). That Conciliar Church is a schismatic Church, because it breaks with the Catholic Church that has always been. It has its new dogmas, its new priesthood, its new institutions, its new worship, all already condemned by the Churchin many a document, official and definitive.... The Church that affirms such errors is at once schismatic and heretical. This Conciliar Church is, therefore, not Catholic. To whatever extent Pope, Bishops, priests, or faithful adhere to this new Church, they separate themselves from the Catholic Church...”
The Conciliar Church, having now reached everywhere, is spreading errors contrary to the Catholic Faith and, as a result of these errors, it has corrupted the sources of grace, which are the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacraments. This false Church is in an ever-deeper state of rupture with the Catholic Church. Resulting from these principles and facts is the absolute need to continue the Catholic episcopacy in order to continue the Catholic Church. ... This is how the succession of bishops came about in the early centuries of the Church, in union with Rome, as we are too in union with Catholic Rome and not Modernist Rome. Archbishop Lefebvre
Which one of these Bishops is actually following what their own founder taught? Answer; it is not the bishop on the left....
Archbishop Lefebvre sums up what the Neo-SSPX now denies along with the other pseudo traditionalist camps. "This Council represents, both in the opinion of the Roman authorities as in our own, A NEW CHURCH which they call themselves the "CONCILIAR CHURCH".
Thus the Council itself is heretical. It is the pastoral basis of a NewChurchwhich soon gives way to an Apostate Church (secular humanism). It is silently schismatic already. When will the pseudo traditionalists recognize the objective facts of the case and realize their position does not hold up to proper Catholic teaching and the examples provided when heresy enters into the Church. Would you enter into a Church where you knew numerous souls were infected with ebola? Then why would you accept/support/commune with these pseudo traditionalist groups who imply you can?They (Vatican II modernists) have the buildings we have the Faith. Thus,the Pseudo traditionalists are “dressed up” modernists and liberals which vary in degree(s). In the conclusion, Pseudo-Traditionalism, remains more imprudent and dangerous to the soul than sedevacantism of which both are errors.
Have courage fellow Resistants…. fellow eagles….We have been thru a similar storm in the Arian Crisis. Let the words of an earlier “Archbishop Lefebvre” resonate in your soul.
"May God console you! ... What saddens you ... is the fact that others have occupied the churches by violence, while during this time you are on the outside. It is a fact that they have the premises – but you have the Apostolic Faith. They can occupy our churches, but they are outside the true Faith. You remain outside the places of worship, but the Faith dwells within you. Let us consider: what is more important, the place or the Faith?The true Faith, obviously. Who has lost and who has won in the struggle – the one who keeps the premises or the one who keeps the Faith? True, the premises are good when the Apostolic Faith is preached there; they are holy if everything takes place there in a holy way ...
"They have the buildings we have the Faith!"
"You are the ones who are happy; you who remain within the Church by your Faith, who hold firmly to the foundations of the Faith which has come down to you from Apostolic Tradition. And if an execrable jealousy has tried to shake it on a number of occasions, it has not succeeded. They are the ones who have broken away from it in the present crisis. No one, ever, will prevail against your Faith, beloved Brothers. And we believe that God will give us our churches back some day. "Thus, the more violently they try to occupy the places of worship, the more they separate themselves from the Church. They claim that they represent the Church; but in reality, they are the ones who are expelling themselves from it and going astray. Even if Catholics faithful to Tradition are reduced to a handful, they are the ones who are the true Church of Jesus Christ." St. Athanasius Doctor & Father of the Church
8 Points demonstrating the new religion of Vatican II....
On the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the opening
of Vatican Council II, Catholics – bishops, priests and laity – met for a
symposium at the University Institute of Saint Pius X October 4 and 5, 2002.
They studied the texts of the Council, which sought to be pastoral and not
dogmatic, in the light of the Tradition of the Church. The internal coherence of
the conciliar doctrine was brought to the fore. They proposed the following
synthesis of it.
Synthesis of the doctrine of Vatican
II
1 – Novelty: Vatican II devised a new
Christianity, worthy of the “new stage of history which the human race is
involved in today” (GS, n° 4, §2), including things of a spiritual nature. It is
– according to historians and sociologists – a different religion: despite the
claim of an unchanged faith, it has been profoundly transformed by the spiritual
“aggiornamento” which devastates and overturns the order of dogmas (UR n° 11, on
the hierarchy of truths).
2 – The inversion of aims:The new relationship
between the Christian and his God can be summed up in the idea of the “service
of man”(GS, n° 3). Indeed, he is “the only creature on earth which God willed
for itself” (GS, n° 24, §3). He appears – in the temporal sense – as “the center
and crown of all things” (GS, n°12§1). He thus became an end for the Church
herself, which is from now on defined as a “sacrament, or a sign and instrument”
for man (LG n° 1). This idea of service of man inverts what is at the heart of
religion, because the vocation of man is to put himself at the service of God,
of the Church and of his neighbor, in charity.
3 – Conscience is the source of religion:
Religious truth appears to the conscience of man (DH, n° 1 & 3) through his own
reason (DH n° 1). Dei Verbum, which deals with the sources of faith, does not
recall that we believe because of the authority of God, but presents faith as
the existential response by man to the “dialogue of salvation”(DV n° 5) engaged
by God (DV n° 2). In this document, the deposit of faith no longer appears in
its objective and invariable content, but is transmitted in the “living
tradition” (DV n° 12) through which “the Church constantly moves forward towards
the fulness of divine truth until the words of God reach their complete
fulfillment in Her” (DV n° 8).
4 – A theology of celebration:The liturgy must
become a privileged expression of this new religion. Henceforth, the Christian –
consecrated by his baptism – is the subject of the sacred rite and the
priesthood (LG n° 9-11). The fundamental theme of the constitution
Sacrosanctum Concilium, the “active participation” of the faithful is not
the fervent participation which Saint Pius X so desired, but that of the
assembly as actor of the rite. The celebration is presented as a memorial, not
of the Cross but of the Last Supper, where the assembly offers itself.
5 - The Church becomes a sacrament: “The Church
of the Council” (Paul VI, closing speech, 7/12/65) wishes only to be “a sign” of
the invisible presence of God among men (UR n° 2), renouncing her claim to be
the unique way of salvation. In as much as sign, she is means (LG n° 1) to the
service of the coming of the veritable Kingdom of God, which extends to the
dimensions of the universe (LG n° 5). The doctrine of the Church-sacrament,
classic since the Council, synthesises this theme. It takes us away from the
reality of the Church, the visible society to which we belong through baptism,
the profession of the Catholic faith and submission to legitimate pastors.
6 - Humanity presented as the Kingdom: Towards
this kingdom the religions converge (NA passim). It coincides with the human
race in its entirety, in so far as the latter tends towards unity (LG n° 1; GS
n° 42 §3). The Church of the Council, with other public and private institutions
should serve this growing unity, whose signs – veritable signs of the times, as
John XXIII used to say – are “the socialization of all things” (the sharing of
wealth), “the claiming of the rights of man” (GS n° 41, §3) and the common
concern for spiritual values (ecumenism, inter-religious dialogue) (GS n° 42 §1)
in the service of world peace. The traditional idea of Christendom (through the
Social Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ) appears outdated, the Church
officially rallying to the liberal vision of the secularisation of the State,
which alone is capable of fostering the unity of mankind (cf. the political
concordat of Paul VI with the Catholic States after the Council). This rallying
appears to be the condition for Christian influence and conferred on the Church
of the Council, a political function (GS n° 42, §2).
It should be noted that “the unity of mankind” is not a Christian idea, but a
gnostic device that can be found in the Masonic tradition (Ramsay’s speech,
1737) and which Fr. Teilhard de Chardin made the subject of a theological study
before the Council.
7 - The spiritual unity of mankind:
Theologically, this notion of unity of mankind exists under the form of varying
degrees of communion (UR n° 3). In order to favor the religious unity of
mankind, the Church must repent of her past (UR n° 3 and GS n° 19,§3 and n°
21,§5) and enter into dialogue with all religious groups (cf. Paul VI,
Ecclesiam Suam, 1964). It is no longer necessary to impose on them the
conversion to the Catholic Church, since it is claimed that all Christians, even
non-Catholics, are already united to Christ through Baptism (LG n° 15) and that
the non-Christians are ordained to the people of God (LG n° 16) and possess in
their religion the “seeds of the Word” (AG n° 11).
8 – Salvation: From the point of view of this
historical growth of the unity of the human race, the Incarnation of the Son of
God achieves “in some way” the identification of all men with Christ (GS n° 22
o.). The fundamental question of salvation or damnation loses its urgency.
Henceforth the conciliar pastoral policy minimises Original Sin and the Fall of
human nature. Salvation becomes a matter of conscience.
Conclusion
Vatican II was a radical break with Catholic
Tradition.
Whereas the latter is totally centred on God, His praise and His service, it is
no exaggeration to consider that the Council has laid the foundations for a new
religion destined mainly to exalt the human person and achieve the unity of
mankind.
The members of the symposium (62 contributors, 25 of whom
were laymen) reaffirmed their unfailing attachment to the Catholic religion as
it has been lived by the faithful and taught by all the popes up until the eve
of Vatican II.
AG: Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church Ad Gentes
DH: Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae
DV: Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum
GS: Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes
LG: Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium
NA: Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions Nostrae
Aetate
UR: Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio
Fr. Hesse, Doctorate of Canon Law & Theology: Vatican 2 gave us a New Religion
The purpose of this expose is not simply to throw
stones at modern ecumenism, but to warn faithful Catholics to the danger
of surrendering their "pearl of great price'; their one true Holy
Roman Catholic Faith to the liberal spirit of the age.
Modern Ecumenism is a Fraud In the 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia, the word "Ecumenism"
does not even appear. It goes straight through from Ecuador to Ecumenical
Council to Edda. The heading Ecumenical Council contains nothing more than
this: "ECUMENICAL COUNCIL: SEE COUNCILS, GENERAL" In the 1965 Catholic Encyclopedia, however, no less than
seven pages are devoted to the "Ecumenical Movement': Ecumenism is,
therefore, a twentieth century phenomenon. In the short span of sixty years,
ecumenism as we know it today, has come from a state of non-existence,
to being the integral fabric of the "New Theology of the Church."
Definition of Ecumenism The Ecumenical Movement is basically the movement toward
reunion of all Churches into a single Church, one in body, but not necessarily
holding the same religious tenets... spotlighting things we have in common,
hush-hushing those things which divide us. Should you ask, however, ten
different theologians of ten denominations for a definition of ecumenism,
chances are you would receive ten slightly different replies. This is the
greatest weakness of ecumenism. it is a slippery sloppy expression devoid
of any solid orthodox definition. It thus avails itself of ambiguity and
double talk--as do subversive movements in general. The Second Vatican
Council had a great deal to say about ecumenism, without ever giving the
definition of the word!
Prior to 1960, the Catholic Church had always kept the
Ecumenical Movement at arms length from the mystical Body of Christ, now
and then touching it with the proverbial ten-foot pole, but never taking
an active part. Any student of ecclesiastical history will tell you that
the Roman Catholic Church's particular charism was to clarify the truth
in times of confusion and, to counter what was novel or erroneous by clinging
to and defining what she has always believed since the time of the Apostles.
Thus when Martin Luther denied so much of what the Roman Church held true,
she took care of this problem at the Council of Trent... defining in detail
each one of the Seven Sacraments, indulgences, justification, etc. The
Church does not invent new doctrines at these councils, but defines and
clarifies in a solemn and official manner what she has always believed.
The Councils of the past took the Church and the world from a time of confusion,
into a period of theological stability. Unfortunately, Vatican II is the
first council in the history of the Church that did not help in this regard.
As a matter of fact, we must regretfully admit that all evidence clearly
shows she only made things far worse.
Origin of Ecumenism The ecumenical movement as it exists today owes its origin
to a conference of Protestant missionaries at Edinburgh in 1910. Its original
purpose was among Protestant missionaries of different denominations to
promote a spirit of collaboration in order to "evangelize" the
pagan world. Doctrinal differences were to be played down... unity of action
and what was held in common by all was to be exalted. It was during this time that Charles Brent, an American
Episcopal Bishop of the Philippines conceived the idea of assembling a
great conference of delegates from all Christian confessions. A second
conference was formed shortly after by Brent called the "Conference
on Faith and Order." In 1919, the Holy See being invited to
send delegates, politely declined. Pope Benedict XV explained that although
his earnest desire was one fold and one shepherd, it would be impossible
for the Catholic Church to join with others in search of unity. As for
the Church of Christ, it is already one and could not give the appearance
of searching for itself or for its own unity. It is reported that the Holy
Father did not disapprove of the movement as something outside the Catholic
Church, but by his own words it is obvious he knew it was not only futile,
but dangerous and even scandalous to the Catholic Faithful to participate
in seeking unity in such a manner. It was through this movement that the World Council of
Churches was born.
Mortalium Animos and Humani Generis There is no doubt that certain priests and theologians,
influenced by a distorted notion of Christian Charity became interested
in this "Movement of Unity", and that many were literally straining
at the leash to take part. Thus Pope Pius XI was moved to provide the excellent
Catholic guidance he did in his 1928 encyclical Mortalium Animos,
(ON FOSTERING TRUE RELIGIOUS UNITY) an encyclical which, for obvious reasons,
is seldom quoted these days. Pope Pius XII also sounded the alarm to this
error in his great 1950 encyclical Humani Generis (TREATING CERTAIN
FALSE OPINIONS THAT THREATEN TO RUIN THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH).
He warned of those who wished to "reduce to a minimum the meaning
of Catholic dogmas..." and "the desire to do away with the barriers
that divide good and honest men. "The term he employed was "eirenism"
calling it a "serious danger" because "it is concealed beneath
the mask of virtue."(See Humani Generis par. 12 to 25). Father Vincent
Micelli has called this "the Forgotten Encyclical". It seems
more likely that it was not forgotten, but vehemently ignored! Strangely
enough, the very acts considered immoral by both Pope Pius XI and Pope
Pius XII were urged upon Catholics following the 1962-65 Council as being
suddenly justified by the so-called "Spirit of Vatican II."
Ecumenism: Creating a magical fantasyland where man is center of the universe promoted by modernist heretics...
Ecumenism Prevailed at the Council I must be here noted that Modernism, the synthesis of
all heresies which had been condemned and effectively brought under control
by Pope St. Pius X was nevertheless alive and well underground as St. Pius
X expressed it, "within the very bosom of the Church." The Second
Vatican Council brought all the world's bishops and their most "prestigious"
theologians to gather in Rome, and to the great tragedy of the Church,
the liberal and modernist element prevailed.2 The fruits of which are strikingly
before our eyes. A spirit of Ecumania became rampant at this time. No longer
was the first concern "is it orthodox?", but "is it ecumenical?':
A lust for change and innovation was inexplicably brought to a euphoric
height! Protestants and schismatics were invited to attend the Council
not to participate, but to come as observers. A few bishops noted this
made it somewhat awkward to debate issues where their errors were involved.
The New Rite of Mass was conceived by this spirit of ecumenism. This is
why it so closely resembles a Protestant service. The "Ecumenical
Spirit" has been the primary formative principle in the whole range
of the new liturgical and sacramental forms established by the new Church.
In the immediate wake of Vatican II, the entire Catholic world was suddenly
rocked off its axis by profound and unprecedented changes blasting their
way through the entire Church with inexhaustible energy and intense fury.
The unfortunate Catholic laity, who certainly did not ask for this revolution,
and who were totally unaware of what their leaders had in store for them
were taken completely by surprise. The Council, therefore, was like a great
launch pad supporting the rocket of ecumenism about to blast its way violently
through every single parish church, every religious community, and every
seminary in the world.
The Vatican II new doctrine of "no return" to the Catholic Faith produces man's utopia of "coexistence. This is a Masonic ideal/heresy. Very soon all religions will be formally united via an invalid/illicit excathedra.
Modern Ecumenism: An Ecclesiastical Swamp! The difference between a river and a swamp is great! A
swamp has no banks, and the waters mish-mash wherever they will. A swamp
is useless as a waterway, as a source of life for fish, or for cleansing.
Whereas a river has fixed banks which keep the waters flowing in the proper
direction. Since it has boundaries, and depth, and width, it can be a great
source of life, health, and practical benefit. Modern ecumenism is a swamp! We have been sling-shot into
this Ecumenical Movement without a clear definition of ecumenism itself,
and what are to be the safe guidelines for ecumenism... in other words,
where does one stop? All ecumenical activity, no matter how scandalous
or ludicrous is justified by appealing to Vatican II's Decree on Ecumenism...
which, along with the other Council documents, is lacking in definition
and is deliberately ambiguous. On this point, Cardinal Ruffini expressed
particular concern that the Decree on Ecumenism failed to provide any adequate
definition of the word "ecumenism" itself... a dangerous factor
since the word is used in a different sense by Protestants and Catholics.
But this was no accident! The liberal Dutch theologian Fr. Edward Schillebeeckx,
a periti at Vatican II admitted: "We have used ambiguous
terms during the Council and we know how we shall interpret them afterwards." Likely, the reason why no definition of Ecumenism was
given by the Second Vatican Council for its use of the term "ecumenism"
was that if the actual intent of the Decree of Ecumenism was openly declared,
any well informed Catholic of good will would have repudiated it, and the
value of the Decree as an instrument of subversion would have been lost.
At face value, how could any true Catholic subscribe to the absurd notion
that a religious unity according to God's will is possible by playing down
any aspect whatsoever of God's revelation concerning Himself, His Church,
and our salvation only to magnify what is believed "in common"?
It's as if twenty centuries of Catholic Teaching and Tradition should bow
down before the great "messiah" of ecumenism and utter the immortal
words` "it must increase, and the Church of Christ must decrease."
TradCatKnight does not hold Francis as Pope but rather Benedict XVI
All Religions on the Same Footing The great danger of ecumenism is that it places all religions
on the same footing. Modern ecumenism would have us believe that all men
of whatever religious persuasion are equally "on their way to God."
They are merely taking different means to get there... so if you re a Protestant,
be a GOOD Protestant, if you're a Jew, be a GOOD Jew, if you're a Moslem,
be a GOOD MOSLEM, if you’re a Hindu, be a GOOD Hindu. God is portrayed
as being at the summit of a mountain, and there are many roads and paths
up that mountain that lead to Him. ANY MAN IS FREE TO CHOOSE THE PATH HE
WILL. TO GOD IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE WHICH ROAD A MAN CHOOSES TO COME TO
HIM. CERTAINLY NO MAN CAN DECLARE HIMSELF TO HAVE THE "ONLY WAY!"
Now once Catholics get the bug of "Ecumenitis"
into their bloodstream, the infection can only bring about spiritual sickness
and death. They will start to be careless about their own Catholicism.
They will join in worship with persons of false religions and end by abandoning
the True Church of Christ. They will come to look upon the Seven Sacraments
as merely "optional" means of grace, no better than the ceremonies
of other cults... free to use, free to reject with no consequences upon
their eternal salvation.
Modern ecumenism is therefore strikingly at odds with
the mandate of our Lord Jesus Christ to His Apostles when He entrusted
them with His Divine Law, established His Church with Peter as the head,
(Matt. 16: 18-19) and gave them the Divine commission to "Go... and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." (Matt. 18:19). It ignores
the warning of Christ when he told us "no-one comes to the Father
but through Me."(John 14:6) and furthermore, "He who believes
and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned."(Mark
16:16) It is in opposition to the will of Christ: "There shall be
one fold and one Shepherd," (John 10:16) He being the Shepherd. Modern
ecumenism is opposed to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ... it is ecclesiastical
lunacy.
"Rome will lose the faith and become the seat of Antichrist" Our Lady of La Salette, 1846
An Ecumenical Moses? The book of Exodus tells us of Moses coming down the Mountain
of God with the tablets of the Law... the Ten Commandments. Now there were
twelve tribes of Israel. Suppose one of the tribes, just say the tribe
of Juda, after examining the 10 Commandments distinguished themselves saying
"We'll accept all the Commandments except Commandments 8 and 10,"and
solidified their protestation proclaiming "We cannot and will not
recant!" Do you think Moses would have pursued "ecumenical dialogue"
with these people, or danced around in a state of ecumenical euphoria exuberant
over the fact that they at least agree with him in regard to the other
eight? Furthermore, do you think he would have made sure that in the Israelite's
liturgies and religious services there be no mention of the 6th
and 8th Commandment because he did not wish to offend the tribe of Juda?
In doing this, would Moses be serving God's design, or a perverted human
design? Is not the answer ferociously obvious?
And is this not what we see to have happened in the wake
of Vatican II and the euphoria over ecumenism? Whose ends are being served
in this novel approach to false religions, Christ's designs, or a perverted
human design? Just as Moses would have had absolutely no right to play
down, or worse yet, be ashamed of the revelation of which God had made
him the custodian, so too no authority in the Catholic Church has any right
whatsoever to be ashamed of the revelation of which God has made them custodian...
sweeping even the smallest particle of Catholic Truth under the ecumenical
carpet so as not to offend disbelievers. Such activities subvert the mission
of Christ causing irreparable scandal not only to the faithful, but to
all non-Catholics as well, each of whom we should regard as a Catechumen
in spe (a prospective catechumen) Such a thing is an abandonment of
the Evangelical Law in principle and a repudiation of Christianity itself.
"Not one jot or tittle shall be lost from the Law" our Lord says,
(Matt. 5. 18) and "he who does away with one of these least commandments
and so teaches men, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven"
(Matt. 5 18-19).
Freemasonry: A workshop of interreligious dialogue for world peace XII World Conference of Regular Grand Lodges Chennai, India, 22nd -23rd November 2012 Address by Bro. Gustavo Raffi M.W. Grand Master of the Grande Oriente d’Italia
Why is it a Fraud? Modern Ecumenism is a fraud because it is a false principle
"concealed beneath the mask of virtue." It can only operate to
the destruction of the Catholic Church. Though it deserves a more full
and lengthy treatment than presented here, the most striking problems are:
1) IT SUBVERTS THE MYSTICAL BODY OF CHRIST. The mission of the Church is the mission of Christ. Christ
came to redeem man from sin and teach him what he must believe and do in
order to gain salvation. Christ came also to govern and sanctify... and
we must accept the full message of Christ, not a slim or distorted portion
of it. This full message of Christ is found in the Catholic Church alone.
Ecumenism will have us play down or diminish Catholic Truth for the sake
of ecumenical union. It will have us leave people alone in their religious
error, and acknowledge that all religions, both true and false, are all
parallel ways to God. ECUMENISM, THEREFORE, ACCEPTS THE FALSE AND DANGEROUS
PRINCIPLE THAT THE FULL MESSAGE OF CHRIST AND HIS ONE TRUE CATHOLIC CHURCH
ARE NOT NECESSARY FOR SALVATION. The Church loses her role as teacher of
mankind ("The Roman Church is the Mother and teacher of all the churches."
{Dogma of Faith} Vatican I). "Go forth and teach"
has been transformed into "Go forth and dialogue."
2) IT PLACES A MERE EXTERNAL/MATERIAL UNION OF RELIGIOUS
BODIES AS ITS HIGHEST POSSIBLE GOOD. Theological truth and the acceptance of it is no longer
the primary aspect of religion. On the contrary it becomes a simmering-of-all-religions
together in a kind of "Ecumenical Stew" where each one must boil
out his own distinctive taste in order to blend with the other ingredients.
IN CONTRAST TO THE TRUTH THAT GOD HAS REVEALED TO MANKIND, THEIRS IS AN
EXTERNAL UNION WHERE THERE IS NO UNION OF TRUTH AND THUS NO UNION AT ALL.
God demands that He be believed and worshiped in truth, that is according
to what He is, and what He has told us. Ecumenism ignores all this and
places not truth, but the blueprint of a kind of "United Nations of
Religions" as its highest possible end. This is false religion. (It
should be noted that no other religious body has made such sweeping changes
for the sake of Ecumenism than has the post-Vatican II Church. Protestants,
Jews, Moslems, etc. have not changed anything... only Catholicism.)
3) THE FIRST CASUALTY IN THE SEARCH FOR UNITYIS CATHOLIC
UNITY The authorities in our Holy Church have sacrificed their
own unity on the altar of ecumenism causing a severe fragmentation of the
Catholic Church in the name oi unity, to the point where we find, if we
may use "big-media" terminology, everything from the "extreme
right" to the "extreme left" within our parishes, within
our seminaries, within our chanceries... with a heavy emphasis on the left,
and a curious intolerance of the right. If "following one's own conscience"
and "sincerity" be the only barometer of religion, then it necessarily
follows that this will immediately strike and disintegrate the unity of
the Church. ECUMENISM IS UNITY AT THE EXPENSE OF CATHOLICISM!
May Catholics Question Vatican II's Ecumenism? Vatican ll was not a doctrinal Council... it did not make
any solemn definitions binding our conscience on Faith and Morals. It was
a pastoral Council... a Council for guiding souls. We may therefore, be
permitted to ask "To where have we been guided?" At the close
of the Council, the Bishops asked Cardinal Felici for that which theologians
call the "theological note" of the Council. He replied "We
have to distinguish according to the schemas and the chapters those which
have already been the subject of dogmatic definitions; as for the declarations
which have a novel character, we have to make reservations."Now
ecumenism is clearly a novelty. The practice of modern ecumenism is clearly
in contradiction to the teaching and actions of previous Popes, and the
effect of ecumenism is a disastrous and catastrophic path bulldozed through
the entire Church, the uprooting of the very foundations of the Faith,
and the shattering of every aspect of Catholic Truth down to the last molecule.
Ecumenism is an ecclesiastical atom bomb! It is at the very heart of the
present crisis of Faith. Catholics are completely within their rights,
therefore, to "make reservations" and even resist this questionable
"novelty" of ecumenism.
This does not mean, however, that Catholics and non-Catholics
cannot work together in the civil order for the common good, as Bishop
Duane Hunt put it in 1949, "even if we cannot be united in faith,
we can be united in good works." All men of good will can and should
rally their forces and present a united front against the onslaught of
militant atheism in the East, and soft-sophisticated atheism in the West.
It is necessary to unite and fight these great evils in all their forms,
but this does not mean Catholics are to be coerced into sacrificing one
iota of Catholic Truth in these endeavors, particularly within the very
household of the Faith.
The Only True Unity: The Catholic Church No matter what the odds, we must diligently and unceasingly
work toward all men coming within the fold of the one true Church. As far
as Christ is concerned, nothing else will do. Even if this idea seems "next
to impossible" in our day - another illusion - we must not abandon
this ideal, for the eternal salvation of the non-Catholic depends on it.
It is only cowardice, lack of conviction, and a distorted notion of Christian
Charity that looks to ecumenism for the answer. Let us fervently pray that
perhaps, through the grace of God, we may return to the Catholic principle
of Pope Pius XI who in his no-nonsense 1928 Encyclical Mortalium Animos,(ON
FOSTERING TRUE RELIGIOUS UNITY) left no room for doubt: "lt seems opportune to expound and refute a certain
false opinion on which that complex movement by which non-Catholics seek
to bring union of Christian Churches depends. They add that the Church,
in itself, or of its nature, is divided into sections, that is to say,
that it is made up of several churches or distinct communities, which still
remains separate, and although having certain articles of doctrine in common,
nevertheless, disagree concerning the remainder; that these all enjoy the
same rights; and thus, in their contention, the Church was one and undivided
from, at the most, the Apostolic age until the First Ecumenical Council.
Controversies, therefore, they say, and longstanding differences of opinion,
which have kept asunder till the present day members of the Christian family,
must be entirely put aside, and for the remaining doctrines a common form
of faith drawn up and proposed for belief, in the profession of which all
may not only know but feel that they are brothers... They go on to say
that the Roman Catholic Church also has erred, and has corrupted the original
religion by adding and proposing for belief certain doctrines , which are
not only alien to the Gospel, but repugnant to it... meanwhile, they affirm
that they would willingly treat with the Church of Rome, but on equal terms,
that is, as equals with an equal... This being so, it is clear that the
Apostolic See cannot on any terms take part in their assemblies, nor is
it lawful for Catholics to support or to work for such enterprises; for
if they do so, they will give countenance to a false Christianity, quite
alien to the one Church of Christ... Who, then, can conceive a Christian
Federation, the members of which retain each his own opinion and private
judgement, in matters which concern the very object of Faith, even though
they may be repugnant to the opinion of the rest? ...Unity can arise only
from one teaching authority, one law of belief, and one faith of Christians...
the union of Christians can only be furthered by promoting the return to
the true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it, for in the
past they have unhappily left it."
This traditional teaching on Christian unity (ecumenism)
was set forth, again, in the Instructio de Motione Oecumenica(Instruction
of the Ecumenical Movement, A.A.S., 31 January 1950) published by the
Holy Office on 20 December 1949, which emphasizes the teaching of Pius
XI in his encyclical Mortalium
Animos of 1928.
Fr. Hesse, Doctorate of Canon Law & Theology: Vatican II Ecumenism vs Catholic Dogma
Living In The World, But Not Of The World
According to St. Benedict, there are twelve degrees of humility by which
we are called to attain by the grace of GOD. To attain perfection in humility,
there must first be the desire to fulfill GOD's holy Will, and then be
subject to your superior, whom GOD has placed at your service. To the laity
who do not belong to any Order or apostolate, your Superior is Christ JESUS,
through the Church which He established
Jesus renounced pride from the time of His Birth, right up to His Crucifixion.
In one of His sermon's, Our Lord stated: "Everyone that exalteth himself
shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted, (Luke
14:11)." Therefore let us humble ourselves before GOD in our prayers, works
and actions, striving to gain everlasting glory.
THE FIRST DEGREE OF HUMILITY: Keep the fear of GOD before your eyes,
altogether shunning forgetfulness. Consider that GOD is always beholding
you from Heaven, that your actions are everywhere visible to Him, and are
constantly being reported by the angels.
THE SECOND DEGREE OF HUMILITY: A man should not love his own will, nor
delight in fulfilling his own desires. Let us carry out in deed the saying
of the Lord: "I came not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent
me, (John 6:38)." GOD is calling us to follow His holy Will. We are all
part of His great plan of salvation, we all have a special role to play,
therefore let us set our hearts on that which lasts forever and that is
Heaven. Those who desire to follow their own will shall never leave the
ground and shall always be part of the world.
THE THIRD DEGREE OF HUMILITY: For the love of GOD, one should subject
himself to his superior in all obedience, imitating the Lord, of whom the
apostle Paul says: "He was made obedient even unto death," (Phil 2:8).
JESUS was obedient to the Father by following His Will and offering Himself
on our behalf that we (sinners), may be reconciled with the Father and
our sins be forgiven.
THE FOURTH DEGREE OF HUMILITY: Meeting in this obedience with difficulties
and contradictions and even injustice, one should with a quiet mind hold
fast to patience...Moreover, in adversities and injuries, patiently fulfil
the Lord 's commands; when struck on one cheek offer the other, when robbed
of tunic surrender also your cloak, when forced to go a mile go two, and
with the St. Paul, bear with false brethren, and bless those that curse
you.
THE FIFTH DEGREE OF HUMILITY: Humbly confess and do not conceal from
the superior any evil thoughts that enter the heart, and any secret sins
committed. The religious and laity are called to humble themselves before
a priest to confess their sins. Therefore when that day comes, we can say
to the Lord: "I have made known my sins to thee, and my faults I have not
concealed."
THE SIXTH DEGREE OF HUMILITY: A man be content with the meanest and
worst of everything, and esteem himself, in regard to work that is given
him, as a bad and unworthy workman, saying to himself with the prophet:
"I am brought to nothing; I am all ignorance; I am become as a dumb beast
before thee; yet am I ever close to thee," (Ps 72: 22-23). THE SEVENTH DEGREE OF HUMILITY: One should not only in his speech declare
himself lower and of less account than all others, but should in his own
inmost heart believe it, humbling himself with the prophet: "But I am a
worm, and no man, the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people,"
(Ps 21:7).
THE EIGHTH DEGREE OF HUMILITY: Do nothing except what is commended by
the common rules of the order or apostolate and the examples of the superior,
living under rules which increases the desire to live and labour for the
glory of GOD.
THE NINTH DEGREE OF HUMILITY: Restrain the tongue and keep silence,
not speaking until questioned. For the scripture shows "the talkative man
shall not prosper on the earth, " (Ps 139:12).
THE TENTH DEGREE OF HUMILITY: Be not ready and prompt to laughter, for
it is written: "The fool lifteth up his voice in laughter," (Sir 21:23).
THE ELEVENTH DEGREE OF HUMILITY: When you speak, do so gently and without
laughter, humbly and seriously, in few and sensible words, and with clamour.
It is written: "A wise man is known by the fewness of his words."
THE TWELFTH DEGREE OF HUMILITY: Not only should one be humble of heart,
but should also in behaviour always manifest humility to those who look
upon you. That is to say, whether at the Work of GOD, in the oratory, in
the monastery, in the garden, on the road, in the fields, or anywhere else,
and whether sitting, walking, or standing, you should always have your
head bowed and eyes downcast. Constantly say in your heart what was said
by the publican who would not so much as lift up his eyes towards Heaven:
" O'GOD, be merciful to me a sinner," (Luke 18:13).
FINALLY, when all these degrees of humility have been climbed, you will
presently come to that perfect love of GOD which casts out all fear. Let
us now imitate JESUS in his humility and follow in His example, for as
Our Lord said:
"Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart."
The following pages are a translation of the Ricordi e
Detti di San Filippo Neri, published at Turin. Their purpose cannot be better de
scribed than in the words of the Italian editor: “It was the aim and study of
the holy father, Philip Neri, to introduce among Christians a daily spiritual
repast. His children, who have drunk of the spirit of their holy father, have
always sought to cultivate this custom of a spiritual repast among devout
persons; and among the plans which they have tried, and the practices they have
introduced, one, gentle reader, is a collection of the sayings and doings of the
Saint, distributed into the number of the days of the year, to the end that
every one might have each day, either a maxim to meditate upon, or a virtue to
copy. The method of using these sayings and doings, is to [b]read only one of
them each day, and that the one set apart for the current day, (for to read more
would not be food but curiosity,)[/b] and then to regulate the actions of the
day by that maxim or example. I am sure that by doing this you will reap an
abundant harvest, especially if to the maxim or example you add some particular
devotion to the Saint who was the author of it. I think it useless to make any
long commendation of this practice; but it is well you should know that by the
daily suggestion of such truths, the fruit which the saint obtained in Rome was
immense; and so also will it be in your soul if you practise it in a true spirit
of devotion. Farewell.”
F.W. FABER.
St. Wilfrid’s, Feast of St. Bridget, 1847.
1. WELL! when shall we have a mind to begin to do good?
2. Nulla dies sine linea: Do not let a day pass without
doing some good during it.
3. We must not be behind time in doing good; for death
will not be behind his time.
4. Happy is the youth, because he has time before him to
do good.
5. It is well to choose some one good devotion, and to
stick to it, and never to abandon it.
6. He who wishes for anything but Christ, does not know
what he wishes; he who asks for anything but Christ, does not know what he is
asking; he who works, and not for Christ, does not know what he is doing.
7. Let no one wear a mask, otherwise he will do ill; and
if he has one, let him burn it.
8. Spiritual persons ought to be equally ready to
experience sweetness and consolation in the things of God, or to suffer and keep
their ground in drynesses of spirit and devotion, and for as long as God
pleases, without their making any complaint about it.
9. God has no need of men.
10. If God be with us, there is no one else left to
fear.
11. He who wishes to be perfectly obeyed, should give
but few orders.
12. A man should keep himself down, and not busy himself
in mirabilibus super se.
13. Men should often renew their good resolutions, and
not lose heart because they are tempted against them.
14. The name of Jesus, pronounced with reverence and
affection, has a kind of power to soften the heart.
15. Obedience is a short cut to perfection.
16. They who really wish to advance in the ways of God,
must give themselves up into the hands of their superiors always and in
everything; and they who are not living under obedience must subject themselves
of their own accord to a learned and discreet confessor, whom they must obey in
the place of God, disclosing to him with perfect freedom and simplicity the
affairs of their soul, and they should never come to any resolution without his
advice.
17. There is nothing which gives greater security to our
actions, or more effectually cuts the snares the devil lays for us, than to
follow another person’s will, rather than our own, in doing good.
18. Before a man chooses his confessor, he ought to
think well about it, and pray about it also; but when he has once chosen, he
ought not to change, except for most urgent reasons, but put the utmost
confidence in his director.
19. When the devil has failed in making a man fall, he
puts forward all his energies to create distrust between the penitent and the
confessor, and so by little and little he gains his end at last.
20. Let persons in the world sanctify themselves in
their own houses, for neither the court, professions, or labour, are any
hindrance to the service of God.
21. Obedience is the true holocaust which we sacrifice
to God on the altar of our hearts.
22. In order to be really obedient, it is not enough to
do what obedience commands, we must do it without reasoning upon it.
23. Our Blessed Lady ought to be our love and our
consolation.
24. The good works which we do of our own will, are not
so meritorious as those that are done under obedience.
25. The most beautiful prayer we can make, is to say to
God, “As Thou knowest and willest, O Lord, so do with me.”
26. When tribulations, infirmities, and contradictions
come, we must not run away in a fright, but vanquish them like men.
27. It is not enough to see that God wishes the good we
aim at, but that He wishes it through our instrumentality, in our manner and in
our time; and we come to discern all this by true obedience.
28. In order to be perfect, we must not only obey and
honour our superiors; we must honour our equals and inferiors also.
29. In dealing with our neighbour, we must assume as
much pleasantness of manner as we can, and by this affability win him to the way
of virtue.
30. A man who leads a common life under obedience, is
more to be esteemed than one who does great penance after his own will.
31. To mortify one passion, no matter how small, is a
greater help in the spiritual life than many abstinences, fasts, and
disciplines.
1. He who wishes to be wise without the true Wisdom, or
saved without the Saviour, is not well, but sick - is not wise, but a fool.
2. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin is actually necessary,
because there is no better means of obtaining God’s graces than through His most
holy mother.
3. A man should force himself to be obedient, even in
little things which appear of no moment; because he will thus render the
practice of obedience in great matters easy to himself.
4. He who always acts under obedience, may rest assured
that he will not have to give an account of his actions to God.
5. Perfection does not consist in such outward things as
shedding tears and the like, but in true and solid virtues.
6. Tears are no sign that a man is in the grace of God,
neither must we infer that one who weeps when he speaks of holy and devout
things necessarily leads a holy life.
7. Cheerfulness strengthens the heart and makes us
persevere in a good life; wherefore the servant of God ought always to be in
good spirits.
8. When a man is freed from a temptation or any other
distress, let him take great care to show fitting gratitude to God for the
benefit he has received.
9. We must accept the adversities which God sends us
without reasoning too much upon them, and we must take for granted that it is
the best thing which could happen to us.
10. We must always remember that God does everything
well, although we may not see the reason of what He does.
11. Every one ought to give in readily to the opinion of
another, and to argue in favour of another and against himself, and take things
in good part.
12. There is nothing more to the purpose for exciting a
spirit of prayer, than the reading of spiritual books.
13. Let a man frequent the holy Sacraments, go to
sermons, and be often reading the Lives of Saints.
14. Let a man always think that he has God before his
eyes.
15. When a man is in an occasion of sin, let him look
what he is doing, get himself out of the occasion, and avoid the sin.
16. There is nothing good in this world: Vanitas
vanitatum, et omnia vanitas.
17. We must die at last.
18. Beginners in religion ought to exercise themselves
principally in meditation on the Four Last Things.
19. He who does not go down into hell while he is alive,
runs a great risk of going there after he is dead.
20. The greatest help to perseverance in the spiritual
life is the habit of prayer, especially under the direction of our confessor.
21. There is nothing the devil fears so much, or so much
tries to hinder, as prayer.
22. An excellent method of preserving ourselves from
relapsing into serious faults, is to say every evening, “To-morrow I may be
dead.”
23. A man without prayer is an animal without the use of
reason.
24. The religious state is indeed the highest, but it is
not suitable for all.
25. A most excellent means of learning how to pray, is
to acknowledge ourselves unworthy of such a benefit, and to put ourselves
entirely into the hands of the Lord.
26. The true preparation for prayer consists in the
exercise of mortification; for he who wishes to give himself up to prayer
without mortification, is like a bird wishing to fly before it is fledged.
27. We can never arrive at the contemplative life, if we
do not first exercise ourselves laboriously in the active life.
28. We must exercise the spirit which God gives us in
prayer, and follow that; so that, when, for example, it inclines us to meditate
on the Passion, we must not wish to meditate on some other mystery.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MARCH.
1. We must never pray for a favour for anyone, except
conditionally, saying, “If it please God,” or the like.
2. When a spiritual person feels a great calmness of
mind in asking anything of God, it is a good sign that God either has granted
it, or will do so shortly.
3. A man ought never to think he has done any good, or
rest contented with any degree of perfection he may have attained, because
Christ has given us the type of our perfection, in putting before us the
perfection of the Eternal Father. Be ye perfect, even as your heavenly Father is
perfect.
4. The sweetness which some experience in prayer, is
milk which our Lord gives as a relish to those who are just beginning to serve
Him.
5. To leave our prayer when we are called to do some act
of charity for our neighbour, is not really a quitting of prayer, but leaving
Christ for Christ, that is, depriving ourselves of spiritual sweetnesses in
order to gain souls.
6. It is good for a man to go from prayer rather with an
appetite and desire to return to it, than satiated and weary.
7. The wisdom of the Scriptures is learned rather by
prayer than by study.
8. A diligent charity in ministering to the sick, is a
compendious way to the acquisition of perfect virtue.
9. Let women remain indoors, and look after their
families, and not be desirous of going into public.
10. We must pray incessantly for the gift of
perseverance.
11. We must not leave off our prayers be cause of
distractions and restlessness of mind, although it seems useless to go on with
them. He who perseveres for the whole of his accustomed time, gently recalling
his mind to the subject of his prayer, merits greatly.
12. If in times of dryness in prayer we make acts of
humility, self-knowledge, protestations of our own inability to help ourselves,
and petitions for God’s assistance, all this is real and substantial prayer.
13. The best remedy for dryness of spirit, is to picture
ourselves as beggars in the presence of God and the Saints, and like a beggar,
to go first to one saint, then to another, to ask a spiritual alms of them with
the same earnestness as a poor fellow in the streets would ask an alms of us.
14. We may ask a spiritual alms even corporally, by
going first to the church of one Saint, and then to the church of another, to
make our petition.
15. Without prayer a man will not persevere long in
spirituality; we must have recourse to this most powerful means of salvation
every day.
16. If young men wish to protect themselves from all
danger of impurity, let them never retire to their own rooms immediately after
dinner, either to read or write, or do anything else; but let them remain in
conversation, because at that time the devil is wont to assault us with more
than usual vehemence, and this is that demon which is called in Scripture the
noonday demon, and from which holy David prayed to be delivered.
17. If young men would preserve their purity, let them
avoid bad company.
18. Let them also avoid nourishing their bodies
delicately.
19. It is God’s custom to interweave human life with a
trouble and a consolation, at least, of an interior sort, alternately.
20. Young men should be very careful to avoid idleness.
21. When fathers have given their sons a good education,
and put everything clearly and distinctly in train for them, the sons who
succeed them, and continue to follow the road marked out for them, will have the
advantage of seeing their family persevere in holy ways, and in the fear of God.
22. In order to preserve their purity, young men should
frequent the Sacraments, and especially confession.
23. We must never trust ourselves, for it is the devil’s
way first to get us to feel secure, and then to make us fall.
24. We ought to fear and fly temptations of the flesh,
even in sickness, and in old age itself, aye, and so long as we can open and
shut our eyelids, for the spirit of incontinence gives no truce either to place,
time, or person.
25. Our sweet Christ, the Word Incarnate, has given
Himself to us for everything that was necessary for us, even to the hard and
ignominious death upon the cross.
26. One of the most efficacious means of keeping
ourselves chaste, is to have compassion for those who fall through their
frailty, and never to boast in the least of being free, but with all humility to
acknowledge that whatever we have is from the mercy of God.
27. To be without pity for other men’s falls, is an
evident sign that we shall fall ourselves shortly.
28. In the matter of purity there is no greater danger
than the not fearing the danger: when a man does not distrust himself, and is
without fear, it is all over with him.
29. The devil generally makes use of the weaker sex when
he wishes to cause us to fall.
30. In order to begin well, and to finish better, it is
quite necessary to hear mass every day, unless there be some lawful hindrance in
the way.
APRIL.
1. To acquire and preserve the virtue of chastity, we
have need of a good and experienced confessor.
2. Let a man who desires the first place take the last.
3. As soon as a man feels that he is tempted, he should
fly to God, and devoutly utter that ejaculation which the fathers of the desert
so much esteemed: Deus in adjutorium meum intende; Domine ad adjuvandum me
festina: or that verse, cor mundum crea in me Deus.
4. When sensual thoughts come into the mind, we ought
immediately to make use of our minds, and fix them instantaneously upon
something or other, no matter what.
5. Never say, “What great things the Saints do,” but,
“What great things God does in His Saints.”
6. In the warfare of the flesh, only cowards gain the
victory; that is to say, those who fly.
7. We should be less alarmed for one who is tempted in
the flesh, and who resists by avoiding the occasions, than for one who is not
tempted and is not careful to avoid the occasions.
8. When a person puts himself in an occasion of sin,
saying, “I shall not fall, I shall not commit it,” it is an almost infallible
sign that he will fall, and with all the greater damage to his soul.
9. It is a most useful thing to say often, and from the
heart, “Lord, do not put any confidence in me, for I am sure to fall if Thou
dost not help me;” or, “O my Lord, look for nothing but evil from me.”
10. In temptation we ought not to say, “I will do,” “I
will say,” for it is a species of presumption and self-confidence; we ought
rather to say with humility, “I know what I ought to do, but I do not know what
I shall do.”
11. The stench of impurity before God and the angels is
so great, that no stench in the world can equal it.
12. We must not trust in ourselves, but take the advice
of our spiritual father, and recommend ourselves to everybody’s prayers.
13 We must avoid lies as we would a pestilence.
14. When we go to confession, we should accuse ourselves
of our worst sins first, and of those things which we are most ashamed of,
because by this means we put the devil to greater confusion, and reap more fruit
from our confession.
15. One of the very best means of obtaining humility, is
sincere and frequent confession.
16. In trying to get rid of bad habits, it is of the
greatest importance not to put off going to confession after a fall, and also to
keep to the same confessor.
17. In visiting the dying we should not say many words
to them, but rather help them by praying for them.
18. A sick man should make God a present of his will;
and if it turns out that he has to suffer for a long time, he must submit to the
Divine Will.
19. The sick man must not fear when he is tempted to
lose confidence; for if he has sinned, Christ has suffered and paid for him.
20. Let the sick man enter into the Side of Jesus and
His most holy Wounds; let him not be afraid, but combat manfully, and he will
come forth victorious.
21. The true way to advance in holy virtues, is to
persevere in a holy cheerfulness.
22. The cheerful are much easier to guide in the
spiritual life than the melancholy.
23. Those who wish to enter upon the religious life,
should first of all mortify themselves for a long time, and particularly mortify
their will in things to which they have the greatest repugnance.
24. Excessive sadness seldom springs from any other
source than pride.
25. Charity and cheerfulness, or charity and humility,
should be our motto.
26. It is very necessary to be cheerful, but we must not
on that account give in to a buffooning spirit.
27. Buffoonery incapacitates a person from receiving any
additional spirituality from God.
28. Nay more, it roots up the little a man may have
already acquired.
29. At table, especially where there are guests, we
ought to eat every kind of food, and not say, “I like this,” and “I do not like
that.”
30. Human language cannot express the beauty of a soul
which dies in a state of grace.
1. If a man finds it very hard to forgive injuries, let
him look at a crucifix, and think that Christ has shed all His Blood for him,
and not only forgave his enemies, but prayed the Eternal Father to forgive them
also.
2. Let him remember also that when he says the Pater
Noster every day, instead of asking pardon for his sins, he is calling down
vengeance upon them.
3. Men are generally the carpenters of their own
crosses.
4. Let us concentrate ourselves so completely in the
divine love, and enter so far into the living fountain of wisdom, through the
wounded Side of our Incarnate God, that we may deny ourselves and our self-love,
and so be unable to find our way out of that Wound again.
5. We must not give up praying and asking, because we do
not get what we ask all at once.
6. He who is unable to spend a long time together in
prayer, should often lift up his mind to God by ejaculations.
7. We must often remember what Christ said, that not he
who begins, but he that perseveres to the end, shall be saved.
8. We ought to abhor every kind of affectation, whether
in talking, dressing, or anything else.
9. When a scrupulous person has once made up his mind
that he has not consented to a temptation, he must not reason the matter over
again to see whether he has really consented or not, for the same temptations
often return by making this sort of reflections.
10. If those who are molested by scruples wish to know
whether they have consented to a suggestion or not, especially in thoughts, they
should see whether, during the temptation, they have always had a lively love to
the virtue opposed to the vice in respect of which they were tempted, and hatred
to that same vice, and this is mostly a good proof that they have not consented.
11. The scrupulous should remit themselves always and in
everything to the judgment of their confessor, and accustom themselves to have a
contempt for their own scruples.
12. Scruples are an infirmity which will make a truce
with a man, but very rarely peace; humility alone comes off conqueror over them.
13. Even in bodily indispositions spiritual remedies are
the most helpful.
14. As much love as we give to creatures, just so much
we steal from the Creator.
15. Penitents ought never to force their confessor to
give them leave to do anything against his inclination.
16. He who has the slightest taint of avarice about him,
will never make the least advance in virtue.
17. Avarice is the pest of the soul.
18. Experience shows that men given to carnal sins are
converted sooner than those who are given to avarice.
19. He who wishes for goods will never have devotion.
20. All sins are highly displeasing to God, but above
all sensuality and avarice, which are very difficult to cure.
21. We must always pray God not to let the spirit of
avarice domineer over us, but that we may live detached from the affections of
this world,
22. If we find nothing in the world to please us, we
ought to be pleased by this very not finding anything to please us.
23. He who wishes to attain to perfection must have no
attachment to anything.
24. It is a good thing to leave the world and our
possessions to serve God, but it is not enough.
25. The greatness of our love of God must be tested by
the desire we have of suffering for His love.
26. Let us strive after purity of heart, for the Holy
Spirit dwells in candid and simple minds.
27. The Holy Spirit is the master of prayer, and causes
us to abide in continual peace and cheerfulness, which is a foretaste of
Paradise.
28. If we wish the Holy Spirit to teach us how to pray,
we must practise humility and obedience.
29. The fruit we ought to get from prayer, is to do what
is pleasing to the Lord.
30. A virtuous life consists in mortifying vices, sins,
bad thoughts, and evil affections, and in exercising ourselves in the
acquisition of holy virtues.
31. Let us be humble and keep ourselves down:-
Obedience! Humility! Detachment!
1. The love which our Blessed Lady had for God was so
great, that she suffered keenly through her desire of union with Him; hence the
Eternal Father, to console her, sent her His only and beloved Son.
2. If you wish to come where I am going, that is, to
glory, you must come this road, that is, through thorns.
3. Before communion, we ought to exercise ourselves in
many acts of virtue.
4. Prayer and communion are not to be made or desired
for the sake of the devotion we feel in them, for that is seeking self, and not
God; but we must be frequent in both the one and the other in order to become
humble, obedient, gentle, and patient.
5. When we see these virtues in a man, then we know that
he has really gathered the fruit of prayer and of communion.
6. Our sweet Jesus, through the excess of His love and
liberality, has left Himself to us in the Most Holy Sacrament.
7. Let all go to the Eucharistic Table with a great
desire for that Sacred Food. Sitientes! Sitientes!
8. To feel any displeasure because we are refused the
Communion, is a sign of hardiness, pride, and a want of mortification.
9. Those who are going to Communion should prepare
themselves for more temptations than usual, for the Lord will not have us stand
idle.
10. It is a good thing, during the week that follows our
communion-day, to do something more than usual; for example, to say five Our
Fathers and Hail Maries with our arms extended, or an extra rosary.
11. It is not a good thing to load ourselves with many
spiritual exercises; it is better to undertake a little, and go on with it: for
if the devil can persuade us to omit an exercise once, he will easily get us to
omit it the second time, and the third, until at last all our pious practices
will melt away.
12. We must take care of little faults: for he who once
begins to go backward, and to make light of such defects, brings a sort of
grossness over his conscience, and then goes wrong altogether.
13. The servant of God ought to seek knowledge, but
never to show it or make a parade of it.
14. Let us always go to confession with sincerity, and
take this as our rule - Never out of human respect to conceal anything from our
confessor, however inconsiderable it may be.
15. He who conceals a grave sin in confession, is
completely in the devil’s hands.
16. Penitents should not generally change their
confessors, nor confessors be forward to receive the penitents of others, a few
particular cases excepted.
17. When a person who has been living a spiritual life
for a long time falls into a serious fault, there is no better way of raising
him up again than by exhorting him to manifest his fall to any pious friend with
whom he has a particular intimacy: and God will reconduct him to his first
estate for the sake of his humility.
18. For young men to make sure of persevering, it is
absolutely necessary that they should avoid wicked companions, and be familiar
with good ones.
19. In the spiritual life there are three degrees: the
first may be called the animal life; this is the life of those who run after
sensible devotion, which God generally gives to beginners, to allure them
onwards by that sweetness to the spiritual life, just as an animal is drawn on
by a sensible object.
20. The second degree may be called the human life; this
is the life of those who do not experience any sensible sweetness, but by the
help of virtue combat their own passions.
21. The third degree may be called the angelic life;
this is the life which they come to, who, having been exercised for a long time
in the taming of their own passions, receive from God a quiet, tranquil, and
almost angelic life, even in this world, feeling no trouble or repugnance in
anything.
22. Of these three degrees it is well to persevere in
the second, because the Lord will grant the third in His own good time.
23. We must not be too ready to trust young men who have
great devotion; we must wait till their wings are grown, and then see what sort
of a flight they make.
24. Outward mortifications are a great help towards the
acquisition of interior mortification and the other virtues.
25. He who cannot put up with the loss of his honour,
can never make any advance in spiritual things.
26. It is generally better to give the body rather too
much food than rather too little; for the too much can be easily subtracted, but
when a man has injured his constitution by the too little, it is not so easy to
get right again.
27. The devil has a crafty custom of sometimes urging
spiritual persons to penances and mortifications, in order that by going
indiscreet lengths in this way, they may so weaken themselves as to be unable to
attend to good works of greater importance; or be so intimidated by the
sickliness they have brought upon themselves as to abandon their customary
devotions, and at last turn their backs on the service of God.
28. Those who pay a moderate attention to the
mortification of their bodies, and direct their main intention to mortify the
will and understanding, even in matters of the slightest moment, are more to be
esteemed than they who give themselves up exclusively to corporal penances and
macerations.
29. We ought to desire to do great things for the
service of God, and not content ourselves with a moderate goodness, but wish, if
it were possible, to surpass in sanctity and love even St. Peter and St. Paul.
30. Even though a man may be unable to attain such a
height of sanctity, he ought to desire it, so as to do at least in desire what
he cannot carry out in effect.
1. We ought to make no account of abstinences and fasts,
when there is self-will in the matter.
2. Our Blessed Lady is the dispenser of all the favours
which the goodness of God concedes to the Sons of Adam.
3. In seeking for counsel it is necessary sometimes to
hear what our inferiors think, and to recommend ourselves to their prayers.
4. A man ought never to say one word in his own praise,
however true it may be, no, not even in a joking way.
5. Whenever we do a good work, and somebody else takes
the credit of it, we ought to rejoice, and acknowledge it as a gift from God.
Anyhow, we ought not to be sorry, because if others diminish our glory before
men, we shall recover it with all the more honour before God.
6. Let us pray God, if He gives us any virtue or any
gift, to keep it hidden even from ourselves, that we may preserve our humility,
and not take occasion of pride because of it.
7. We ought not to publish or manifest to every one the
inspirations which God sends us, or the favours He grants us. Secretum meum mihi!
Secretum meum mihi!
8. In order to avoid all risk of vain-glory, we ought to
make some of our particular devotions in our own rooms, and never seek for
sweetnesses and sensible consolations in public places.
9. The true medicine to cure us of pride, is to keep
down and thwart touchiness of mind.
10. When a man is reproved for anything, he ought not to
take it too much to heart, for we commit a greater fault by our sadness than by
the sin for which we are reproved.
11. They who when they have got a little devotion think
they are some great one, are only fit to be laughed at.
12. Humility is the true guardian of chastity.
13. When a man has fallen he ought to acknowledge it in
some such way as this: “Ah, if I had been humble I should not have fallen!”
14. We ought to be pleased to hear that others are
advancing in the service of God, especially if they are our relations or
friends; and we ought to rejoice that they share in whatever spiritual good we
may have ourselves.
15. In order the better to gain souls, in visiting the
sick, we ought to imagine that what we do for the sick man we are doing for
Christ Himself; we shall thus perform this work of mercy with more love and
greater spiritual profit.
16. He whose health will not permit him to fast in
honour of Christ and our Blessed Lady, will please them much more by giving some
alms more than usual.
17. Nothing is more dangerous for beginners in the
spiritual life, than to wish to play the master, and to guide and convert
others.
18. Beginners should look after their own conversion and
be humble, lest they should fancy they had done some great thing, and so should
fall into pride.
19. If we wish to help our neighbour, we must reserve
neither place, hour, or season, for ourselves.
20. Avoid every kind of singularity, for it is generally
the hot-bed of pride, especially spiritual pride.
21. A man must not, however, abstain from doing a good
work merely to got out of the way of a temptation to vain-glory.
22. The love of God makes us do great things.
23. We may distinguish three kinds of vain-glory; the
first we may call mistress; that is, when vain-glory goes before our works, and
we work for the sake of it: the second we may call companion; that is, when a
man does not do a work for the sake of vain-glory, but feels complacency in
doing it: the third we may call servant; that is, when vain-glory rises in our
work, but we instantly repress it. Above all things never let vain-glory be
mistress.
24. When vain-glory is companion, it does not take away
our merit; but perfection requires that it should be servant.
25. He who works purely for the love of God, desires
nothing but His honour, and thus is ready in every thing either to act or not to
act, and that not in indifferent matters only, but even in good ones; and he is
always resigned to the Will of God.
26. The Lord grants in a moment what we may have been
unable to obtain in dozens of years.
27. To obtain perfectly the gift of humility, four
things are required: to despise the world, to despise no person, to despise
one’s self, to despise being despised.
28. Perfection consists in leading captive our own will,
and in playing the king over it.
20. A man ought to mortify his understanding in little
things, if he wishes easily to mortify it in great ones, and to advance in the
way of virtue.
30. Without mortification nothing can be done.
31. We ought to hope for and love the glory of God by
means of a good life.
1. St. Peter and the other apostles and apostolical men,
seeing the Son of God born in poverty, and then living so absolutely without
anything, that He had not where to lay His Head, and contemplating Him dead and
naked on a cross, stripped themselves also of all things, and took the road of
the evangelical counsels.
2. Nothing unites the soul to God more closely, or
breeds contempt of the world sooner, than being harassed and distressed.
3. In this life there is no purgatory; it is either hell
or paradise; for to him who serves God truly, every trouble and infirmity turns
into consolations, and through all kinds of trouble he has a paradise within
himself even in this world: and he who does not serve God truly, and gives
himself up to sensuality, has one hell in this world, and another in the next.
4. To get good from reading the Lives of the Saints, and
other spiritual books, we ought not to read out of curiosity, or skimmingly, but
with pauses; and when we feel ourselves warmed, we ought not to pass on, but to
stop and follow up the spirit which is stirring in us, and when we feel it no
longer then to pursue our reading.
5. To begin and end well, devotion to our Blessed Lady,
the Mother of God, is nothing less than indispensable.
6. We have no time to go to sleep here, for Paradise was
not made for poltroons.
7. We must have confidence in God, who is what He always
has been, and we must not be disheartened because things turn out contrary to
us.
8. Men should not change from a good state of life to
another, although it may be better, without taking grave counsel.
9. Let every one stay at home, that is, within himself,
and sit in judgment on his own actions, without going abroad to investigate and
criticise those of others.
10. The true servants of God endure life and desire
death.
11. There is not a finer thing on earth, than to make a
virtue of necessity.
12. To preserve our cheerfulness amid sicknesses and
troubles, is a sign of a right and good spirit.
13. A man should not ask tribulations of God, presuming
on his being able to bear them: there should be the greatest possible caution in
this matter, for he who bears what God sends him daily does not do a small
thing.
14. They who have been exercised in the service of God
for a long time, may in their prayers imagine all sorts of insults offered to
them, such as blows, wounds, and the like, and so in order to imitate Christ by
their charity, may accustom their hearts beforehand to forgive real injuries
when they come.
15. Let us think of Mary, for she is that unspeakable
virgin, that glorious lady, who conceived and brought forth, without detriment
to her virginity, Him whom the width of the heavens cannot contain within
itself.
16. The true servant of God acknowledges no other
country but heaven.
17. When God infuses extraordinary sweetnesses into the
soul, a man ought to prepare for some serious tribulation or temptation.
18. When we have these extraordinary sweetnesses, we
ought to ask of God fortitude to bear whatever He may please to send us, and
then to stand very much upon our guard, because there is danger of sin behind.
19. One of the most excellent means of obtaining
perseverance is discretion; we must not wish to do everything at once, or become
a saint in four days.
20. In our clothes we ought, like S. Bernard, to love
poverty, but not filthiness.
21. He who wishes to advance in spirituality, should
never slur over his defects negligently without particular examination of
conscience, even independent of the time of sacramental confession.
22. A man should not so attach himself to the means as
to forget the end; neither must we give ourselves so much to mortify the flesh
as to forget to mortify the brain, which is the chief thing after all.
23. We ought to desire the virtues of prelates,
cardinals, and popes, but not their dignities.
24. The skin of self-love is fastened strongly on our
hearts, and it hurts us to flay it off, and the more we get down to the quick,
the more keen and difficult it is.
25. This first step, which we ought to have taken of
ourselves already, we have always in our mind, yet never put it in execution.
26. A man ought to set about putting his good
resolutions in practice, and not change them lightly.
27. We must not omit our ordinary devotions for every
trifling occasion that may come in the way, such as going to confession on our
fixed days, and particularly hearing mass on week-days: if we wish to go out
walking, or anything of that sort, let us make our confession, and perform our
usual exercises first, and then go.
28. It is very useful for those who minister the word of
God, or give themselves up to prayer, to read the works of authors whose names
begin with S, such as Saint Augustine, Saint Bernard, &c.
29. Nothing more glorious can happen to a Christian,
than to suffer for Christ.
30. There is no surer or clearer proof of the love of
God than adversity.
31. When God intends to grant a man any particular
virtue, it is His way to let him be tempted to the opposite vice.
1. Persons who live in the world should persevere in
coming to church to hear sermons, and remember to read spiritual books,
especially the Lives of the Saints.
2. When temptation comes, a man should remember the
sweetnesses he has had in prayer at other times, and he will thus easily master
the temptation.
3. The fervour of spirituality is usually very great in
the beginning, but afterwards, the Lord fingit se longius ire, makes as though
He would go farther: in such a case we must stand firm and not be disturbed,
because God is then withdrawing His most holy Hand of sweetnesses, to see if we
are strong; and then, if we resist and overcome those tribulations and
temptations, the sweetnesses and heavenly consolations return.
4. We ought to apply ourselves to the acquisition of
virtue, because in the end the whole terminates in greater sweetnesses than
before, and the Lord gives us back all our favours and consolations doubled.
5. It is easy to infuse a most fervent devotion into
others, even in a short time; but the great matter is - to persevere.
6. He who continues in anger, strife, and a bitter
spirit, has a taste of the air of hell.
7. To obtain the protection of our Blessed Lady in our
most urgent wants, it is very useful to say sixty-three times, after the fashion
of a Rosary, “Virgin Mary, Mother of God, pray to Jesus for me.”
8. When we make this prayer to our Blessed Lady, we give
her every possible praise in the least possible compass, because we call her by
her name of MARY, and give her those two great titles of Virgin, and Mother of
God, and then name JESUS, the fruit of her most pure womb.
9. The things of this world do not remain constantly
with us, for if we do not leave them before we actually die, in death at least
we all infallibly depart as empty-handed as we came.
10. To pray well requires the whole man.
11. The discipline and other like things ought not to be
practised without the leave of our confessor; he who does it of his own mind,
will either hurt his constitution or become proud, fancying to himself that he
has done some great thing.
12. God takes especial delight in the humility of a man
who believes that he has not yet begun to do any good.
13. Before going to confession or taking counsel with
our director, it will be very useful to pray for a sincere good will to become a
really holy man.
14. He who runs away from one cross, will meet a bigger
one on his road.
15. Christ died for sinners; we must take heart,
therefore, and hope that Paradise will be ours, provided only we repent of our
sins, and do good.
16. Never let a sick man set himself to reason with the
devil, otherwise he will inevitably be taken in; let him appeal to his ghostly
father, of whom the devil stands in mortal fear.
17. He who serves God must do the best he can not to
receive the reward of his labours in this world.
18. In giving alms to the poor we must act as good
ministers of the Providence of God.
19. He who feels that the vice of avarice has got hold
of him, should not wish to observe fasts of supererogation, but to give alms.
20. Perfection cannot be attained without the greatest
toil.
21. As soon as we are stripped of the sordid garb of
avarice, we shall be clothed with the royal and imperial vest of the opposite
virtue, liberality.
22. Even in the midst of the crowd we can be going on to
perfection.
23. Not everything which is better in itself is better
for each man in particular.
24. Be devout to the Madonna, keep yourself from sin,
and God will deliver you from your evils.
25. If we wish to keep peace with our neighbours, we
should never remind any one of his natural defects.
26. We must sometimes bear with little defects in
others, as we have against our own will to bear with natural defects in
ourselves.
27. Men of rank ought to dress like their equals, and be
accompanied by servants, as their state requires, but modesty should go along
with it all.
28. We should not be quick at correcting others, but
rather to think of ourselves first.
29. Let us think, if we only got to heaven, what a sweet
and easy thing it will be there to be always saying with the angels and the
saints, Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.
30. The best way to prepare for death is to spend every
day of life as though it were the last.
1. In passing from a bad state to a good one there is no
need of counsel, but in passing from a good one to a better, time, counsel, and
prayer must go to the decision.
2. We must continually pray to God for the conversion of
sinners, thinking of the joy there is in heaven both to God and the angels in
the conversion of each separate sinner.
3. To speak of ourselves without cause, saying, “I have
said,” “I have done,” incapacitates us for receiving spiritual consolations.
4. We ought to desire to be in such a condition as to
want sixpence, and not be able to get it.
5. Let us despise gold, silver, jewels, and all that the
blind and cheated world vainly and ignorantly prizes.
6. Let us learn here below to give God the confession of
praise which we ought to hope to give Him in heaven above.
7. He who wishes to go to Paradise must be an honest man
and a good Christian, and not give heed to dreams.
8. Fathers and mothers of families should bring up their
children virtuously, looking at them rather as God’s children than their own;
and to count life and health, and all they possess, as loans which they hold of
God.
9. In saying the Pater Noster, we ought to reflect that
we have God for our Father in heaven, and so go on making a sort of meditation
of it word by word.
10. To make ourselves disaffected to the things of the
world, it is a good thing to think seriously of the end of them, saying to
ourselves, “And then? And then?”
11. The devil, who is a most haughty spirit, is never
more completely mastered than by humility of heart, and a simple, clear,
undisguised manifestation of our sins and temptations to our confessor.
12. We ought not ordinarily to believe prophecies or to
desire them, because it is possible there may be many deceits and snares of the
devil therein.
13. It is a most useful thing, when we see another doing
any spiritual good to his neighbour, to seek by prayer to have a part in that
same good which the Lord is working by the hand of another.
14. At communion we ought to ask for the remedy of the
vice to which we feel ourselves most inclined.
15. To him who truly loves God, nothing more displeasing
can happen than the lack of occasion to suffer for Him.
16. We ought to hate no one, for God never comes where
there is no love of our neighbours.
17. We must accept our own death and that of our
relations when God shall send it to us, and not desire it at any other time; for
it is sometimes necessary that it should happen at that particular moment for
the good of our own and their souls.
18. The perfection of a Christian consists in knowing
how to mortify himself for the love of Christ.
19. He who desires ecstasies and visions does not know
what he is desiring.
20. As for those who run after visions, dreams, and the
like, we must lay hold of them by the feet and pull them to the ground by force,
lest they should fall into the devil’s net.
21. According to the rules of the fathers and ancient
monks, whoever wishes to advance in perfection must hold the world in no
reputation.
22. There is nothing more displeasing to God, than our
being inflated with self-esteem.
23. When a man knows how to break down his own will and
to deny his soul what it desires, he has got a good degree in virtue.
24. When a man falls into any bodily infirmity, he must
lie and think, and say, “God has sent me this sickness, because He wishes
something of me; I must therefore make up my mind to change my life and become
better.”
25. When a man has a tribulation sent him from God, and
is impatient, we may say to him, “You are not worthy that God should visit you;
you do not deserve so great a good.”
26. Poverty and tribulations are given us by God as
trials of our fidelity and virtue, as well as to enrich us with more real and
lasting riches in heaven.
27. Scruples ought to be most carefully avoided, as they
disquiet the mind, and make a man melancholy.
28. Let us throw ourselves into the arms of God, and be
sure that if He wishes anything of us, He will make us good for all He desires
us to do for Him.
29. Nothing helps a man more than prayer.
30. Idleness is a pestilence to a Christian man; we
ought always therefore to be doing something, especially when we are alone in
our rooms, lest the devil should come in and catch us idle.
31. We ought always to be afraid, and never put any
confidence in ourselves; for the devil assaults us on a sudden, and darkens our
understanding; and he who does not live in fear is overcome in a moment, because
he has not the help of the Lord.
1. The great thing is to become saints.
2. In order to enter Paradise we must be well justified
and well purified.
3. Let the young man look after the flesh, and the old
man after avarice, and we shall all be saints together.
4. Where there is no great mortification there is no
great sanctity.
5. The sanctity of a man lies in the breadth of three
fingers, (the forehead,) that is to say, in mortifying the understanding, which
would fain reason upon things.
6. He who really wishes to become a saint must never
defend himself, except in a few rare cases, but always acknowledge himself in
fault, even when what is alleged against him is untrue.
7. What we know of the virtues of the saints is the
least part of them.
8. The relics of the saints ought to be venerated, and
we may laudably keep them in our room; but it is not well, unless for some grave
occasion, to wear them on our persons, because it will often happen then that
they are not treated with all the respect which is becoming.
9. The old patriarchs possessed riches, and had wives
and children, but they lived without defiling their affections with these
things, although they possessed them, because they only allowed themselves the
use of them, and were ready to abandon them in whatever way the Majesty of God
might require of them.
10. We ought to pray God importunately to increase in us
every day the light and heat of his goodness.
11. It is an old custom with the servants of God always
to have some little prayers ready, and to be darting them up to heaven
frequently during the day, lifting their minds to God from out of the filth of
this world. He who adopts this plan will get great fruit with little pains.
12. Tribulations, if we bear them patiently for the love
of God, appear bitter at first, but they grow sweet, when one gets accustomed to
the taste.
13. The man who loves God with a true heart, and prizes
him above all things, sometimes sheds floods of tears at prayer, and has in
abundance of favours and spiritual feelings coming upon him with such vehemence,
that he is forced to cry out, “Lord! let me be quiet!”
14. But a man ought not to seek for these sweetnesses
and sensible devotions forcibly, for he will be easily deluded by the devil, and
will run a risk of injuring his health.
15. When the soul lies resignedly in the hands of God,
and is contented with the divine pleasure, it is in good hands, and has the best
security that good will happen to it.
16. To be entirely conformed and resigned to the Divine
Will, is truly a road in which we cannot get wrong, and is the only road which
leads us to taste and enjoy that peace which sensual and earthly men know
nothing of.
17. Resignation is all in all to the sick man; he ought
to say to God, “Lord, if You want me, here I am, although I have never done any
good: do with me what You will.”
18. Never make a noise of any sort in church, except for
the greatest necessity.
19. Patience is necessary for the servant of God, and we
must not be distressed at trouble, but wait for consolation.
20. When seculars have once chosen their secular state,
let them persevere in it, and in the devout exercises which they have begun, and
in their works of charity, and they shall have contentment at their death.
21. The vocation to the religious life is one of the
great benefits which the Mother of God obtains from her Son for those who are
devoted to her.
22. There is nothing more dangerous in the spiritual
life, than to wish to rule ourselves after our own way of thinking.
23. Among the things we ought to ask of God, is
perseverance in well-doing and in serving the Lord; because, if we only have
patience, and persevere in the good life we have begun to lead, we shall acquire
a most eminent degree of spirituality.
24. He is perfect in the school of Christ who despises
being despised, rejoices in self-contempt, and accounts himself to be very
nothingness.
25. The way which God takes with the souls that love
him, by allowing them to be tempted and to fall into tribulations, is a true
espousal between Himself and them.
26. In temptations of the flesh, a Christian ought to
have immediate recourse to God, make the sign of the cross over his heart three
times, and say, “Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”
27. As to temptations, some are mastered by flying from
them, some by resisting them, and some by despising them.
28. In order to acquire prudence, and to make a good
judgment, we must have lived long and been intimate with many people.
29. It is a great perfection in a heart when it is
discreet and does not overstep the limits of convenience and what is befitting.
30. We must seek Christ where Christ is not, that is, in
crosses and tribulations, in which truly He is not now, but we shall find Him in
glory by this road.
1. Frequent confession is the cause of great good to the
soul, because it purifies it, heals it, and confirms it in the service of God:
we ought not therefore to omit confession on our fixed days for any business
whatsoever; but go to confession first, and to business afterwards, and the
first will help the last.
2. When we go to confession, we ought to persuade
ourselves to find Jesus Christ in the person of our confessor.
3. Give me ten men really detached from the world, and I
have the heart to believe I could convert the world with them.
4. He who communicates often, as he ought to do, brings
forth good fruit, the fruit of humility, the fruit of patience, the fruit of all
the virtues.
5. Penitents ought not to go to confession for temporal
ends, to get alms and the like.
6. We ought to make no account of an immodest person,
notwithstanding that he may possess other virtues.
7. The Holy Spirit says of prelates and pastors, He who
hears and obeys his superiors, hears and obeys Me, and he who despises them,
despises and disobeys Me.
8. If the servant of God would fain walk with more
security through so many snares scattered in every place, he should have our
Blessed Lady as his mediatrix with her Son.
9. The sick man may desire to get well, provided he
seals his desire always with an “If it please God,” “If it is good for my soul;”
for we can do many good things in health, which sickness hinders us from doing.
10. In sickness we ought to ask God to give us patience,
because it often happens, that when a man gets well, he not only does not do the
good he proposed to do when he was sick, but he multiplies his sins and his
ingratitude.
11. The mole is a blind rat, which always stays in the
ground; it eats earth, and hollows it out, but is never satisfied with it: so is
the avaricious man or woman.
12. Penitents should never make vows without the advice
of their spiritual fathers.
13. If we do make such vows, it is best to make them
conditionally: for example, “I make a vow to have two masses said on S. Lucy’s
day, with this bargain, If I can, If I do not forget it, because if I do not
remember it I do not wish to be bound.”
14. When a man has to buy anything, he ought not to do
so because he is moved by an attachment to the thing, but from want and
necessity; for it will never do to buy attachments.
15. Certain little voluntary attachments of self-love
must be cut through, and then we must dig round them, and then remove the earth,
till we get down deep enough to find the place where they are rooted and
interlaced together.
16. A person must be ready to endure, when through a
virtuous motive he is mortified by others, and even when God permits him to be
in bad odour with others, and regarded and driven away as an infected sheep.
17. Our enemy the devil, who fights with us in order to
vanquish us, seeks to disunite us in our houses, and to breed quarrels,
dislikes, contests, and rivalries, because while we are fighting with each
other, he comes and conquers us, and makes us more securely his own.
18. He who does not think on the benefits he receives
from God in this life, and on those greater ones his mercy has prepared in that
other life of bliss, does not nourish love to God, but chills and freezes it.
19. If a soul could altogether abstain from venial sins,
the greatest pain it could have would be to be detained in this life, so great
would its desire be of union with God.
20. In the persecutions which bad men excite against
piety and devotion, we must keep our eyes on God, whom we serve, and on the
testimony of a good conscience.
21. How patiently Christ, the King and Lord of heaven
and earth, bore with the apostles, enduring at their hands many incivilities and
misbeliefs, they being but poor and rough fishermen! How much more ought we to
bear with our neighbour, if he treats us with incivility.
22. We must give ourselves to God altogether.
23. God makes all his own the soul that is wholly given
to him.
24. It is as a general rule a bad sign when a man has
not a particular feeling of devotion on the chief feasts of the year.
25. Let us reflect that the Word left heaven, and
stooped to become man for us.
26. Besides pardoning those who persecute us, we ought
to feel pity for the delusion they are labouring under.
27. To one who really loves God, there is nothing more
harassing or burdensome than life.
28. Let young men be cheerful, and indulge in the
recreations proper to their age, provided they keep out of the way of sin.
29. Not to know how to deny our soul its own wishes, is
to foment a very hot-bed of vices.
30. All created things are liberal, and show the
goodness of the Creator: the sun scatters its light, the fire its heat; the tree
throws out its arms, which are its branches, and reaches to us the fruit it
bears: water, and air, and all nature express the liberality of the Creator, and
we, who are his lively image, do not represent him, but through our degenerate
manners deny Him in deeds while we are confessing Him with our mouths.
31. The hour is finished - we may say the same of the
year; but the time to do good is not finished yet.
