And, still, some rectors allow homosexuals into the seminaries....

St. Peter Damian, Book of Gomorrah: An Eleventh-Century Treatise against Clerical Homosexual Practices:  

"Without fail, it brings death to the body and destruction to the soul. It pollutes the flesh, extinguishes the light of the mind, expels the Holy Spirit from the temple of the human heart, and gives entrance to the devil, the stimulator of lust. It leads to error, totally removes truth from the deluded mind ... It opens up hell and closes the gates of paradise ... It is this vice that violates temperance, slays modesty, strangles chastity, and slaughters virginity ... It defiles all things, sullies all things, pollutes all things ... "This vice excludes a man from the assembled choir of the Church ... it separates the soul from God to associate it with demons. This utterly diseased queen of Sodom renders him who obeys the laws of her tyranny infamous to men and odious to God.  She strips her knights of the armor of virtue, exposing them to be pierced by the spears of every vice ... She humiliates her slave in the church and condemns him in court; she defiles him in secret and dishonors him in public; she gnaws at his conscience like a worm and consumes his flesh like fire. ... this unfortunate man (he) is deprived of all moral sense, his memory fails, and the mind's vision is darkened. Unmindful of God, he also forgets his own identity. This disease erodes the foundation of faith, saps the vitality of hope, dissolves the bond of love. It makes way with justice, demolishes fortitude, removes temperance, and blunts the edge of prudence. Shall I say more?"

Undermining NSA-new cable, new blackphones...........

http://news.yahoo.com/brazil-presses-eu-undersea-cable-skirt-u-links-115123537--finance.html;_ylt=AwrTWfz.cAtT4nwACq3QtDMD

http://news.yahoo.com/mobile-privacy-sells-post-snowden-world-134136822--finance.html;_ylt=AwrBEiJknQtTwxwAU9_QtDMD

DUH!

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/24/chuck-hagel-shrink-army-pre-wwii-levels-report/#.UwuUjIUlR90.twitter


So, are we just letting China become the new superpower colonizer?

Trouble with NYC and Genocide

http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2014/elective-genocide.html

A good bishop

http://clarionherald.info/clarion/index.php/news/archbishop-aymond/2992-planned-parenthood-abortion-clinic-we-cannot-cooperate-with-evil

I am ashamed I voted for this man once

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/199038-mccain-urges-arizona-gov-to-veto-anti-gay-bill

Readers, VIP Petition

http://ffcoalition.com/

http://www.donotsilenceus.org/

On Josephite Marriages, Again

I have written about this before and have recently re-posted my original article on Josephite Marriages. Almost monthly, I am meeting couples who have chosen this way of holiness, as I noted in the first article I wrote two years ago.

Some saintly couples already noted on this blog chose Josephite Marriages, and I mentioned a fictional couple in my novella, who chose such a lifestyle.

As times become more perilous, couples may consider this path of holiness. Most of the couples I know who have chosen this path are just beyond child-bearing age. In other words, they made the decision to be completely chaste. As they had given God children, as expected from good Catholics, and as one of the huge reasons for marital relations no longer was possible, these couples prayed and spoke with spiritual directors about their decision.

The couples prayed first, of course, and came to the decision together, first.

As is most obvious, a Josephite Marriage is named after St. Joseph, who did not have marital relations with the Blessed Virgin Mary. This marriage was completely celibate, and some Josephite marriages are so.

There is a confusion among some modern people on the validity of a Josephite, or non-consummated marriages, unlike the ones described above. If a couple is married in the Church and has been living together for a length of time, the marriage is assumed consummated. A Josephite Marriage is called ratum tantum in Canon Law. Note, that when a couple are married in the Nuptial Mass, or with the Nuptial Blessing, they are "married".  In the Church today, a non-consummated marriage must still be the subject of an annulment if a party decides to leave the marriage, divorce, and re-marry.

One may reference this post and others under the tag, "marriage" on this blog for more information.

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2012/01/unusual-controversial-catholic-subject.html

Good news, imo

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2014/02/pope-francis-creates-financial-watchdog-dicastery-headed-by-card-pell-secretariat-for-the-economy/

The Catholic "New Army"

I was musing in the middle of the night and this morning. Those of you who have written to me that you cannot find real Catholic mates, especially those of you who love the TLM, may I say that I think God is raising up an army-a new army.

This is not Cromwell's New Army, but Christ's New Army. This army will be made up of all those singles, in some places, up to 33%, who, for some reason or other, cannot find the woman or the man who God has called to be a husband, has not found the woman. As that finding is blocked or thwarted, one can choose other possibilities.

Singles, let me challenge you to begin a New Order of prayer, fasting and daily Mass, if possible. Go to Confession weekly, but most importantly, pray for Holy Mother Church.

Recently, I have become aware of the power of Mary under the title of Virgo Potens. I have only found on not so attractive print of her under that title.

Perhaps some enterprising young single can draw a new Virgo Potens based on the print at the side of this blog.

But, imagine, an army of dedicated singles who love God first, and are willing to suffer for the Faith, setting aside pleasure and personal gain for the Kingdom of God.

I imagine these singles choosing to be in this New Army by pursuing perfection, perhaps even using the 600 plus posts on this blog on the journey to perfection. I do not see this New Army as part of the corrupt and compromised old groupings of third orders or even worldly oblates.

Do not waste time with those who do not want perfection and who desire detente with the world,

What say you?

Can you imagine such a staunch New Army of those who love Christ so much that they chose God's Will first in the world, always?

Do not waste your singleness, if you cannot get married or do not think you have a call to the priesthood or religious life. Do not waste grace.

Repeat Post

Wednesday, 13 February 2013

The Shock of the Real

It dawned on me today that Christ did not correct Martha because she was making the dinner or getting the wine, or setting the table. No.

He corrected her because she was not listening. Martha was in a bubble world of busyness. She had created that bubble. Her bubble stopped her from hearing Christ. She preferred her bubble world to the reality of The Son of God. Her bubble insulated her from listening to whatever was outside. Her mind was talking, talking, talking about food, dishes, wine, water...whatever while the God of Gods was sitting in her living room.

One can listen while one is doing chores. The beauty of the Benedictine life is such that prayer continues into work, as work is done, if it is done as it should be, in silence.

Mary was silent in her interior life. Her mind and heart were not "busy". She knew how to quiet herself in order to hear God.

She waited to hear Christ. Martha could have been listening while she was DOING. One can learn to do this. One can teach one's self and ask God for the grace to hear Him all day long. To be in His Presence is the shock of the real...........

But, apparently, Martha was not "in the presence of Christ". Her mind and heart and soul were full of anxiety and fretting. She became angry and frustrated because Mary was listening to Christ. Oh my....!

That is why Christ corrected her.

One of my Benedictine mentors wrote something apropos my comments on silence.

Talking most of the day creates a bubble in the mind and around the soul which separates one from reality.

He noted that silence and reflection are absolutely necessary for both discernment and problem solving.

He went on to emphasize that silence is necessary for salvation.

Wow.

False wisdom, false sense of superiority, fantasy and escapism form the soul and these things abound in talk, talk, talk.

We do not face ourselves or the reality of others is speech.

I have seen that conversation which bears fruit involves silence and thinking skills, as well as prayer.

We interfere with our capacity to find salvation if we talk too much or listen to talking too much.

Thanks to Orthowiki

Women need more conversation than men, but that need can be exaggerated. In stillness, we can solve many problems. Martha had to learn how to slow down, even stop, and listen to God.


God wants to enter into our hearts, minds and souls, but He can not if we are always listening to something or someone, or talking.

God will not interrupt us, unless by illness or even death. Seriously, we sometimes need the shock of the real in order to hear God.

How sad. How very unnecessary. We could be listening all day long in the solitude of our minds and hearts. If we do not learn how to do this, we may lose our very souls.

Here is the Orthodox prayers for the feast of Martha and Mary in the summer. Mary had the gift of wisdom and Martha learned, but Christ had to correct her. We hear that correction down to this present day.

Let us not pass up God because our minds and hearts and souls are too full of busyness.

Calm down, take a deep breath, trust in God, and wait in silence for the coming of Christ this Lent.

Be not shocked by the real. "Be real and face the situation", as a friend of mine use to say a long time ago. He is now a priest.

Troparion (Tone 3)

You fervently believed in Christ and His marvelous acts,

O Martha and Mary, sisters of Lazarus.

You were adorned with radiant virtues

and were found worthy to be numbered with the saints;

together with holy Lazarus pray to God for us.

Apolytikion (Tone 3)

Since ye believed in Christ with strong and ardent faith,

and ever worshipped His divine and mighty deeds,

ye both adorned yourselves with all the splendour of sacred virtues.

With your holy brother now,

ye are also vouchsafed to dwell with the ranks of Saints on high,

O ye sisters of Lazarus;

and with him, O wise Mary and Martha,

ye pray for us all unto the Master.

Kontakion (Tone 3)

In the town of Bethany, ye dwelt of old;

now in Heaven ye abide in Paradise,

where our Lord's countenance shineth.

For ye gave your hearts and souls up with fervent longing

unto Him that is the Life and the Resurrection;

as ye stand on high, O Mary and Martha,

pray Him to grant salvation to us.

Poem for Late February

Monoceros leaps in the sky unnoticed
as the night sisters spin in silent dancing

teasing Gemini, seeking the soft lights
of far away objects. The father of the

horizon, Jupiter, reminds me of mortality
bright planet resting in faint mist over

the river. I want to see Orion rise again
outside the haze, but barely see Sirius

in the changing sky. How clear the Hunter
was sixteen months ago, over the sea

but here, in farming land, Strider takes
a second place in dust and shadows.

I wait for a better night, for clarity in this
dark night of semi-hidden beauty. No one

answers the call for delineations, so I try
to be patient, knowing that the stars will

one night appear distinctly white again. The
Unicorn disappears into a secret garden,

beyond the line of trees lining the river.
I am left alone.

Moral Discussion Three; Yes, Virginia, There is a Purgatory

My perfection series from the viewpoint of the various authors, including the Doctors of Church, includes the truth that only the perfect see God. If one is not purified on this earth, one must be purified in another place. The purification of the senses and the spirit may happen here on this earth. This is according to God's Will, but one may pursue and ask God to help one cooperate with purification here and now.

As noted, the upbuilding of the Church, the Kingdom of God, cannot happen if a bunch of Catholics with strong egos are running around doing there own thing.

Egotism destroys the Church from within. Period.

The soul is purified from sin and the tendencies of sin, but also from something called "the moral matter". The moral matter includes the effects of sin, about which most people do not think.

Even after a sin is confessed and forgiven, the moral matter must be examined. Here is the Catholic Encyclopedia on this point.

The first effect of mortal sin in man is to avert him from his true last end, and deprive his soul of sanctifying grace. The sinful act passes, and the sinner is left in a state of habitual aversion fromGod. The sinful state is voluntary and imputable to the sinner, because it necessarily follows from the act of sin he freely placed, and it remains until satisfaction is made (see PENANCE). This state of sin is called by theologians habitual sin, not in the sense that habitual sin implies a vicioushabit, but in the sense that it signifies a state of aversion from God depending on the preceding actual sin, consequently voluntary and imputable. This state of aversion carries with it necessarily in the present order of God's providence the privation of grace and charity by means of which manis ordered to his supernatural end. The privation of grace is the "macula peccati" (St. Thomas, I-II.86), the stain of sin spoken of in Scripture (Joshua 22:17; Isaiah 4:4; 1 Corinthians 6:11). It is not anything positive, a quality or disposition, an obligation to suffer, an extrinsic denomination coming from sin, but is solely the privation of sanctifying grace. There is not a real but only a conceptual distinction between habitual sin (reatus culpæ) and the stain of sin (macula peccati). One and the same privation considered as destroying the due order of man to God is habitual sin, considered as depriving the soul of the beauty of grace is the stain or "macula" of sin.

The second effect of sin is to entail the penalty of undergoing suffering (reatus pænæ). Sin (reatus culpæ) is the cause of this obligation (reatus pænæ ). The suffering may be inflicted in this life through the medium of medicinal punishments, calamities, sickness, temporal evils, which tend to withdraw from sin; or it may be inflicted in the life to come by the justice of God as vindictive punishment. The punishments of the future life are proportioned to the sin committed, and it is the obligation of undergoing this punishment for unrepented sin that is signified by the "reatus poenæ" of the theologians. The penalty to be undergone in the future life is divided into the pain of loss (pæna damni) and the pain of sense (pæna sensus). The pain of loss is the privation of the beatific vision of God in punishment of turning away from Him. The pain of sense is suffering in punishment of the conversion to some created thing in place of God. This two-fold pain in punishment of mortal sin is eternal (1 Corinthians 6:9; Matthew 25:41; Mark 9:45). One mortal sin suffices to incur punishment. (See HELL.) Other effects of sins are: remorse of conscience (Wisdom 5:2-13); an inclination towards evil, as habits are formed by a repetition of similar acts; a darkening of the intelligence, a hardening of the will (Matthew 13:14-15; Romans 11:8); a general vitiating of nature, which does not however totally destroy the substance and faculties of the soul but merely weakens the right exercise of its faculties.

The point is this. That sin affects the heart, the intellect, the imagination, the soul. We cannot be purified without dealing with all of the faculties which were involved in sin. All those faculties must be purified after one receives the sacrament of Reconciliation.

To admit that the faculties have been affected involves a growth in humility. Even many years after a sin has been committed and forgiven, the moral matter of sin must be confronted if there are areas in the person which have not been purified.

A good confessor must be found.

Honesty is absolutely necessary.

Frequent confession and frequent Communion aid in the discernment of the moral matter.

One more time, the CCC.

III. THE FINAL PURIFICATION, OR PURGATORY

1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.⁶⁰⁶ The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:⁶⁰⁷

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.⁶⁰⁸

1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin."⁶⁰⁹ From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God.⁶¹⁰ The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:

Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by their father's sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.⁶¹¹

Check these posts out as well. Again, apologies for font problems...day of the gremlins....

^{http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-short-treatise-on-grace-moving.html}

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/03/on-sufficient-grace-part-two.html

^{http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/03/grace-part-three-merit-and-holiness.html}

^{http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/03/part-four-grace-and-salvation-for-all.html}

^{http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/03/on-efficacious-grace-part-five-on-mini.html}

Three Moral Discussions Two

Firstly, I apologize for the font problems of the last post. I worked on the font for a long time and for some reason a glitch stops me from correcting the size. But, it is readable.

Secondly, the importance of this discussion centers on the large number, perhaps the majority, of people who have been taught incorrectly to be catechists. Even Catholics with Master's Degrees have expressed to me the absence of real teaching concerning conscience and the moral matter of sin.

Sadly, the vast majority of Catholics do not understand two more issues upon which I want to touch.

This second point in three moral discussions is the question of formation of conscience. Now, I have written on this before, but I need to emphasize two points. One is that the language of the Catechism is clear on the importance of conscience, but as formed correctly in and by the Catholic Church.

There is no, absolutely no, correct formation of conscience outside the parameters of the Teaching Magisterium of the Church.  Here are a few of the key points from the CCC. 

1783 Conscience must be informed and moral judgment enlightened. A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom of the Creator. The education of conscience is indispensable for human beings who are subjected to negative influences and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgment and to reject authoritative teachings.

1784 The education of the conscience is a lifelong task. From the earliest years, it awakens the child to the knowledge and practice of the interior law recognized by conscience. Prudent education teaches virtue; it prevents or cures fear, selfishness and pride, resentment arising from guilt, and feelings of complacency, born of human weakness and faults. The education of the conscience guarantees freedom and engenders peace of heart.

1785 In the formation of conscience the Word of God is the light for our path,⁵⁴ we must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. We must also examine our conscience before the Lord's Cross. We are assisted by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, aided by the witness or advice of others and guided by the authoritative teaching of the Church.⁵⁵

An uninformed conscience is our responsility, not a teacher from our past, not a priest, not our parents. All men and women are called to form their conscience in a supernatural manner, not a natural one.

Again, using the German bishops who are moving towards schism as an example, their consciences prove to be faulty, lying in an informed dissent, rather than in an informed assent to the Teaching Magisterium.

Simply put, there is no such thing as a well-formed conscience which is in opposition to Church Teaching.

To be continued...

Three Moral Discussions-One

Speaking with a certain group of friends who are much younger than I am, I have discovered a huge discrepancy between their theological training as to the meaning of sin, grace and conscience which has shown me the extremely poor teaching happening in some Catholic institutions.

Some of these people are good and want to know the real deal regarding the moral teaching of the Church, but have been taught incorrectly on the above topics. Sadly, there are too many liberal professors talking about ideas of sin, grace and conscience which are not based on Catholic teaching.

I want to cover a few of these points in three parts today. The first is a discussion of sanctifying grace, about which I have written before and one can follow the links at the bottom of the third posting.

Without sanctifying grace, there is not sharing in the participation of the life of God. The Council of Trent clarified the teaching on grace, because of the confusion brought about by the elimination of the sacraments by the Protestants and the false teaching on atonement and justification by Luther.

Without grace, we are, simply, not pleasing to God, and those is mortal sin do not have sanctifying grace.

The Council of Trent makes the point that sanctifying grace is not just the remission of sins, but "the sanctification and interior renovation of man by the voluntary reception of grace, and the gifts, by which man is changed from unjust to just, and from an enemy to a friend."

Enemy is a strong word, but real. Sanctifying grace makes us just, not merely the carriers of the Justice of God, but actually just, as we are renewed through the sacraments.

Now, this entire discussion on the reception of Communion by those in irregular marriages, as brought up by the German bishops lately seems to ignore the entire questions of the participation in the life of God which is sanctifying grace.

When one marries, "outside the Church", a person has chosen to ignore the marriage laws of the Church and has placed themselves in a state of disobedience in a matter which is serious.

Serious matter makes up mortal sin, sin which kills the life of Christ, sanctifying grace in the soul.

The person who approaches Communion in mortal sin, without sanctifying grace, not only cannot receive more grace until he or she goes to Confession and no longer takes part in the marital actions in an irregular marriage, but commits a further sin of sacrilegious. 

Why is this? Sacrilege involves the reception of God in an unworthy state. Now, some liberals claim that we are all in an unworthy state, but to deny that those in sanctifying grace are in a different relationship to God than those who are not, begs the question of  "worthiness".

Father Jordan Aumann writes in relation to the necessity of receiving Communion often.
All of our actions should be centered on Christ. Father states that "To perform one's action through Christ and with Christ denotes a high degree of perfection in one's faith and love, but greater still is that identification with Christ that enables the soul to do all things in Christ."

Without grace, we are not capable of pursuing holiness. Without the sacraments, 

we cannot receive sanctifying grace. The entire argument of the German bishops seems to 

ignore the status of the soul, whether a person is in grace or not. Church law cannot change 

the life of God within us, if Christ, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, has told us how

to stay in the life of grace and clarified marriage for us.

These contrary bishops are merely looking at the natural good of something, not the 

supernatural. They emphasize the natural goods they may see in a marriage without 

considering the supernatural state. 

If we are in sanctifying grace, we are in a filial relationship with God. He is our Father and we 

are His adopted children. Filiation is rarely spoken of these days, as many Catholics assume

that all people are naturally sons and daughters of God.

Not so. Baptism makes us so. Through baptism, we are actually the sons and daughter of God.

We live in His life, sanctifying grace. 

Spiritually, we have been reborn, and become more than merely the sons and daughters of our physical 

parents, we become children of God.

So, to depart from this state is what happens in the committing of mortal sin. One may question 

the long history of the Teaching Magisterium of the Church regarding marriage, but one must 

eventually end up with the words of Christ Himself. No church, no set of bishops can change the

teaching of Christ.

It is not the Church which determines what is serious matter for sin, but God Himself.

To be continued............

Waking Up

Some people are waking up in America. Yesterday, after the TLM, some of the young men, all under thirty, were talking about the hard times to come and the purging of the Church-their words.

They see that the crisis of leadership and the lack of vocations are two streams of liberalism merging to form a flood coming soon.

That they are young fathers is significant. That their wives tend to be home schoolers is also significant.

The move to realizing that the Church in the near future will not be the Church of the past becomes more clear daily.

My diocese will have 42 active priests for 100,000 Catholics next year.

Some dioceses must close churches. How bishops will decide this may be determined by two things. The first would be financial stability or viability. In this diocese, all the parishes, amazingly, as in the black. So a secondary manner of determining closing would be a count of how many baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and so on would be coming out of a parish. Parishes which are not growing would be considered not sacramentally viable.

Of course, the mega-churches would get more attention than the small country churches, and this diocese has many, many small country churches.

You should be paying attention to your own dioceses. In addition, one local diocese, not this one, lost twenty-two seminarians recently.

One may ask whether the screening of the seminarians is faulty; whether the seminary is faulty, as in are there still lavender mafias, or is the selection commitee faulty?

Another problem is that many young men have no idea of what it really means to be a priest. They have never had to sacrifice, coming from small families where they did not have to share or meet any expectations.

The truth is that many Catholics in a few years will not have access to daily Mass or regular sacraments.

The laity is heavily to blame, for not encouraging vocations in the family.

The purgation of the Church will include many people waking up and regretting that they did not support vocations, not merely by money, but with the offering of their own children to God.

I think that a bishop should ask this question of his parishes. Which parishes have produced vocations to the priesthood and the religious life in this diocese, and which have not? Close those which have not...........