So beautifully put... so much 'pride" in this room lately...we should pray for each other and not judge other Catholics based on propaganda shown on the news. It's quite sad.
The agreement gives the Chinese dictatorship the power to appoint our bishops, transforming the Church into the image and likeness of the Chinese government. It would not be much different if there were an agreement with the U.S. government granting it the power to appoint bishops more inclined to adopt a weak stance in the fight against abortion. There is also the issue of the sacraments being under the control of the Chinese Communist Party, which could naturally discourage people from seeking them as instruments of grace and forgiveness—especially because the information in the hands of these bishops and some of their priests may be far from secure and protected from third parties. Speaking about the message of Fatima in its essence may be nearly impossible in a communist country. Therefore, criticism of the agreement with the Chinese government has absolutely nothing to do with a Western mentality but rather with a Catholic mentality. As you yourself have witnessed, many of those who criticize the Chinese dictatorship in this forum also speak about Western institutions and governments having become a kind of new communism by promoting abortion and secularism in the societies they govern. Finally, I do not believe that democracy is an essential value for Catholic life, but the episcopal and sacramental structure of the Church must remain far from the hands of any government.
I don't think anyone really knows how he is. Everyone is confused. The perpetual lies from the Vatican Press Office don't help
I don't think looking for truth is above anyone's pay grade here. Catherine of Siena didn't say that when she pleaded with the Pope in Avignon nor did Joan of Arc say the same when she went out to drive the English. Yes, it is a sad picture we are looking at today, it is a web so entangled I don't think we can ever get to the center of the diabolical web. It just makes my head hurt sometimes. The decline in Faith really took a dramatic downward slope after Vatican 2 and as the the Church goes so does the world. Interestingly Pope Leo 13th wrote to the American bishops in regards to Americanism arpund 1899 which I would argue looks like a lot of what Vatican 2 pushed out so maybe we can blame America for holding the Freemasonic torch and paving the way to today's current mess of a world but did that get Adam anywhere by blaming Eve and likewise Eve with the serpent? It's probably no coincidence the famous isms sprang up at the turn of the century- feminism, communism, darwinism- and it was through people dabbling with the occult so there is no question at to these ideas being evil, where they sprang up, to me, is more or less irrelevant. The reality is we have to live in the world today created by these sins of past nations but if we don't expose them for the lies they are we will continue to live with them and they continue to get worse by the day. I agree we can't have a biased only conservative/democrat lens for the geopolitical problems of today. But you can't get mad at the average American Joe who is still stuck in the two party system psyop, it has been going on for a loooong time and it's hard to get out of. At the same time you seem to be doing that very thing towards the papacy. You say, basically sit down, don't judge, it's above your pay grade and if you do say something you are saying it because you listen to some biased journalist or media that is a cafeteria catholic. Viganò brings up accusations against Bergoglio that you say are "just" but they were never looked into in anyway. It's like the CiA if you ask them a question and they answer with "we can neither confirm nor deny." Viganò uses some harsh words when he talks about Bergoglio but are they slurs? He met with him, he saw things we never did, he spoke with people who know the truth. I don't see myself as a judge of Bergoglio I merely ask for an investigation, facts are facts and they will come to light sooner or later. I Italy they love the proverb lies have short legs.
Philothea you said: "I don't think looking for truth is above anyone's pay grade here." Yes, and the Roman Catholic Church agrees with what you think, as we can see in 1983 Canon Law: Canon 212 §1. Conscious of their own responsibility, the Christian faithful are bound to follow with Christian obedience those things which the sacred pastors, inasmuch as they represent Christ, declare as teachers of the faith or establish as rulers of the Church. §2. The Christian faithful are free to make known to the pastors of the Church their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires. §3. According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess, they have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful, without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence toward their pastors, and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons. The problem is the we have many people who claim to be Roman Catholic but are actually closet relativists and legal positivists. To them the truth is whatever a certain man in a position of authority says is the truth at that moment. But Jesus said otherwise in the Gospel of John, chapter 14, and He was not understood: 37 Pilate therefore said to him: Art thou a king then? Jesus answered: Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth. Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice 38 Pilate saith to him: What is truth? Some "Catholics" just throw their hands up and say "whatever." They think everyone has an opinion, and that we cannot really know the truth anyway, so they will offer their own opinion on any topic whether they know what they are talking about or not. The Truth? Like Pilate, they just don't understand what it is and, therefore, they don't try to seek it. Caring about such a thing is "above their pay grade," because they posture as one of the humble and lowly, not one those proud and arrogant people who think they can know the Truth and defend it. We must pray for those souls.
I honestly think he may have passed..it reminds me of a movie..Weekend at Bernies.. Where two people drag the corpse around ..to serve a purpose. Whatever the situation, something is up...and it doesn't smell good. Bad feeling.
I would rather be humble and lowly than proud and arrogant. Sometimes it is better to bite our tongues rather than displaying our absolute arrogance and pride. I'll take St Theresa the Little Flower as my guide anyday and be one of those poor "Catholics"... in need of prayer. Just a sinner here..
Agree. And Sr Lucia said that there was no problem that could not be solved by the recitation of the rosary. I follow that.
My husband has the custom of praying The Three Beautiful Prayers from the Pieta prayer book for any dying soul. I believe that they are a powerful act of mercy. Every soul, especially our Pope, is in need of God’s mercy. There once was a Pope in Rome who was surrounded by many sins. The Lord God struck him with a fatal illness. When he saw that he was dying, he summoned cardinals, bishops, and learned persons and said to them: “My dear friends! What comfort can you give me now that I must die, and when I deserve eternal damnation for my sins?” No one answered him. One of them, a pious curate named John said: “Father, why do you doubt the Mercy of God?” The Pope replied: “What comfort can you give me now that I must die and fear that I’ll be damned for my sins?” John replied: “I’ll read three prayers over you; I hope you’ll be comforted and that you’ll obtain Mercy from God.” The Pope was unable to say more. The curate and all those present knelt and said an Our Father, then the following Prayers: 1. Prayer Lord Jesus Christ! Thou Son of God and Son of the Virgin Mary, God and Man, Thou who in fear sweated blood for us on the Mount of Olives in order to bring peace, and to offer Thy Most Holy Death to God, Thy Heavenly Father, for the salvation of this dying person…if it be, however, that by his sins he merits eternal damnation, then may it be deflected from him. This, O Eternal Father through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Dear Son, Who liveth and reigneth in union with the Holy Spirit now and forever. Amen. 2. Prayer Lord Jesus Christ! Thou Who meekly died on the trunk of the Cross for us, submitting Thy Will completely to Thy Heavenly Father in order to bring peace and to offer Thy most Holy Death to Thy Heavenly Father in order to free…(this person)… and to hide from him what he has earned with his sins; grant this, O Eternal Father! Through Our Lord, Jesus, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in union with the Holy Spirit now and forever. Amen. 3. Prayer Lord Jesus Christ! Thou Who remained silent to speak through the mouths of the Prophets: I have drawn Thee to me through Eternal Love, which Love drew Thee from Heaven into the body of the Virgin, which Love drew Thee from the body of the Virgin into the valley of this needful world, which Love kept Thee 33 years in this world, and as a sign of Great Love, Thou hast given Thy Holy Body as True Food and Thy Holy Blood as True Drink, as a sign of Great Love, Thou has consented to be a prisoner and to be led from one judge to another and as a sign of Great Love Thou hast consented to be condemned to death, and hast consented to die and to be buried and truly risen, and appeared to Thy Holy Mother and all the Holy Apostles, and as a sign of Great Love Thou hast ascended, under Thy own Strength and Power, and sitteth at the Right Hand of God, Thy Heavenly Father, and Thou has sent Thy Holy Spirit into the hearts of Thy Apostles and the hearts of all who hope and believe in Thee. Through Thy Sign of Eternal Love, open Heaven today and take this dying person…and all his sins into the Realm of Thy Heavenly Father, that he may reign with Thee now and forever. Amen. Meanwhile the Pope died. The curate persevered to the third hour, then the Pope appeared to him in body and comforted him. His countenance as brilliant as the sun, his clothes as white as snow, he said: “My dear brother! Whereas I was supposed to be a child of damnation, I’ve become a child of happiness. As you recited the first Prayer, many of my sins fell from me as rain from Heaven, and as you recited the second Prayer, I was purified, as a goldsmith purifies gold in a hot fire. I was still further purified as you recited the third Prayer. Then I saw Heaven open and the Lord, Jesus, standing on the Right Hand of God the Father Who said to me: “Come, all thy sins are forgiven thee, you’ll be and remain in the Realm of My Father forever. Amen!” With these words, my soul separated from my body and the Angels of God led it to Eternal Joy. As the curate heard this, he said: “O Holy Father! I can’t tell these things to anyone, for they won’t believe me.” Then the Pope said: “Truly I tell thee, the Angel of God stands with me and has written the prayers in letters of gold for the consolation of all sinners. If a person had committed all the sins in the world, but that the three Prayers shall have been read (over him) at his end (death), all his sins will be forgiven him, even though his soul was supposed to suffer until the Last Judgment, it will be redeemed (freed). The person who hears them read, won’t die an unhappy death, nor in whose house they will be read. Therefore, take these prayers and carry them into St. Peter’s Basilica and lay them in the Chapel named the Assumption of Mary, for certain consolation. The person who will be near death, who reads them or hears them read, gains 400 years indulgence for the days he was supposed to suffer in Purgatory because of his guilt. Also, who reads this Prayer or hears it read, the hour of his death shall be revealed to him. Amen!
Well, Sr. Lucia certainly did say that about the Rosary. But she said many other things in that interview in 1957: https://fatimashrineboston.org/blog/fr-fuentes-interview-with-sr-lucia/ Fr. Fuentes interview with Sr. Lucia By openvine|July 2, 2019 On December 26, 1957 Father Augustin Fuentes, who was preparing to become the postulator of the causes for beatification of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, met with Sister Lucy at her convent in Coimbra, Portugal. Here, he was able to converse with the Fatima seer at great length. Upon his return to his native Mexico, he gave a conference on the meeting, in which he reported Sister Lucy’s words. Father Alonso, the official Fatima archivist for 16 years, stressed that the account of this conference was published “with every guarantee of authenticity and with due episcopal approval, including that of the Bishop of Fatima.” Father Fuentes affirmed that the message came “from the very lips of the principal seer.” The Report by Father Fuentes “I wish to tell you about the last conversation which I had with Sister Lucy on the 26th of December (last year). I met her in her convent. She was very sad, very pale and emaciated. She said to me,” “No One Has Paid Any Attention” “Father, the most Holy Virgin is very sad because no one has paid any attention to Her Message, neither the good nor the bad. The good continue on their way, but without giving any importance to Her Message. The bad, not seeing the punishment of God actually falling upon them, continue their life of sin without even caring about the Message. But believe me, Father, God will chastise the world and this will be in a terrible manner. The punishment from Heaven is imminent.” The Secret Not Revealed “Father, how much time is there before 1960 arrives? It will be very sad for everyone, not one person will rejoice at all if beforehand the world does not pray and do penance. I am not able to give any other details, because it is still a Secret. According to the will of the Most Holy Virgin, only the Holy Father and the Bishop of Fatima are permitted to know the Secret, but they have chosen to not know it so that they would not be influenced. This is the third part of the Message of Our Lady, which will remain secret until 1960.” Russia, the Scourge of God “Tell them, Father that many times the Most Holy Virgin told my cousins Francisco and Jacinta, as well as myself, that many nations will disappear from the face of the earth. She said that Russia will be the instrument of chastisement chosen by Heaven to punish the whole world if we do not beforehand obtain the conversion of that poor nation.” “The Decisive Battle” Between Mary and Satan: the Falling Away of Consecrated Souls and Priests Sister Lucy also told me: “Father, the devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Blessed Virgin. And the devil knows what it is that offends God the most, and which in a short space of time will gain for him the greatest number of souls. Thus the devil does everything to overcome souls consecrated to God, because in this way the devil will succeed in leaving the souls of the faithful abandoned by their leaders, thereby the more easily will he seize them.” “That which afflicts the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Heart of Jesus is the fall of religious and priestly souls. The devil knows that religious and priests who fall away from their beautiful vocation drag numerous souls to hell. The devil wishes to take possession of consecrated souls. He tries to corrupt them in order to lull to sleep the souls of laypeople and thereby lead them to final impenitence. He employs all tricks, even going so far as to suggest the delay of entrance into religious life. Resulting from this is the sterility of the interior life, and among the laypeople, coldness (lack of enthusiasm) regarding the subject of renouncing pleasures and the total dedication of themselves to God.” That Which Sanctified Jacinta and Francisco “Tell them also, Father, that my cousins Francisco and Jacinta sacrificed themselves because in all the apparitions of the Most Holy Virgin, they always saw Her very sad. She never smiled at us. This sadness, this anguish which we noted in Her, penetrated our souls. This sadness is caused by the offenses against God and the punishments which menace sinners. And so, we children did not know what to think except to invent various means of praying and making sacrifices.” The other things which sanctified these children was to see the vision of Hell. The Mission of Sister Lucy “Father, that is why my mission is not to indicate to the world the material punishments which are certain to come if the world does not pray and do penance beforehand. No! My mission is to indicate to everyone the imminent danger we are in of losing our souls for all eternity if we remain obstinate in sin.” The Urgency of Conversion Sister Lucy also said to me: “Father, we should not wait for an appeal to the world to come from Rome on the part of the Holy Father, to do penance. Nor should we wait for the call to penance to come from our bishops in our diocese, nor from the religious congregations. No! Our Lord has already very often used these means, and the world has not paid attention. That is why now, it is necessary for each one of us to begin to reform himself spiritually. Each person must not only save his own soul but also help to save all the souls that God has placed on our path.” “The devil does all in his power to distract us and to take away from us the love for prayer; we shall be saved together or we shall be damned together.” Last Times “Father, the Most Holy Virgin did not tell me that we are in the last times of the world, but She made me understand this for three reasons.” The Final Battle “The first reason is because She told me that the devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Virgin. And a decisive battle is the final battle where one side will be victorious and the other side will suffer defeat. Also, from now on we must choose sides. Either we are for God or we are for the devil. There is no other possibility.” The Last Remedies “The second reason is because She said to my cousins as well as to myself, that God is giving two last remedies to the world. These are the Holy Rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. These are the last two remedies which signify that there will be no others.” The Sin Against the Holy Spirit “The third reason is because in the plans of Divine Providence, God always, before He is about to chastise the world, exhausts all other remedies. Now, when He sees that the world pays no attention whatsoever, then as we say in our imperfect manner of speaking, He offers us with certain fear the last means of salvation, His Most Holy Mother. It is with certain fear because if you despise and repulse this ultimate means, we will not have any more forgiveness from Heaven, because we will have committed a sin which the Gospel calls the sin against the Holy Ghost. This sin consists of openly rejecting, with full knowledge and consent, the salvation which He offers. Let us remember that Jesus Christ is a very good Son and that He does not permit that we offend and despise His Most Holy Mother. We have recorded through many centuries of Church history the obvious testimony which demonstrates by the terrible chastisements which have befallen those who have attacked the honor of His Most Holy Mother, how Our Lord Jesus Christ has always defended the honor of His Mother.” Prayer and Sacrifice and the Holy Rosary Sister Lucy told me: “The two means for saving the world are prayer and sacrifice.” Regarding the Holy Rosary, Sister Lucy said: “Look, Father, the Most Holy Virgin, in these last times in which we live, has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary. She has given this efficacy to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations, that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary. With the Holy Rosary we will save ourselves. We will sanctify ourselves. We will console Our Lord and obtain the salvation of many souls.” Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary “Finally, devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our Most Holy Mother, consists in considering Her as the seat of mercy, of goodness and of pardon, and as the sure door by which we are to enter Heaven.”1
Yes. Agree. Fr Charles Murr and Robert Moynihan address this on their podcast. Fr Murr is very distressed by these hideous accusations. To make such accusations without proof to me( and to Fr Murr) is spiritually dangerous for the one making them. I can't think Our Lord would appreciate it.
Yes, of course what you say is correct. But the "humble and lowly" are those who subject themselves and their words to the Word of God and the Magisterium of His Church. The "proud and arrogant" are those who speak on their own authority. It is not "humble and lowly" to stand idly by while the teachings of Jesus are trampled on. That is cowardice or slavery to "human respect." It is not "proud and arrogant" to forcefully defend the Truth, using the sources approved by the Roman Catholic Church. It is our duty as a Christian to do this, as Canon 212 tell us. In our woke world, even Catholics have allowed these words to be redefined as their opposites. When we read the lives of the early martyrs. Their enemies called them "proud and arrogant." This was also the accusation of the Jews against Jesus Christ. But in God's eyes, those witnesses were the true "humble and lowly," because they loved God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength. They sacrificed their positions in society and even their lives to help their brothers and sisters understand the truth. Peace to you Agnes. I am not trying to stir up an argument. I just wanted to make what I said more clear.
I hope no one read my post as me being arrogant in anyway! I pray always first for myself because I am in very much need of the Lord's grace and then for others. St. Thérèse is very much close to my heart, all 3 of my children were due to her intercession and I practice biting my tongue often but not nearly often enough
Sadly, there has always been much confusion encircling this papacy. I don't know if this is accurate, or just rumor, but I have seen reports on X that Pope Francis' sister is now in Rome.
And I know someone over there that has close ties and say he is actually doing much, much better. He has moved from full oxygen to a less serious option. His medical vitals are also much better. They are not as worried today and believe he will be released in a few days at this rate.
