Tradicat

+ JMJ A patient man hath a great and wholesome purgatory, who, receiving injuries, is more concerned at the person's sins than his own wrong; who willingly prays for his adversaries, and from his heart forgives offences; who delays not to ask forgiveness of others; who is easier moved to compassion than to anger; who frequently does violence to himself, and labors to bring the flesh wholly under subjection to the spirit. (Imitation of Christ Book 1, Chapter24) I received a posting from Gullible today ( Gullible November 29, 2019 at 5:43 PM ) and frankly I was frustrated. I believe that I clearly answered his various objections and yet, like people I know with diagnosed mental illnesses, when confronted with reality, he or she just moves on without acknowledging the fact that they are wrong. Why is this? Because they are holding onto a belief to justify their actions. My takeaway is that Gullible is not looking for the truth. When able, I am going to invest some

+ JMJ A look back to the letter that was sent after the signing of the protocol. P^3 Courtesy of FSSPX.org Letter of Archbishop Lefebvre to Cardinal Ratzinger, May 6, 1988 Your Eminence, Yesterday it was with real satisfaction that I put my signature on the Protocol drafted during the preceding days. However, you yourself have witnessed my deep disappointment upon reading the letter that you gave me informing me of the Holy Father’s answer concerning episcopal consecrations. Practically speaking, a postponement of the episcopal consecrations to a later undetermined date would be the fourth time that I had postponed the date of the ceremony. June 30 was clearly indicated in my previous letters as the latest possible date. I have already given you a file concerning the candidates. There are still two months to establish the mandate. Given the particular circumstances of this proposal, the Holy Father can very easily simplify the procedure so that the mandate ca

+ JMJ  A look back at May 5th, 1988  P^3 Courtesy of FSSPX.org Protocol of Agreement, May 5, 1988 I. TEXT OF THE DOCTRINAL DECLARATION I, Marcel Lefebvre, Archbishop-Bishop Emeritus of Tulle, as well as the members of the Society of St. Pius X founded by me: Promise always to be faithful to the Catholic Church and the Roman Pontiff, its Supreme Pastor, Vicar of Christ, Successor of Blessed Peter in his primacy as head of the body of bishops.   We declare our acceptance of the doctrine contained in §25 of the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium of Vatican Council II on the ecclesiastical Magisterium and the adherence which is due to it.   Regarding certain points taught by Vatican Council II or concerning later reforms of the liturgy and law, and which do not appear to us easily reconcilable with Tradition, we pledge that we will have a positive attitude of study and communication with the Apostolic See, avoiding all polemics.   Moreover, we declare tha

+ JMJ A quick look back. P^3 Courtesy of FSSPX.org Letter of Arch. Lefebvre to Cardinal Ratzinger Letter of Archbishop Lefebvre to Cardinal Ratzinger, April 15, 1988 FRATERNITA SACERDOTALE SAN PIO X Via Trilussa 35 – Tel 932.03.44 00041 Albano Laziale (Roma) + Albano, April 15, 1988 Your Eminence, Having had the opportunity to follow the works of the Commission in charge of preparing an acceptable solution to the problem which preoccupies us, it seems that with the grace of God we are coming closer to an agreement, which makes us very happy. With this letter I attach the doctrinal declaration, modified slightly in such a way that I believe that I can sign it; I hope it will be agreeable to you. No doubt, there will be more clarifications to add to the canonical document on the Roman Commission; at least at the beginning, I would like to be able to play a part in it so as to facilitate the solutions of the various cases of those who have been at our si

+ JMJ This is ... I think the final article in this series ... at least for now.  If something else comes up I will add and update. First, the characteristics that I mentioned in earlier articles are not necessarily exclusion criteria - for example someone may come from a broken home. This means you need to probe further and before making a choice. You can try the seminary or convent, but your can't 'try' a Catholic marriage. Second, I have been dividing the characteristics in a new way using Herzberg's Two-Factor motivational theory ... because the factors have cute names: Hygiene and motivational factors. Two-factor theory distinguishes between: Motivators (e.g. challenging work, recognition for one's achievement, responsibility, opportunity to do something meaningful, involvement in decision making, sense of importance to an organization) that give positive satisfaction, arising from intrinsic conditions of the job itself, such as recognition

+ JMJ I read this story decades ago in the Catholic Family magazine and my wife just brought it to my attention. It was written by Fr. Robert Hugh Benson who ... Like both his brothers, Edward Frederic Benson ("Fred") and Arthur Christopher Benson, Robert wrote many ghost and horror stories, as well as children's stories and historical fiction. His horror and ghost fiction are collected in The Light Invisible (1903) and A Mirror of Shallott (1907). His novel, Lord of the World (1907), is generally regarded as one of the first modern dystopian novels.  Come Rack! Come Rope! (1912) is a historical novel describing the persecution of English Roman Catholics during the Elizabethan era. ( Wikipedia ) This is fiction so enjoy! P^3 Source: Project Gutenberg “Consolatrix Afflictorum” The following letter will explain itself. The original was read to me by my friend on one of those days during my stay with him; and he allowed me, at my request, to ma

+ JMJ It would appear that my articles on obedience have been noticed by some members of the 'resistance' and prompted a reply  by Fr. Edward MacDonald, or one of his followers. It was posted on a resistance blog ... here's some key excerpts: "The Catholic principle is laid out as follows: The person issuing the command is in a position of authority over the inferior The command is within the scope of the superior's authority The command does not require the inferior to sin, either in the immediate or proximate case. If the above conditions are met then the person has an obligation to obey. Disobedience in this case is sinful. Whereas if #3 is lacking (sinful command) then the person has an obligation to disobey Whereas if #1 or #2 is lacking the person practice greater virtue in obeying a command that is not obligatory. This is from a different article rather than the full series on St. Thomas.  I've added a link at the end of this post.

+ JMJ I had an insight yesterday morning as I prepared for work. Actually it is thanks to gullible's response: Tradical: You should read my articles on Obedience ( link ). Is there anything specifically sinful in the legislation? Technically speaking no.  Gullible: wow   ( Source ) A key difference between the Catholic and UnCatholic response to this crisis is that a catholic is, on principle, ready and willing to obey the orders coming from an authority as long as they meet the criteria set out by St. Thomas Aquinas.  They don't let fear, uncertainty or doubt get in the way.  They deal with the reality.  It doesn't matter if the authority is ecclesiastical or civil, so that is why the SSPX continues to echo Samuel: Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. (Source)  All authority comes from God, including ecclesiastical and civil.  To disobey authority without real cause is to echo the demons "I will not serve". A Catho

+ JMJ The pressure on Catholics to give up their faith is enormous.  Good to see that at the same time, hard evidence that the Bible is true emerges. P^3 Courtesy of FSSPX.news The Bible and Modern Discoveries (1): The Hittites July 29, 2019 Source: fsspx.news This title refers to a valuable work by Fr. Fulcran Grégoire Vigouroux (Nantes, 1837 - Paris, 1915), member of the Society of Priests of Saint Sulpice (Sulpicians) who taught Holy Scripture at the Seminary of Saint Sulpice (1860-1895) and then at the Catholic Institute of Paris (1890-1903). He was then called to Rome to become secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission. A prolific author, he published numerous articles and volumes. This summer column intends to present some of those discoveries which regularly illustrate a dogma of the Catholic Faith—the inerrancy of Holy Scripture. For God, who has revealed Scripture, who “i

+ JMJ A real Catholic: is a warrior, follows Catholic Dogmas, Doctrines and principles, does not mimic the enemy in their principles. We have to understand that, like it or not, we are combatants in a great war for souls.  While sometimes we will need to be heard, the majority of the time we need to use the weapons of the Catholic Church that are in the armoury: the Sacraments, Sacramentals and prayers (especially the Rosary). To pick up the weapons of the enemy is to side with the enemy against Christ. Remember this next time you are tempted to anger and lashing out against the authorities.  How we carry ourselves is just as important as what we do in this crisis. P^3

+ JMJ Courtesy of SSPX.ca Our Dossier on the Amazon Synod November 17, 2019 Source: fsspx.news 1 - The reaction of the Society of Saint Pius X Communiqué of the Superior General of the Society about the Synod on the Amazon Our editorials: Polluted by the Rhine, Will the Amazon Flow into the Tiber? 3 - Preparation of the Synod The Synod that Will "Save" the Amazon and the Church Pope’s Message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation Troubling Parallels Between the Amazon Synod and the German “Synodal Path” Priestly Celibacy and the Amazon Fog-Test 4 - Instrumentum laboris , the preparatory document for the Synod The Alarming Preparatory Document for the Synod on Amazonia Cardinal Brandmüller Rejects the Preparatory Document of the Synod on the Amazon Two Cardinals Alert Other Cardinals About the Synod's Dangers Criticism of the Synod: Structurally Neutralized Trut

+ JMJ Gullible posted another comment in the SSPX 50th - Lourdes article . For clarity I will post it here with my responses. Hi Tradical you know what the Archbishop said if called to Rome, He would lay out the anti modernist encyclicals of the pre V2 popes and ask them if they accept them, if not , call me again and it will be the same thing.[1] secondly the Conciliar Church is modernism which is every error under the sun, it is the new religion, it is being promoted by the heiarchy in the Catholic Church, that's how the simple man understands it.[2] What is the pronouncement of the definition of the Conciliar Church from the Catholic Church? please explain your theory of the 2 chapters you laid out[3] Gullible Tradical: In answer to [1] Archbishop Lefebvre said many things about 'what if' he was called back to Rome.   However, I don't recall him saying that he did this when he was called by a Cardinal to see if there was a way to reconcile:

+ JMJ On the way to Mass today (Feast of Christ the King), the thought occurred to me that in many ways this crisis of the Catholic Church resembles diabetes . The diabetes has a number of complications: Retinopathy: Could lead to blindness Neuropathy: Damage to the nerves resulting in foot ulcers, numbness, tingling pain and altered pain sensation- damage to extremities. Sometimes requiring amputation It can also cause death. Applied to spiritual diabetes, we have the unhealthy diet of surgar fed to modern Catholics everything living minute. Blindness: Many can no longer see the world around them through a Catholic perspective Neuropathy: Their  Catholic nervous system no longer warns them of the dangers of protestanism, liberalism etc.  Resulting in a slow creeping death of its members.   Eventually, this disease will be dealth with by amputation. So, which part do you want to be the diseased part or the healthy part? Learn the faith, don't pick and cho

+ JMJ So one fellow Canadian who fell into the resistance trap has now turned to the Benny-Vacantist position.  Specifically, Tony La Rosa who hails from Ontario and runs the blog Ecclesia-Militans. Here's the new headline from his blog: Fighting to Maintain the Catholic Faith Whole and Inviolate and the Line of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre under the Pontificate of Benedict XVI  As I went through the posts I found this one: “I see the Holy Father in great anguish. He lives in a palace other than before and he admits only a limited number of friends near him. I fear that the Holy Father will suffer many more trials before he dies. I see that the false Church of darkness is making progress and I see the dreadful influence it has on the people. The Holy Father and the Church are verily in so great a distress that one must implore God night and day..…”(Anne Catherine Emmerich, August 10, 1820) The list goes on as Tony cites various opinions for why Benedict is still t

+ JMJ Gullible has, once again, sent me a number of comments on a post, so I'm going to collect them here and then see where it goes. Hi Tradical I don't agree with Poem of the Man God, but if you judge Bishop Williamson harshly for recommending that book then read below taken from St.John Bosco website, page 45 . I'll send 46 47 and 48 next. I doubt you will post this, you will see why Fr C took it down so quick when people found out about it. Be careful, might hurt the eyes. Gullible Hi Gullible,  interesting that you bring this up now as it is rather old news. First of all the "careful, might hurt the eyes" is a bit much as I am not ignorant of the difficulties of operating a private school in the secularized and anti-Christian environment that was (and to a lesser degree still is) permeating Alberta at that time.   This is the reality and dealing in a post-Catholic environment, they have to deal with the laws of the country in which they ex