The world looks on in amazement as it witnesses the contemporary church coming apart at the seams. We hear of scandals, anger, accusations, and lawsuits, which will bankrupt dioceses.
In the seminary, years ago, we found it mildly funny when we were told that a priest should do nothing to provoke "admiratio populi," a Latin phrase which does not mean "admiration of the people," but astonishment and disapproval. Like Queen Victoria, the people are "not amused." We hear that while Cardinals and Bishops are in disarray, lay groups are continuing to form, radical nuns are outraged, and there are renewed calls for a married clergy and women priests. Near panic prevails.
We should not be surprised that this is happening. A worldly church must suffer the fate of this world-decay, disintegration, and death. With John XXIII everything was in place for the Masonic takeover of the Church. It was later admitted by Paul VI that the smoke of Satan had entered the very sanctuary. This was the spirit of the world, which entered the Church and found its voice through Vatican II.
The holy Augustinian nun, Ann Katherine Emmerich once uttered these prophetic words:
"…I saw that the Church of Peter was undermined by a plan evolved by the secret sect (Masons), while storms were damaging it…I saw a strange church being built against every rule…No angels were supervising the building operations. In that church nothing came from high above…There was only division and chaos. It is probably a church of human creation, following the latest fashion, as well as the new heterodox church of Rome, which seems of the same kind…" (Yves Dupont, Catholic Prophecy, 54.2,4).
The feverish excitement following Vatican II was not the work of the Holy Spirit but of agents of change within the Church, and the "useful idiots" they managed to influence. We have only to look at the seminaries. But God still has the last word. We read in Psalm 126, "Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord guard the city, in vain does the guard keep vigil" (Ps.126:1). We can only expect further confusion and disintegration, followed by total collapse, unless there is a complete turnaround, and a return to authentic Tradition. As those of us with a rural background would say, "The chickens have come home to roost."
What should be our reaction to these things? Certainly not panic, nor loss of hope! The true Church is alive and well wherever the true Catholic faith is upheld, even for those who do not have access to the Traditional Mass and Sacraments. In fact, ours is a great vocation, because we are called upon to intercede for our holy Mother Church in her time of need. Who will pray for the Church if not us? Who will do penance and atone for the sacrileges and blasphemies committed against Almighty God? Who will console the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary?
The false church takes sin lightly, giving most Catholics a false sense of security about their present spiritual condition and their eternal destiny. They fail to realize that most of them are literally teetering on the brink of hell. The true Church knows that hell awaits the unrepentant sinner, and requires us to fast and pray, and to do penance for our sins, giving us opportunities and occasions to do so. The three days from Monday to Wednesday of this week preceding the Feast of the Ascension, for instance, are called Rogation Days, days of prayer and penance, such as are no longer observed by the conciliar church.
"The object of the Rogation days," says Dom Gueranger, "is to appease the anger of God, and avert the chastisements which the sins of the world so justly deserve…" Since St. James in the Epistle today says that we must be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves, I am calling for the observance of the Rogation Days, and ask that you offer extra prayers and perform acts of penance, with the good of the Church and the salvation of souls in mind. On the Rogation days long processions were held and the Litany of the Saints was recited, but I will leave the choices up to you - whether fasting in the usual manner, or turning off your TV for three days, or observing silence, except where necessity requires that you speak - there are any number of things one can do. This is not intended to bind under pain of sin, but under the present circumstances should be taken very seriously.
We are the Church Militant, fighting for our faith, which so many have already lost, along with the reward of Heaven. Keep praying! Keep fighting! And you will win more than an earthly crown, but a Heavenly reward from God our Almighty Father. †
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