Saturday, April 21, 2007
MELANIE IS CANCER FREE
But what an ordeal the two of them had to go through to get to this point. In any case, thank you God for this happy outcome.
FROM THE EMAILBOX
Spirit & Life
"The words I spoke to you are spirit and life." (Jn 6:63)
Human Life International e-Newsletter
Volume 01, Number 64 | Friday, April 20, 2007
................................................................................... www.hli.org
An Urgent Plea for Mexico
Dear friends and fellow pro-lifers,
I need your immediate prayers to stop the assault that is sweeping over Our Lady of Guadalupe's beloved land of faith. Mexico has been under a massive assault for decades by the rabid promoters of abortion and birth control and is now at the point of legalizing abortion "on demand." Despite the Catholic character of the culture and people, the death peddlers have unfortunately made significant progress in breaking down the prohibitions to contraception and sex education, and these are always the precursors to legalizing baby-killing.
Since its founding, HLI has sounded the alarm on birth control and to this day we continue to echo the same message: namely, birth control leads to abortion, it does not prevent abortion. Mexico's Planned Parenthood affiliate, Mexfam, has been working in Mexico for forty years to change the abortion laws. Their method of abortion advocacy follows the standard template that I described in a recent catechesis on contraception: contraception leads to promiscuity; promiscuity leads to out-of-wedlock pregnancies, and these lead to abortion.
But don't take my word for it. Take a look at http://www.mexfam.org.mx/. The opening window of Mexfam's website says graphically, "64% of sexually active women ages 15-19 have no access to contraception." Apparently it's their mission to give those deprived adolescents that access even though it's a violation of everything the Mexicans believe. They offer workshops for teens called, "Sex is for young people," "Erotic (and protected) life," and others just as graphic, all with the purpose of breaking down the social and moral protections to innocent life and family. In true radical feminist style, they use deceptive language and proclaim themselves the strong defenders of "reproductive rights" and all that goes with them.
The leftist government in Mexico City has now proposed legislation that would legalize abortion up to 12 weeks on demand. This is one of the largest cities in the world, and if the capital of this pivotal Catholic country permits open season on its precious babies then the domino effect will continue throughout Latin America. You may recall that I said this same thing last year when the Colombian Supreme Court permitted abortion. The dominoes are starting to fall and we need prayer!
The vote is expected to take place next Tuesday, April 24th. Please pray and fast for this intention! I will be doing that and offering every Mass for this intention until that day. Please join me by going to Mass and offering your Communions for this holy effort. Then take time to write an email to the legislators of Mexico City [see side bar item] and express your disgust with the prospect of legalizing abortion in Our Lady's land. You can write in English, and they will understand the phrase, "NO to abortion!" or cut and paste the equivalent in Spanish "¡Diga NO al aborto!"
Next week we will resume with the third installment of the mini-catechesis on contraception.
God bless you!
Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer
President, Human Life International
LIMBO OUT OF LIMBO
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 20, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI authorized the publication of a report that expresses the hope that babies who die without baptism are able to get to heaven.
The report by the International Theological Commission, published today, concluded that there are serious theological and liturgical grounds for the hope that such babies are saved and enjoy the beatific vision.
The commission says the theological hypothesis of "limbo" appeared to be based on an unduly restrictive view of salvation.
The 41-page document noted this is an "urgent pastoral problem," especially because of the large number of unbaptized babies who die as victims of abortion.
The commission's documents are not considered official expressions of the magisterium. But the commission does help the Holy See to examine important doctrinal issues.
Read the rest...
If umbaptised babies go to heaven, aborted babies must go there as well, right? Logically, a mother might take pleasure in sending her unborn baby to heaven for eternity, especially if she doesn't really want to raise the baby.
Would Peter Singer find grounds for his claim that children may be killed up to their first birthday in this decision? Not that Peter Singer cares about baptism, of course.
If unbaptised babies go to heaven, what about unbaptised one-year-olds? Three-year-olds? Seven-year-olds? Wouldn't the logical cutoff be the "Age of Reason"? In fact why bother to have a child baptised before the age of reason now that heaven has become their destination?
In fact, if there are ways to get to heaven without baptism, why bother with baptism at all? What are those extra-baptism ways to heaven? Are they open to any adults? What about retarded adults, for example? Can a person with an IQ of say 7 go to heaven without baptism?
This opens up a whole Pandora's box of questions.
Friday, April 20, 2007
NO SHEPHERDS TO GUIDE THEM
Citing lack of priests, Fresno bishop advances plan for “parish life coordinators”
“This is already happening in many of our dioceses, even here in California, and it is coming soon to our diocese,” said Fresno Bishop John Steinbock in a message to the faithful aired on KNXT-TV. “In our nation there are seven dioceses that half of their parishes have no resident priest.”
In the March message, Steinbock told his flock about upcoming changes in their sheepfold. Soon, he said, many of them would have no shepherds to guide them. Only fellow sheep.
Steinbock, along with 127 priests and 42 permanent deacons, met at a four-day gathering of the Clergy for Continuing Formation held at the Visalia Convention Center in January, where they began “a strategic planning process to eventually form a five-year plan for pastoral ministry.”
Steinbock said the meeting “looked at where we are and where we hope to be in five years from now, and how we can work towards that vision. The priests and deacons came up with four main areas to place our emphasis in these next five years: Catechesis, Lay Ministry, Vocations and Youth Ministry.” The meeting set up five committees, which will work out plans to realize these emphases. The committees will submit their plans to the priests’ council in five years for review, and ultimately to Steinbock for final approval.
“Two of the most exciting committees will be the committee for setting up the Lay Ministry Institute to give certification for all our ministries and to give degrees for theology and scripture and the committee for setting up a program for Parish Life Coordinators,” said Steinbock. “Sad to say we are coming to a point in our Diocese when we will not have sufficient priests to staff all our parishes and we will have to have Permanent Deacons, Religious, or Lay persons trained to lead a parish community.”
The April 8 Central California Catholic Life, the diocesan newspaper, reported that the priests’ convocation spoke of the need “to refine the New Wine Program” for lay leaders and a Lay Formation Institute to train parish life coordinators. In 2005, Bishop Robert Finn, the then-recently appointed bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, suspended the New Wine program, under diocesan direction since 1994, purportedly because it was not cost effective. The three-year program, whose materials have been published by Paulist Press, provides a foundation in theology and pastoral skills.
Read the rest...
With all due respect, this Catholic has no plans to follow a fellow sheep. Either we have priests, or we have no way to practice the faith. A lay stand-in does not fill the requirement, no matter how many New Wine programs he has graduated from. I am NOT interested in any new wine! When the priests are gone, the faith, for all practical purposes is gone with them, and we are left with nothing but the burnt-out empty shell.
Blogger credit to New Oxford Review for the link.
CANCER JOURNAL
Bringing you up to date...
The second chemo treatment was not quite as exhausting as the first, and I have had the side effects under better control. It still made me tired, but not for quite as many days. Also, so far the bone pain from the Neulasta has been much less bothersome, unless it hasn't kicked in yet, which is of course possible.
That's the up side. On the down side, I got the news today that the lymph nodes on my right side are malignant. The biopsy was done over there because the PET scan showed evidence of cancer. My oncologist thought it was an anomoly. Unfortunately she was wrong. This will change my course of treatment. No longer are we looking for a cure. Now the operative phrase is "managing a chronic medical condition." There are no longer plans for a mastectomy. Instead the chemo sessions will double, changing to Taxol for the second set of four. After that radiation may or may not be recommended. Finally I will be on an estrogen suppressant indefinitely, which means a
greater potential for osteoporosis and the side effect of increased arthritis, a condition with which I have been dealing since I was in my 20s. It's not exactly good news.
Since my original diagnosis, and since Justin sent me the miraculous oil from St. John Maximovich's lamp, I had been saying this prayer when using the oil: "Jesus Christ, Son of God, by the prayers of Saint Archbishop John, heal the cancer in my body and save my hair if it be in accordance with God the Father's will." Apparently it was not in accordance, because I am now bald for all practical purposes.
Wigs are hot. When hair is about to fall out, the scalp gets irritated. Think pin cushion. Consequently my husband gets to see my chrome dome on a regular basis. I do still cover it up when outside, but that just may change one of these days. You know that commercial where the young, georgeous, hairless girl says "Bald is beautiful"? Well, I'm not beautiful, but I just might tell you: "Yeah. I don't have any hair. So deal with it!" Especially since chemotherapy looks to become a lifestyle change.
Tomorrow I have a Red Hat luncheon. I've got the hat figured out. It's knitted out of that new fuzzy yarn--red, of course. It covers up all the bald parts and looks a little bit like a Raggedy Ann doll wig. Around that goes a purple ribbon with a purple pin and a large purple feather. Now if I just had a purple flapper dress, the outfit would be complete.
Oddly enough, I have bought three skirts very recently. It seems that if I must become less feminine by losing my hair, I must also become more feminine by wearing dresses. Go figure.
MORE ON MERTON
From Susanna's email:
Although I have also been searching, I haven't been able to find a direct link between Thomas Merton and "Bishop" Louis Giraud either. However, since Merton was a contemporary of both Bricaud and Giraud, I am still trying to track down any indirect influences that may have existed - especially during the time Merton spent in Europe as an adult.
But even if Merton wasn't directly involved with Bricaud, Giraud & Co, he was nevertheless influenced indirectly by the teachings of one of their confreres, Rene Guenon, who, as you know, was not only personally acquainted with Papus, Bricaud, Giraud et al, but also functioned as a gnostic bishop before his final conversion to Sufism. At this time, many of the Martinist Orders were advocating "synarchy" ( St. Yves d'Alveydre ) which, among other things, sought to merge the occult with politics. This would seem to have squared quite well with "Traditionalism."
Even though Rene Guenon was also Merton's contemporary, I haven't found any evidence that Guenon and Merton knew each other. Guenon's influence on Merton seems to have been indirect - through the writings of Aldous Huxley.
Source: Rene Guenon Biography
Against the Modern World:
Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century
Here is another interesting fact about Thomas Merton; when he was at Columbia University after his brief and morally disastrous sojourn at Cambridge, Merton became, for a very brief time, a member of the Young Communist League:
"After Merton arrived in New York he enrolled as a sophomore at Columbia University for the January term of 1935, with the intention of studying literature. Given the tenor of the times it does not surprise us that he joined, for a very brief period (in fact, he attended one meeting), the Young Communist League (under the somewhat risible party name of Frank Swift)."
Source: Thomas Merton and the Monastic Vision
Thursday, April 19, 2007
GETHSEMENE ABBEY
The Trappist facility, Gethsemene Abbey, located in Kentucky, was permeated by the ecumenical spirit after Vatican II, and in conjunction with the work of one of its best-known members, Thomas Merton.
Merton (1915-1968) was a contemporary of Martinist Bishop Louis-Marie-Francois Giraud (1876-1950), though there is no evidence they ever met.
Meister Eckhart was among those who influenced Merton's life, near the end of which Merton claimed that he wanted "to become as good a Buddhist as I can." Did he study the Buddhism of the Theosophists, one wonders? The Buddhism of Olcott and Leadbeater? In any case, Merton was an influential member of the New Age movement. Quite an accomplishment for a Trappist monk!
Merton's story was once included in the new American Catechism, but was subsequently removed at the request of the bishops. His syncretism proved to be too much to allow.
Merton founded an interfaith movement with the famed Berrigan brothers that formed in protest to the Vietnam War, and which may have brought him to the attention of the FBI. Whether it did or not, Merton is noted on the FBI website as a draft protester.
Thanks to Susanna for providing these interesting links.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
SENATOR LEAHY FEARS LOSS OF LIBERTIES
Speaking at the University of Portland, Senator Patrick Leahy offered the following comments on the loss of liberty in America since 9/11:
In his 32 years in the Senate, Leahy said he has never seen Congress so willfully derelict in its duties as it has been since 9/ll.
He cited recent examples of attempts by some in Washington to “cut a path through the law to fight what they have termed evil do-ers.
“During this time, our Constitution was under assault, our legal and human rights were weakened, our privacy and other freedoms were eroded,” he said.
The Georgetown University alum said last fall’s midterm elections sent a strong message. “The American people rose up to take away Congress’ rubber stamp, and to demand a new direction with more accountability and a renewed respect for the rule of law.”
Leahy said Americans cannot put their liberties in a blind trust in return for temporary security. “We end up with neither,” he said.
He cited the suspension of habeas corpus, the law requiring a person to be brought before a judge to determine whether the person has been detained illegally. He called habeas corpus a keystone of American liberty. Its suspension “needlessly undercut our freedoms and values, and allowed the terrorists to achieve something they never could win on the battlefield,” he said.
He also cited U.S. treatment of detainees, saying the Bush administration ignored the rule of law on the issue of torture and Congress failed to respond. He said this led to the nation’s embarrassing involvement in Abu Ghraib and the continuing problems in Guantanamo Bay.
“Not only did the president redefine ‘torture,’ his policies effectively allowed for the outsourcing of torture known as ‘extraordinary rendition.’”
Read all of his comments here...
PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION BAN HOLDS
A sharply divided Supreme Court did April 18 exactly what many pro-lifers hoped and what many abortion-rights advocates feared it would: It upheld, for the first time, a nationwide ban on a specific abortion procedure.
In a 5-4 decision, the court upheld a federal law banning a procedure that opponents label "partial-birth" abortion. In the two combined cases -- Gonzales v. Carhart (No. 05-380) and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood (No. 05-1382) -- the majority disagreed with lower federal courts that said the ban was unconstitutional because it was too vague and did not allow exceptions to protect the mother's health.
Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, said, "There is documented medical disagreement whether the act's prohibition would ever impose significant health risks on women .... The question becomes whether the act can stand when this medical uncertainty persists. The court's precedents instruct that the Act can survive this facial attack."
But Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing for the minority, called the decision "alarming" and said the ruling "refuses to take [the court's precedents on abortion rights] seriously. It tolerates, indeed applauds, federal intervention to ban nationwide a procedure found necessary and proper in certain cases by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists."
Continue reading...
THE MARTINISTS CONTINUE TO NAVIGATE AN HERETICAL CATHOLIC SEA
More data sent in by Susanna:
New episcopal consecration for "Eglise Gnostique Universelle" in 1913 completes connection to Martinist Order because of its validity as recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. (Note: consecration valid but illicit. Parties to consecration incur automatic excommunication.)
Jean Bricaud, Évêques-Primat (Primary Bishop) and member of the "Suprème Conseil du Haut Synode" (High Synod) of the "Église Gnostique Universelle" received a new episcopal consecration in 1913 which would finally complete the connection to the Martinist Order because of its validity as recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. Bricaud had met Louis-Marie-François Giraud (1876-1950) with whom he became friendly. Giraud was a disciple of Abbé Julio ( Julien-Ernest Houssay, 1844-1912), a former Catholic Priest, Occultist and "faith-healer" who had consecrated Giraud in 1911. Giraud apparently stated that he considered the 'Eglise Gnostique Universelle' to be a continuation of the Gallican Church. It appears that it was especially Charles Détre (Téder) who exerted pressure on Papus to 'officially' connect the "Eglise Gnostique Universelle" to the Martinist Order. Abbé Julio was concecrated as a Bishop of the "Eglise Catholique Libre de France" on December 4, 1904, by Mgr.Paolo Miraglia, a Bishop of the "Eglise Catholique Indépendante d'Italie". Paolo Miraglia-Gulatti, also a former catholic priest, had been consecrated as an "Old Catholic Bishop of Italy" by Mgr. Vilatte in 1900 "with the title of Bishop of Piacenza".
Joseph René Vilatte held a lineage into the "Old Catholic Church of Utrecht" and a lineage into the Syro-Jacobite "Church of Antioch". Bricaud's consecration into the old Catholic rites was important for the E.G.U. because it provided "a valid and apostolic episcopal succession, which was recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as valid but 'illicit' (source : T.Apyrion).
The consecration into the Church of Antioch provided the Gnostic Church of the French Martinists the apostolic authority to administer the Christian sacraments. Many members of the M*O* of Papus were of the Catholic faith, and being a Martinist or member of any secret society ment excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church. Assurance of receiving the sacraments was achieved through the consecration into a valid rite. Both Giraud and Julio were in close communion with the Gnostic Churches of France as well as with the Arcane Orders and Societies of their time. Abbé Julio is primary responsible for the occult infusion into the Apostolic succession. It was Abbé Julio, through Giraud, who gave the Apostolic filiation to Bricaud's Gnostic Church, "Église Gnostique Universelle".
Source: The Church of Carmel
Gallicanism has a longer history in the Church than this occult movement would suggest. In modern times it seems to have morphed into Sillonism, as I explained in a blog some time ago.
The issue still remains, however, what are the routes by which occultism is impacting the Roman Catholic Church in 2007? Who is practicing occultism within the Roman Catholic Church today?
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
JEAN BRICAUD WAS A MARTINIST AS WELL AS AN EX-TRAPPIST
Susanna sent in the following evidence of his membership in both:
l'Église Catholique Gnostique
Jean Bricaud, Tau Johannes, had been educated in a Roman Catholic seminary, where he had studied for the priesthood, but he renounced his conventional religious pursuits at the age of 16 to pursue mystical occultism. He became involved with the "Eliate Church of Carmel" and the "Work of Mercy" founded in 1839 by Eugéne Vintras (1807-1875); and the "Johannite Church of Primitive Christians," founded in 1803 by the Templar revivalist Bernard-Raymond Fabré -Palaprat (1777-1838). He had met Encausse in 1899 and had already joined his Martinist Order.
In 1907, with the encouragement (if not direct pressure) of Encausse, Bricaud broke from Fabre des Essarts to found his own schismatic branch of the Gnostic Church. Fugairon decided to join Bricaud. The primary motive for this schism seems to have been the desire to create a branch of the Gnostic Church whose structure and doctrine would more closely parallel those of the Roman Catholic Church rather than those of the Cathar Church (for instance, it included an Order of Priesthood and baptism with water); and which would be more closely tied to the Martinist Order. Doinel had been a Martinist, Bricaud was a Martinist, but Fabre des Essarts was not. Bricaud, Fugairon and Encausse at first tentatively named their branch of the church l'Église Catholique Gnostique (the Gnostic Catholic Church). It was announced as being a fusion of the three existing "gnostic" churches of France: Doinel's Gnostic Church, Vintras's Carmelite Church, and Fabré -Palaprat's Johannite Church. In February of 1908, the episcopal synod of the Gnostic Catholic Church met again and elected Bricaud its patriarch as Tau Jean II. After 1907, in order to clearly distinguish the two branches of the Gnostic church, l'Église Gnostique of Fabre des Essarts became generally known as l'Église Gnostique de France.
Source: History of the Gnostic Catholic Church
Another source indicates that Giraud was involved with not only the Trappists but also the Gallican Catholic Church, a heretical branch of the Roman Catholic Church in France:
Jean Bricaud moved in many circles - from the most conventional and devout of Catholic intellectuals, to eccentric and mysterious sages,
tricksters and phantasts. With his introduction to the Western Gnosis, be it the masonic illuminism of the Ancient and Primitive Rite of Memphis-Misraim, the internal therapeutic theurgy of Elie Alta, Bouvier and Maistre Anthelme Nizier Phillipe, the enthusiastic messianism of the followers of Pierre-Michel Eugene Vintras who had a French headquarters in the city of Lyons - the path of the heart of Martinism as administrated by his friend Papus or the charismatic ritualism of Tau Synesius Gnostic Church, he discovered a richness and diversity he prior to this thought he could only encounter in the Far East. Among his friends and associates later in life where Bishop Louis-Marie-François Giraud (d. 1951) who after having lived for many years as a Trappist Monk had joined the fray with the Gallican Catholic Church under the Apostolic protection of Archbishop Joseph Renè Villatte, from whom he could trace his Apostolic succession as a Bishop. Bishop Giraud`s consecrator was also a famous "Mage" the Abbe Julio(Jules Ernest Houssay,1844-1912), who through the introduction of Giraud, Jean Bricaud befriended. Louis-Marie-Francois Giraud consecrated Jean Bricaud, already a Gnostic Bishop with three verified lineages from heterodox and esoteric lines of succession on the 21st of July 1913, as Apostolic Bishop, with a fraternal affiliation with the Gallicanne communion.
The following quote comes from a Wikipedia article on Rene Vilatte and again makes the claim of Trappist membership:
On June 21, 1907 Vilatte consecrated a formerly Roman Catholic, former Trappist monk, Louis Marie Francois Giraud, who had been expelled from the Roman Catholic Church for dabbling in magic and the occult. Shortly after this consecration Cardinal Richard issued a warning to the people about apostate priests who were celebrating mass under cover of a pseudo American Bishop, and excommunicated Vilatte a second time. Soon thereafter Vilatte returned to the United States.
Yet another source for the Trappist claim:
The acception of a statement that Bricaud, a former Trappist monk and devote disciple of Maitre Philippe, accepted the "Gnostic Mass" of Crowley and Reuss seems incompatible today. But we have to understand that the possible proposition was made just after the First World War. At the time Bricaud was a representative of Reuss' O.T.O. in France, and I'm tending to believe that Bricaud didn't even know what a "Thelemite" even was. It is known that Bricaud, as a Gnostic Christian, had demonstrated a tolerance of accepting doctrinal variations. M.Evans, a Thelemite, states on this subject: "The documents were circulated during his lifetime, to a relative small group of people who interacted. They were never refuted by Bricaud", and, "What we have is a few mentions, and that is all the evidence that exists for now".
The Cathar Church played a role in Paris occultism, but Bricaud wanted to move his organization closer to Roman Catholicism:
Motive for Bricaud schism - to create a branch of the Gnostic Church WHOSE STRUCTURE AND DOCTRINE WOULD MORE CLOSELY PARALLEL THOSE OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH RATHER THAN THOSE OF THE CATHAR CHURCH..............
In 1907, with the encouragement (if not direct pressure) of Encausse, Bricaud broke from Fabre des Essarts to found his own schismatic branch of the Gnostic Church. Fugairon decided to join Bricaud. The primary motive for this schism seems to have been the desire to create a branch of the Gnostic Church whose structure and doctrine would more closely parallel those of the Roman Catholic Church rather than those of the Cathar Church (for instance, it included an Order of Priesthood and baptism with water), and which would be more closely tied to the Martinist Order. Doinel had been a Martinist, Bricaud was a Martinist, but Fabre des Essarts was not. Bricaud, Fugairon and Encausse at first tentatively named their branch of the church “l’Église Catholique Gnostique” (the Gnostic Catholic Church). It was announced as being a fusion of the three existing “gnostic” churches of France: Doinel’s Gnostic Church, Vintras’s Carmelite Church and Fabré-Palaprat’s Johannite Church. In February of 1908, the episcopal synod of the Gnostic Catholic Church met again and elected Bricaud its patriarch as Tau Jean II. After 1907, in order to clearly distinguish the two branches of the Gnostic church, l’Église Gnostique of Fabre des Essarts became generally known as “l’Église Gnostique de France”.
Source: Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica
Monday, April 16, 2007
TRAPPISTS
Once considered the most holy, most devout, most sacrificial part of the Roman Catholic monastic community, do the Trappists bear a large burden for the undermining of Roman Catholic doctrine?
First there is the evidence that I reported more than a year ago of a strange
ceremony that took place at the Trappist Monastery in Georgia.
More about the activities of the Trappists can be found at these Running Off links:
THE OTHER GOSPEL
THEODORE MEISNER AND HOLY SPIRIT MONASTERY
YOGA
As you consider those bits of information, also consider this statement made in the document titled "A Historical Brief of The Gnostic Catholic Ecclesia: Part I":
On July 21, 1913, Louis Francois Giraud consecrated Jean Bricaude, an ex-Trappist monk, (with the name Tau Jean II), in the Gallican Church at Saint-Amond, Roche-Savine. Bricaud had come to his new status with very illustrious credentials, for by this time he held the titles of President de la Societe Occultiste Modaile, Patriarch de L'Eglise Gnostique Universelle, President du Supreme Consiel de L' Ordre Martiniste and Grand Hierophant du Rite Ancient and Primitif de Memphis-Mizraim and Rectuer de la Rose Croix. Tau Jean II gathered in Lyon, France a very strong following of Gnostic clergy and lay folk, and on May 5, 1918, consecrated Victor Blanchard under the name Tau Targilus. Tau Jean fell ill in 1933 and on February 21, 1934 he passed into the light beyond the shadow.
Giraud, too, had been a Trappist, as Susanna pointed out in a comments box below:
On June 21, 1907 Vilatte consecrated a formerly Roman Catholic, former Trappist monk, Louis Marie Francois Giraud, who had been expelled from the Roman Catholic Church for dabbling in magic and the occult. Shortly after this consecration Cardinal Richard issued a warning to the people about apostate priests who were celebrating mass under cover of a pseudo American Bishop, and excommunicated Vilatte a second time. Soon thereafter Vilatte returned to the United States.
The Vilatte succession is outside of the Roman Catholic Church, lodged in the Old Catholic Communion. The question is not established structure, but rather influence. What influence remained behind when these two men left? If two Trappists left for the greener pastures of the Gnostic Church, were there other Trappists from their order(s?) who determined to stay in the Roman Catholic Church and change it from within?
Vilatte, Giraud and Bricaud are names on the tongue of every investigator into the Paris occult revival. These men carried a great deal of influence. Were there others? It is difficult to ignore the present-day activities of the Trappists when looking at it in the light of these details.
One example of the questions raised by this progression of events is this photo report from Tradition in Action sent in by Susanna. Is this what the Cistercians or Trappists are up to these days? It's a far cry from contemplation. It's a far cry from Roman Catholicism. It's much closer to worldly pleasure than anything religious. This Roman Catholic does not understand how what she sees in these pictures can be ignored by the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, unless they somehow see fit to approve of it.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
MOTU PROPRIO OR NO MOTU PROPRIO SEEMS TO BE THE QUESTION
We've been on-again and off-again for months. Does this signal a commitment from Benedict to go through with his intentions? NOR links a story that reports:
In the coming weeks, the Pope is expected to release a document that would allow the more widespread practice of the traditional Latin Mass, which was all but shelved with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s. Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone recently confirmed to Le Figaro newspaper that this motu proprio, or personal initiative of the Pontiff, will allow any priest to say the mass according to the old Tridentine rite (which is delivered in Latin with the priest facing the altar, his back to the congregation), rather than have to seek approval from the local bishop as is now required.
Read the entire story here.
A sample of the opposition he is facing can be found in Johnston, PA's Bishop Adamac's opposition reported by Matt Abbott:
During the 'Town Hall'-style question and answer session, one parishioner asked Adamec about recent articles in the local Catholic newspaper regarding an anticipated papal document, and whether our diocese had plans for making a Tridentine Mass available.
Adamec responded, 'No.'
He said the Tridentine rite is only a concession to the Lefebvrites, and there is no need for it here because that situation does not exist here. Adamec said a Latin Mass could be made available [referring to the Novus Ordo with some Latin], but if the Tridentine rite is offered, it is a different rite, and you have to go back to the old forms of spirituality that went with it. He also said you have to go back to the old forms of sacraments, fasting and other aspects.
Can it split the Church? If it does split the Church, will this necessarily be a bad thing? Is bishop opposing bishop a sign of a healthy Church?
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
Sunday, April 15, 2007
MATT ABBOTT'S LATEST COLUMN - TOLEDO DIOCESE ABORTION FILES ?
More on Toledo Catholic diocese, abortion files
Matt C. Abbott Matt C. Abbott
April 12, 2007
In a Dec. 2006 column, I printed an excerpt from Toledo Blade religion editor David Yonke's book Sin, Shame and Secrets which stated that "privileged" diocesan files "contained reports of abortions paid for by the [Toledo] diocese."
Yonke's book is about the Father Gerald Robinson case in Toledo, Ohio. Robinson was convicted on May 11, 2006 of murdering Sister Margaret Ann Pahl in a hospital chapel in 1980. He is serving a sentence of 15 years to life.
To date, the diocese has not commented on Yonke's report of the abortion files.
And Yonke stands firmly behind his reporting.
Claudia Vercellotti, of the Toledo chapter of SNAP, shed more light on the matter in a recent e-mail to me:
"Here's what I know: The Toledo Police asked the diocese for everything on Father Gerald Robinson and received only three pages. After obtaining and executing two no-knock search warrants, they uncovered 145 more pages that had never been turned over to the police.
Read the rest...
MYSTICISM VS. MAGIC
Susanna has written a very good description of the difference between magic and mysticism, and I wanted to share it with all of you because these two ways of approaching that beyond the realm of man are getting confused in New Age doctrine:
Re: Mysticism
True mysticism is prayer. St. Teresa of Avila taught that when one begins contemplative prayer it should be with the intention of unselfishly loving God for His own sake without any expectation of ecstasies or other spiritual pleasures. In fact, there is often something that occurs in contemplative prayer called "aridity".....when prayer is unexciting, almost "boring" and seems to be an exercise in futility. This is usually a good sign. This is when prayer is most unselfish and hence most authentic....... purely out of love for God....a spiritual embracing of the Cross.
Not so with occultism. The occultist demands results! The only one the occultist loves and worships is himself. God for the occultist is seen as merely the means of his own self gratification.
I have a friend whose husband committed suicide during his involvement in a false mysticism that involved the use of drugs to produce "altered states of consciousness." Again, the occultist/magician demands results.
Regarding the Mass: The Mass is a miracle. Occult rituals are magic. Only God can perform true miracles. The reason why magic can resemble miracles is because the angelic nature is higher than our own and is therefore capable of doing things which while perfectly "natural" to other angels are "preternatural" in relation to our human nature. Only god can do that which is "supernatural."
http://www.secondexodus.com/html/catholicdefinitions/preternatural.htm
Recall the contest in Egypt between Moses and the magicians of Pharoah (Jamnes and Mambres). The things that God did through Moses were miracles. The things that Jamnes and Mambres did through the agency of demons were magic.
The Resurrection was the miracle that Jesus promised to perform as proof beyond a reasonable doubt that he was who he said he was; namely, God. Did Buddha rise from the dead? Or any of the other "world's great teachers?"
http://ncregister.com/site/article/2184
FROM THE EMAIL BOX
Spirit & Life
"The words I spoke to you are spirit and life." (Jn 6:63)
Human Life International e-Newsletter
Volume 01, Number 63 | Friday, April 13, 2007
................................................................................... www.hli.org
Is NFP Just Catholic Birth Control?
((VIDEO message))
Hello HLI Friends,
Our mini-catechesis on contraception this week continues on the topic of why the gift of Natural Family Planning is not tantamount to "Catholic birth control." This is a common misconception about the practice, and it is good to hear the Church's actual teaching on the matter! You may access the written script [I was not able to find it - ct] of this video on the side bar and, after viewing, please feel free to forward this email to others.
Blessings to you and your families!
Sincerely,
Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer
President, Human Life International
