RCT 30: The Results of the Ascension.
The Roman Catechism of Trent (RCT) p. 80-82 The Creed, Article VI, Section B.
Levate Capita Vestra Ad Redemptio Vestra
What did it mean to pray for the Jews to pray for the First Coming of the Messiah? What does it mean for Christians to pray for the Second Coming of the Messiah? Notice that for the former, it was not a matter of despair, but rather of hope, to pray for the first coming of the Christ. This is revealed in the life of St. Anne as seen in a vision by Ven. Mary of Agreda in the Mystical City of God: The most fortunate Anne had a house in Bethlehem and was a most chaste, humble and beautiful maiden. From her childhood she led a most virtuous, holy and retired life, enjoying great and continual enlightenment in exalted contemplation. Withal she was most diligent and industrious, thus attaining perfection in both the active and the contemplative life. She [...]
A “Springtime” of Vocations
I found a website called Christendom Restoration that graphed vocations before and after the Council, as seen above. It used very advanced calculus on the growth of American seminarians versus years, such as S(t)=47247.8e -0.0846t and S(year) = 47247.8e -0.0846(year-1965) in order to reveal only significant statistics. The above chart shows the Pre-Conciliar and Post-Conciliar Growth functions of seminarians in the United States. As you can see, it uses "Springtime" in a sarcastic sense for what has happened since 1965. Earlier this year. Fr. Z posted the above graph. Notice again that American priests were on the rise until Vatican II. After that, it tanked... ...not so for tradition in the United States... The above was posted by Liturgy Guy and it shows the growth of Latin Masses in the United States. Of course, none of this is sustainable if [...]
“Three Generations of Imbeciles Are Enough.”
One of the unknown connections between so-called "transgender" surgeries and forced sterilizations in early 20th century American history is the targeting of children with mental-health problems. Many people are now familiar with Miss Chloe Cole (top right.) She is a young woman born in 2004 who went on puberty blockers at age 13. She had a double mastectomy at age 15. She is now suing Kaiser Permanente of California. The beginning of the lawsuit filed reads thus: "This case is about a team of doctors (i.e., the Defendants) who decided to perform a mutilating, mimicry sex change experiment on Chloe, then a thirteen-year-old vulnerable girl struggling with complex mental health co-morbidities, who needed love, care, attention, and regular weekly psychotherapy, not cross-sex hormones, and mutilating surgery." Notice again that a young woman with "complex mental health" found a surgeon in [...]
VLX 140: Mt 23:37-39. “Lament Over Jerusalem.”
- My article, "Who is the Man of Lawlessness?" at: https://www.padreperegrino.org/2023/10/who-is-the-man-of-lawlessness/ - My article, "On Eternal Rome" at: https://www.padreperegrino.org/2016/06/saints-peter-and-paul/ - Catholic Arena on Hallow App's new-hire at: https://www.catholicarena.com/latest/tuamliamneesonhallow211123
Should You Recall Past Sins?
Should you recall past sins? The basic answer to this is one that most of you already know: Do not beat yourself up about sins you have confessed because those sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus. (Or, if you are an adult convert, your sins were washed away in baptism.) Keep in mind in St. Luke chapter 15, we have the Prodigal Son parable: After a significant stint of sin, he returns to the Father and he is planning on saying, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants." But the Father doesn't even let him get that far, for the prodigal son only gets out of his mouth the first two of the above three sentences. [...]
The Life and Death of St. Cecilia As Told By St. Alphonsus
St. Cecilia, virgin and martyr, has always been most celebrated in the Church of God; even from the fourth century a Church has been dedicated to her honor in Rome; and honorable mention is made of her, not only in all the martyrologies, but even in the Canon of the Mass. In the eighth century there was a report that Astulphus, King of the Longobards, had carried off the body of our saint from Rome; but she appeared, in a vision, to Pope Paschal I, assured him that the report was false, and encouraged him to seek her relics. The holy pontiff found them, in the cemetery of Prætextatus, Prætextatus, on the Appian road; and, having rebuilt her church, placed them there in the year 821. After a lapse of nearly eight centuries, when the place in which the saint’s [...]
The Ladder of Divine Ascent for Lay People
One of the greatest works of the early Desert Fathers is The Ladder of Divine Ascent. It is considered to be a masterpiece of ascetical theology, but it is primarily for monks. Thus, I was surprised when a married man with children started telling me about how this is one of his favorite books. This layman (about my age) usually does one hour of mental prayer a day and lives very impressive asceticism. (He was not bragging to me, but he admitted he and his family try to make their home a little monastery.) Nevertheless, I still wondered if The Ladder of Divine Ascent should be the goal of the average Catholic layman who has so many other duties in life, including family prayer like the Rosary and catechesis of his children. Happily, the man I was describing in the [...]
A 60 Year Old Pastor’s View of Priesthood in America.
My article earlier this week is called Are Young Priests More Orthodox? In it, I explained that young guys enter seminary pretty conservative, but slowly become more liberal after ordination. I asked a 58-year-old Catholic Priest friend in the South of the United States for feedback. (He belongs to a different Southern diocese than the one featured in the picture above.) I half-expected him to tell me I was too cynical, so I was surprised that he texted back 21 points much more critical of the American bishops' interactions with their priests than anything written in my blog two days ago. I asked him if I could use it in a blog post, and he said yes. Keep in mind as you read these 21 points of how he sees priesthood/bishop relations that he went to a prestigious seminary for [...]
RCT 29: He Ascended Into Heaven.
The Roman Catechism of Trent (RCT) p. 76-80. The Creed, Article VI, Section A. Donate: https://padreperegrino.org/donate/