Two Forgotten-Accounts of Canon 188
Canon 188 in the 1983 Code of Canon Law reads: "A resignation made out of grave fear that is inflicted unjustly or out of malice, substantial error, or simony is invalid by the law itself." This means if an attempted papal-resignation were done under duress, it would be invalid. Keep in mind as you read this that some crimes can be proved, even if the victim denies it. This is true in both criminal law and canon law. There has been much written on Can. 188 over the past decade by a few traditional Catholic authors. But I believe many Catholics have forgotten two of the most important accounts given not by the friends, but by the enemies of the late Pope Benedict XVI as to how he is reported resigned under duress. I will now report two LifeSite News (LSN) [...]
Was St. Magdalene the Sister of St. Lazarus?
Was St. Mary Magdalene the biological sister of Lazarus who Christ raised from the dead? Most of the early Fathers believe so. In fact, the 16th century Jesuit, Fr. Lapide, reveals the ancient dispute of the Fathers. Ultimately, however, he comes down on the side of the affirmative to that question. Here, we will just copy-and-paste that great scholar's clear and profound words without any commentary, except Lapide's own commentary on Sacred Scripture and the early Fathers: Ver. 36.—And one of the Pharisees desired that he would eat with him, and He went into the Pharisee’s house and sat down to meat. Ver. 37.—And behold a woman in the city. Behold, a wonderful thing, and a wonderful example of penitence. A woman called Mary Magdalene.—S. Luke viii. It is questioned whether this is the same woman who is mentioned by [...]
Who’s Your savior—The State or The Savior?
One headline I saw last week read “Biden says new covid shots ‘that work’ may be on the way for all Americans.” This is probably funny to most of my readers but the notion that a new injection “that works” obviously implies the last shot did not work. At all. Actually, it worked perfectly: It reduced the world's population as Bill Gates promised it would. And many of us lost a loved one who didn't listen to us. But why is a certain segment of leftists still blinded to this obvious truth? I think of when Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, trying to figure out the Truth (but still ashamed to admit he knew Him—hence coming to Him at night.) Our Lord said to him: “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can [...]
The Mass Was Never a Means of Evangelization
Thirty years ago this month, I attended World Youth Day (WYD) in Denver, CO with Pope John Paul II. It took place days before my 15th birthday. Some estimates believe one million people showed up to the events at the old Mile High Stadium (see above photo) and the final Mass at Cherry Creek Reservoir (see below photo.) My own mother was one of the chaperones for WYD '93 and my little brother (12 years old at the time) was one of thousands treated by Denver General Paramedics for dehydration at the final reservoir Mass. This was a special event for my family since Denver is where we were born and raised. I also attended WYD in Paris in 1997 as a 19 year old, just before beginning a premature study-abroad at University of Paris that same year. As I [...]
You Can’t Please Your Enemies (So Don’t Try)
Even though he's not completely Thomistic in his treatment of the virtues, C.S. Lewis brilliantly explains in chapter 2 of Mere Christianity the difference between vanity and pride: That is why vanity, though it is the sort of pride which shows most on the surface, is really the least bad and most pardonable sort. The vain person wants praise, applause, admiration, too much and is always angling for it. It is a fault, but a childlike and even (in an odd way) a humble fault. It shows that you are not yet completely contented with your own admiration. You value other people enough to want them to look at you. You are, in fact, still human. The real black, diabolical Pride comes when you look down on others so much that you do not care what they think of you. [...]
VLX 136: Mt 22:34-40. “The First Commandment.”
Old corrections I had to update because of new lies: https://www.padrepegrino.org/2022/01/chenlies/
Maximalism and Minimalism
Recently, I read about a certain African female saint in the ancient Roman Martyrology: "At Cyrene, in Lybia, St. Cyrilla, a martyr, in the persecution of Diocletian. For a long while she held on her hand burning coals with incense, lest by shaking off the coals she should seem to offer incense to the idols. She was afterwards cruelly scourged, and went to her spouse adorned with her own blood." Notice that St. Cyrilla not only refrained from putting incense on idols (which certainly would have been enough to win her martyrdom under Diocletian) but many Catholics today might even add that she didn't "know her theology enough" to know that she wouldn't be culpable before God for an involuntary-reaction of dropping a hot-coal out of her burning-hand before an idol, leading up to her horrible scourging and execution. Obviously, [...]
The Roman Canon Is the Oldest Eucharistic Prayer
Really, the better title of this blog should be "The Roman Canon is the Oldest Eucharistic Prayer and those of the Eastern Liturgies." What is excluded from this? Obviously, the Novus Ordo's Eucharistic Prayer II, III and IV are all very new man-made prayers. They are not of Apostolic Origin. But for some reason, that isn't so "obvious" to most Catholic educators today. One of the strangest modern-myths pushed in my mainstream-seminary years ago (and probably still today) was that "Eucharistic Prayer II is older than Eucharistic Prayer I." (That sounds as silly as saying, "The New Mass is older than the Old Mass.") As most of you know, what modernists call "Eucharistic Prayer I" is actually the Roman Canon. The Roman Canon is used exclusively even to this day in the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) as the only backbone [...]
TCE 50: Interview with a Green-Beret
In "Theology and Current Events" (TCE) #50, I interview Fmr.-Captain John Frankman, a Special-Forces Green Beret. He joins us to discuss his service in the Army as a practicing Catholic. We then discuss his decision to separate from the US Military due to their requirements of the C19-j@b.
Modernism Always Includes Narcissism
When I first started finding all the corruption in the Catholic Church hierarchy, I actually bent-over backwards to blame everything except Vatican II. (Yes, you read that correctly.) I really didn't want to admit the entire Catholic Church on seven continents got overturned in the 1960s, so I started telling myself that the US bishops were bad... ah, but the rest of the world had implemented Vatican II in a much more conservative way! Of course, I soon found out in my travels that I was wrong. The heresy of modernism came part-in-parcel with all the new sacraments and the new doctrine of ecumenism (read: religious indifferentism) in every country I visited. One of these countries was Brazil. What I found in Brazil was worse modernism and worse liturgical abuses than anything I had seen in the United States. No, [...]