RCT 24: The Effects of Christ’s Passion.
The Roman Catechism of Trent {RCT} p. 61-63 The Creed, Article IV, Part D. *** The Most Destructive Line in the New Catechism: https://www.padreperegrino.org/2023/07/destructive/
On Divine Omnipotence
"God is so mighty that after creating man free, He rules and directs him according to His good pleasure, without prejudicing man's liberty in any way."—Divine Intimacy, Day #240 on "Divine Omnipotence." I recently came across the above quote again in Divine Intimacy (DI) but I had never noticed that it may be one of the best short explanations of man's freedom and the world's suffering in light of God's sovereignty. All of world history and modern man's doubts about God seem to be answered in that stunning quote. Here's why I think that quote from Fr. Gabriel of DI is so profound: The issue of theodicy is the question of Divine Providence in light of all the evil of the world. CS Lewis called this topic "The Problem of Pain." It basically goes like this: "If there are innocent [...]
The Cardinal Virtues Can’t Contradict Each Other
Many seminarians and potential-seminarians to the Catholic Church are thrilled about salvation history. And this is a good thing. Indeed, new seminarians love to study how Joshua and Caleb took the Holy Land from the pagans. We all love how the underdogs could beat the Canaanites and all surrounding tribes. We all know the spoils of the Land of Milk and Honey did not go to merely the legalistic, but to the courageous. In fact, Joshua and Caleb were the only two of the original twelve spies to even enter what we now call "Israel." They obeyed the call to execute great fortitude against all odds: Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.—Joshua 1:9. Modern-day seminarians seem [...]
The Life of St. Alphonsus
This short description of the life of the doctor of the Church, St. Alphonsus Mary Liguori, an Italian saint from the 18th century, as taken from the Old Divine Office and the post-humous description of a forward added to a book he compiled called “Victories of the Martyrs.”
NFP Before Vatican II
Natural Family Planning (NFP) is a way that many Catholics today space-out births of children based on their economic, social or medical reasons. Unfortunately, many Catholics also use NFP to decide when they are "done" having children, often based on lifestyle-preferences more than "grave reasons," as required by the Catholic Church. On the other hand, some traditional Catholics today erroneously believe NFP didn't exist before Vatican II. Pope Pius XII spoke about this aspect of the matrimonial-contract in an Address to Midwives on 29 October 1951. A small segment of his talk is copied below. His words are in italics and my commentary is found in orange-bold. The Bonum Prolis The matrimonial contract, which confers on the married couple the right to satisfy the inclination of nature, constitutes them in a state of life, namely, the matrimonial state. Now, on [...]
VLX 135: Mt 22:23-33. “The God of the Living”
- Why Is Celibacy Higher Than Marriage: https://www.padreperegrino.org/2023/06/celibmarr/
The Most Destructive Line in the New Catechism
Keep in mind as you read this blog post that the new Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) released in 1992 is not infallible. There are significant errors in the CCC, including the constant flip-flopping of the death penalty as I discussed in yesterday's video. In fact, Pope John Paul II never claimed it was infallible upon its release. He simply said it was a "sure norm." But he still released a highly-defective catechism. On the other hand, Pope Clement XIII said that the 16th century Roman Catechism of Trent (RCT) contains "that teaching which is the common doctrine of the Church, from which all danger of doctrinal error is absent." No other catechism released by the Church has ever been said to be free of all "doctrinal error." The death penalty in the new CCC is a big problem. But [...]
RCT 23: Special on Levels of Infallibility
What are the five infallible parts of the teaching of the Catholic Church? What are the six levels of theological certainty according to Ludwig Ott? *** Where does donor money go? https://www.padreperegrino.org/2023/05/donormoney/
QuickPod: The Opposite of Prepping
Baptism is the only sacrament absolutely necessary to salvation. If you were put in a gulag for thought crimes against wokeness, would you be able to live without the sacraments? Many saints had to do just that, just like St. Maximilian Kolbe. Of course, I hope we all have the sacraments up to and including our own death beds. But if not, we need to practice living in sanctifying grace for the rest of our lives, even if we were to never meet another priest again.
“The Pill” Kills More Than Surgicals
This post is not about the morning-after pill or RU-486. Rather, it is about the much more common form of birth control, frequently referred to as "The Pill." We will be looking at all forms of Hormonal Birth Control (HBC) and combined estrogen-progestin oral contraceptives (COC.) How does HBC and COC work? WebMD explains the three methods in which most HBCs and COCs function: "Hormonal contraceptives (the pill, the patch, and the vaginal ring) all contain a small amount of estrogen and progestin hormones. These hormones inhibit your body's natural hormones to prevent pregnancy in a few ways. Hormonal contraceptives usually stop the body from ovulating. They also change the cervical mucus to make it difficult for the sperm to go through the cervix and find an egg. They can also prevent pregnancy by changing the lining of the womb [...]