Pope Francis is dead. And there is no need to sugar-coat his departure with pious platitudes, as the mainstream catholic media will be doing ad nauseam ("a man with a shepherd's heart for the poor," etc.). In fact, I will try to limit my negative comments about this kind of autocanonization, familiar to us from six decades of Novus Ordo funerals. Time will be better spent in prayer and in reading deeper evaluations.
I have been praying for years that God would deliver us from the scourge of this pontificate, and understood that if He willed for it to continue, it must have been for our testing and purification, our strengthening in virtue, and especially our growth in awareness of the stark contrast between raw power and genuine authority, between the reign of novelty and the rights of tradition. Now that Francis is gone, it feels, quite honestly, as if an enormous burden has been lifted from the Church (and, indeed, from the world).
All the same, it is never amiss to pray for the repose of someone's soul, no matter how much evil he has done. As the Church teaches, a man's merits and demerits are known with certainty to God alone. If Francis died with a penitent heart, prompted by a secret grace of God, he may well be saved—but he may be consigned to the fires of Purgatory for thousands of years, the poorest of the poor souls. Just as we would want to be prayed for after we die, let us do the same for his soul. This is why I sincerely prayed this morning and will continue to pray: 𝑅𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑚 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑎 𝑒𝑖, 𝐷𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑒𝑡 𝑙𝑢𝑥 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑎 𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑖. 𝑅𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒.
No prayer is wasted. If it so happens that our prayers cannot benefit Francis (only God knows), they will still benefit the Mystical Body as an act of charity.
Let us also begin to pray earnestly for the upcoming conclave, which has every reason to be the most storm-tossed in centuries, as radically opposed visions of Catholicism vie for the cardinals' votes. We do not know what is ahead, but we know that the Lord is risen and remains with us always. Whether the chair of Peter is empty or occupied, He is the everlasting Head of the Church, and her only Head in heaven where we long to join Him. 𝑇𝑢 𝑛𝑜𝑏𝑖𝑠, 𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑅𝑒𝑥, 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑟𝑒.
While there are figurative canonizations ongoing, hyperpapalist gadfly Mike Lewis went so overboard as to Tweet, "Pope Francis, pray for us." Really puts one in mind of the prayer to make one's enemies ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteNick
First off I LOVE Nick's description of Mike Lewis. I think I would also warn diabetics to stay away from his blog these days as it might not be healthy.
ReplyDeleteI never liked Francis. One look at my website, no mystery there. Have to honestly say I never hated him, but never liked him either. More or less indifferent. I have no clue if he was really pope or not and really don't care. For the last 12 years I simply locked myself in my little time capsule and pursued the Catholic faith as I saw fit based on what I learned from the nuns back in the 60s and more recently the SSPX and ICKSP priests I have experienced over the years. I don't think its safe to step out my comfort zone just yet as none of us have a clue what the new pontificate will bring.
Sarah? I would love to see it but I would guess Las Vegas bookmakers would probably put that at 1000 to one. Mainly because of the 80+ cardinals Bergoglio stacked the deck with, very similar to Biden stacking the court system with every liberal pollitical activist he could find.
I just watched a video last night by canon 212 predicting an even worse pontificate in the future. Not a pretty picture. The problem is information and I think you mentioned that to me Mary about spreading the true faith a few times. With the exception of a handfull traditonal blogs out there the bulk of the Catholic population is clueless especially if they read their local diocesan rags. However as much as I disliked Francis I have and will continue to pray for this soul daily in my prayers for the departed. I wish hell to no one and I think Francis can use all the prayers he can get.
If we are Graced and Blessed with a holy traditional pope ( his first statement - get on your knees and worship God- not the world) I'd be smiling from ear to ear.
ReplyDeleteBut I suspect the masons, and new world order, WEF, CHINA and Satan, aren't ready to throw throw in the towel yet. If we get a Francis 2.0 it will be so despicable and deplorable even those cold and lukewarm catholics will realize we have an anti-church comingled with the true church.
And it will be pushed out amen
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