It's good to remember that times in the Church have always been challenging, even when they seemed like the "best" of times. And often, it's been the "worst" of times. Don't we see that daily with the synodal shenanigans? The modernist attack on Holy Mother Church disfigures her more than every other heretical attack in Church history. Even the Arians couldn't inflict the damage we're living through today.Dickens had it right when he opened The Tale of Two Cites with his declaration that:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
There are always good things and bad things happening in every age as the war between the powers of heaven and the prowling demons illustrates. God only allows evil for the good He can bring out of it, but sometimes that's hard to see in the day to day living out of our faith. Sometimes the corrections come only decades and even centuries later as happened in the case of Pope Honorius I who died in 638 and was later condemned as a heretic at the Third Council of Constantinople (680-681) when the council fathers wrote:"We define that there shall be expelled from the holy Church of God and anathematized Honorius who was some time Pope of Old Rome."
On St. Bridget of Sweden's feast day earlier this week, I came across a conversation she had with the Lord over a bad pope (believed to be Pope Honorius I). Bad bishops, laity, and others were also condemned. While Honorius is not mentioned by name, scholars believe he is the pope whose actions are being addressed in the vision. But others throughout Church history have earned the same charges.
St. Bridget's visions were extensive and were collected in a number of books and hundreds of chapters many of which you can read at Daily Catholic. The document in question is Chapter 41 of Book One where Jesus condemns bad popes and their assistants. Remember, Honorius died as pope in 638. He was never deposed. He was never expelled from the chair. Only decades later were his actions condemned.
Keep in mind that no one must believe in private revelations, but the content of St. Bridget's writings are approved. And this chapter should light a fire under every cleric, every religious, and every layman who deviates from the Faith of the Fathers and preaches errors that endanger souls.
Revelations and Prophecies Imparted to St. Bridget
| | Our beloved Creator's words in the presence of the heavenly Host and the bride, in which He complains about five men signifying the pope and His clergy, the evil laity, the Jews and the heathens; and also about the help He sends to His friends, signifying all mankind, and about the harsh judgment He executes on His enemies.
Chapter Forty-one "I AM the Creator of all things. I was born of the Father before Lucifer. I am inseparably in the Father and the Father in Me and one Spirit in us both. Accordingly, there is one God - Father, Son, and Holy Ghost - and not three gods. I AM The One Who promised the eternal inheritance to Abraham and led My people out of Egypt through Moses. I AM The One Who spoke through the prophets. The Father sent Me to the womb of the Virgin without separating Himself from Me but remaining inseparably with Me so that mankind, who had abandoned God, would return to God through My love....
I now complain over you, O head of My Church, who sit on My seat which I gave to Peter and his successors to sit on with a threefold dignity and power: First, so that they would have the power of binding and loosing souls from their sins. Second, so that they would open Heaven for the penitent. Third, so that that they would close Heaven to the damned and to those who despise My Law. But you, who should be healing souls and presenting them to Me, you are in truth a murderer of souls. I appointed Peter as shepherd and guardian of My sheep. But you, however, scatter and wound them. [Remember Jesus describing the millstone for those who scandalize. This passage simply confirms what Jesus warned the pharisees about who made men more wicked than themselves. Are we not living in similar times?]
You are worse than Lucifer. For he was envious of Me and desired to kill none but Me so that he could rule in My place. But you are so much worse, for you do not only kill Me by driving Me off from yourself by your bad deeds, but you also kill souls by your bad example. I redeemed the souls with My blood and entrusted them to you as to a faithful friend, but you deliver them back again to the enemy from whom I redeemed them. [How many same-sex attracted souls will go to hell because of ear-tickling by homosexualists in Roman collars who convince them they are A-okay because "Love is love?" How many couples fornicate or practice contraception convinced that they are not sinning? How many priests with the obligation to teach and preach the truth have muffled their voices so they don't offend anyone? What will God say to them on Judgment Day?]
You are more unrighteous than Pilate. He judged no one else but Me to death, but you not only judge Me as if I were a powerless lord and worthy of no good thing, no, you also judge and condemn the souls of the innocent and let the guilty go free without any rebuke. [Was this written yesterday? How many abortionists, gays, and even atheists are honored at the Vatican or named to pontifical bodies? How many death peddlers are given a platform in Rome. It really is scandalous!]
You are more cruel than Judas who only sold Me, but you not only sell Me, but also the souls of My chosen men for your own shameful profit and vain name's sake. You are more despicable than the Jews, for they only crucified My body, but you crucify and torture the souls of My chosen men for whom your malice and your sins are more bitter than from any wound from a sword. And so, since you are like Lucifer and more unrighteous than Pilate and more cruel than Judas and more despicable than the Jews, I complain over you with justice.....
Then Our Lord said to Saint Peter: "You are the founder and defender of the faith and of My Church. While My Host is listening, state the sentence of the five men!"
Peter answered: "O Lord, all praise and honor to You, for the love You have shown to Your earth. Blessed be You by all Your Host, for You allow us to see and know all things in You that have been and will be, and that is why we see and know all things in You.
It is true justice that the first man who sits upon Your seat, while having the deeds of Lucifer, should shamefully lose the seat he dared to sit on and become a partaker in the torment of Lucifer. [Note that this did not happen during the earthly life of the pope, but was a sentence passed by God after his death.]
Then our Lord answered: "I swear by God the Father, Whose voice John the Baptist heard in the Jordan; I swear by the body which John baptized, saw, and touched in the Jordan; I swear by My Spirit Who revealed Himself in the form of a dove at the Jordan, that I shall do justice with these five men." The letter goes on with all the punishments that God will mete out to the wicked. It is sobering indeed to read St. Bridget's writings. As I said, no one is required to believe or embrace private revelations, but it would be wise to take her seriously. Many people don't believe God will punish anyone, that He's really the candyman who wants to make everybody feel good. There will be a rude awakening on Judgment Day for many. Sin is a serious matter, not a joke. Let us all repent every day and seek to grow in virtue to honor the God Who loves us so much. We should love Him back, not out of fear but in gratitude. Go to Mary. She will teach you to love her Son as she does.
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for those who have recourse to thee. |
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