Another Monday: But Not an Ordinary One

No indeed. This is no ordinary Monday. It begins the week leading up to the SSPX consecration of bishops on Wednesday, July first. In 1988 Archbishop Lefebvre consecrated four bishops calling the event Operation Survival. The traditional Mass and sacraments likely would have disappeared without his actions. One could call the Wednesday consecrations Operation Survival Redux. It's a sad thing that the Vatican let it come to this, but the pope and Cardinal Fernandez have shown their willingness to allow and even enable dissent and heresy while they punish orthodoxy. 

I began my day with morning prayer and reading from the Credo Catechism by Bishop Athanasius Schneider. I'm in the section on faith, a providential place to be this week. 

Cancel Culture from Rome: Pope Leo and Archbishop Vigano

Yesterday I read Archbishop Vigano's letter to the pope. Like he did with the SSPX, Leo  dissed the archbishop first agreeing to a private meeting and then changing his mind and refusing. Hmm...first thing I thought of was "Say yes when you mean yes and no when you mean no." 

How many shepherds have lost the faith?

 

What happens when the shepherds who are supposed to protect the flock and lead them in safety, abandon the field to the wolves? How safe are the sheep?

Are Francis and Leo the "Two Worm Ridden Popes"

The other day when I was doing bee hive inspections I was disturbed to pull out a frame filled with small white worms. They looked like wax moth larvae. That's no joke in a beehive. Wax moth can turn a hive into a horror movie scene pretty quickly. Only once have we had a serious infestation and we had to burn everything in that hive except the box which we treated with bleach. So when I hear the term "two worm-ridden popes" it's no joke!

Termites in the Church...

During my middle school years, my parents rented a lovely home on Juniper Lane in Falls  Church, Virginia. The street got its name from an enormous Juniper tree that occupied a plot along the road. I think it was in the center and the road went around it on both sides, but that memory may not be accurate. At any rate, it was an impressive sight! Much more than the picture above.

Of Clerics in Black and Small, Black Hive Beetles

My husband and I are beekeepers. During the Spring we check the hives regularly to try to prevent swarming and keep pests under control. On our last inspection we noticed a significant small beetle infestation in the hives. These creepy little black bugs eat the honey, lay their larvae in the cells and can become so great a nuisance that the bees give up altogether and abscond abandoning the hive to the invaders. When we see them, we need to take action. I've ordered traps that I'll fill with a solution of apple cider vinegar, water, sugar, and soap. Hopefully they will be attracted to the scent. They supposedly like fermented things. The scent attracts them and they fall into the traps and drown. Good-bye beetle problem. At least that's the hope.

The Church is Awake Thanks to the SSPX. So What's Next?

"The current situation regarding the episcopal consecrations in the Priestly Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) has suddenly awakened the entire Church."  [Source]                                                         Bishop Athanasius Schneider

Being awake is a good thing as St. Peter reminds us:  

"Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour." [1 Peter 5:8]

In the Old Testament God told Gideon to dismiss any soldiers who knelt and drank directly from the stream. Those who stayed alert, awake so to speak to any advancing enemy by using their hands to bring water to their mouths, became the conquering army. [Judges 7] 

Revelation has a particularly apt point:

"Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God." [Revelation 3:2]

Need a Good Read for Lent? Credo Will Build Your Faith!

I decided to read Credo: Compendium of the Catholic Faith by Bishop Athanasius Schneider for Lent. If you want to love God, you first have to know Him. And what better way to know Him than to study the faith using a solid Catholic catechism. 

Unfortunately, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, like so many things coming in these modernist-infected times, has been corrupted.  Studying a catechism like the Catechism of the Council of Trent or the Baltimore Catechism or, in fact, Credo is more likely to build up the faith without introducing novelties that twist the truth.

Traditionally most Catholic catechisms begin with the creed. I'm on Chapter 16 "I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints." With all the chaos in the Church at present, this chapter offers clear teaching on the nature of the Church, the papacy, and our obligations as Catholics. I'll quote several questions: 

Bishop Schneider Warned Pope Leo about Five "Wounds" in the Church that Need Healing.

Pope Francis often described the Church as a "field hospital" for sick people. Thinking along those lines, I see Bishop Athanasius Schneider as a doctor who correctly diagnoses the plague invading the Church when so many "doctors" claim the patient is healthy. He brought up five wounds in his December 18th meeting with Pope Leo and described what he sees as the prescription for healing. One of those wounds dealt with the Traditional Latin Mass and the situation with the SSPX.

Is Your Novus Ordo Mass the One Described by Bishop Schneider? I'm Betting Not!

I don't go to daily Mass these days. One of the things that impacted my decision was a description of a wedding a priest friend attended at a very conservative Lutheran parish. The groom, a widower and a Catholic was marrying a Lutheran woman whose branch of Lutheranism is the most conservative, even more than the Missouri Synod Lutherans. She wanted to be married in her church by her minister. They got permission from the bishop so all was in order.

Another Confusing Head Scratcher: Pope Leo Tells Material Heretics "We are One! We Already are!"

If anyone wondered whether Pope Leo XIV is Francis II, he only had to listen to the pope's address to the band of material heretics joining him for the week of Christian unity. Don't get me wrong. I love my Protestant friends, but I would never (and neither would they) agree that we are "already one". But that's what the pope said:

"The Abomination of Desolation...has sullied the holiness of the Jubilee Year."

Bishop Athanasius Schneider minced no words in calling out the scandal of the LGBTQ "pilgrimage" to Rome to celebrate lust in the holiest of places. Read Diane Montagna's article and make reparation through prayer and sacrifice.

“Spiritual Criminals and Murderers of Souls”: Bishop Athanasius Schneider responds to Vatican-sanctioned “LGBTQ+” Jubilee Pilgrimage

From the article:

New Documentary on the Catholic Faith Features Faithful Catholic Prelates

All are called into full communion in the Catholic profession of faith. Join the prayer of Christ at the Last Supper for all to be joined in the unity of His Church. All those validly baptized are a member of the Church, but many are separated by material heresy or schism. They may not be responsible as the original heretics and schismatics, but they are not receiving the full benefits of the faith. Pray for the reunion of all Christians and never be afraid to witness to the truth. The Catholic Church is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. 

Bishop Schneider: Fiducia Supplicans "is an insult to reason....an abuse."

The first subject discussed in the video below is Fiducia Supplicans, the magisterial document on blessing homosexual and other "couples" in mortally sinful "unions." According to Bishop Schneider, we must protest respectfully and ask the pope to retract the document. 

The interview is amazing. I recommend it. Bishop Schneider is one of the most important and courageous voices in the Church today. He warns us that, "The enemies are not sleeping. The good ones they are sleeping and the enemies are awake and very busy to promote their agenda."

When Doctrine and Scripture are Stumbling Blocks -- Ask for Understanding!

Expulsion of Adam and Eve by Benjamin West circa 1800

I've mentioned before that Larry and I are studying Bishop Schneider's Credo, the Compendium of the Faith for Lent. The other evening we came across a teaching that was one of those difficult ones. It was in Part 1, Chapter 6 #224-226:

#224 -- Is the dignity of the human person rooted in his creation in God's image and likeness?

This was true for Adam, but with original sin the human person lost this resemblance and dignity in the eyes of God. He recovers this dignity through baptism, and keeps it as long as he does not sin mortally.

We Need It in Canon Law: No Homosexuals in the Priesthood!

My husband and I with the priest who witnessed our marriage on the left (Fr. Hugh Monmonier) and Fr. James Haley on our 25th wedding anniversary 

I spent about 25 years in regular contact with Fr. James Haley who became a cancelled priest in the Diocese of Arlington when our former bishop, Paul Loverde, deep-sixed him over his efforts to address the homosexual problems in the diocese. While Arlington had a reputation for orthodoxy, there were a number of active homosexual priests practicing sodomy and using gay porn. Some of the cases went public because of Fr. Haley's perseverance to uncover the truth. Also, several good men left the priesthood voluntarily because of their experiences with the homosexuals.

More on the Synod and the State of the Church from Bishop Athanasius Schneider

A voice of sanity in an insane world!

Want Clear Teaching about the Faith in a Time of Crisis? Listen to Bishop Schneider!

I recently finished Bishop Athanasius Schneider's book, The Catholic Mass which enriched my understanding of the great gift Jesus gave us in the Holy Eucharist. Now I'm reading The Springtime that Never Came, which exposes many of the challenges we face today. If you want to know why we have a crisis in the Church, Bishop Schneider's book will open your eyes to many of them.

Archbishop Vigano and Bishop Schneider Encourage Bishop Joseph Strickland

Let's pray that more bishops act like brothers to this faithful priest of God!

Eleven years ago, on this very day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, I had the honor of informing Msgr. Strickland-as I was then Apostolic Nuncio to the United States- that Benedict XVI had appointed him Bishop of Tyler.

The time has come to rediscover the sense of the… pic.twitter.com/egjsW3ET8x

— Arcivescovo Carlo Maria Viganò (@CarloMVigano) September 14, 2023

Archbishop Vigano Urges Bishop Strickland to exercise his episcopate "to the point of heroism."

Please! Don't Follow Fr. Altman into the Labyrinth!

Fr. James Altman

I received an email from a friend today who is disillusioned with the pope. (What serious Catholic isn't?) I was sorry to see her saying she totally agrees with Fr. Altman's recent statements and decision to embrace sedevacantism. I do not! 

Perhaps I misunderstood my friend's remarks, because she ended her email saying we all need to stick to tradition. I certainly agree with that! But I truly regret what Fr. Altman. is doing even though his criticism of the pope is legitimate. He is popular and many Catholics are likely to follow him -- but where to?