TRUE CONFESSIONS FROM AN ADDICT - Part 1

From The Truth Vol. 28 #4 Winter 2023-2024, the Les Femmes newsletter  

by Mary Ann Kreitzer

I have a confession to make. I’m an addict. One night recently I spent about four hours feeding my addiction. Every time I finished one hit, I told myself to stop, but I didn’t. “This is ridiculous!” I kept telling myself. But then I started up again. How many fellow addicts imitate me? Probably millions, maybe hundreds of millions.

The Shadow Magisterium Goes Mainstream Part 2

How many of the iconoclasts are attacking
the Church from within?

Editor's note: See The Shadow Magisterium Goes Mainstream Part 1 

Since the reign of Francis began, one thing is certain: the “hermeneutic of rupture” has returned with a vengeance and the crisis is worse than ever.

Of course, none of this can surprise informed Catholics, but how many pewsitters are informed? Collapse of catechesis has dumbed down several generations who don’t recognize novelties as the magnitude 7.0 earthquakes they are. One can only hope that shell-shocked Catholics don’t abandon their crumbling churches, but get serious instead. How? The first thing necessary is to pinpoint the problem which philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand did in his 1967 book, Trojan Horse in the City of God. He decried the “dethronement of truth,” saying:

Will the Three Pillars of the Catholic Faith Remain Firm?

Know the three pillars of the Catholic faith!

Editor's note: This is the lead article from the Spring issue of the Les Femmes newsletter. It isn't on line yet, but most of the past issues (from Volume 5 on) are posted. This is the 27th year of publication. The newsletter began in response to Call to Action invading our churches in the Diocese of Arlington. We were able to expose and even stops a number of scandals by the grace of God and by lifting the rock hiding the creepy crawlies underneath. The laity can play an important role in defending the faith, if we cooperate with God's grace and pursue the truth. And when the Blessed Mother, our 12-star general is the editor, how can you go wrong? She's kept us in print these many years. Thank you, Blessed Mother!

Will the Three Pillars of the Catholic Faith Remain Firm?

The Catholic Church stands on a solid foundation that can’t be shaken when its three pillars are upheld. Scripture and the ruling Magisterium are two of them. The third is Sacred Tradition. Think of a well-balanced three-legged stool. The legs provide a stable foundation for the seat. Now imagine a foolish person who decides to start trimming the legs because he doesn’t like the aesthetics of the chair or thinks it needs an updated look. Trouble ahead!

The Autumn issue of the Les Femmes newsletter is on-line.

 The Autumn issue of the Les Femmes newsletter is online. The lead article is Chaos and Confusion vs. Christ and the Cross. Here's the beginning:

All of us at one time or another experience the chaos and confusion of significant weather events. A thunderstorm can completely blind drivers and force them to pull over and wait for rain and hail to subside. A dense fog dulls all the senses creating a sense of weird isolation. Some pilots crash their planes when instruments fail and they can’t tell up from down. An earthquake or hurricane rips through a town leaving chaos, devastation, and loss of life in its wake!

People see clearly the results of physical chaos and its damage, but emotional and spiritual chaos can also knock us off balance and lead to serious consequences that, in many ways, are worse than physical effects. [Read more....]

Oh...and we gave Church Militant an award. They richly earned it! 

Breathing a Sigh of Relief: Just Sent the Newsletter to the Printer

The red buds were in glorious profusion this Spring as we headed to Texas.

Blog readers may not know that I put out a quarterly print newsletter. Well...it's usually quarterly. I combined the Spring and Summer issue this year because of coming down with COVID in March and then my husband having COVID and surgery (and another surgery on the calendar for early August). It's been a challenging few months. Toss in a few wonderful events like a trip to visit our son and his family in Texas and our big 4th of July bash and it's been a busy-busy time. 

Unity is Not the Preeminent Catholic Issue: False Unity Creates a Monster!

Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne 1678 (Detroit Museum of Art)

At the Last Supper, Jesus prayed for the unity of his followers – as He and the Father are one. “I pray that they may be one in us...I living in them, You living in me – that their unity may be complete.” (John 17:21-22) Earlier in the gospel John describes the Good Shepherd who knows his sheep including some who “do not belong to this fold.” But Jesus calls them too, “And they shall hear my voice. There shall be one flock then, one shepherd.” (John 10:16) 

Slander Scandal: The Hierarchy and the 8th Commandment

Editor's note: This is the lead article from the current issue of The Truth, Les Femmes' quarterly newsletter. If you'd like to check out back issues go to www.lesfemmes-thetruth.org

Most Catholics know the story of St. Jean Vianney giving a gossip the penance of emptying a feather pillow in the wind and then gathering all the feathers up again. When she exclaimed it was impossible, the saint observed it was also impossible to undo the damage caused by her gossip.

The Treason of the Catholic "Nice Guys"

The Church will --
through the power of the Holy Spirit!

Editor's Note: This is the main article from the current issue of the Les Femmes newsletter. It's not posted on line yet; I'm offering this as preview. I am on retreat this week and scheduled the article to post before I left. No comments will be posted, however, until I return on Saturday. So if you comment please be patient. 

I will be computer and phone-free this week and will moderate all comments when I return. I'm praying for the intentions of my readers during this five-day silent retreat. I would appreciate your prayers as well.

Summer 2016 Newsletter Now On-Line

If you like the blog, visit the website. The Summer 2016 issue of the Les Femmes newsletter is now the website and click on newsletter on the sidebar for the latest on-line issue. Here's a bit from the lead article, The Answer to All Our Problems? Jesus and Mary:
on-line. Just go to

The world faces problems these days on an apocalyptic scale. Wars and terrorist attacks, devastating natural disasters, increasing plagues like AIDS, Zika, Lyme, and antibiotic resistant super-bugs, not to mention the anxiety, stress, and depression that accompany modern living. And, of course, we all have relationship challenges among our families, friends, and acquaintances. I’d like to suggest in this article that the answer to all our challenges is simple – increasing devotion to the Real Presence of our Lord in the Holy Eucharist (and, of course, the rosary) and devotion to Our Lady. But I’m going to focus here on the Eucharist, the bread of angels. 

Heresy, the American Experiment, and the Great Commission of Christ

"Go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the
 name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

This is the lead article from the Spring issue of the Les Femmes newsletter. Vol 21 #1

It is undeniable that the Church in America is in trouble. Most Catholics no longer attend Mass on Sunday and many who do practice cafeteria style choosing to accept or ignore doctrine according to taste. A 2015 PEW Survey found fewer than half of those identifying as Catholic regularly attend Mass. Most dissent from key teachings on marriage and family. Eighty-five percent of those interviewed believe cohabitation, a mortal sin, is okay with 55% saying it’s just as good as marriage.

If you're feeling hot and want to cool off....

....check out the winter issue of the Les Femmes newsletter here. Click on Newsletter on the index. Yes I know it's summer, but wouldn't a nice cold snowball feel good. The Spring issue is at the printers and coming soon. Hopefully the summer issue will come out before the fall.

Battle Cry for the Ordinary Synod: Defend the Family

The latest issue of The Truth, the newsletter of Les Femmes, is not online at our website yet, but I thought I would post the lead article with footnotes for those concerned about the upcoming Ordinary Synod on the Family. Catholics need to prepare to fight the attempts to attack the indissolubility of marriage. It's clear that many of the enemies of marriage are inside the Church. And so, Church Militant, you need to prepare to fight.  

A Battle Cry for the Ordinary Synod: Defend the Family

By Mary Ann Kreitzer

The Ordianary Synod on the Family is scheduled next October 4th – 25th in Rome. It continues the efforts begun at the Extraordinary Synod last Fall. The original meeting revealed a sharp divide between “progressives” and “traditionalists;”[1] among the bishops and, since the close of the synod, battle lines are drawn and grenades flying. On one side progressives like Cardinals Walter Kasper, Reinhold Marx, Donald Wuerl, Archbishop Bruno Forte, and Fr. Thomas Rosica (English language spokesman for the Vatican) insist that development of doctrine permits pastoral changes that can allow divorced and remarried Catholics in individual circumstances (without annulment) to return to the sacraments. The other major issue progressives are pushing is a pastoral approach affirming the good of homosexuality. 

Les Femmes Summer Issue is Online

If you're interested in checking out the most recent issue (Summer) of the Les Femmes newsletter, you can read it online here. The lead article is about a priest in Hampton, VA who massacred the liturgy when we visited earlier this year. Thankfully, we saw little of this liturgical violence on our cross country trip this Fall, but it still survives in some places. Why the laity tolerate it is beyond me. I can only think several generations of bad catechesis and long exposure to the circus antics of showmen priests (and perhaps the drumbeating in the sanctuary) have turned their brains to mush. Pray for priests who are jeopardizing their own souls and the souls of the faithful by such scandals.

Cooperation with Evil: our Cultural Epidemic

Many otherwise moral people in our culture who would never think of directly committing a gravely evil sin, like abortion or sodomy, nevertheless consider it a positive virtue to approve of and cooperate in these and other depravities when committed by others. Under the mask of tolerance and compassion they take what I call the “Norfolk approach” to morality. The Duke of Norfolk, remember, in the play A Man for All Seasons, is a friend of England’s chancellor, Thomas More, who resigns after Henry VIII declares himself head of the Church in England. When the king demands More take the Oath of Supremacy which includes public affirmation that the king’s valid marriage to Catherine of Aragon was unlawful, he refuses. Norfolk, who along with most of the nobility and clergy capitulates to the king’s demand, urges Thomas to join them “for fellowship.” The saint’s reply? “And when we stand before God, and you are sent to Paradise for doing according to your conscience, and I am damned for not doing according to mine, will you come with me for fellowship?”1 Many, like Norfolk, are willing to cooperate with evil if it means protecting themselves or avoiding conflict with family or friends.

Before looking at some examples where cooperation with evil is almost epidemic, it’s necessary to know exactly what constitutes cooperation with evil. Is it ever acceptable? When is it sinful?2 The subject is complicated, but St. Alphonsus Liguori made it easier to grasp when he devised the distinction between formal and material cooperation in the 18th century. Formal cooperation, whether explicit (the nurse at the abortion mill) or implicit (the boyfriend who claims to oppose the abortion, but drives his girlfriend to the mill and pays for it), is always immoral. Read more...

Winter Issue of Les Femmes Newsletter Now Online

To see the latest issue of the Les Femmes newsletter, The Truth, visit the website and click on "Newsletter" on the index. The lead article, Does the State Own the Children?, analyzes the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. This treaty is a serious threat, not only to parental rights, but to the sovereignty of the nation. Fight for liberty.

Irreconcilable Differences with the USCCB: Time for a Divorce

Faithful Catholics following the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) over the years wonder if the organization represents the views of the bishops – at least the orthodox bishops. The number of scandals emanating from the bishops’ bureaucracy is shocking! Truth and error cannot happily coincide. When the truth unites itself to the lie, it becomes a lie. So what is the proper response to the USCCB’s cooperation with evil? It may be the same one taken by another group in the Church – faithful vowed religious women who chose divorce rather than continue the connection to their sisters of the lie. Can the USCCB be reformed or should those bishops who love the truth separate themselves from what has become an evil bureaucracy undermining the Church? (Read more here. Click on "Newsletter".)