by T. Stanfill Benns | Apr 12, 2026 | New Blog
+St. Hermenegild, Martyr+
Please pray for pray-at-home and Traditional Catholics in Nigeria who despite help from America are in fear for their lives from Muslim terrorists.
Introduction
Recently I realized that the controversies we have been drawn into by the media and its many platforms is a result of sinful curiosity, after reading this in Revs. McHugh and Callan’s work on moral theology. There they state: “Curiosity about the latest news or rumors that keeps one from duty or more important matters …or about things that do not concern one… is a venial sin.” Many of these things really do not concern us; they are merely useless pieces of information. Excessive indulgence in such things that amounts to no more than curiosity is forbidden. I have especially warned Catholics about the dangers of viewing long-winded videos produced by those of the LibTrad persuasion, even when done only out of curiosity. This could amount to a mortal sin, since the LibTrads often misrepresent or water down dogma and these attempts may not be readily identified even by well-informed Catholics.
Truth be known, the most powerful and worthwhile videos are often relatively brief. Those following this blog know that we oppose the condemnation found on many Traditional sites of those practicing what they believe to be the Jewish religion. This has largely been reduced to a cultural observance of certain traditions, infrequently supported on a religious level by actual synagogue attendance (see HERE). Even the more educated among the Jews are often unaware of the actual anti-Christian content of such books as the Kabbala and the Talmud. They are just as appalled, in many cases, by the Zionist control of their government and its hatred of all non-Jews as we are. They also are aware of the Masonic element that drives Zionism. This is supported by the research below, featured in a previous blog:
“Approximately 5.8 million adults (2.4% of all U.S. adults) [are] Jewish” according to a 2021 Pew Research report (https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/05/11/the-size-of-the-u-s-jewish-population/ ) The rest of this section is taken from a Pew report issued in 2020). “This includes 4.2 million (1.7%) who identify as Jewish by religion and 1.5 million Jews of no religion… Religion is not central to the lives of most U.S. Jews. Even Jews by religion are much less likely than Christian adults to consider religion to be very important in their lives (28% vs. 57%). And among Jews as a whole, far more report that they find meaning in spending time with their families or friends, engaging with arts and literature, being outdoors, and pursuing their education or careers than find meaning in their religious faith. Twice as many Jewish Americans say they derive a great deal of meaning and fulfillment from spending time with pets as say the same about their religion…” And only 9% of that 2.4% identify as Orthodox, those most likely to take their religion seriously and practice it.
“Compared either with U.S. Christians or with the adult public overall, U.S. Jews are far less likely to say that religion is important in their lives. However, Orthodox Jews rank among the most religiously devout subgroups in the country by this measure… Among Jews who are neither synagogue members themselves nor live in a household where anyone else belongs to a synagogue, 47% do not identify with any institutional branch or stream of Judaism.”
A hatred for the Jews in general is something contrary to Church teaching and is entirely unjustified. And the paragraphs above and this short video tell us that especially in these times, there is even less justification for it. Much like new converts to the Novus Ordo, those identifying as Jewish but ignorant of its true origins and teachings — of the fact their religion was long ago hijacked — cannot be held responsible for what they do not know. And if that is sufficient in convincing people of their innocence, nothing more is required. When true Catholics spend inordinate amounts of time watching videos on the Jews, even about the evils of Zionism if they are already convinced of it; or lengthy LibTrad videos, even on the destruction of the Church, the papacy and loss of Mass and Sacraments — which we already well know — it simply is a waste of time. The following page taken from St. Alphonsus Liguori ‘s Preparation for Death warns us of the dangers of misusing precious time, when some of us may have little time left on earth.
“There is nothing more precious than time; but there is nothing less esteemed and more despised by men of the world. This is what St. Bernard deplores when he says: ‘Nothing is more precious than time, but nothing is regarded more cheaply.’ The same saint adds: ‘The days of salvation pass away, and no one reflects that day which has passed away from him can never return.’ You will see a gambler spend nights and days in play. If you ask him what he is doing, his answer is: I am passing the time. You will see others standing several hours on the street, looking at those who pass by, and speaking on obscene or on useless subjects. If you ask them what they are doing, they will say: We are passing the time. Poor blind sinners! who lose so many days; but days which never return. O time despised during life! You will be ardently desired by worldlings at the hour of death. They will then wish for another year, another month, another day; but they will not obtain it: they will then be told that time shall be no longer. How much would they then pay for another week, or another day, to settle the accounts of their conscience? To obtain a single hour, they would, says St. Laurence Justinian, give all their wealth and worldly possessions. But this hour shall not be given.”
Time not spent in prayer, penance, study of the faith, labor, good works, rest or lawful recreation is time wasted. Please consider this when you sit down at your computer, television or cell phone to view videos or programs that will keep you from any of these.
Another (now deleted) brief video on the Jesuits
Another excellent video exposing the Jesuit conspiracy theory and its false oath, which has since been removed from the Internet, addresses the false Jesuit oath videos now widely circulated on the web as proof that the Jesuits are behind the New World Order. To avoid confusion, those who have viewed these videos need to understand that some of the earliest allegations against the Society of Jesus founded by St. Ignatius Loyola in 1540 came from those dismissed with cause from the Society by their superiors or were generated by Catholic priests who had gone over to Protestantism. Under pressure from European monarchs, Pope Clement VII suppressed the Jesuits in 1773, but this suppression was seen more as a means to calm the fears of European monarchs who complained that their authority was being overshadowed, not because there was any credence given by the pope to the allegations made against the Jesuit Order. Pope Pius VII revived the order in 1814, but the relentless campaign against them continued, spearheaded primarily by the Freemasons. They were never given credit for their charitable work — the hospitals and schools they ran, their missionary and spiritual labors, their Catholic advice to monarchs.
Protestant intrigues
Wikipedia summarizes the accusations against them as follows: “The Protestant Reformation, the English Reformation, and later the Age of Enlightenment brought new suspicions against the Jesuits. They were accused of upholding Ultramontanism, infiltrating political realms and non-Catholic churches. In England, it was forbidden to belong to the Jesuits, under grave penalties, including the death penalty. A 1689 work, Foxes and Firebrands by Robert Ware (later exposed as a forger), claimed Jesuits took a secret oath that stated:
“I do further promise and declare that I will, when opportunity presents, make and wage relentless war, secretly and openly, against all heretics, Protestants and Masons, as I am directed to do, to extirpate them from the face of the whole earth; and that I will spare neither age, sex nor condition, and that will hang, burn, waste, boil, flay, strangle, and bury alive these infamous heretics; rip up the stomachs and wombs of their women, and crush their infants’ heads against the walls in order to annihilate their execrable race…” This forgery would be laughable if the persecution of Catholics during the Reformation was a laughing matter. For what is described here is exactly that persecution the Protestants put into practice for over three centuries, against both English and Irish Catholics.
Wikipedia further notes: “Many anti-Jesuit conspiracy theories emerged in the 18th century Enlightenment, as a result of an alleged rivalry between the Freemasons and the Jesuits. Intellectual attacks on Jesuits were seen as an efficient rebuttal to the anti-masonry promoted by conservatives, and this ideological conspiracy pattern persisted into the 19th century as an important component of French anti-clericalism” (end of Wiki quotes).The alleged “Jesuit Oath” which appeared in the 19th century and is rejected by Catholics, Protestants and historians alike has long been exposed as a hoax manufactured by rabid anti-Catholics such as the Know-Nothings in this country. Hatred of the Jesuits is rooted in hatred of the papacy and all things Catholic. For as Catholics well know, fully vested Jesuits take a vow of obedience to the pope and were employed by the papacy to conduct special missions on his behalf to deal with sensitive issues.
An examination of the actual claims made over the centuries regarding the Jesuits easily show they were fabricated by their Protestant and Masonic antagonists. As one Internet author observes: “Ultimately, the supposed oath of the Jesuits is a fabrication, due to its origin and historical contexts in which it arose. It reminds us of a biblical principle established by the prophet Isaiah, for whom the Lord expressed: “Do not call conspiracy all the things that this people call conspiracy; nor fear what they fear, do not be afraid. Sanctify the LORD of hosts; let him be your fear, and let him be your dread” (Isa. 8:12, 13).”
Why Weishaupt hated the Society of Jesus
Freemasonry, which emerged as the end result of the Reformation, attempted to implicate the Jesuits in its founding by using the Jesuit template for the creation of the Illuminati. This is testified to by Msgr. George E. Dillon in his Freemasonry Unmasked, where he writes: “Weishaupt’s organization, for the perfection of which he deeply studied the constitution of the then-suppressed Society of Jesus, contemplated placing the thread of the whole conspiracy destined to be controlled by the Illuminati in the hands of one man advised by a small council. They were so trained that they would obtain the mastery in every form of secret society and thus render it subservient to their own chief.” Weishaupt was originally a professor of Canon Law at the University of Munich, and as Dillon further notes:
“The hatred for God and all form of worship and the determination to found a universal republic on the lines of communism was on the part of Weishaupt a settled sentiment. Possessed of a rare power of organization, an education in law which made him a pre-eminent teacher in its highest faculty, an extended knowledge of men and things, a command over himself, a repute for external morality, and finally a position calculated to win able disciples… Weishaupt employed for fifty years after the death of Voltaire his whole life and energies in the one work of perfecting secret associations to accomplish by deep deceit and by force the ruin of the existing order of religion…”
This is further confirmed by Nesta Webster, in her Secret Societies and Subversive Movements, where she quotes the Jesuit Augustin Barruel: “It was Weishaupt who perpetually intrigued against the Jesuits. That Weishaupt did, however, draw to a certain extent on Jesuit methods of training, is recognized even by Augustin Barruel, himself a Jesuit, who, quoting Mirabeau, says that Weishaupt admired above all those laws that regime of the Jesuits, which, under one head, made men dispersed over the universe tend towards the same goal. He felt that one could imitate their methods while holding views diametrically opposed. Barruel says elsewhere that Weishaupt appears ‘…specially to have wished to assimilate the regime of the sect to that of the religious orders and above all that of the Jesuits by the total abandonment of their own will and judgment, which he demands of his adepts.’ But Barruel goes on to show ‘the enormous difference that is to be found between religious obedience and Illuminist obedience.’”
Weishaupt’s hatred of the Jesuits is explained in Prof. John Robison’s Proofs of a Conspiracy as follows: “Weishaupt had long been scheming the establishment of an association or order which in time would govern the world. In his first fervor and high expectations, he hinted to several ex-Jesuits the probability of their recovering under a new name the influence which they formerly possessed, and of being again of great service to society by directing the education of youth of distinction, now emancipated from all civil and religious prejudices. He prevailed on some to join him, but they all retracted but two. After this disappointment, Weishaupt became the implacable enemy of the Jesuits, and his sanguine temper made him frequently lay himself open to their piercing eye and drew on him their keenest resentment, and at last made him the victim of their enmity.” The Illuminati was founded in 1776, during that time when the Jesuits had been disbanded, so this availability of former Jesuits gave Weishaupt a fertile field to till. But thankfully, it reaped few fruits.
Illuminati spy networks
Until, that is, the successful infiltration of the Catholic hierarchy. In his book Perfectabilists, (2009) Terry Melanson relates that Weishaupt incorporated from the Jesuits elements of the particular examen and confession, also notetaking for ones’ spiritual director, into his diabolical system. He then used these to construct a system of “intelligence gathering, spying and informing,” on fellow members as well as others. And here we see the prototype for the OSS, CIA, FBI and yes, the very system that Giovanni Montini set up in the Vatican during World War II. This system could have passed papal inspection as something supervised and suggested by the Jesuits, or explained as such when questioned by those suspicious of its operations. And perhaps it was in part — at least to those traitors who had already infiltrated the Jesuits, working as double agents. That was the entire purpose of Weishaupt in creating his Illuminati — to make his agents appear to be what they were not. Serving as high-ranking Illuminati, both Montini and Roncalli worked on different fronts to carry out the orders of their Grand Master. Montini’s activities are documented in The Phantom Church of Romebelow:
“Author Martin A. Lee, writing in a 1983 issue of Mother Jones, notes: “When the Allies liberated Rome in 1944, the Dominican Felix Morlion, [founder of Pro Deo/Intercip in the U.S. and Portugal, a “Catholic” propaganda machine] re-established his spy network in the Vatican; from there he helped the OSS obtain confidential reports provided by apostolic delegates in the Far East, which included information about strategic bombing targets in Japan. In the period following the war, the United States hastened to capitalize on the apparatus William Donovan, head of the Office of Strategic Services, had established, particularly in Italy… C.I.A. money was dispensed to many [Italian] bishops and monsignors, one of whom was the future Paul VI, and Catholic Action became another primary recipient of C.I.A. funds…Dr. Joseph Retinger [who was advocating for the European union]…through Dr. Luigi Gedda [Pope Pius XII’s medical advisor], was able to conscript the services of the future Pope Paul VI [who formerly was one of four section leaders of Vatican intelligence]…
“Even during the war, Montini had worked with the American intelligence services, passing information to and fro between the Vatican and the OSS… As Archbishop of Milan, he turned over the dossiers of politically active priests…The rapport between the C.I.A. and the Vatican became closer in 1963 when John XXIII died and was succeeded by Paul VI.This narrative is corroborated by David Wemhoff in Part IV, Chapter 11 of his work. In it, Wemhoff quotes private correspondence listing Montini, also his great friend Jacques Maritain, as avid Pro Deo supporters. Later in Part XIV, Chapter 59, Wemhoff cites declassified documents in which a C.I.A. correspondent names Montini as co-founder of Pro Deo and Cardinal Giuseppe Siri as being appointed in some way to participate in Pro Deo operations. C.I.A. operatives also claim that Pope Pius XII (unofficially) endorsed Pro Deo, but his official papal documents do not reflect Morlion’s statements regarding democracy, nor could they reflect his Americanist viewpoint.”
Conclusion
The Jesuits were never perfect. They had their rogue elements and their fair share of those dismissed from the Society. Some have said they were both the best of the best and the worst of the worst. We saw them at their worst in men like Leonard Feeney, Avery Dulles, Malachi Martin and John Courtney Murray. And at their best in clergy such as St. Edmund Campion and St. Peter Canisius, St. Peter Claver, St. Francis Xavier, St. Aloysius Gonzaga, St. Isaac Jogues, Rev. Pierre-Jean de Smet and many others. The irony of all the Jesuit conspiracy theories circulating today is that the men they point to are no longer Catholic, far less Jesuits. But this of course is something those propagating these idiotic reports probably don’t know and don’t want you to know. Their goal is to project the evil image of secret societies onto the Church past and present, in order to divert attention from the completion of the Illuminati’s plans to implement the New World Order/religion.
Hopefully the above will replace the content in the deleted video as well as possible. Several have inquired about the Jesuit Oath claims, and to help them refute this argument when brought up by others, it seemed helpful to explain the story behind these false allegations. We must always be ready and able to counter these attacks in the defense of our faith, as Can. 1325 orders us to do. Otherwise we appear to agree, or to consider it of little consequence, and this places us outside the Church. As Rev. Michael Mueller, C.S.S.R writes in his The Church and Her Enemies (1880): “But if we cannot teach the world, let us teach our Catholics. Whatever is calculated to confirm them in their holy faith and prevent them from becoming familiar with infidels and Protestant seducers must be considered a most wholesome lesson. The miserable end of the persecutors of the faith, the awful judgment which God was pleased to visit on them, are certainly calculated to confirm Catholics in the truth and to make them turn a deaf ear upon all those who impiously deny it.”
May these words do just that, for all our readers.
by T. Stanfill Benns | Apr 5, 2026 | New Blog
He Has Risen, Alleluia!
+Feast of the Resurrection+
Prayer Society Intention for April, Month of the Holy Ghost
“Know ye not that your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost who is in you?” (1Cor 6, 19). “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God in whom ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Eph. 4: 30).
Introduction
The following selections are paraphrased from Holy Scripture by Substack contributor Thomas Considine, recounting the various encounters of Jesus following His Resurrection up to the Ascension. It is a helpful summary of events for those who might not have the time to course through Holy Scripture and assemble them all in one place. Now that Lent is past, we can resume our regular blog posts on various doctrinal and other topics. Wishing everyone a blessed Easter.
THE EMPTY TOMB
And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalen and the other Mary, the mother of James and Salome, bought sweet spices that coming they might anoint Jesus. And on the first day of the week, very early in the morning when it was yet dark and when it began to dawn, they came to see the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared. And the sun being now risen they said one to another: ‟Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulchre.‟ And behold there was a great earthquake and looking, they saw the stone rolled back, taken away from the sepulchre. For an angel of the Lord descended from Heaven and coming rolled back the stone for it was very great, and sat upon it. And his countenance was as lightning and his raiment as snow. And for fear of him the guards were struck with terror and became as dead men.
And the angel answering said to the woman: “Fear not you for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here for he is risen as he said. Come and see the place where the Lord was laid.‟ And entering into the sepulchre they found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And they saw a young man sitting on the right side clothed with a white robe. And it came to pass as they were astonished in their mind at this behold two men stood by them in shining apparel. And as they were afraid, and bowed down their countenance towards the ground, they said to them: “Be not affrighted. Why seek you the living with the dead. You seek Jesus of Nazareth Who was crucified. He is not here, but is risen.
Behold the place where they laid him. Remember how he spoke unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and the third day rise again. But going quickly, you all tell his disciples and Peter that he is risen. And behold he will go before you into Galilee. There you shall see him as he told you. Lo I have foretold it to you.‟ And they remembered his words.” (Matthew 28, 1-7; Mark 16, 1-7; Luke 24, 1-8; John 20, 1.)
THE FIRST APPARITION
But they going out quickly, fled from the sepulchre with fear and great joy, for a great trembling and fear had seized them. And they said nothing to any man, for they were afraid. (Mary Magdalen ran therefore and comes to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved and says to them: “They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre and we know not where they have laid him.‟) And behold Jesus met them saying: “All hail.‟ But they came up and took hold of his feet and adored him. Then Jesus said to them: “Fear not. Go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee. There they shall see me.‟ (Matthew 28, 8-10; Mark 16, 8; Luke 24, 9, 10; John 20, 2.)
THE FIRST WITNESS
And going back from the sepulchre they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. And it was Mary Magdalen, and Joanna, and Mary of James, and the other women that were with them who told these things to the apostles. And these words seemed to them as idle tales and they did not believe them” (Luke 24, 9-11).
PETER AND JOHN
But Peter rising up went out and ran to the sepulchre, and that other disciple. And they came to the sepulchre. And they both ran together and that other disciple did outrun Peter and came first to the sepulchre. And when he stooped down, he saw the linen cloths lying, but yet he went not in. Then comes Simon Peter following him, and stooping down he saw the linen cloths laid by themselves, and went into the sepulchre. And saw the linen cloths lying and the napkin that had been about his head not lying with the linen cloths, but apart, wrapped up into one place. Then that other disciple also went in who came first to the sepulchre. And he saw and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture that he must rise again from the dead. The disciples therefore departed again to their home. And Peter went away wondering in himself at that which was come to pass” (Luke 24, 12; John 20, 3-10).
MARY MAGDALEN
But he rising early the first day of the week appeared first to Mary Magdalen, out of whom he had cast seven devils. Mary stood at the sepulchre without, weeping. Now, as she was weeping, she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre and she saw two angels in white, sitting one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been laid. They say to her: “Woman, why weep you?‟ She says to them: “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.‟ When she had thus said she turned herself back and saw Jesus standing, and she knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus says to her: “Woman, why weep you? Whom seek you?‟ She, thinking that it was the gardener, said to him: “Sir, if you have taken him hence tell me where you has laid him and I will take him away.‟ Jesus says to her: “Mary‟. She, turning, says to him: “Rabboni.‟ (Which is to say: “Master.‟)
Jesus says to her: “Do not touch me for I am not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren and say to them I ascend to my Father and to your Father, to my God and your God.‟ Mary Magdalen comes and tells the disciples that had been with him, who were mourning and weeping. “I have seen the Lord, and these things he said to me.‟ And they, hearing that he was alive and had been seen by her, did not believe” (Mark 16, 9-11; John 20, 11-18).
THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS
And behold, after that, he appeared in another shape to two of them walking that same day as they were going into the country to a town which was sixty furlongs from Jerusalem named Emmaus. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass that while they talked and reasoned with themselves, Jesus himself also drawing near went with them, but their eyes were held that they should not know him. And he said to them: “What are these discourses that you hold with one another as you walk and are sad.‟ And the one of them answering whose name was Cleophas said to him: “Are you only a stranger in Jerusalem and have not known the things that have been done there in these days?‟
To whom he said: “What things?‟ And they said: “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth who was a prophet, mighty in work and word before God and all the people. And how our chief priests and princes delivered him to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we hoped that it was he that should have redeemed Israel. And now besides all this, today is the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women also of our company affrighted us, who, before it was light were at the sepulchre, and, not finding his body, came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who say that he is alive. And some of our people went to the sepulchre and found it so, as the women said, but him they found not.‟ Then he said to them: “O foolish and slow of heart to believe in all things which the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and so to enter into his glory?‟
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things that were concerning him. And they drew nigh unto the town whither they were going, and he made as though he would go farther. But they constrained him saying: “Stay with us, because it is towards evening and the day is now far spent‟. And he went in with them. And it came to pass, whilst he was at table with them, he took bread, and blessed, and broke, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened and they knew him. And he vanished out of their sight. And they said to one another, “Was not our heart burning within us whilst he spoke in the way, and opened to us the scriptures?‟
And rising up the same hour they went back to Jerusalem and they found the eleven gathered together and those that were with them saying, “The Lord is risen indeed and has appeared to Simon.‟ And they told what things were done in the way and how they knew him in the breaking of bread. And they, going, told it to the rest; neither did they believe them” (Mark 16, 12, 13; Luke 24, 13-35).
FIRST APPEARANCE TO THE APOSTLES
Now when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut where the disciples were gathered together for fear of the Jews, whilst they were speaking of these things, at length Jesus appeared to the eleven as they were at table, and came and stood in the midst of them. And he upbraided them with their incredulity and hardness of heart because they would not believe them who had seen him after he was risen again. And he said to them: “Peace be to you. It is I. Fear not.‟ But they, being troubled and frightened, supposed that they saw a spirit. And he said to them: “Why are you troubled and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? See my hands and feet. That it is I, myself, handle and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see me to have.‟
And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet and his side. But while yet they believe not and wondered for joy, he said: “Have you here anything to eat?‟ And they offered him a piece of broiled fish and a honey-comb. And when he had eaten before them, taking the remains, he gave to them. The disciples therefore were glad when they saw the Lord. He said therefore to them again: “Peace be to you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.‟ When he had said this, he breathed on them and he said to them: “Receive all you the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained” (Mark 16, 14; Luke 24, 36-43; John 20, 19-23).
THE APPARITION TO THOMAS
Now Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Didymus [the Twin], was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him: “We have seen the Lord.‟ But he said to them: “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.‟ And after eight days, again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus comes, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said: “Peace be to you.‟ Then he said to Thomas: “Put in your finger hither and see my hands and bring hither your hand and put it into my side, and be not faithless but believing.‟ Thomas answered and said to him: “My Lord and my God.‟ Jesus says to him: „Because you have seen me, Thomas, you have believed. Blessed are they that have not seen and have believed” (John 20, 24-29).
BY THE SEA OF TIBERIAS
After this Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias. And he showed himself after this manner. There were together Simon Peter and Thomas, who is called Didymus, and Nathaniel, who was of Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter says to them: “I go a-fishing.‟ They say to him: “We also come with you.‟ And they went forth and entered into the ship. And that night they caught nothing. But when the morning was come, Jesus stood on the shore, yet the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus therefore said to them: “Children, have you any meat?‟
They answered him: “No.‟ He says to them: “Cast the net on the right side of the ship and you shall find.‟ They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. That disciple therefore, whom Jesus loved, said to Peter: “It is the Lord.‟ Simon Peter, when he heard that it was the Lord, girt his coat about him, for he was practically naked, and cast himself into the sea. But the other disciples came in the ship, for they were not far from the land, but as it were two hundred cubits, dragging the net with fishes.
As soon, then, as they came to land, they saw hot coals lying and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus says to them: “Bring hither of the fishes which you have now caught‟. Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, one hundred and fifty-three, and although there were so many the net was not broken. Jesus says to them: “Come and dine.‟ And none of them who were ate meat dared ask him: “Who are you?‟ knowing that it was the Lord. And Jesus comes and takes bread and gives them, and fish in like manner. This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to his disciples after he was risen from the dead.
When, therefore, they had dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter: “Simon, son of John, love you me more than these?‟
He says to him: “Yea, Lord, you know that I love you.‟
He said to him: “Feed my lambs.‟
He says to him again: “Simon, son of John, love you me?‟
He says to him: “Yea, Lord, you know that I love you.‟
He says to him: “Look after my lambs.‟
He says to him the third time: „Simon, son of John, love you me?‟
Peter was grieved because he had said to him the third time: “Love you me?‟
And he said to him: “Lord, you know all things — you know that I love you.‟
He said to him: “Feed my sheep. Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger you did gird yourself and did walk where you would. But when you shall be old, you shall stretch forth your hands and another shall gird you and lead you whither you would not.‟
And this he said, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had said this, he says to him: “Follow me.‟ Peter, turning about, saw that disciple whom Jesus loved, following, who also leaned on his breast at supper, and said: “Lord, who is he that shall betray you?‟ Him, therefore, when Peter had seen, he says to Jesus: „Lord, and what shall this man do?‟ Jesus says to him: “So if I will have him to remain till I come, what is it to you? Follow you me.‟ This saying therefore went abroad among the brethren that that disciple should not die, yet Jesus did not say to him: “He should not die‟, but, “So if I will have him to remain till I come, what is it to you?‟ This is that disciple who gives testimony of these things and has written these things and we know that his testimony is true” (John 21, 1-24).
ON THE MOUNT OF GALILEE
And the eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And seeing him, they adored, but some doubted. And Jesus, coming, spoke to them saying: “All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, into the whole world, preach the gospel to every creature. And, all you, teach all nations, baptizing them, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believes not shall be condemned. And these signs shall follow them that believe, — In my name, they will cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover. And, behold, I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world” (Matthew, 28, 16-20; Mark 18, 15-18).
by T. Stanfill Benns | Mar 24, 2026 | New Blog
+St. Gabriel the Archangel+
Introduction
The following meditations on the sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Christ’s Passion and Death been taken from The Seven Sorrows of Mary by St Alphonsus de Ligouri (1696-1787) It is found in The Glories of Mary, a book all Catholics should have in their libraries. This excerpt can be downloaded from the Internet HERE.
The Meeting of Mary with Jesus When He was Going to Death
St. Bernardine says that to form an idea of the grief of Mary in losing her Jesus by death, it is necessary to consider the love that this mother bore to this her Son. All mothers feel the sufferings of their children as their own. Hence the woman of Canaan, when she pleaded to the Savior to deliver her daughter from the devil that tormented her, said to him, that he should have pity on the mother rather than on the daughter: “Have mercy on me, oh Lord, you son of David, my daughter is grievously troubled by a devil.” But what mother ever loved a child so much as Mary loved Jesus? He was her only child, reared amidst so many troubles and pains; a most amiable child, and most loving to his mother; a Son, who was at the same time her Son and her God; who came on earth to kindle in the hearts of all the holy fire of divine love, as he himself declared: “I have come to cast fire on the earth, and what do I will but that it be kindled?” Let us consider how he must have inflamed that pure heart of his holy mother, so free from every earthly affection.
In a word, the Blessed Virgin herself said to St. Bridget, that through love her heart and the heart of her Son was one: “Unum erat cor meum, et cor filii mei.” That blending of handmaid and mother, of Son and God, kindled in the heart of Mary a fire composed of a thousand flames. But afterwards, at the time of the passion, this flame of love was changed into a sea of sorrow. Hence St. Bernardine says: All the sorrows of the world united would not be equal to the sorrow of the glorious Mary. Yes, because this mother, as St. Lawrence Justinian writes: The more tenderly she loved, was the more deeply wounded. The greater the tenderness with which she loved him, the greater was her grief at the sight of his sufferings, especially when she met her Son, after he had already been condemned, going to death at the place of punishment, bearing the cross. And this is the fourth sword of sorrow which today we have to consider.
The Blessed Virgin revealed to St. Bridget that at the time when the passion of our Lord was drawing near, her eyes were always filled with tears, as she thought of her beloved Son whom she was about to lose on this earth. Therefore, as she also said, a cold sweat covered her body from the fear that seized her at that prospect of approaching suffering.1 Behold, the appointed day at length arrived, and Jesus came in tears to take leave of his mother before he went to death. St. Bonaventure, contemplating Mary on that night, says: You did spend it without sleep, and while others slept, you kept vigil. Morning having arrived the disciples of Jesus Christ came to this afflicted mother, one, to bring her these tidings, another, that; but all tidings of sorrow, for in her were then verified the words of Jeremiah: “Weeping, she has wept in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks; there is none to comfort her of all them that were dear to her.” One came to relate to her the cruel treatment of her Son in the house of Caiphas; another, the insults received by him from Herod. Finally, for I omit the rest to come to my point, St. John came and announced to Mary that the most unjust Pilate had already condemned him to death upon the cross. I say the most unjust, for, as St. Leo remarks, this unjust judge condemned him to death with the same lips with which he had pronounced him innocent.
Oh sorrowful mother; said St. John to her, your Son has already been condemned to death, he is already on his way, bearing himself his cross on his way to Calvary, as he afterwards related in his Gospel: “And bearing his own cross he went forth to that place which is called Calvary.” Come, if you desire to see him and bid him a last farewell in some of the streets through which he is to pass. Mary goes with St. John, and she perceives by the blood with which the way was sprinkled, that her Son had already passed there. This she revealed to St. Bridget: “By the footsteps of my Son I traced his course, for along the way by which he had passed, the ground was sprinkled with blood.”
St. Bonaventure imagines the afflicted mother taking a shorter way, and placing herself at the corner of the street to meet her afflicted Son as he passed by. This most afflicted mother met her most afflicted Son: Moestissima mater moestissimo filio occurrit, said St. Bernard. While Mary stopped in that place how much she must have heard said against her Son by the Jews who knew her, and perhaps also words in mockery of herself! Alas! what a commencement of sorrows was then before her eyes, when she saw the nails, the hammers, the cords, the fatal instruments of the death of her Son borne before him! And what a sword pierced her heart when she heard the trumpet proclaiming along the way the sentence pronounced against her Son!
But behold, now, after the instruments, the trumpet, and the ministers of justice had passed, she raises her eyes and sees; she sees, oh God, a young man covered with blood and wounds from head to foot, with a crown of thorns on his head, and two heavy beams on his shoulders; she looks at him and hardly knows him, saying, then, with Isaiah: “And we have seen him, and there was no sightliness.” Yes, for the wounds, the bruises, and clotted blood, made him look like a leper; “We have thought him, as it were, a leper;” so that he could no longer be recognized. “And his look was, as it were, hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed him not.”3 But at length love recognizes him, and as soon as she knows him, ah, what was then, as St. Peter of Alcantara says in his meditations, the love and fear of the heart of Mary! On the one hand, she desired to see him; on the other, she could not endure to look upon so pitiable a sight. But at length they look at each other. The Son wipes from his eyes the clotted blood, which prevented him from seeing (as was revealed to St. Bridget), and looks upon the mother; the mother looks upon the Son.
Oh, the looks of sorrow, which pierced, as with so many arrows, those two holy and loving souls. When Margaret, the daughter of Sir Thomas More, met her father on his way to the scaffold, she could utter only two words, oh, father! oh, father! and fell fainting at his feet. At the sight of her Son going to Calvary, Mary fainted not; no, because it was not fitting that his mother should lose the use of her reason, as Father Suarez remarks, neither did she die, for God reserved her for a greater grief; but if she did not die, she suffered sorrow enough to cause her a thousand deaths. The mother wished to embrace him, as St. Anselm says, but the officers of justice thrust her aside, loading her with insults, and urge onward our afflicted Lord. Mary follows. Oh holy Virgin, where are you going? To Calvary! And can you trust yourself to see him who is your life hanging from a cross? And your life shall be as it were hanging before you: “Et erit vita tua quasi pendens ante te.”
Oh! my mother, stop, says St. Lawrence Justinian, as if the Son himself had then spoken to her; where do you hasten? Where are you going? If you come where I go, you will be tortured with my sufferings, and I with yours.2 But although the sight of her dying Jesus must cost her such cruel anguish, the loving Mary will not leave him. The Son goes before, and the mother follows, that she may be crucified with her Son, as William the Abbot says: The mother took up her cross, and followed him, that she might be crucified with him.1 We even pity the wild beasts: “Ferarum etiam miseremur;” as St. John Chrysostom has said. If we should see a lioness following her whelp as he was led to death, even this wild beast would call forth our compassion. And shall we not feel compassion to see Mary following her immaculate Lamb, as they are leading him to death? Let us then pity her, and endeavor also ourselves to accompany her Son and herself, bearing with patience the cross which the Lord imposes upon us. Why did Jesus Christ, asks St. John Chrysostom, desire to be alone in his other sufferings, but in bearing the cross wished to be helped by the Cyrenean? And he answers: That you may understand that the cross of Christ is not sufficient without yours. The cross alone of Jesus is not enough to save us, if we do not bear with resignation also our own, even unto death.
EXAMPLE
The Saviour appeared one day to sister Diomira, a nun, in Florence, and saidto her: “Think of me, and love me, and I will think of you, and love you: “and at the same time he presented her with a bunch of flowers and a cross, signifying to her by this, that the consolations of the saints on this earth are always to be accompanied by the cross. The cross unites souls to God. [St.] Jerome Emiliani, when he was a soldier, and leading a very sinful life, was shut up by his enemies in a tower. There, feeling deeply his misfortune, and enlightened by God to amend his life, he had recourse to the most holy Mary, and then with the help of this blessed mother, he began to live the life of a saint. By this he merited to see once in heaven the high place which God had prepared for him. He became founder of the order of Sommaschi, died a saint, and has been [canonized a saint] by the holy Church.
PRAYER
My sorrowful mother, by the merit of that grief which you did feel at seeing your beloved Jesus led to death, obtain for me the grace also to bear with patience those crosses which God sends me. Happy me, if I also shall know how to accompany you with my cross until death. You and Jesus, both innocent, have borne a heavy cross; and shall I a sinner, who have merited hell, refuse mine? Oh immaculate Virgin, I hope that you will help me to bear my crosses with patience. Amen.
The Death of Jesus
And now we have to admire a new sort of martyrdom, a mother condemned to see an innocent son, whom she loved with all the affection of her heart, put to death before her eyes, by the most barbarous tortures. There stood by the cross of Jesus his mother: “Stabat autem juxta crucem mater ejus.” There is nothing more to be said, says St. John, of the martyrdom of Mary: behold her at the foot of the cross, looking on her dying Son, and then see if there is grief like her grief. Let us stop then also today on Calvary, to consider this fifth sword that pierced the heart of Mary, namely, the death of Jesus.
As soon as our afflicted Redeemer had ascended the hill of Calvary, the executioners stripped him of his garments, and piercing his sacred hands and feet with nails, not sharp, but blunt: “Non acutis, sed obtuse,” as St. Bernard says, and to torture him more, they fastened him to the cross. When they had crucified him, they planted the cross, and thus left him to die. The executioners abandon him, but Mary does not abandon him. She then draws nearer to the cross, in order to assist at his death. “I did not leave him,” thus the Blessed Virgin revealed to St. Bridget, “and stood nearer to his cross.” But what did it avail, oh Lady, says St. Bonaventure, to go to Calvary to witness there the death of his Son? Shame should have prevented you, for his disgrace was also yours, because you were his mother; or, at least, the horror of such a crime as that of seeing a God crucified by his own creatures, should have prevented you. But the saint himself answers: Your heart did not consider the horror, but the suffering: “Non considerabat cor tuum horrorem, sed dolorem.”
Oh, your heart did not then care for its own sorrow, but for the suffering and death of your dear Son; and therefore you yourself did wish to be near him, at least to suffer with him. Oh, true mother! says William the Abbot, loving mother! For not even the terror of death could separate you from your beloved Son. But, oh God, what a spectacle of sorrow, to see this Son then in agony upon the cross, and under the cross this mother in agony, who was suffering all the pain that her Son was suffering! Behold the words in which Mary revealed to St. Bridget the pitiable state of her dying Son, as she saw him on the cross: “My dear Jesus was on the cross in grief and in agony; his eyes were sunken, half closed, and lifeless; the lips hanging, and the mouth open; the cheeks hollow, and attached to the teeth; the face lengthened, the nose sharp, the countenance sad; the head had fallen upon his breast, the hair black with blood, the stomach collapsed, the arms and legs stiff, and the whole body covered with wounds and blood.”
Mary also suffered all these pains of Jesus. Every torture inflicted on the body of Jesus, says St. Jerome, was a wound in the heart of the mother. Any one of us who should then have been on Mount Calvary, would have seen two altars, says St. John Chrysostom, on which two great sacrifices were consummating, one in the body of Jesus, the other in the heart of Mary. But rather would I see there, with St. Bonaventure, one altar only, namely, the cross alone of the Son, on which, with the victim, this divine Lamb, the mother also was sacrificed. Therefore the saint interrogates her in these words: Oh Lady, where are you? Near the cross? No, on the cross, you are crucified with your Son. St. Augustine also says the same thing: The cross and nails of the Son were also the cross and nails of the mother; Christ being crucified, the mother was also crucified. Yes, because, as St. Bernard says, love inflicted on the heart of Mary the same suffering that the nails caused in the body of Jesus. Therefore, at the same time that the Son was sacrificing his body, the mother, as St. Bernardine says, was sacrificing her soul.
Mothers fly from the presence of their dying children; but if a mother is ever obliged to witness the death of a child, she procures for him all possible relief; she arranges the bed, that his posture may be more easy; she administers refreshments to him; and thus the poor mother relieves her own sorrows. Oh mother, the most afflicted of all mothers! oh Mary, it was decreed that you should be present at the death of Jesus, but it was not given to you to afford him any relief. Mary heard her Son say: I thirst: “Sitio;” but it was not permitted her to give him a little water to quench his great thirst. She could only say to him, as St. Vincent Ferrer remarks; My Son, I have only the water of my tears: “Fili, non habeo nisi aquara lacrymarum.”
She saw that her Son, suspended by three nails to that bed of sorrow, could find no rest. She wished to clasp him to her heart, that she might give him relief, or at least that he might expire in her arms, but seeking one who could console him as he had predicted by the mouth of the prophet: “I have trodden the winepress alone; I looked about and there was none to help; I sought and there was none to give aid.” But who was there among men to console him, if all were his enemies? Even on the cross they cursed and mocked him on every side: “And they that passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads.” Some said to him: “If you be the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Some exclaimed: “He saved others, himself he cannot save.” Others said: “If he be the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross.” The Blessed Virgin herself said to St. Bridget: “I heard some call my Son a thief; I heard others call him an impostor; others said that no one deserved death more than he; and every word was to me a new sword of sorrow.”
But what increased most the sorrows which Mary suffered through compassion for her Son, was to hear him complain on the cross that even the eternal Father had abandoned him: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Words which, as the heavenly mother herself said to St. Bridget, could never depart from her mind during her whole life. Thus the afflicted mother saw her Jesus suffering on every side; she desired to comfort him, but could not. And what caused her the greatest sorrow was to see that, by her presence and her grief, she increased the sufferings of her Son. The sorrow itself, says St. Bernard, that filled the heart of Mary, increased the bitterness of sorrow in the heart of Jesus.
St. Bernard also says that Jesus on the cross suffered more from compassion for his mother than from his own pains: he thus speaks in the name of the Virgin: I stood and looked upon him, and he looked upon me; and he suffered more for me than for himself. The same saint also, speaking of Mary beside her dying Son, says that she lived dying without being able to die: Near the cross stood his mother, speechless; living she died, dying she lived; neither could she die, because she was dead, being yet alive. Passino writes that Jesus Christ himself, speaking one day to the blessed Baptista Varana of Camerino, said to her that he was so afflicted on the cross at the sight of his mother in such anguish at his feet, that compassion for his mother caused him to die without consolation. So that the blessed Baptista, being enlightened to know this suffering of Jesus, exclaimed: Oh my Lord, tell me no more of this your sorrow, for I cannot bear it! Men were astonished, says Simon of Cassia, when they saw this mother then keep silence, without uttering a complaint in this great suffering.
But if the lips of Mary were silent, her heart was not so; for she did not cease offering to divine justice the life of her Son for our salvation. Therefore we know that by the merits of her sorrows she cooperated with Christ in bringing us forth to the life of grace, and therefore we are children of her sorrows: Christ, says Lanspergius, wished her whom he had appointed for our mother to cooperate with him in our redemption; for she herself at the foot of the cross was to bring us forth as her children. And if ever any consolation entered into that sea of bitterness, namely, the heart of Mary, it was this only one; namely, the knowledge that by means of her sorrows, she was bringing us to eternal salvation; as Jesus himself revealed to St. Bridget: “My mother Mary, on account of her compassion and love, was made mother of all in heaven and on earth.”
And, indeed, these were the last words with which Jesus took leave of her before his death; this was his last remembrance, leaving us to her for her children in the person of John, when he said to her: Woman, behold your Son: “Mulier ecce filius tuus.”1 And from that time Mary began to perform for us this office of a good mother; for, as St. Peter Damian declares, the penitent thief, through the prayers of Mary, was then converted and saved: Therefore the good thief repented, because the Blessed Virgin, standing between the cross of her Son and that of the thief, prayed to her Son for him; thus rewarding, by this favor, his former service.2 For as other authors also relate, this thief, in the journey to Egypt with the infant Jesus, showed them kindness; and this same office the Blessed Virgin has ever continued, and still continues to perform.
EXAMPLE
A young man in Perugia once promised the devil that if he would help him to commit a sinful act which he desired to do, he would give him his soul; and he gave him a writing to that effect, signed with his blood. The evil deed was committed, and the devil demanded the performance of the promise. He led the young man to a well, and threatened to take him body and soul to hell if he would not cast himself into it. The wretched youth, thinking that it would be impossible for him to escape from his enemy, climbed the well-side in order to cast himself into it, but terrified at the thought of death, he said to the devil that he had not the courage to throw himself in, and that, if he wished to see him dead, he himself should thrust him in. The young man wore about his neck the scapular of the sorrowing Mary; and the devil said to him: “Take off that scapular, and I will thrust you in.” But the youth, seeing the protection which the Mother of God still gave him through that scapular, refused to take it off, and after a great deal of altercation, the devil departed in confusion. The sinner repented, and grateful to his sorrowful mother, went to thank her, and presented a picture of this case, as an offering, at her altar in the new church of Santa Maria, in Perugia.
PRAYER
Oh mother, the most afflicted of all mothers, your Son, then, is dead; your Son so amiable, and who loved you so much! Weep, for you have reason to weep. Who can ever console you? Nothing can console you but the thought that Jesus, by his death, has conquered hell, has opened paradise which was closed to men, and has gained so many souls. From that throne of the cross he was to reign over so many hearts, which, conquered by his love, would serve him with love. Do not disdain, oh my mother, to keep me near to weep with you, for I have more reason than you to weep for the offences that I have committed against your Son. Oh mother of mercy, I hope for pardon and my eternal salvation, first through the death of my Redeemer, and then through the merits of your sorrows. Amen.
by T. Stanfill Benns | Mar 11, 2026 | New Blog
+Forty Holy Martyrs+
End times update
Four years ago I posted an article to the Catacombs section of betrayedcatholics entitled Spiritual TEOTWAWKI. The article explains the many links between the coming of Antichrist, the three days of darkness, an impending pole shift or EMP strike and the battle of Armageddon. For the battle of Armageddon to take place, the Euphrates River would first need to dry up, which over the past several years has indeed happened. This event would first need to take place so that armed calvary and military vehicles could cross through the dried (or nearly dried) riverbed, as prophesied in Apoc., Ch. 16. Now we see that American troops are being told that Pres. Trump reportedly claims he has been sent by God to fulfill prophecy and instigate the Battle of Armageddon. While this may or may not be true, it is interesting that all the indicators seem to be in place.
According to Apoc. 9:14, evil angels “bound in the great river Euphrates,” were loosed sometime in the past; Rev. E. S. Berry, in his The Apocalypse of St. John, surmises that this verse refers to the release of these angels at the end of the 1,000 years of binding, during the “pretended Reformation and the wars that followed it.” These captive or fallen angels are used as instruments of God’s judgment to punish earth’s inhabitants. According to Internet accounts, ancient cities have been discovered in the dry riverbed that were once buried beneath the waters. From one particular cave leading to tunnels beneath these cities some claim they hear cries and moans. But are the angels still bound, or could it be that they favor this location as a haunt and are anticipating the great battle? After all, they have not yet wreaked all the havoc they were assigned to create. Their most devastating blow is yet to be delivered in the final battle.
“The kings of the whole earth” are being summoned to participate in this battle (Apoc. 16:14). The forces of Antichrist and his system are summoning them, (Apoc. 16: 13). Those who will fight this war are all linked to the beast, false prophet and Satan himself, i.e., the continuation of the system begun by Roncalli and Montini even before the death of Pope Pius XII, an evil partnership with the Zionists, Masonry, spy ops worldwide and the money kings. The battle will trigger a great earthquake (man generated, a pole shift or possibly in conjunction with an EMP) and this most likely will result in the three days darkness. Anywhere from one-third to two-thirds of mankind will perish (Apoc. 9: 15, Zach. 13: 8). Antichrist and his followers will be destroyed. Rome will fall and Jerusalem will be divided into three different sections., (Rev. E. S. Berry). A certain time will be granted for penance before Christ comes for the Final Judgment.
Could it happen? Certainly. God often uses evil men to accomplish His designs. When will it happen? It is possible we could see this battle erupt during Holy Week. Christ announces through St. John In Apoc. 16:15: “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” Rev. Berry explains that this is a “…warning to the faithful to be prepared for the great conflict. They must guard well their garments of good works lest they be found without God’s grace in that evil day. Our Lord gave a similar warning when He foretold the destruction of Jerusalem: ‘Watch ye therefore, because you know not what hour your Lord will come’” (Matt. 24: 42).
But the battle could be postponed once again, and erupt at a later date as well. The goal of the Jews is to destroy the Dome of the Rock, held by the Muslims — the old site of Solomon’s temple — so that they may build a third temple and welcome their messiah. Yet several previous attempts to rebuild the Temple met with disaster and failed in the past. How does this fit in with today’s war on Iran? One missile already has landed very near the Dome, and “Christian” Zionist evangelists claim that the Dome must be destroyed so the third temple can be rebuilt. As one podcaster noted, all this because no one understands that Holy Scripture clearly states the promises made to the Jews have passed to the new Chosen People, the Catholic Church. But to understand where we stand in the light of prophecy today, we must first learn who the Jews really are and were and who true Catholics today truly are. Laura Wood’s Thinking Housewife site featured a good description of who the Jews were before Christ’s time and who they are today HERE. While the video does an excellent job of firmly separating the Chosen People as a group apart from Rabbinic Judaism, it is advised that everyone stop listening to this video the minute it launches into Vatican 2 teaching. And because it concludes with the false assumption that the church in Rome is the true Church, it misses several important points and fails to arrive at the proper conclusions regarding the true state of Judaism and Catholicism today.
What Is a Jew?
The word Jew first occurs in the book of 3 Kings. It later is mentioned in the books of Esther, Ezra and Jeremiah. It’s meaning is “men of Judah.” In Genesis, Judah is identified as the fourth son of Jacob and founder of the tribe of Judah and the Israelites. Judah and Tamar (his daughter-in-law and father of his two children) are the ancestors of the royal Davidic line from which Christ descended through His Blessed Mother.
The famous preacher and Bishop of Meaux, France, Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, wrote in the 1600s: “There is among [the Jewish people] a type of drought which is unique to the Israelites, a drought which has been kept secret, and resisted for a long time, but which is no longer unspoken today and—what is even more serious—which no one is resisting anymore. In speaking of this drought, we mean to designate the disappearance—which is already very far advanced—of the traditions, customs and practices which essentially make up Jewish life… , just as initially, after the fall of Jerusalem, Mosaism had degenerated into Talmudism, so now Talmudism itself, with its remnants of Mosaism, is degenerating into rationalism or indifference—that is to say, into nihilism …”
In evaluating Bossuet’s observations, the twin brother priests who converted from Judaism, Joseph and Augustin Lemann, noted the following trends among the Jews of the 19th century:
- “a rejection of the supernatural generally;
- a denial of the divine inspiration of the Jewish Scriptures;
- calls for “free inquiry” in theological questions;
- taking pride in having no altar and no sacrifices;
- a refusal to acknowledge the traditional priesthood;
- contempt for the teachings of the Talmud;
- a refusal to engage in proselytizing or seeking converts to Judaism;
- a lack of respect for the kosher food laws;
- forgetfulness of the obligation to observe Shabbat;
- re-writing (“mutilating”) traditional Jewish prayers, to remove references to the Messiah, to Jerusalem, and to any type of national Jewish hopes.”
This is in perfect accord with a Pew research poll which shows that today: “…the majority of Jews consider themselves such in ethnicity, but not primarily in religion.” This releases the average Jew identifying as such merely by ancestry from any blame for the current situation and places it squarely on the Zionists. Seeing the above, is it any wonder, then, that a Holocaust had to be arranged and a Jewish state established in 1948 to stoke up the flagging spiritual coals among lax Jews? And given the Pew poll, is there any real evidence it has succeeded on a mass scale? Protestant evangelists have probably played a greater role in reigniting Jewish fervor than even Orthodox Jews. And the above only evaluates the spiritual state of the Jews; it does not question their identity as true Semites. Even if the Khazar/Ashkenazi controversy is laid aside and considered to be incorrect historically (which has not been proven, despite the feverish cries of the crusaders against antisemitism), the Jews today are at the very least a much watered-down version, blood-wise, of their Jewish ancestors.
Race or religion?
But racially pure Jews was not the main consideration. For God’s promises to the Jews to be kept, they were not to intermarry with anyone but their own within the boundaries of Israel, keeping their faith free from idolatry. This is not gone into in any detail in the video; the racial issue is generally ignored. And yet that is what is being stressed by the rabid antisemites predominating in the media, inordinately ignoring any real emphasis on what today’s Jews really believe. It is important to note that those Jewish religious officials objecting to establishing Israel as a state in 1948 did so on the premise that it emphasized the Jews as a race and a nation, not a religion. Interesting. As the video correctly notes, their religion is not the same today as in Christ’s time. And the Zionists are the modern-day Pharisees Christ condemned as liars and sons of the devil. In other words, the Pharisees were claiming to be Jews, but were not, since Christ sanctions them for perverting Jewish teaching.
The video is silent on the mention of the Jews in Apocalypse. But obviously, since all know we are living in the end times, this mention is what applies to us most specifically. Twice we read that there will be, in the last days, “those who say they are Jews and are not but do lie… but are the Synagogue of Satan” (Apoc. 2: 9 and 3: 9). We have observed before that Pope Pius IX called secret societies the Synagogue of Satan. (Now Protestant ministers on YouTube are identifying Freemasonry as the Synagogue of Satan and accrediting it to themselves as an interpretation of this verse, when it was Protestants in league with the B’nai B’rith and Jewish bankers who established Freemasonry in 1717). Even in the early Church we know there were “ungodly men” who had “secretly entered in,” (Jude 1:3). So we should not be surprised that they are yet with us, and that their numbers have grown exponentially. Today’s Zionists are the Pharisees of Jesus’ time and their synagogues are the dens of Satan found in all secret societies and satanic sects.
The objection to erasing the Semitic descendance of today’s Jews is that if it is indeed erased, then there would be no reason not to persecute those identifying only as ethnic or religious Jews. But this is nonsense. Christians are not allowed to persecute anyone for their religion, either, or for their ethnic origin. Muslims, on the other hand, have historically hated the Jews for their religion and exiled them from their countries. And based on that fact, it is not a stretch to assume that if they did develop nuclear weapons, Israel would be a target. Zionism has distorted passages of the Torah that both religions once claimed as a basis for belief and have also taken over predominantly Muslim territories. Zionists insist their brand of Judaism be recognized as the dominant religion in the Middle East, with no intent of co-existing with their neighbors, be it Palestine or Iran. They insist on recovering and ruling over the lands they believe God promised to them. They also have interfered with the hierarchy of Islamic religion. Iran and other Islamic nations are just as pagan and war-minded as the Zionists, but currently it is Zionism that is prevailing. So unless and until Zionists and their supporters are exposed for their satanic practices and beliefs, their war-mongering for centuries, their hatred of Christianity and the worldwide money cabal in which we are entrapped, there is no hope of any so-called “peace” in the Middle East or the world. Christ alone is the arbitrator of that peace and He will avenge His people in the end.
Vatican 2 and the Jews
Instead of using Vatican 2 to emphasize the fact that the Jews must not be persecuted, since the false council and false popes removed any suggestion of blame for Jesus’ death from the liturgy, those watching this video should instead be advised of how the birth of the Novus Ordo church is the mirror image of the reconstruction of Judaism following the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. Oh they still have the buildings in Rome; the exterior has survived so far. But the doctrinal content of the faith has been destroyed and apostolicity decimated. The observations made by the Lemann brothers about the Jews could just as easily apply to the Novus Ordo.
The church of the Old Testament and the promises made to the Chosen People ended with the coming of Christ as the true Messiah, and the transference of those promises to true Catholics throughout the ages. These promises now apply to those who profess belief in the Church as she existed prior to the death of Pope Pius XII. No better evidence of this transfer of these promises can be found than the following from Matt. 21: 42-45: “Jesus saith to them: Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? By the Lord this has been done; and it is wonderful in our eyes. Therefore I say to you, that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and shall be given to a nation yielding the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone, shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they knew that he spoke of them.”
Conclusion
The age of the Catholic Church as an external, visible body ended with the coming of Antichrist, just as the Jewish religion ended with Christ’s coming. When the Jews seated one of their own on the throne of Peter as king, the Zionists who helped write the false V2 council documents and all of Judaeo-Masonry triumphed. Their high priest Paul 6, wearing ephod and teraphim reigned from the seat of their vanquished enemy. They called their new church Catholic just as the Jews called their Talmudic pagan religion Jewish. They boast of their continuing existence as prophesied: “I sit a queen and am no widow, sorrow I shall never see” (Apoc. 18:7). But the day is coming for their destruction as well, just as it came to the Jewish temple. Babylon the great, the very Babylon referred to by St. Peter (1Peter 5:13) is destined for the fall. It may well be that at the very time that Armageddon takes place, the seat of the great harlot riding the beast will be destroyed. It is the unanimous opinion of the Fathers and theologians, Henry Cardinal Manning tells us, that this shall occur.
We pray and watch. Please hasten Thy coming, dear Lord, and do not delay.
by T. Stanfill Benns | Mar 1, 2026 | New Blog
+Second Sunday in Lent+
+Prayer Society Intentions for March, Month of St. Joseph+
“Glorious Saint Joseph, pattern of all who are devoted to toil, obtain for me the grace to toil in the spirit of penance, in order thereby to atone for my many sins.” — Raccolta
Introduction
We are pleased to be able to present a set of meditations for every day in Lent from the great St. Thomas Aquinas, and regret only that we were not able to find them sooner, so they could be read from the beginning. We have selected a few excerpts below from the earlier weeks, and the meditations themselves can be found at: https://ia800201.us.archive.org/0/items/meditationsforle00aquiuoft/meditationsforle00aquiuoft.pdf
May all enjoy a peaceful and profitable Lent.
MEDITATIONS AND READINGS FOR LENT
FASTING
- We fast for three reasons. (i) To check the desires of the flesh. So St. Paul says in fastings, in chastity (2 Cor. vi. 5), meaning that fasting is a safeguard for chastity. As St. Jerome says, ” Without Ceres, and Bacchus, Venus would freeze,” as much as to say that lust loses its heat through spareness of food and drink. (ii) That the mind may more freely raise itself to contemplation of the heights. We read in the book of Daniel that it was after a fast of three weeks that he received the revelation from God (Dan. x. 2-4). (iii) To make satisfaction for sin. This is the reason given by the prophet Joel, Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting and in weeping and in mourning (Joel ii. 12). And’ here is what St. Augustine writes on the matter. ” Fasting purifies the soul. It lifts up the mind, and it brings the body into subjection to the spirit. It makes the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of desire, puts out the flames of lust and the true light of chastity.”
- There is commandment laid on us to fast. For fasting helps to destroy sin, and to raise the mind to thoughts of the spiritual world. Each man is then bound, by the natural law of the matter, to fast just as much as is necessary to help him in these matters. Which is to say that fasting in general is a matter of natural law. To determine, however, when we shall fast and how, according to what suits and is of use to the Catholic body, is a matter of positive law. To state the positive law is the business of the bishops, and what is thus stated by them is called ecclesiastical fasting, in contradistinction with the natural fasting previously mentioned.
- The times fixed for fasting by the Church are well chosen. Fasting has two objects in view: (i) The destruction of sin, and (ii) the lifting of the mind to higher things. The times self-indicated for fasting are then those in which men are especially bound to free themselves from sin and to raise their minds to God in devotion. Such a time especially is that which precedes that solemnity of Easter in which baptism is administered and sin thereby destroyed, and when the burial of Our Lord is recalled, for we are buried together with Christ by baptism into death (Rom. vi. 4). Then, too, at Easter most of all, men’s minds should be lifted, through devotion to the glory of that eternity which Christ in His resurrection inaugurated. Wherefore the Church has decreed that immediately before the solemnity of Easter we must fast, and, for a similar reason, that we must fast on the eves of the principal feasts, setting apart those days as opportune to prepare ourselves the devout celebration of the feasts themselves.
ON REFORMING OURSELVES
“Be not conformed to this world, but be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God” — Romans xii. 2.
- What is forbidden is the forming of one self after the pattern of the world. Be not conformed to this world, that is, to the things which pass away with time. For this present world is a kind of measure of those things which pass away with time. A man forms himself after the pattern of things transitory when, willingly and lovingly, he gives himself to serve them. Those also form themselves after that pattern who imitate the lives of the worldly, This then I say and testify in the Lord : That henceforward you walk not as also the Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind (Eph. iv. 17).
- We are bidden to undertake a reformation of the interior man when it is said, But be reformed in the newness of your mind. By mind is here meant the reason, considered as the faculty by which man makes judgments about what he ought to do. In man, as God first created him, this faculty existed in all the completeness and vigour it could need. Holy Scripture tells us of our first parents that God “filled their hearts with wisdom” and shewed them both good and evil (Ecclus. xvii. 6). But through sin this faculty declined in power and, as it were, grew old, losing its beauty and its brilliance. The Apostle warns us to form ourselves again, that is, to recover that completeness and distinction of mind that once was ours. This can indeed be regained by the grace of the Holy Ghost, and we should therefore use every endeavour to share in that grace — those who lack that grace that they may obtain it, and those who already have gained it faithfully to progress and persevere. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, says St. Paul (Eph. iv. 23). Or again, in another sense, be renewed in your external actions, that is to say, in the newness of your mind i.e., according to the new thing, grace, which you have internally received.
- The reason for this warning is that you may prove what is the will of God. We know what befalls a man whose sense of taste suffers in an illness, how he ceases to have a true judgment of flavours and begins to loathe pleasantly-tasting things and to crave for what is loathsome. So it is with the man whose inclinations are corrupted from his conforming himself to the things of this world. He has no longer a true judgment where what is good for him is concerned. It is only the man whose inclinations are healthy and well directed, whose mind is made new again by grace, who can truly judge what is good and what is not. Therefore on this account is it written, Be not conformed to this world, but be reformed in the newness of jour mind that you may prove, that is, that you may know by experience. As again it says in the Psalm, ‘Taste and see that the Lord is sweet (Ps. xxxiii. 9). What is the will of God: that is, to say the will by which he wills us to be saved. This is the will of God, your sanctification (i Thess. iv. 3). The will of God is good, because God wills that we should will to do what is good, and He leads us to this through His commandments. “I will shew thee, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requireth of thee” (Micheas vi. 8). The will of God is agreeable in as much as to him who is rightly ordered it is a pleasure to do what God wills us to do.
Nor is the will of God merely useful as a means to achieve our destiny, it is a link joining us with our destiny and in that respect it is perfect. Such then is the will of God as those experience it who are not formed after the pattern of this world, but are formed over again in the “newness of their minds.” As to those who remain in the old staleness, fashioned after the world, they judge the will of God not to be a good but a burden and useless.
THE CROWN OF THORNS
“Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see king Solomon in the diadem, wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the joy of his heart.”— Cant. iii. n. This is the voice of the Church inviting the souls of the faithful to behold the marvelous beauty of her spouse. For the daughters of Sion, who are they but the daughters of Jerusalem, holy souls, the citizens of that city which is above, who with the angels enjoy the peace that knows no end, and, in consequence, look upon the glory of the Lord ? i. e., ‘Go forth ‘, shake off the disturbing commerce of this world so that, with minds set free, you may be able to contemplate him whom you love. And see king Solomon, the true peacemaker, that is to say, Christ Our Lord.
In the diadem wherewith his mother crowned him, as though the Church said, ” Look on Christ garbed with flesh for us, the flesh He took from the flesh of his mother.” For it is his flesh that is here called a diadem, the flesh which Christ assumed for us, the flesh in which He died and destroyed the reign of death, the flesh in which, rising once again, he brought to us the hope of resurrection. This is the diadem of which St. Paul speaks, We see Jesus for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour (Heb. ii. 9). His mother is spoken of as crowning him because Mary the Virgin it was who from her own flesh gave him flesh. In the day of his espousals, that is, in the hour of his Incarnation, when He took to himself the Church not having spot or wrinkle (Eph. v. 27), the hour again when God was joined with man. And in the day of the joy of his heart. For the joy and the gaiety of Christ is for the human race salvation and redemption. And coming home, he calls together his friends and neighbours saying to them, Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost (Luke xv. 6).
- We can however refer the whole of this text simply and literally to the Passion of Christ. For Solomon, foreseeing through the centuries the Passion of Christ, was uttering a warning for the daughters of Sion, that is, for the Jewish people. Go forth and see King Solomon, that is, Christ, in His diadem, that is to say, the crown of thorns with which His mother the Synagogue has crowned Him; in the day of his espousals, the day when He joined to himself the Church; and in the day of the joy of His heart, the day in which He rejoiced that by His Passion He was delivering the world from the power of the devil. Go forth, therefore, and leave behind the darkness of unbelief, and see, understand with your minds that He who suffers as man is really God.Go forth, beyond the gates of your city, that you may see Him, on Mount Calvary, crucified. (In Cant. 3 .)
HOW GREAT WAS THE SORROW OF OUR LORD IN His PASSION?
Attend and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow. — Lam. i. 12. Our Lord as He suffered felt really, and in His senses, that pain which is caused by some harmful bodily thing. He also felt that interior pain which is caused by the fear of something harmful and which we call sadness. In both these respects the pain suffered by Our Lord was the greatest pain possible in this present life. There are four reasons why this was so.
- The causes of the pain. The cause of the pain in the senses was the breaking up of the body, a pain whose bitterness derived partly from the fact that the sufferings attacked every part of His body, and partly from the fact that of all species of torture death by crucifixion is undoubtedly the most bitter. The nails are driven through the most sensitive of all places, the hands and the feet, the weight of the body itself increases the pain every moment. Add to this the long drawn-out agony, for the crucified do not die immediately as do those who are beheaded. The cause of the internal pain was:
(i) All the sins of all mankind for which, by suffering, He was making satisfaction, so that, in a sense, he took them to him as though they were His own. The words of my sins, it says in the Psalms (Ps. xxi. 2). 60
(ii) The special case of the Jews and the others who had had a share in the sin of His death, and especially the case of His disciples for whom His death had been a thing to be ashamed of.
(iii) The loss of His bodily life, which, by the nature of things, is something from which human nature turns away in horror.
- We may consider the greatness of the pain according to the capacity, bodily and spiritual, for suffering of Him who suffered. In His body He was most admirably formed, for it was formed by the miraculous operation of the Holy Ghost, and therefore its sense of touch — that sense through which we experience pain — was of the keenest. His soul likewise, from its interior powers, had a knowledge as from experience of all the causes of sorrow.
- The greatness of Our Lord’s suffering can be considered in regard to this that the pain and sadness were without any alleviation. For in the case of no matter what other sufferer the sadness of mind, and even the bodily pain, is lessened through a certain kind of reasoning, by means of which there is brought about a distraction of the sorrow from the higher powers to the lower. But when Our Lord suffered this did not happen, for he allowed each of His powers to act and suffer to the fullness of its special capacity.
- We may consider the greatness of the suffering of Christ in the Passion in relation to this fact that the Passion and the pain it brought with it were deliberately undertaken by Christ with the object of freeing man from sin. And therefore he undertook to suffer an amount of pain proportionately equal to the extent of the fruit that was to follow from the Passion. From all these causes, if we consider them together, it will be evident that the pain suffered by Christ was the greatest pain ever suffered.
