Lift up your head and search your heart

by T. Stanfill Benns | Dec 24, 2020 | New Blog

+Mary ChristMass and a blessed New Year!+

Introduction

This ChristMass will be one that American Catholics will not soon forget. Communist and third-world countries have long seen the unrest we are now experiencing but never in this country have we seen such chaos and confusion. In these times we must lift up our heads and search the heavens, imploring God to grant us the graces we need to save our souls. We have already seen the brightness of the Star of Bethlehem there, reminding us, perhaps, that we could soon see the cross of redemption fixed in the sky, telling us that Christ is on His way to visit the earth. Many now, both those calling themselves Catholic and non-Catholics alike, are speaking of the imminent arrival of Antichrist. But as explained many times in this blog and in website articles, the Man of Sin proper has already come and gone. All that remains is for those now continuing his system to open their final act on the world stage and complete the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Antichrist’s diabolical system is definitely in play here, as explained below in Daniel’s vision of the latter days. We have seen the land and sea beasts of Apocalypse, Chapter 13. But Daniel details for us the nature of the fourth beast or kingdom, as he calls it, from which these beasts issue, and that is the New World Order system we now see in action.

Daniel’s Visions (Chap. 7, vs. 15-28)

“My spirit trembled, I Daniel was affrighted at these things, and the visions of my head troubled me. I went near to one of them that stood by and asked the truth of him concerning all these things, and he told me the interpretation of the words, and instructed me: These four great beasts are four kingdoms, which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the most high God shall take the kingdom: and they shall possess the kingdom for ever and ever.

“After this I would diligently learn concerning the fourth beast. which was very different from all and exceeding terrible: his teeth and claws were of iron: he devoured and broke in pieces, and the rest he stamped upon with his feet: And concerning the ten horns that he had on his head: and concerning the other that came up, before which three horns fell: and of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and was greater than the rest. I beheld, and lo, that horn made war against the saints, and prevailed over them till the Ancient of days came and gave judgment to the saints of the most High, and the time came, and the saints obtained the kingdom.

“And thus he said: The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be greater than all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns of the same kingdom, shall be ten kings: and another shall rise up after them, and he shall be mightier than the former, and he shall bring down three kings.  And he shall speak words against the High One and shall crush the saints of the most High: and he shall think himself able to change times and laws, and they shall be delivered into his hand until a time, and times, and half a time.  And judgment shall sit, that his power may be taken away, and be broken in pieces, and perish even to the end. And that the kingdom, and power, and the greatness of the kingdom, under the whole heaven, may be given to the people of the saints of the most High: whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all kings shall serve him, and shall obey him.

“Hitherto is the end of the word. I Daniel was much troubled with my thoughts, and my countenance was changed in me: but I kept the word in my heart.”

Babylon in history

The history of God’s chosen people, taken as a whole, teaches some very straightforward and important lessons. Holy Writ provides the basic summary of the machinations of God’s enemies throughout history, from the earliest days of the Israelites up to our own day. While Satan wishes all things to appear new, there is very little variation on his original scheme to deprive man of eternal happiness with his Maker.

The book of Genesis records the history of Satan’s assault on man, and Ven. Mary of Agreda, in her “Mystical City of God,” portrayed him as the eternal protagonist from the very beginning. Satan’s primary failing, she explained, was envy of the Son whom God the Father announced would redeem the world. Until this announcement came, Satan himself had presumed primogeniture in Heaven. That another would assume flesh, outstrip his gifts of grace and usurp his favor with the Almighty enraged him. On realizing the intentions of God, he revealed the true extent of his envy and hatred of the Word. He expressed this by issuing his fateful boast to make the persecution and destruction of the Divine Word his eternal mission, citing the defilement of Mary Most Holy as the means to attain this end.

Addressing this blasphemy, the Father solemnly proclaimed the final victory would belong to the Immaculate Conception, who would crush Satan’s proud head. He then flung him and the followers he had recruited deep into the center of the earth, where the Evil One and his demons have never ceased to issue forth and persecute men.

The next confrontation came in Eden. There Satan, in the guise of a serpent, first unveiled his system of Gnosis (knowledge of things forbidden by God), telling Adam and Eve that knowledge of both good and evil would make them God’s equal. Again the Creator reminded Satan of his destruction by the Woman. For our first parents, who left us the ignoble legacy of original sin, the price of pride and disobedience was the loss of Paradise. But for those who followed the serpent, the wages of Gnosis were eternal death in Hell.

Not one to waste time, Satan soon found accomplices among Adam’s descendants willing to imitate his example and accept his occult knowledge. The heavenly image of Satan’s fall from favor was mirrored in Cain’s murder of his innocent, well-intentioned brother Abel. Abel, a shepherd, prefigured Christ, the Good Shepherd, offering the sacrifice of his first fruits. Cain, envious of his brother’s goodness and eager for material gain, offered God only what he felt he could afford to spare – an offering deemed unacceptable in God’s eyes. When God informed Cain of his shortcomings, he followed in Satan’s footsteps.  While Satan had assailed the Word spiritually, Cain physically assaulted and murdered his brother, then denied his deed to God. Satan has been a liar and a murderer from the beginning, as Holy Scripture attests.

Branded and sent into exile as punishment for his sins, Cain did not have an equal in sinfulness until the days of Noe. Adding lewdness to the long list of Satan’s deceits, Cham or Ham, the son of Noe, sinned by laughing at his father’s nakedness after Noe unintentionally became drunk from the fruits of his first vineyard. Noe cursed Cham for his immodesty and the taint of this curse apparently filtered down to Cham’s grandson, Nemrod, ruler of Babylon.

As Babylon’s ruler, Nemrod denounced God, wishing to receive the honor and glory his subjects offered to God for himself. He authored secular humanism by teaching them that they could ascribe all these physical and intellectual gifts to themselves. Styling himself as the strongest and craftiest ruler of his day, Nemrod then became the first to demonstrate that might makes right, tyrannizing his people for his own ends. According to Hebrew and Oriental traditions given some credence by the Church, he founded the Sabaean religion, archetype of pagan belief. In it was encapsulated all pagan belief, from Babylonian times to the present. He taught the people of Babylon that the sky was a crystal ceiling, the patriarchs that had died and gone to heaven being the very planets in the sky. Deity became synonymous with nature and the force that accounted for the heavens and earth. Unable to spiritualize this creative force, the early apostates worshipped the reproductive forces in man and nature. (This is the true origin of the legends that atheists claim prove Scripture to be nothing more than one possible explanation of actual events.)

Now the Sabaeans believed that meteors and certain stones were pieces of these supposed patriarch-planets fallen to earth, and they began worshiping the stones as gods. In the early stages of their disbelief, before they were recognized as having completely apostatized from the One God, they would secretly use these stones to build their altars of sacrifice, unbeknownst to their fellow worshippers who offered sacrifice to the true God. As the convert, Rabbi Drach, explains: “Our fathers, sons of Sem, preserved in the sanctuary of the Temple of Jerusalem the Beth-el Stone of Jacob (Jacob’s ‘stone pillow’), and in this stone they worshipped the Messiah. This cult was imitated by our neighbors of Phoenicia, sons of Cham, who had a common language,” (“Trail of the Serpent,” by Inquire Within). Later, the stones worshipped by these early idolaters were chiseled into phallic and other shameful shapes and hidden from view, accounting early on for the secrecy inherent in the mystery religions. Remnants of this worship can be seen today in “worry” stones and “pet rocks.”

Before the apostasy fostered during Nemrod’s reign, God made known His intention to separate the various tribes of peoples, sending them into different lands so that His designs for populating the entire earth might be accomplished. Nemrod and his subjects set themselves against this plan by building the Tower of Babel, claiming, the ancient traditions related, that as punishment God would renege on His promise never again to destroy the earth by flood. They sought to unite as many of their people as possible to preserve the one language they feared to lose in separation.

Nemrod boasted his tower would reach the planet-gods of heaven. Like Satan, his father, he feared God would deprive him of his kingdom. He was desperately attempting to attract as many adherents to his new religious-politico empire as he possibly could. The infidelity occasioned by worshiping men as gods (the father-patriarchs and themselves) had resulted in the degradation of women, immorality and depravity. Before the tower was completed and Nemrod’s scheme could succeed, God changed the tongues of the various families so they could no longer understand one another and were forced to separate. Thus was the first attempt at one-world government and religion foiled by Divine intervention. But Nemrod’s people, the sons of Sem, continued to live between the Tigris and Euphrates. And from this continuation of the Babylonian empire arose the Egyptian and other pagan mystery religions.

Babylon is the code word used by early Christians to identify Rome. In the Apocalypse we find reference to the whore of Babylon and Babylon the Great, which is destined to fall; repaganized Rome and her earthly satellites. Chapter 13 of Apocalypse identifies three separate beasts that will manifest themselves during Antichrist’s reign. The sea beast is generally interpreted by Catholic commentators as Antichrist proper and the land beast as the false prophet, although some reverse these two roles. Then there is the third beast which is also the fourth kingdom, spoken of by Daniel the prophet. It also is referred to in Apoc. 17 as the whore of Babylon, across whose forehead is written “mystery.”

This kingdom is symbolized by a woman who rides the Antichrist beast, or in other words is carried along with him (the horns receive a kingdom WITH the beast, Apoc. 17:12). One specific king in particular will side with Antichrist and his system. Babylon the great is pagan Rome allied with Freemasonry, Socialism and Communism. This alliance began during the reigns of Roncalli and Montini and continues in our own day with Antichrist’s system. The false prophet (Angelo Roncalli, known as John 23) first prepared the way for Giovanni Montini (Paul 6) by making him a cardinal then announcing the calling of the false Vatican 2 council. Paul 6 was unmistakably identified in many ways with the number six, and this has been demonstrated in the writings of various authors, myself included, for decades. Scripture clearly tells us who Antichrist proper is, for this beast, Paul 6, usurped the papacy then abolished the Latin Mass when he who withholdeth was taken out of the way (Pope Pius XII).  Antichrist has come, but the ultimate material reign of the system he established is about to be revealed. If it is represented by a particular political figure, so be it, but he must not be confused with Antichrist proper, who in every sense can be only a spiritual figure.

Two trends in Scripture commentary

Commentators seem to be caught up in two different excesses in predicting Antichrist’s reign. Some deny anything that would seem to support the Protestant contention that Antichrist could in any way be identified with the papacy. They enter into long and drawn-out explanations as to why these Protestant teachings on the pope as Antichrist are heretical and not a true fulfillment of the prophecies. This is true and perhaps it was necessary to some extent, but it should not eclipse the actual situation today, but they do not explain that it could have an entirely Catholic interpretation. No one is saying a true pope is or could ever become Antichrist. We are saying that a man who is only posing as a true pope became Antichrist, one who was never validly elected and could never, therefore, have continued the papal succession. None of the commentators even considered this with the exception of Rev. E. S. Berry, who believed the false prophet would “probably set himself up in Rome as a sort of antipope during the vacancy of the papal throne [mentioned in Apoc., Ch. 12]. Of course this is true, for it is exactly what Roncalli did. What Berry misses is that the Antichrist himself will also be a false pope.

The other excess is related to the above but varies from it somewhat. These commentators hold that the papacy can never cease to exist, despite what Henry Cardinal Manning and others (including Fr. Berry) teach regarding he who withholdeth. Some teach a pope could actually become a heretic and still remain pope (material-formal); others believe that some bishop of Novus Ordo origin could “turn’ and be elected a true pope without ever possessing apostolic succession, contrary to all Church law and teaching. The first excess group fears to finger Montini as Antichrist because they believe it comes too close to the papal antichrist theory, a heresy, even though Pope Paul IV tells us exactly how such a thing could happen in his Cum ex Apostolatus Officio. The second excess group isn’t worried about heresy; they long ago compromised themselves by accepting men as their “clerics” who had no valid claim to either apostolic succession or a mission granted by the Church. They are a new non-Catholic religion with new minsters who parody Mass and Sacraments but can transmit nothing. They secretly realize their lack of jurisdiction for their clergy poses a valid threat to their membership, so they must have a pope to make it appear they can function validly and “prove” the Church still exists.

Both groups would necessarily need to style any man considered Antichrist as a political figure to satisfy their needs and prejudices as well as their illogical conclusions. But the Church does not deal in politics and the affairs of the secular world; She deals only in the spiritual realm. Antichrist proper can project a material manifestation but only if it is firmly held and understood by Catholics that his primary role is and must be spiritual since it is the spiritual realm that he so profoundly impacts. He ruled as an imposter stripping the Church of all that Christ established on earth. No political figure could ever hope to effectively deceive the elect and seduce the faithful by doing such a thing from outside the confines of the Church; he would be seen as the enemy. No; it would need to be done from within, with at least the appearance of authority, to fulfill Scripture prophecy completely. This is not to say that these prophecies will not and cannot have a secondary more literal fulfillment, but in actuality it is only an extension of the initial spiritual fulfillment.

What we may be seeing in the formation of the New World Order is the open and undeniable cooperation of Francis with the conspirators, for is he not also Antichrist by extension, being in his direct line of descent? Remember that the devil wishes to impersonate Christ perfectly; he too shall have his own satanic succession and each one of his “pontiffs” will be a mirror image of Antichrist with all the same power, just as St. Peter was. But this succession is the system of Antichrist, for only one of these men could be the actual Man of Sin according to the Church, and we know this man had to be Montini, in all likelihood. Holy Scripture gave us all the signs we needed to identify him, and the disappearance of the papacy cannot be explained unless we admit his existence. The whore of Babylon lent her power to the evil governments of the world when Roncalli/Montini embraced Freemasonry, Socialism and Communism. This is only the culmination of that alliance, with a formal acceptance now coming from Francis. But the betrayal of the Church began long ago, even before the death of Pope Pius XII. Francis’ role is to fulfill the Protestant claims that the Church was indeed Antichrist, alienating non-Catholics with sympathies toward Catholicism, in order to wipe out the Church’s salvific mission forever. Traditionalists will play the role of the true Church and deceive any remaining elect. Eventually the powers that be will tire of Rome’s affiliations and Apocalypse predicts they will destroy the city, a physical fulfillment of the longstanding spiritual reality. Then even the semblance of any religion will disappear and Satanism will fill the void.

When will Christ interrupt this chain of events? That is His carefully guarded secret. Below we will quote a Novus Ordo work which refers to the writings of St. Louis Grignon de Montfort, writings of this saint not otherwise available to us. The work is from Fr. Andrea D’Ascanio OFM Cap., at the Marianum Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Rome. It consists mainly in quotes from de Montfort, but certain comments on these writings, where they remain in keeping with the faith, have also been retained.

Abbreviations used to cite Montfort’s works:

LCM Letters to Members of the Company of Mary; LEW, The Love of Eternal Wisdom; L Letters; LFC, Letters to the Friends of the Cross; FP, Fiery Prayer; RM, Rule for the Missionary Priests of the Company of Mary; SR, The Secret of the Rosary; SM, The Secret of Mary; TD, Treatise on True Devotion to Mary and RHP, Rules for the Holy Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Saumur. Fr. D’Asconio’s text is below.

“Who will these servants, slaves and children of Mary be?” They are those the Spirit has chosen so that “his holy Mother may be known, honoured and loved as never before” in the last times, at the conclusion of the ancient battle between the woman and the serpent, between her offspring and the serpent’s offspring (Gen 3,15). At that time Mary’s power will be revealed, right when Satan will try to strike her “heel”, that is ‘ses humbles esclaves et ses pauvres enfants’ to whom she will convey her grace. They will be the great saints of the last times who, “in union with Mary, will crush the head of Satan with their heel, that is, their humility, and bring victory to Jesus Christ” (TD 54).

“Their main characteristic will be a profound inner life; following John’s example they “stay at home with their mother” (TD 196) devoted to prayer, following the example and in the company of she who has always loved meditation and prayer. Their main concern must be their own interior perfection, “compared to which all other work is mere child’s play,” (TD 196). They will live the first and only commandment of Love by seeking God with all their heart, with all their mind and with all their strength, like the first monks and hermits who abandoned the world in order to achieve complete unity with Him… They will go out into the world only to carry out the duties of their status following the will of God their Father and Mary their Mother.” (This is the connection to St. John the beloved disciple we have referred to in previous blogs. He and Our Lady are with us today — TSB)

“In one of his works of 1919, P. Lhomeau, commenting on the apostles of the last times according to Monfort, thus summarizes what the Church means by “last times”: “Christian language refers to the “last times” as a period of indeterminate length which can involve years or centuries, in which any kind of catastrophes or events, especially the misfortunes of the Church, its downfalls and victories. In the end, everything will be extreme and, so to speak, terminal in character, and will prepare for the second coming of Christ (…). That is what we call parousia. This return of Christ is the object of our faith; and the Master Himself ordered us to watch and wait (…). Its date is in the secret of God.” There has been much talk on the meaning of Montfort’s expressions concerning the second and last coming of Jesus, which theologians have interpreted in different, and at times contrasting, ways. According to Montfort’s most profound commentator there are two deluges, a ‘fiery deluge of pure love’ which will convert all men and also a ‘divine fire of his anger’ which ‘will reduce the whole world to ashes.’

“The reign especially attributed to God the Father lasted until the Flood and ended in a deluge of water. The reign of Jesus Christ ended in a deluge of blood, but your reign, Spirit of the Father and the Son, is still unended and will come to a close with a deluge of fire, love and justice. When will it happen, this fiery deluge of pure love with which you are to set the whole world ablaze and which is to come, so gently yet so forcefully, that all nations, Moslems, idolaters and even Jews, will be caught up in its flames and be converted? None can shield himself from the heat it gives, so let its flames rise. Rather let this divine fire which Jesus Christ came to bring on earth be enkindled before the all-consuming fire of your anger comes down and reduces the whole world to ashes.” Is it possible that God won’t grant Mary’s heartbroken request for this prophet, in which she lives and fully identifies with? The time has not come yet. Before the altar of the Trinity, Mary will keep alive this fiery cry which her servant raises up in the name of the Church and of humanity and its effects will be seen in the most difficult moments of the last Church. (This is an echo, it seems, of the conditional Fatima promise. No one can be certain that the necessary conditions of this promise were ever fulfilled by a sufficient number of people praying OR by the consecration made by Pope Pius XII. — TSB)

“Saint Louis Mary pays the high price of a prophet who spiritually lives the dramatic final battle between good and evil; he has realized that in order to accomplish his salvific plan “Almighty God and his holy Mother are to raise up great saints who will surpass in holiness most other saints”  (TD 47) and he asks for its fulfilment with all the strength of his being… Montfort understands that there is something mysterious in God’s plan which he can’t figure out: “No one knows how and when this will come to pass, but we do know that God, whose thoughts are further from ours than heaven is from earth, will come at a time and in a manner least expected, even by the most scholarly of men and those most versed in Holy Scripture, which gives no clear guidance on this subject,” (SM 58).

“Montfort [repeats] often that the final battle will take place above all in man’s inner soul… In “heaven”, that is in the dimension of the spirit, the “sun” which is God “will be darkened”: this is the result of a century of theoretical and practical atheism in which man has wanted to banish God, renewing on earth the ‘non serviam’ which already resounded in heaven. It is the dreadful ‘silence of God’ dreaded by Israel. As a result, ‘the moon shall not give her light’: the Church, which reflects the light of the sun which is God, will enter into a profound crisis whose most visible sign will be ‘the stars which will fall from heaven’. In God’s heaven the ‘stars’ are the priests (“You are the light of the world…” Matt. 5:14). (Pre-V2 Scripture  commentators identify the stars as bishops or the hierarchy in general – TSB).

“From post Vatican II until today about 100,000 priests have abandoned their ministry, and this exodus doesn’t show signs of coming to an end. ‘The powers of heaven shall be moved’: The heavens are the souls of men who, having become orphans because they have lost their Father and Mother, will find themselves in a profound moral and spiritual chaos. This situation is already clear as well. ‘And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven. And then shall all tribes of the earth mourn’. The only sign of the Son of man is the Cross. This sign will appear impressed with fire in every soul. In suffering, all souls will comprehend their ingratitude and neglect for this crucified Love, they will mourn and they will be saved.” (This is the true value of being deprived of Mass and Sacraments and of the very Church Herself, this mourning. Many style it as the condemnation of stay-at-home Catholics, but instead it is the opportunity to work out our salvation — TSB.)

“The last times are those of the greatest moral decay in which we are living and of which Montfort prophesies. This vision makes his great supplication to God the Almighty Father spring from his heart: “Be mindful, Lord, of your Congregation, when you come to dispense your justice. (…) Will everything come to the same end as Sodom and Gomorrah? Is it not true that your will must be done on earth as it is in heaven? Is it not true that your kingdom must come? Did you not give to some souls, dear to you, a vision of the future renewal of the Church? Are not the Jews to be converted to the truth and is this not what the Church is waiting for? All the blessed in heaven cry out for justice to be done. And the faithful on earth join in with them and cry out: Amen come, Lord!”  (FP 5). (End of de Montfort book quotes.)

Conclusion

It may appear strange to speak of Christ’s Second Coming on the eve of His birth, but the Gospel for the first Sunday of Advent itself opens the season with this reminder. Nor should we lose sight of it during the ChristMass season, especially when the signs of its close approach are so frighteningly apparent. The above paragraphs, however, should give much comfort to those who must endure these terrible trials and tribulations, for perhaps, without even knowing it, we have followed de Montfort’s advice and hopefully classify as the lovers of Jesus and Mary he describes. May the love of the Christ Child live ever in your hearts and may we all pray for a safe and peaceful New Year.

More on the Priesthood of the Laity, St. Anthony Mary Claret

by T. Stanfill Benns | Dec 8, 2020 | New Blog

+Feast of the Immaculate Conception+

Now that we have entered the season of Advent and are preparing for the birth of Our Lord, I have been thinking about the feast of some 14,000 Holy Innocents, and how their martyrdom mirrors in many ways the situation in which we find ourselves today. On first read this may seem to be a strange remark. But Christ granted these infants admission to Heaven, even though they were unbaptized, because they were totally innocent, and they suffered and died for Him. Of course, they were baptized in their own blood, a sure ticket to Heaven, and we know well that “baptism” of blood and desire is sufficient to merit salvation according to the Church’s teaching on this matter. But it was a merciful act on God’s part because they died in the process of prophecy being fulfilled, God’s will on earth being done, regarding the Incarnation.

From all eternity, the times in which we live today were ordained to complete the course of the Church on earth. I say our own situation is analogous to the Holy Innocents because like them, we have been caught up in a storm of persecution against the Son of God and all He stood for.  And this precisely because God wills that the Scriptures be fulfilled, even though it may cost us dearly in way of our loss of all spiritual direction, Mass and Sacraments and any normal Catholic existence. In our last blog we explained how Christ is with us unto the consummation simply because we yet exist, profess His name and do our best to try to accept His holy will that Mass and Sacraments, indeed the Church Herself, be unavailable to us at this time. In the prophecy predicting the shepherd would be struck, (Zacharias 13:7), God says He will turn His hand to the little ones.

In Christ’s prediction of this same event, the first part of this prophecy is repeated again (see Matt. 26:31), but in this passage Christ says, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed.” Rev. Leo Haydock interprets the passage in Zacharias as follows: “Christ takes care of his little flock, and always is one with the Father.” In the Matt. 26:31 version, he notes that “I will strike” means that Christ’s death (and the vacancy of the Holy See) means that these trials and sufferings are “directed by God.” He quotes from Luke 12:32 which reads: “Fear not little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you a kingdom.” Citing St. Bede, Haydock writes on this verse: “In order to console us in our labors, he commands us to seek only the kingdom of Heaven and promises that the Father will bestow it as a reward upon us.” So in these difficult times, Christ grants us leeway if we but obey His law and seek not an earthly kingdom, but a heavenly one.

Another instance of Christ’s mercy to those caught up in the fulfillment of His mission to save souls is the miracle He worked in Gethsemane. When an apostle (most believe it was St. Peter) stepped up to defend Him as He was being accosted by the soldiers and the Jewish officials, slicing off the ear of the high priest’s servant, Jesus restored the man’s ear, objecting, “How can the Scriptures be fulfilled, that so it must be done?” It seems that Our Lord was unwilling that anyone who was an innocent bystander to the fulfillment of God’s will regarding His Passion (and that of His Church) should be harmed for His sake. We are not innocent as the holy babes of Bethlehem were nor even the high priest’s servant, who undoubtedly was acting only at Caiaphas’ behest. But we are haplessly caught up in this end times unraveling of prophecy and God well knows our plight. As the author of the little tract, They Have Taken Away My Lord, Fr. Demaris writes: “To love God and fear Him alone, such is the lot of a small number of the elect. It is this love and this fear that makes martyrs by detaching the Faithful from the world and attaching them to God and His Holy Law. To support this love and this fear, in your hearts, watch and pray… God needs nobody but Himself to save us when He so desires.”

Of course, none of the above means that any Catholic can grow lax in the practice of religion, believing God will somehow grant him leniency because of our present situation. We cannot abandon prayer and penance or believe we will somehow be forgiven for our sins outside the usual channels. But we have the right to believe that we have been assigned an important part in the Church’s existence because Holy Scripture and the Roman Pontiffs tell us so. We are described as a royal priesthood and living stones in 1 Peter 2, 4-10. The Apocalypse tells us that we are priests and kings (Apoc. 1:6; 5:10) and we are told that we shall reign on the earth (Apoc. 5:10). Commenting on these verses, Rev. Leo Haydock writes: “Every good Christian, in a less proper sense, may be called a priest inasmuch as he offers to God what… may be called sacrifices and oblations. Christians are a royal priesthood because they are invited by Christ to reign in his kingdom… All Christians may justly be styled kings and priests of God,” when they triumph over their passions and worldly temptations, also “by the continual offering they make on the altar of their hearts by means of the prayers they daily offer up to God.”

In a document we have quoted before, entered into the Acta Apostolica Sedis, (meaning it is binding on Catholics), Pope Pius XII tells us we not only can but must take up all the duties of the hierarchy in their absence. The pushback from certain accusers, despite this papal pronouncement, pretends what we advocate is akin to the NO’s elevation of the laity to clerical status, but they entirely miss the point here. We are not elevating ourselves to anything – we have been placed in a position that leaves us no choice but to either slink into the shadows and cower there indefinitely or obey the Roman Pontiff and behave as the Christians Pope St. Peter describes. If anyone would read the papal documents written on Catholic Action they would quickly see that the popes not only requested but commandedCatholics to engage in Catholic Action, to compensate for the shortage of priests and to reach out to the laity on their own level, not from a clerical level. This is nothing new.

In his little booklet, written to console French Catholics in the 1790s following the Constitutional church crisis in France, Father Demaris, a professor of theology and missionary of St. Joseph, wrote: “Don’t be surprised if in our own time, we see what St. Cyprian saw in his: that most of the faithful succumbed. To love God and fear Him alone, such is the lot of a small number of the elect. It is this love and this fear that makes martyrs by detaching the Faithful from the world and attaching them to God and His Holy Law. To support this love and this fear, in your hearts, watch and pray… It is by Faith that the Faithful are united. In probing this truth, we find that the absence of the Body does not break this unity, since it does not break the ties of Faith, but rather augments it by depriving it of all feeling… The circumstances where these laws [regarding the reception of the Sacraments] do not oblige, are those where God’s Will manifests itself to obtain our salvation without the intermediary of Man… God needs nobody but Himself to save us when He so desires.” So Fr. Demaris believes that in such times it is not the Mass and Sacraments that unite the faithful, but faith alone. The liturgy being taken away does not break the bonds of faith itself!

St. Anthony Mary Claret was also a champion of lay autonomy regarding the promotion of the faith, in a day and age when this was not at all popular. He repeats in his writings what was said above: “The Christian is anointed as priest, prophet and king.” The sacrifice they offer should not be limited to the Mass, but “we must also offer ourselves as victims for the glory of God and in satisfaction for our failings.”  He even relied on the assistance of a woman religious to outline an ambitious plan to elevate the spiritual life of religious, the clergy and the laity. While the Novus Ordo authors who have written books on St. Claret’s life claim him as a forerunner of the “spiritual renewal’ of Vatican 2, it was never St. Claret’s intention to engage the laity in liturgical reform or the modernization of the Church. The title to his treatise to restore the Church to its pristine holiness indicates just the opposite: Notes for a Plan to Preserve the Beauty of the Church. St. Anthony preached a renewal “of ministerial action and exact fidelity to the Gospel,” not liturgical renewal.  The plan for this long overdue restoration stressed obedience to “the Holy Law of God,” clerical appreciation of a life of poverty and the urgent need for the spiritual renewal of both superiors and their charges in seminaries and religious communities. Had this been accomplished, Vatican 2 could have been avoided altogether.

Then there was his promotion of parish libraries run by the laity without the supervision of the clergy, who he felt needed to dedicate themselves to more important duties. He established a great many of these throughout Cuba and also ardently supported and promoted a Catholic press. St. Claret wrote that lay persons needed to be in charge of these libraries because “they have a greater opportunity to be involved among the people — the pastors and other priests are occupied with matters of their own ministry. It seems that in these last times God wishes laypersons to play an important role in the salvation of souls.” And in his addresses to the laity on Catholic Action, this was also the teaching of Pope Pius XII, the pontiff who elevated St. Anthony Mary Claret to sainthood.  Precisely because it is morally and physically impossible to have such libraries or any organization approved or directed by the hierarchy, according to Henry Cardinal Manning this relieves one of any obligation to seek such an approval. We also have the permission of Pope Pius XII, who said that to engage in such an apostolate, “…is perfectly justified even without a prior explicit ‘mission’ from the hierarchy,” (The Mission of the Catholic Woman, Sept. 29, 1957). As mentioned above, Pius XII directed the laity to assume all the duties of the hierarchy in their absence, but he cautioned that in doing this the laity could not undertake anything “against the explicit and implicit will of the Church, or contrary in any way to the rules of faith or morals or ecclesiastical discipline.”

St. Anthony also believed that we were fast approaching the end of the world, expressed in the title of another of his treatises: The Present Epoch Probably Considered the Last of the World. He was told by our Lord that he was the eagle announcing the woes in Apocalypse and he believed that the religious congregation he established was sent to prepare the world for the Second Coming. In his autobiography he explains how Jesus told him he would “fly throughout the world and speak of the great punishments that are approaching.” This was in reference to the passage of Apoc. 8: 13 and the eagle who would proclaim the woes: “Woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth because of the three great chastisements that are to come.” He was then given to understand that these were Protestantism, Communism; love of pleasure, money, independence of mind and of will and the great wars and their consequences. Thus is his prophecy now realized in what we are experiencing today. He also was made to understand on the feast of Our Lady of Mercy (Ransom) that his congregation was to spread the Gospel and devotion to the love of Jesus and Mary everywhere. Part of his preaching and that of his congregation, was, predictably, against the dangers of Communism and Socialism. It is ironic, then, that this Satanic system has reigned in Cuba for so many years.

It is interesting to read the principles of Socialism St. Claret condemns in his autobiography, as they are so applicable to what we see today. They are listed as follows:

• Man should acknowledge no father or mother but the earth.
• Kings and ministers of state are nothing but tyrants and have no right to tell others what to do. We are all equal.
• Politics is nothing more but a game to get control of the land, honor, financial interests etc. of the people.
• There is no law but the law of the strongest.
• The earth belongs to no one; all things come from it, and all things are for everyone and belong to everyone.
• The rich are scoundrels, thieves and loafers who do nothing but loaf, eat and lust… The workers must rise up and finish off these drones of society. (He gives quite a bit of space to their rants against the rich and the resentment workers have against those who employ them but have none of the niceties in life and do well to just barely survive.)
• The rich have enjoyed the land. Now it is time for us to enjoy it and divide it among ourselves… [The rich] robbed the people of their property. It is only right to reclaim what is ours.

All this St. Anthony witnessed while yet living in his native Spain. He noted that the Socialists accomplished much in a short while by using persuasive arguments, lobbing insults and making threats. They steeped those who followed them in immorality and led many away from religion.

Sadly, we may be long past the time that anything could be done to successfully evangelize others, including the faithful. We have now reached a crossroads where it will either be one world rule or a rebirth of the Church, which, as we have stated before, would need to be effected by a miracle. It seems fitting today to post this article because St. Anthony was such a devoted client of the Blessed Virgin Mary, his congregation being that of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He also had great hopes for America, writing: “America is a great and fertile field, and in time more souls will enter Heaven from America than from Europe. [Europe] is like an old vine that bears little fruit, whereas America is a young vine.” One of the last things he told the members of his congregation before his death was to establish houses in America. It is said that when St. Brendan first glimpsed the shores of North America, he called it the land of the blessed. Let us all pray that, facing the fight of our lives, we will either win that battle and live to see better days or die defending God, family and country.

“St. John is Still Alive”: The New R&R ruse

by T. Stanfill Benns | Nov 24, 2020 | New Blog

+St. John of the Cross+

As the discussion of whether there are any true bishops left alive on earth continues, a reader has pointed out the following translation, found on one Traditionalist site, of the 1870 Vatican Council decree on the Church of Christ. It differs from the one found in Henry Denzinger’s Sources of Catholic Dogma, although it seems that Denzinger offers the more accurate translation. From the Traditionalist site:

“So then, just as He sent apostles, whom He chose out of the world [39], even as He had been sent by the Father [40], in like manner it was His will that in his church there should be shepherds and teachers until the end of time. In order, then, that the episcopal office should be one and undivided and that, by the union of the clergy, the whole multitude of believers should be held together in the unity of faith and communion, he set blessed Peter over the rest of the apostles and instituted in him the permanent principle of both unities and their visible foundation.”

This is a translation of the Latin as follows:

Sessio IV:

Constitutio I. de Ecclesia Christi

Pastor aeternus et episcopus animarum nostrarum, ut salutiferum redemptionis opus perenne redderet, sanctam aedi ficare Ecclesiam decrevit, in qua veluti in Domo Dei viventis fideles omnes unius fidei et charitatis vinculo continerentur. Quapropter, priusquam clarificaretur, rogavit Patrem non pro Apostolis tantum, sed et pro eis, qui credituri erant per verhum eorum in ipsum, ut omnes unum essent, sicut ipse Filius et Pater unum sunt. Quemadmodum igitur Apostolos, quos sibi de mundo elegerat, misit, sicut ipse missus erat a Patre: ita in Ecclesia sua Pastores et Doctores usque ad consummationen saeculi esse voluit. Ut vero episcopatus ipse anus et indivisus esset, et per cohaerentes sibi invicem sacerdotes credentium multitudo universa in fidei et communionis unitate conservaretur, beatum Petrum caeteris Apostolis praeponens in ipso instituit perpetuum utriusque uni tatis principium ac visibile fundamentum, super cajus fortitu dinem aeternum exstrueretur templum, et Ecclesiae coelo in ferenda sublimitas in hujus fidei firmitate consurgeret.

Denzinger’s translation reads: “Thus as He sent the apostles, whom He had selected from the world for Himself, as He Himself had been sent by the Father, (John 20: 21), so in His Church He wished the pastors and the doctors to be “even to the consummation of the world” (Matt. 28: 20). But that the episcopacy itself might be one and undivided, and that the entire multitude of the faithful through priests closely connected with one another might be preserved in the unity of faith and communion, placing the blessed Peter over the other apostles He established in him the perpetual principle and visible foundation of both unities, upon whose strength the eternal temple might be erected and the sublimity of the Church to be raised to heaven might rise in the firmness of this faith.”

Use of the word should in De Ecclesia Christi

The closest one can get to defining what might be meant in the Vatican Council document by the word should is by consulting legal definitions following the method advised by Rev. Matthew Ramstein, S.T. Mag, J.U.D, of the Friars of Minor Conventual. Ramstein wrote the following in 1947 regarding how one is to interpret passages of Canon Law. Because much of Canon Law is derived from papal law, it seems reasonable to assume that this same method can be used to determine the finer distinctions in the two translations of the Vatican Council teaching.

Normally the word “shall” (or must) indicates a compulsory requirement and “may” is used for one that is permissive. Because should is somewhat ambiguous, some believe it has no place in legal documents. The following is a sampling of majority opinions regarding the use of should in legal documents today.

https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/should

Should means that a certain feature, component and/or action is desirable but not mandatory (majority opinion).

 Should means the term used in the interpretation of a standard to reflect the commonly accepted method yet allowing for the use of effective alternatives.

Should means that the described action is necessary and expected with some flexibility allowed in the method of compliance,

Should means implementation of the policy is expected but its completion is not mandatory. The policy is directive with substantive meaning, although to a lesser degree than “shall” for two reasons. (1) “Should” policies recognize the policy might not be applicable or appropriate… due to special circumstances. The decision to not implement a “should” policy is appropriate only if implementation of the policy is either inappropriate or not feasible. (2) Some “should” policies are subjective; hence, it is not possible to demonstrate that a jurisdiction has implemented it.

Should/shall (v.)

Old English sceal, Northumbrian scule “I owe/he owes, will have to, ought to, must” (infinitive sculan, past tense sceolde), a common Germanic preterite-present verb (along with can, may, will), from Proto-Germanic *skal- (source also of Old Saxon sculan, Old Frisian skil, Old Norse and Swedish skola, Middle Dutch sullen, Old High German solan, German sollen, Gothic skulan “to owe, be under obligation;” related via past tense form to Old English scyld “guilt,” German Schuld “guilt, debt;” also Old Norse Skuld, name of one of the Norns), from PIE root *skel- (2) “to be under an obligation.” https://search.aol.com/aol/search;_ylt=A0geK.CpLrxfvqEAxEBpCWVH;_ylc=X1MDMTE5NzgwMzg4MQRfcgMyBGZyA2NvbXNlYXJjaARncHJpZAN4cFJudzFoVVNYLlJ6Qlk1RTBSTERBBG5fcnNsdAMwBG5fc3VnZwMyBG9yaWdpbgNzZWFyY2guYW9sLmNvbQRwb3MDMARwcXN0cgMEcHFzdHJsAzAEcXN0cmwDMjgEcXVlcnkDRX

Ground sense of the Germanic word probably is “I owe,” hence “I ought.” The sense shifted in Middle English from a notion of “obligation” to include “futurity.” Its past tense form has become should (q.v.). oportet, dehibeo (verb), conpos (adjective), debere, debet, ut mori (https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/the/latin-word-for-c6dc9bc9f77b486a13b3f63ffb2ffd1cb3fef4db.html).         None of these Latin words are found in the Latin version of the council documents.

Use of the word wish in De Ecclesia Christi

voluit (Latin) Verb

Inflection of volō (third-person singular perfect active indicative)

1. Cognate with Sanskrit वृणीते‎ (“vṛṇīte”), Old English willan‎ (“to will, wish, desire”).
2. Under will, also listed as a reference, the following is found: (rare, intransitive) To wish or desire (that something happen); to intend (that). (9th-19th c.)”God willthat all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (Tim. 2:4). https://www.wordsense.eu/voluit/ ; https://www.wordsense.eu/will/ – English

While the word should might be an acceptable alternate translation, the actual Latin word voluit indicates the literal translation is wish. Some translations of this same section of the Vatican Council decree use the word will, and certain individuals take this as a concrete indication that whatever Christ wills must inevitably come to pass. But the above Scripture quote in (2) explains how the use of will does not mean an absolute guarantee; Christ willed that all men be saved and know the truth as well, but all men have not done so. He also taught that when He comes again He would scarcely find faith on earth.

What is the difference between wish and should? Should indicates an obligation exists to carry out the act. But shouldas defined above seems to indicate a flexibility in terms, meaning the fulfilment of any action is not mandatory. Certainly the hierarchy were bound to perpetuate the Church as Christ constituted it. They chose the path of Judas Iscariot instead, exercising their will and their idea of what the Church was meant to be, not Christ’s. So the Church has determined in its council language there was no guarantee on Christ’s part the condition will be inevitably fulfilled. Wish also translates to will and desire, and neither term gives any indication whatsoever that something is being promised in an unqualified manner.

We must remember that this section of the Vatican Council is the one session dealing with the Church specifically. The Council did not take up any definition of the Church Herself, only the papacy. And as Henry Cardinal Manning said in his The Vatican Council Decrees and their Bearing on Civil Allegiance, it is precisely the definition of the papacy that defines the Church. Without a true pope the Church cannot exist. The above should end the arguments of those who believe that the hierarchy sans the pope will exist unto the consummation, but it has not and most likely will not.  For there are those who simply cannot imagine that a “faithful” bishop will not come to rescue them and provide them with what they wish to possess in way of Mass and Sacraments. They have found who they believe is such a bishop, as mentioned in a previous blog, although no certainty can be had regarding his valid ordination far less any supposed episcopal consecration!

Now they are preparing what they believe is a case for his existence by presenting the belief of some of the early Church Fathers that St. John never died and is still alive on this earth; that St. John will appear to rescue the episcopacy and restore the faith of doubting Catholics that it has ceased to exist.  Well excuse me, but the episcopacy was never guaranteed to remain unto the consummation without its head bishop, nor was it ever granted the gift of infallibility without being united to the Supreme Pontiff. This is the teaching of the Vatican Council as seen above and has been reiterated by Henry Cardinal Manning in his works. The tell-tale red flag here is this seizing by the R&R crowd on the perpetuity of the episcopacy, not the PAPACY. It easily condemns them as the Gallicanists they truly are and exposes their agenda to re-establish the Church based on the Gallicanist idea of the pope as a ministerial head only. This has all been treated at length in articles on this site and recent blog posts where cogent arguments are provided to prove that the Gallicanist heresy is alive and well among Traditionalists.

That they would use St. John the Evangelist as a cover for these activities is not only an outrage, it is blasphemous. It sheds an abundance of light on the recent accusations made by a certain individual against this author, claiming that truths of faith have been denied, and among these truths that Christ constituted the Church, including the episcopacy, to last till the end of time.  But as the Vatican Council explains, it was indeed His will that the episcopacy last until the very end, but since when have men today concerned themselves with learning and obeying God’s will, which is expressed in His laws and those of the Church?! Those who are promoting the sudden appearance of St. John the Evangelist indeed quote the early Fathers to prove he could still be alive, but these Fathers’ opinions on this topic are nowhere cited as unanimous. Therefore, we are not bound in any way to believe them, although of course we should respect their teachings on this matter.

After quoting the Fathers, they then descend into St. John’s presence in certain Marian apparitions, which have absolutely no claim whatsoever on us as far as belief is concerned. We may believe them with ecclesiastical faith if we choose; this is all. They also note that St. John’s symbol is the eagle, and this is indeed interesting but for reasons they fail to draw out. We know in these times that the woman clothed with the sun, described in St. John’s Apocalypse, is ever with us and indeed carries us “in the crossing of her arms,” as she told Juan Diego during her Guadalupe apparition to him. Who was it who stood beneath the Cross with Christ’s Mother?

The only Apostle who did not abandon Our Lord, St. John. We are experiencing the Passion of the Church, so will there be a St. John at our side? Yes, in every way, for it is St. John who gave us the Apocalypse, the wings of the great eagle, the very words of the Holy Ghost in Scripture, that carry the Church into the desert. There She is nourished by the prophecies of this last book of the Holy Bible, written by St. John who was inspired by the Holy Ghost.

We are living all he saw, all he wrote, all he experienced in just such a mystical manner. If we are lonely in this earthly exile, so was he in his exile on Patmos. If Our Lady is with us, and we know she is, so is he. Will he manifest himself to us in this cataclysmic time? With God all things are possible. But he would not come to supplant as a bishop the role given by Christ to St. Peter; he would have Peter’s successor at his side. And he certainly would never come in defiance of all existing laws of the Church established by his beloved Savior. “If you love Me, keep My commandments,” Jesus told us. St. John above all loved his Master so would never violate the very laws made by the Church on earth that Christ has bound in Heaven. The successors of Antichrist know their time is growing short; they will work every false miracle within their power to deceive the elect. And make no mistake — those parading as clergy are leading R&R Traditionalists by the nose right through the back door of the Novus Ordo church. Whoever has not loved the truth as taught by the Church shall be given the operation of error to believe lies. And when the blind lead the blind, all shall fall into the eternal pit.

More on Election Fraud — Pray for America!

by T. Stanfill Benns | Nov 17, 2020 | New Blog

+St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, Wonderworker+

Readers seemed interested in the post on election fraud, so I will continue this thread today and then get back to religious matters next week.

The most frustrating thing about the entire election situation is the fact that what happened regarding the voting process seems too complicated to effectively explain to people in terms they can relate to and understand. Fortunately, I found a post on SageBook that summarizes an evaluation given to the Epoch Times by Hoover Institute’s Victor Davis Hansen on the state of the investigation into vote fraud.

And while this goes a long way toward clarifying the situation, it only does so from one aspect. The first way to look at this is whether the election itself secured either candidate enough votes to be declared winners. But that is assuming one can trust the votes were cast by an actual voter and were not intruded into the election, as the author of the post indeed mentions. And as noted by others, once the vote enters the system, whether it is an in-person vote, a mail-in ballot or an actual absentee vote, it is separated from the identity of the voter for privacy reasons and cannot be traced to the person who cast it.

The second way to view this problem, however, presents a much larger and more complex picture. It has to do with the actual history of voting machines and their issues, some of which was presented in last week’s blog. It might help, however, to go back a bit further and list some of the glitches that plagued these various machines beginning at least 18 years ago.  Example: for 10 years 34 states used a voting machine manufactured by the Diebold company, (which became Premier Solutions, then Election Systems and Software or ES&S), that contained “a critical programming error” and this was confirmed at the time by Premier official Chris Riggall. The error existed on both touchscreen and optical scanning devices throughout the country (https://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2008/08/ohio-voting-machines-contained.html). Officials in at least one state said they were able to identify the problem and restore the votes dropped by the machine and other states reportedly put safeguards in place.

In 2010, Premier’s Accuvote optical scanner marketed by ES&S, used by about 20 percent of all precincts in the country, had problems with its battery warning signal that resulted in “widespread reports of memory loss and other problems,” which surfaced beginning in 2006. “The actual products that are certified and in use in the U.S. still have significant security problems that have not been fixed,” Wallach said. “The prototypes out there have really sophisticated security features, but these are not to be confused with things people are voting on.” But ES&S denied this. The iVotronic touch-screen voting machine made by ES&S cannot be audited which led to errors in various state vote tallies. Without a voter-verified paper audit trail there’s no way to trace the voting path.

“A recount with these machines consists of no more than pushing a button and getting the same number you got to begin with,” Burefy said. “With the economic situation we’re in, you first need the political will, then there needs to be the money to do something. We haven’t even established the political will.” Burefy said South Carolina declined to perform a $100,000 audit of the recent primary. And even if it did, the audit would be unreliable (https://www.psmag.com/politics/voting-technology-research-gets-in-depth-20562/). In addition to the above, you also can read the summary of the election I covered in 2010, which bears many similarities to what is going on today. (Go to https://www.keepandshare.com/doc18/22766/saveyour-community-from-voting-fraud). These articles detail just some of the many problems experienced with these electronic voting devices over the years, which were created to replace the hand count and its audit trail, which could be easily followed to backtrack election results. The question is, why was this reliable method abandoned and technology developed to replace it at all?

Fox News Maria Bartiromo’s Sunday morning interview with Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell bring everything into perspective. The two explained what everyone on the left will condemn as conspiracy theories but makes perfect sense if understood in light of all that has gone on since Trump took office. It also fits in with everything that has been announced regarding Biden’s plans for his “presidency.” While Giuliani could not go into great detail, he related to Bartiromo that 27 states had ties to a software system (Smartmatics) used by Hugo Chavez and Maduros to fraudulently win their elections in South America. The Dominion voting system sends its results to be tallied by Smartmatics. The chairman of Smartmatics is a close associate of George Soros. Giuliani says some 632,000 votes could be involved including those tallied by Dominion equipment in six key states. Giuliani claims that when all is said and done, he will be able to prove those tallying the votes used a software back door to add votes for Biden to the total. Powell concurred.

In her interview, Powell stated there is now enough evidence of fraud to launch a massive criminal investigation. She says a U.S. Navy admiral will present sworn testimony that the software used to tally votes was designed to overthrow elections.  Powell told Bartiromo there was so much evidence coming in to confirm what she has uncovered it is like “drinking from a firehose.” Dominion’s own manual explains that there is a software problem that can cause votes to be wiped away. She advised that every state using Dominion launch a criminal investigation into their election results. There reportedly also were kickbacks to those state officials purchasing the Dominion system, Powell added. She says there is evidence of massive election fraud perpetrated in various ways which involves voting machines besides Dominion. She faulted the CIA and FBI for their failure to address the problem, despite receiving multiple reports of wrongdoing regarding elections and voting machine failure that were never investigated.

In another interview with attorney L. Lin Wood, who defended Nicholas Sandman and was involved in the Richard Jewel case, Wood told one radio host that ultimately Biden and his cohorts will go to jail and Trump will serve a second term (won’t hold my breath). He claims that what we are now experiencing is an attack to overthrow our government that has been in the making for two decades. He believes the courts will eventually confirm Trump as president based on the evidence. He is now working on a lawsuit to be filed in Georgia. He says it is likely impossible to show the level of the fraud involved in the vote count. So the legislators will serve as electors and will elect Trump. Wood says many whistle blowers will testify and blames Soros and Chavez for the election debacle. He also claims there has, behind the scenes, been heavy involvement with China. He cites the CIA as one of the most corrupt organizations in the world and predicts that organization as well as corrupt media outlets and other entities will be exposed and destroyed. The China/CIA connection is further confirmed by a U.S. Air Force officer in this video: https://youtu.be/JYta8Pr-hKE).

This lays out a scope that far exceeds what most Americans are being told by the mainstream media regarding this election. And it should be noted that none of the above even touches on the almost certain abuse of mail-in ballots, which cannot be left out of this equation. The true origin of the problem was a long time coming based on the reports cited here and was well concealed from public view. Over the years, state official after state official, more than likely in an attempt to cover their own complicity and protect their own interests, denied that voter fraud or the potential for it existed in their state. Their explanation for not looking into it further, in several instances, was that it would erode voter confidence in elections. But perhaps it was the strategy of both Democrats and moderate Republicans, their ace in the hole for a time that would come when they would need to take a future president down who strayed too near the far right. It certainly seems that it has been effective and was really only the icing on the cake following months of the Russia collusion claims, impeachment proceedings, rioting and looting, civil unrest and China flu disruptions. Considering all these things as a connected whole, it is hard to understand how those on the outside can fail to see the true source of the attacks and appreciate the fact that they are not random or circumstantial, but targeted and interrelated.

Under section 802 of the USA PATRIOT Act (Pub. L. No. 107-52), a person can be prosecuted for domestic terrorism if they commit an act “dangerous to human life,” which violates federal or state law, if such an act seems to be perpetrated to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping. (If the first two methods do not succeed, I am afraid we will see the final method employed.) It seems this law would rightly identify those in the ANTIFA and Black Lives Matter groups, both of which are Communist inspired and are following Communist doctrine.  This was explained in June on the Kyle Olsen Show by counter terrorism expert John Guandolo, formerly with the FBI. Anyone educated in Communist/Socialist tactics knows that those ruling from the top do not limit themselves to one method of attack, but employ many simultaneously over time to intimidate, confuse and overwhelm the public. And mainstream media, by relentlessly molding and shaping public opinion, according to the manner suggested by secret societies, prepares citizens

Grand Master Mason Albert Pike explains in his Morals and Dogma how useful it is to those in power to mold public opinion, a practice we have seen shamefully exhibited (primarily) by the liberal media over the past several decades. Pike writes:

“Public opinion is an immense force, and its currents are as incomprehensible as those of the atmosphere. Nevertheless, in free governments it is omnipotent; and the business of the statesman is to find the means to shape, control and direct it. According as that is done, it is beneficial and conservative or destructive and ruinous.”

Pike’s openly anti-Catholic work clearly indicates Masonry’s intent to secretly shape and control governments before overturning them completely. This plan is elaborated upon at greater length by Sigmund Freud’s nephew, Edward Bernays, in his work Propaganda.

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society.”

That being said, and its total success in manipulating public opinion among Americans fully appreciated, the following statutes on facilitating the overthrow of the U.S. government are cited.

Full text of 18 U.S. Code § 2385:

“Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State, Territory, District or Possession thereof, or the government of any political subdivision therein, by force or violence, or by the assassination of any officer of any such government; or

“Whoever, with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any such government, prints, publishes, edits, issues, circulates, sells, distributes, or publicly displays any written or printed matter advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force or violence, or attempts to do so; or

“Whoever organizes or helps or attempts to organize any society, group, or assembly of persons who teach, advocate, or encourage the overthrow or destruction of any such government by force or violence; or becomes or is a member of, or affiliates with, any such society, group, or assembly of persons, knowing the purposes thereof —

“Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction. If two or more persons conspire to commit any offense named in this section, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.

“As used in this section, the terms “organizes” and “organize”, with respect to any society, group, or assembly of persons, include the recruiting of new members, the forming of new units, and the regrouping or expansion of existing clubs, classes, and other units of such society, group, or assembly of persons. (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 808; July 24, 1956, ch. 678, § 2, 70 Stat. 623; Pub. L. 87–486, June 19, 1962, 76 Stat. 103; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(N), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2148.)” (End of federal citation)

Given everything said above by Giuliani, Powell and L. Lin Wood — and the undeniable role Hollywood, social media and the established media has played in promoting movies, TV interviews, posts and articles, that openly promote removing Trump from office by whatever means necessary — it appears there are grounds on many different levels and encompassing many different groups under the Progressive umbrella to claim violation of the above statutes. Add to this also the Federal statutes on fraud, regarding computer activity and other related violations. Of course, the courts must decide all these cases, courts that have been packed with left wingers for decades. And no one is going to consider that in violating the rights of voters to be assured their votes actually are counted correctly, those directing these activities also prevent citizens from fulfilling their obligations to the faith and observing the commands of their religious leaders. This is true of Catholics, as seen below.

“It is the right and at the same time the essential duty of the Church, to instruct the faithful in word and writing, from the pulpit or in the other customary forms, in regard to everything that concerns faith and morals or is irreconcilable with her own doctrine and therefore inadmissible for Catholics, be it a question of philosophical or religious systems, or of the ends intended by their fosterers, or of their moral conceptions concerning the life of either individuals or the community.

“The exercise of the right to vote is an act of serious moral responsibility, at least when it is a question of electing those who are called to give the country its constitution and laws, particularly those concerning, for example, the sanctification of holidays of obligation, matrimony, the family, the school, and settlement according to justice and equity of the multifarious social conditions. It is therefore for the Church to explain to the faithful the moral duties which derive from the electoral right.” (Allocution to the Sacred College of Cardinals, Mar. 16, 1946)

Later, speaking to the parish priests of Rome on March 10, 1948, he pronounced:

“In the present circumstances, it is a strict obligation for all those who have the right to vote, men and women, to take part in the elections. Whoever abstains from doing so, in particular by indolence or weakness, commits a sin grave in itself, a mortal fault. Each one must follow the dictate of his own conscience. However, it is obvious that the voice of conscience imposes on every Catholic to give his vote to the candidates who offer truly sufficient guarantees for the protection of the rights of God and of souls, for the true good of individuals, families and of society, according to the love of God and Catholic moral teaching.” And the present circumstances at that time which Pius XII was referring to was a bid by the Communist party to overtake the Italian government. American Catholics face the same situation today, with no real way to follow his directives or fight the enemy he fought against all his life.

Conclusion

It seems the only REAL solution is to throw out the election results as questionable based on all the many possible technical and human errors and start over. If hand-counted paper ballots were used, this would bypass the faulty machines, but COVID-19 resurgence would seem to preclude this. Coincidence?  An election flawed in so many different ways which cannot be unquestionably verified is no election. Holding a new election with the same equipment and processes would be useless. At this stage of the game, prolonging election uncertainty while awaiting the results of lengthy investigations into vote fraud will undoubtedly result in increased civil unrest, perhaps even civil war. Seating a man whose victory is anything but certain would have the same effect. All the imaginable resolutions of this unprecedented crisis are unpredictable and frightening. At some point Americans will be forced to stand up and be counted if they wish to retain their freedoms. George Washington in the end publicly renounced Freemasonry and warned of its dangers. He is rumored to have converted to Catholicism on his deathbed and is said to have foreseen a second civil war in this country. Certain reports indicate he also had a devotion to the Blessed Mother.

Catholics who truly love their country and are not blinded by Progressivism need to offer fervent prayer that she not fall to the Communist/Socialist agenda. Because we are approaching the feast of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of America, also that of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas and the papacy, we ought to pray fervently to her under bth of these titles that she save America from the very Communism she came to Fatima to warn us about. Russia has not converted — the subversion of the Church made that a remote possibility.  And if America falls then it is hard to see how Russia’s conversion could ever take place. This is precisely what they want, and if it is in any way within our power to prevent it, we must beg Mary Most Holy that the country she protects is spared this terrible scourge.

A novena to the Immaculate Conception taken from the Raccolta can be found here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/33671/33671-h/33671-h.htm – Immaculate_Conception_A good litany to be recited after family Rosary and the novena, taken from https://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.org, is provided below.

Litany on Behalf of Our Country

This Litany is a timely Catholic prayer we should say often, imploring God’s mercy for the conversion of our country.

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

O God, who hast been pleased to magnify Thy name amongst our ancestors, and to distinguish them by the particular marks of their piety, continue the same mercy to us, we beseech Thee: that now, in these days, we may seek Thee with all our hearts, and zealously labour to copy the examples which our forefathers have left us. Amen.

For this end, we most humbly implore Thy goodness to have compassion on this our country, and by Thy powerful grace to remove from it whatever is provoking or displeasing to Thee.

Have mercy, O God, on this nation. And be Thou its powerful deliverer.

From infidelity and profaneness,
Deliver us, O Lord. *

From all irreligion, and contempt of Thy sacred mysteries, *

From all presumption, and the abuse of Thy holy word, *

From all heresies and schisms, *

From gluttony and drunkenness, *

From the profanation of Thy holy name, in cursing and swearing, *

From all kinds of prodigality and sensuality, *

From frauds, and all kinds of oppression and injustice, *

From the spirit of faction, of malice, hatred, and every kind of uncharitableness, *

O God, Thou hast been a Father to this nation, and replenished it with many blessings. –Forsake it not now, we beseech Thee, and give it not up to a reprobate sense.

Bless this people, O Lord, and be Thou their inheritance. –And sanctify us, and make us a holy nation.

Give to all its inhabitants, O Lord, the spirit of the gospel.
Hear us, O Lord. **

Give to them a zeal for unity, peace, and truth. **

Grant that they may all seek the things that are above and walk by the spirit of Christ. **

Grant that all who are in error may, by thy heavenly light, be led into Thy truth. **

Grant that all sinners may be truly converted, and, forsaking their evil ways, return to thee their God. **

Grant that all scandals may be removed. **

Grant that the pastors may become the light of the world. **

Grant that all magistrates may administer justice. **

Grant that all of the wealthier ranks may esteem virtue their greatest honour and be ashamed of vice. **

Grant that the youth of both sexes may be withheld from all evil ways, and that they may dedicate their lives to virtue, piety, and religion. **

Grant that all obstinacy and blindness may be removed from the hearts of this people, and that, being reformed according to Thy blessed will, they may serve Thee in holiness and truth. **

Hear us, O Lord, now calling on thee.– And, through the infinite merits of thy only Son, grant our petitions.

Let Us Pray

O Almighty and everlasting God, who hast forsaken many Christian nations, and, in punishment of their sins, hast suffered them to be overrun by error and infidelity; grant, we beseech thee, that the rigour of these Thy judgments may strike us with a timely fear, and that, in earnest forsaking our evil ways, we may find mercy with Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Remember, we beseech Thee, Thy ancient mercies, and for the sake of so many holy servants, who have been faithful to thee, shew now compassion to us, and let Thy former mercies be renewed in us.–Hear us, O Lord, and in Thy mercy grant our petition.

Give ear to us, O God, here assembled before Thee, humbly prostrate in the confession of our unworthiness, and wholly confiding in Thy goodness and mercy.– Hear, likewise, O God, all those Thy Saints who, in this country, have faithfully served Thee, and are now happy with Thee in heaven.

Hear them praying for their country, and let their intercession prevail, through the merits of thy only Son, through which alone All prayers, whether on earth or in heaven, can find acceptance with Thee. Amen.

Let Us Pray

O God, by whose mercy the world subsisteth, and to whose power every nation of the earth is subject, have mercy on this nation, we beseech Thee, and, according to its necessities, which are all known to Thee, so pour forth Thy blessings on it that, by the help of Thy grace, it may in all things be well-pleasing in Thy sight; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Voter fraud and its implications for Catholics

by T. Stanfill Benns | Nov 8, 2020 | New Blog

+Four Holy Crowned Martyrs+

This blog will deviate somewhat from religious matters and descend into the post-election cesspool now teeming with vermin and extending its stench over the entire nation. From my perspective, it is definitely a case of de ja vu. Ten years ago, while working as a community newspaper reporter in Colorado, I was involved in an intensive investigation into voter fraud that occurred in the county I was assigned to cover. The faulty election process I helped probe was occasioned by nearly every irregularity that has been mentioned in the press this past week regarding last week’s nationwide vote count. The similarities are staggering. And yet we hear nothing but incredulity and scornful remarks from those assuring voters that such fraud could never occur and does not regularly occur.

Tell that to vote integrity activist Marilyn Marks, who has been fighting Georgia state authorities for the past three years to assure the use of paper ballots in the state. And of course, Georgia was one of the states that experienced very close presidential race returns. Marks heads a non-profit group, Coalition for Good Governance, and recently wrote on her website about “Georgia’s terrible decision to purchase electronic ballot marking devices that encode the voter’s choices into a barcode on the voting machine printout. The unverifiable barcode is scanned to tabulate the votes. The voter is forced to cast a vote they cannot read. The press has generally not described how easily electronic machines can be rigged without a trace.” Well at least Marks knows that is not true of this reporter.

Marks was on the scene almost from day one of the Colorado county election and generated several lawsuits to force the county and state officials to do what the laws ordered them to do. I worked with her for nearly four years in the course of covering various irregular election instances and never failed to be impressed with her knowledge and dedication to uncovering the source of the problem. She was fearless in asking questions and demanding that voting rights be exercised. She repeatedly warned about the dangers of electronic voting and mail-in ballots, and now everyone should be able to see these fears were justified. Don’t believe her? Read the seedy history of electronic voting machines currently in use in this country at https://medium.com/@jennycohn1/georgia-6-and-the-voting-machine-vendors-87278fdb0cdf

The county I covered was a longtime Democrat stronghold. Republicans and Independents were not held in high esteem. It was a good ole boy and girl pat-my-back-and-I’ll-pat-yours arrangement that had worked well for quite some time, and the powers that be saw no need to change course. It was that way then and it is that way now, both in that county and in many places nationally. Democrats also controlled the irregular elections held in a small town in that same county. I cannot change the facts or deny what I saw with my own eyes. Not that Republicans are guiltless, as the election article link above explains. But for this time and this election, fueled by a hatred deliberately exacerbated by the media and Democrat politicians, they had both the opportunity and the motive to flip this election.

Had this come out of the blue, with little evidence it had happened before with either mail-in or absentee ballots or with electronic devices, that would be one thing, but this is not the case. All the indicators point in the opposite direction. So why are calls to investigate the vote met with accusations of running conspiracy theories and refusing to accept defeat? What defeat? As one commentator put it, Al Gore was president-elect too — until he wasn’t. Marks demonstrated the dangers of absentee ballots well while she was working in Colorado, proving they could be, and had been, both signed by others and harvested from trash cans to be redistributed. This was later confirmed by a highly reliable source who witnessed discarded ballots being removed from a post office trash can in one locale.

I am not waxing political here. This is about the truth and the future of this country. Everyone knows that no true Catholic could ever endorse the Democrat party. They also should realize that voting these days is iffy and is better limited to local races, where candidates can at least be better known. In the case of the Presidential race this year, the permissible course of allowing one evil to avoid a greater one in a very grave situation was generally used, or the election skipped altogether. Those Catholics who voted understand that they must do all they can to fight the introduction of Socialism and Communism, even though they may not personally approve of the character or behavior of the candidate that opposes this agenda. And those who did not may have rightly guessed their vote did not matter anyway! Only time will tell whether the extent of this vote fraud will be brought out in the open and impact the current election in any meaningful way. What is needed is a recount (or even a new election) in suspect states using paper ballots and optical scanners only, possibly supervised by the National Guard, but that may never happen. What can one expect when living in the latter days?

The whole situation takes me back to another election in another century. Changes in direction can often be linked to disputed elections. Witness the citizenship issues that dogged Pres. Obama in 2012. Following a seemingly peaceful and initially undisputed election in 1958, placing Angelo Roncalli on the papal throne, Catholics witnessed, over time, the utter destruction of everything in their Church. This gutting of the Catholic faith occurred incrementally from Roncalli’s election in 1958 until the close of the false V2 council and culminated in the establishment of the Novus Ordo Missae. The devastation ranged from dogmatic and doctrinal teaching, encompassed indirectly infallible Canon Law and extended to cherished traditions. Nothing was left untouched; aggiornamento‘s brush shaded everything in a new and modern light. And this is what Americans can expect to happen to their country if Biden succeeds in becoming the indisputable winner of this election. In fact it has already begun with the ANTIFA riots disguised as protests, and the demand for the erasure of historical and cultural ideology and icons.

As pointed out in my recent work The Phantom Church in Rome, the destruction of the Church was clandestinely mapped out by infiltrators within the Church Herself, who, collaborating with the CIA and other agencies, promoted the election of Roncalli. The plan was to elevate Montini to the cardinalate, one of Roncalli’s first acts — something Pope Pius XII declined to do — setting the stage for a “democratic,” non-Catholic church of the people.  Montini and his family had a long history of favoring democracy in Italy and while this was presented by the Montinis as a way to foil Communism, this was not their ultimate goal, as later seen during Montini’s usurpation of the papacy and cooperation with Communist leaders worldwide. Likewise, Biden and Obama also cozied up to Communist nations and Biden and Harris will formally promote a Socialist agenda, if declared the winners in this election. While Catholics were truly blindsided and subjected to gradualism in the subversion and destruction of their Church, not so Americans in this election. They were frequently warned, although these warnings were disparaged by the media and liberal politicians, so the problems that exist at this moment are anything but unanticipated.

The link above demonstrates this, and countless other instances of what is chronicled there could easily be produced. It is important to emphasize, as Marks points out above, that the media, who is supposed to be the watchdog and champion of our constitutional freedoms, has failed in their collective responsibility and some would say, have failed deliberately. As British journalist Lara Logan confirms, “The media everywhere is mostly liberal. But in this country, 85 percent of journalists are registered Democrats. So that’s just a fact, right?” (documented by The Atlantic at https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/05/report-journalists-are-miserable-over-educated-under-paid-middle-aged-men-mostly/361891/). “The problem is the weight of all these organizations on one side of the political spectrum. When you turn on your computer, or you walk past the TV, or you see a newspaper headline in the grocery store, if they’re all saying the same thing, the weight of that convinces you that it’s true. You don’t question it, because everyone is saying it.” She asked, “Where are the independent journalists who do more than repeat the same talking points?”

The entire situation can be better understood if those assessing it once realize that the Progressive George Soros owns stock in some 30 U.S. newspapers, as reported at https://www.mrc.org/commentary/over-30-major-news-organizations-linked-george-soros. This site points out that “Liberal investor George Soros gave $1.8 million to National Public Radio, [contributing to the creation of] a firestorm of controversy that jeopardized NPR’s federal funding. But that gift only hints at the widespread influence the controversial billionaire has on the mainstream media. Soros, who spent $27 million trying to defeat President Bush in 2004, has ties to more than 30 mainstream news outlets – including The New York Times, Washington Post, the Associated Press, NBC and ABC… It turns out that Soros’ influence doesn’t just include connections to top mainstream news organizations…. It’s bought him connections to the underpinnings of the news business. The Columbia Journalism Review, which bills itself as ”a watchdog and a friend of the press in all its forms,” lists several investigative reporting projects funded by one of Soros’ foundations.”

I have tried to be one of those “independent” (I prefer the word objective) journalists Logan references, both in the secular field and in my religious writing. It is not a choice, but an absolute obligation that transcends any political affiliation and is demanded by dedication to Catholic truth. What is truly hypocritical and defies the understanding is how Catholics today can be so totally outraged by the outcome of this election, and claim that it was tainted by voter fraud, while completely ignoring superior proofs from Canon Law, Church teaching and eyewitnesses documenting the invalid election of Angelo Roncalli and its inevitable legal and moral consequences. Instead they forge on, much as the Biden crowd is doing this very moment, pretending that nothing happened, nothing is hanging in the balance, nothing changes anything. They sweep aside any and all objections as specious, unsubstantiated conspiracy theories because they cannot and will not be prevented from getting what they want.

The balance of these R & R and other Traditionalists profess to be devout clients of Our Lady and wave her banner wherever they go. But I leave you today with just one observation regarding the Annunciation. Think for a moment about what the angel told the Blessed Virgin. In the name of God, he told her something completely incomprehensible and she professed her initial lack of understanding by telling him, “I know not man” (Luke 1:34). But Our Lady’s absolute faith in God and obedience to His will is demonstrated by her response to the Angel Gabriel’s message: “Be it done to me according to Thy word” (Luke 1:38). Those professing to be Catholic may not understand all of what is happening today, and certainly no angel has announced it to them. But Scriptural prophecy and the mysteries of faith do not need to be completely understood in order to be believed, for faith is belief in things unseen. In the case of a fraudulent papal election, we can read the prophecies, we can see the events that occur before our eyes and we not only can but must accept and obey the teachings of the Continual Magisterium and Divine faith.

Those teachings, as has been repeatedly pointed out here, tell us that the pope will be taken away for an indefinite period of time and the Continual Sacrifice will cease. Christ Himself announced that without a true head the sheep would be scattered, not united under yet another dubious pretender proclaiming to be the solution to a situation only God Himself, as Cardinal Manning teaches, can remedy. We know the Church will triumph, as Christ promised. What we do not know is how or when. It is truly sad that those calling themselves Catholics can rally around a secular figure and demand redress, but even after the evidence has surfaced demonstrating a fraudulent papal election decades ago, they cannot rally around their own Church. The present political situation will doubtlessly play out and probably for the worse. But at least its resolution one way or the other does not rest on the question of our eternal salvation.