Found this piece very encouraging and worth reading in the face of current Church events: https://onepeterfive.com/catholic-eastern-orthodox-true/ Catholic at Last: From Eastern Orthodox to the One True Faith Stefanie NicholasAugust 6, 2018 One Comment
This is all happening so fast now my head is spinning. I am literally struggling to process it all. This is the stuff our Blessed Mother has been warning us about for years BUT she also let us know that we are protected and nourished through it all through the sacraments and the Rosary. So, I'm not afraid. Bring it on, I say, let's get on with ridding the church and the world of evil. Hold on to Jesus, hold on to the Eucharist, cling to our Blessed Mother. Rocky times, difficult, confusing times ahead but the Immaculate Heart of Mary triumphs. Keep on praying and go to Confession regularly. Trust in the Lord.
My head is spinning so much it’s in danger of coming off my shoulders. Eeeeek! We are for sure in the times prophesied by Our Lady if ever there was a doubt. We are in a time of sifting. I feel sure that the target of the minions of Satan is the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. That means they will attempt to change the mass so that the Eucharist is not properly confected and we will not have Jesus present. The enemies of Christ know that it is Jesus in the Eucharist from Whom we draw our strength. If they can deprive us of His Eucharistic Presence then we would be.....I don’t even want to think about it to be honest. It would be the ultimate nightmare.
We can always receive spiritually. "My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Blessed Sacrament. I love you above all things and I desire you with all my heart. Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, I ask you to come spiritually into my heart. I embrace you as if you were already in my heart and unite myself to you completely. Please do not let me ever be separated from you.”
Hi Gracia. Are the effects of a spiritual communion the same as if one actually received the Blessed Sacrament?
I do not think they can ever actually totally eliminate the Eucharist. I think that would mean that the Church is defective. It might be possible for the number of priests who actually believe in the Real Presence to be drastically reduced and thus no sacrament would be confected. Also possible that Mass may be tampered with, but I think there will always be priests who will say the Mass properly. A remnant as it were. I believe there is a prophecy (I can't remember by whom right now) that states the Eucharist will be taken away, but then quickly restates it and says that it will seem as if it is taken away, but it will still exist in a few small towns and villages.
I read a quote from a saint a few years ago [don't remember which saint], that went something like this..... To receive Jesus physically in Holy Communion, is to adorn your soul with Gold! To receive Jesus Spiritually in Holy Communion, is to adorn your soul in Silver! The quote went sort of like the above; the saint was saying that both ways of receiving the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus in Holy Communion are effectual for the soul! and mentioning precious metals as a way of differentiating the two.
Good posts on this page I did read something just in the last day or two that said people who are not in the state of grace are not supposed to make an act of spiritual Communion It was mentioned in an article I read and I think a priest wrote it It was specifically mentioned because of the issue of divorced and remarried people living in sin who were not supposed to make an act of spiritual Communion If I remember where I read it, I will post it
Interesting analogy: https://onepeterfive.com/the-real-infinity-war/ The Real Infinity War Steve SkojecAugust 6, 2018 0 Comments I am a guy who grew up on comic books and sci-fi. They have always played a role in my imaginative thinking, and I’ve enjoyed this recent span of movies that have brought so much of that part of my childhood to life. (I know a number of you are very anti-pop culture, but there’s a metaphor coming, and I hope you’ll bear with me.) The most recent major installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a film called Avengers: Infinity War. If you’re unfamiliar with the story, the internet gives the following short plot synopsis: Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk and the rest of the Avengers unite to battle their most powerful enemy yet – the evil Thanos. On a mission to collect all six Infinity Stones, Thanos plans to use the artifacts to inflict his twisted will on reality. The fate of the planet and existence itself has never been more uncertain as everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment. From here on out, there are some plot spoilers, so if you were waiting for the DVD release later this month, you might want to change the channel. For those who saw the movie: You know how Dr. Strange does that spastic future-looking thing where he considers 14,000,605 possible outcomes and then says that of all of those, only one leads to victory? And then how even though he swore he’d defend the Time Stone even if it cost another Avenger his life, he reverses this oath and gives the stone to Thanos to save Tony Stark? And then says, “We’re in the endgame now”? And then how, right before at the end of the movie, he, along with half the other human beings in the world, turns into a puff of dust – because Thanos used all that power from the Infinity Gauntlet to fulfill the dreams of Paul Ehrlich – he looks at Stark and says, “There was no other way”? And how it was hinted to us really, very strongly that he knows something we don’t and that despite the obvious near total defeat that came as a direct result of his actions, that’s the one path to victory he saw? It occurs to me that this thing that’s happening in the Church, where Francis is just doing his thing without any bishop contesting him in any meaningful way, and the walls are tumbling down in the city that we love, and the doctrines are being categorically contradicted, and the new sex abuse stuff is roaring back to the surface, and we’re watching everything we hold dear about our faith being turned into puffs of dust with an undercurrent of sad, dramatic music, and it looks like near total defeat – as if maybe the Children of Thanos Gates of Hell have prevailed…maybe that’s the only way. Maybe we’re in the endgame now, and in real life, since Dr. Strange and the Time Stone don’t actually exist and only God can see the future, He’s telling these few orthodox prelates who appear as though they’ve broken their oaths and are letting the bad guys win, in their prayer and supplication (I know they do way more of that than I do), that they have to let Pope Thanos get all the Infinity Stones and snap his fingers and unleash a wave of destruction unlike any ever seen. And maybe, just like as an audience in the movies, we should have confidence that there’s more at work than we see, and that this can’t be how the story really ends, and that a lot of the damage is going to be reversed by a powerful force that probably isn’t going to make much sense, but we’re going to be really relieved by it anyway, and a lot of the things that disappeared in puffs of dust are going to come back against all odds. You know, just maybe.
If we are not in the times prophesied, this storm will pass like many others before and there will be another flourishing period in the Church. If we are in the prophesied times, and they take away the Holy Sacrifice, then we know Our Lord is coming soon because he told us that will happen just before his coming. Therefore, either way it's a win-win, "we must have boundless faith in the divine goodness, for the victory is absolutely certain" (St Pio). The current tribulation, whether it is the great apostasy, or just another apostasy crisis, it is I believe a test of Faith - so we really need to ask everyday Our Mother to help our Faith ! She is, above anyone else, our best example of how to be faithful and remain in the Faith in the most unexpected of circumstances...
Honestly, David, this is not something I know, but really, hopefully, the graces would be the same, if receiving normally was something not at all possible. Hopefully.
In my opinion, and I stress that it's purely my own very limited understanding, the effects are not the same. I don't know how best to explain it, but since the Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus, when we physically receive the Eucharist we are united to Him both physically and spiritually. Therefore, his blood physically mingles with our blood, his flesh with ours, and in some mysterious way our soul is united to his Divine soul. Physically receiving Holy Communion is also a channel of Sanctifying Grace which, to the best of my understanding, can only be received through the Sacraments of the Church. By receiving Holy Communion at Mass, we are also proclaiming publicly our belief in Transubstantiation and all that the Church teaches. Cardinal Burke described spiritual Communion as a preparation for receiving the Eucharist. Perhaps the residual differences between actual Communion and spiritual Communion is the degree of difference in graces received. All grace strengthens our ability to resist temptation to sin but the Sacramental (sanctifying) grace actually cleanses us of venial sins provided we are free of mortal sin when we receive Communion. (Venial sins weaken our resistance to temptation). Hope you can make some sense out of that and I would welcome correction from anyone with a better understanding.
I've been thinking about this. Unfortunately, I think even as things are some priests don't believe or are not taught about the real presence. I guess the only Mass they can really change is the new form, not the old form which is still in use some places, unless they completely suppress that. I don't want to start a NO versus old form debate, I'm in no way a liturgical expert, far from it, this is just me thinking out loud but it just seems to me that would be the case as the NO is the most widespread and in the vernacular, etc... Anyway, just like in penal times in Ireland there will always be faithful priests who will risk all to preserve the Eucharist. It might mean Masses in houses rather than in churches, but whatever it takes I guess!!
We had underground Masses in the US in Maryland from the late 1600s until 1700s People had secret Masses in their homes Let me check on exact dates
Maryland was founded in 1634 by Catholics from England There were some Protestants on board the ship They were all seeking religious tolerance Unfortunately the Protestant Church of England colonists began to dominate the political scene In 1654 the persecution of Catholics began The very first Catholic Archbishop in the US was John Carroll, whose family had survived the persecution in secret I think the persecution was lifted as the colonies fought for independence from Britain (And Cromwell was gone)
We Have a Bad Parenting Problem in the Church Fr Richard Heilman | July 31, 2018 | https://www.romancatholicman.com/we-have-a-bad-parenting-problem-in-the-church/ Given that the Mass is both spiritually and practically the primary interaction Catholics have with their Faith (“the Eucharist is the source and summit of Christian life” – Catechism of the Catholic Church 1324), allowing it to subsist in this deformed, “disintegrated” and diminishing state will only ensure the ongoing malformation of congregants, the disaffection of those seeking the one true faith and the eventual collapse of the institutional Church. President George W. Bush once coined the term, “soft bigotry of low expectations.” The term implies that we should not expect too much from the other; that it is assumed they are not capable of rising to new heights. I’ve always contended that the “poor catechism” problem reflects a more serious problem in our Church: “The ‘bad parenting’ of Church leadership has left few who are inspired or, better yet, ‘hungry’ to learn about their faith.” When faith was alive and fervent (let’s say, prior to 1965), Sunday school was only a primer to all the ways the faithful gobbled up everything they could to know God more. Not so much, in most of the baptized today. Souls need to be “captivated” and “challenged” … caught up in the Awe and Wonder of God and eager to do all they can to please God. They need to be led through the doorway into the Divine Life. Once there, they are smitten with an intense desire to know “the more” about the One they have, NOW, dedicated their entire lives to serve and obey. The problem is that the inventors and promoters of modern liturgy, and the teachers of the faith, seem to want to play to people’s worldly wants. This has been the mode of the weak leadership – bad parents – within the Catholic Church for the past 50 years. Don’t make too many demands on the faithful, don’t confront any hot button issues that may “trigger” some, don’t offer a Mass that is too reverent – too intense – that actually points to the Real Presence of God. No, Catholicism, and weekly Mass attendance, must be a kind of “safe space” where we are told that our sins are not that bad, but rather a “normal” condition of every man who is incapable of living a superior life. Oh, and by the way, God loves you “no matter what.” Yes, the “soft bigotry of low expectations.” These past 50 years of “bad parenting” from Church leadership has left us weak and easily manipulated by the world and the prince of this world. As a result, there is little or nothing there that inspires any “total commitment.” God, in fact, is portrayed as the proverbial “bad parent” who lets the kids run wild while making sure they still like Him … “Do whatever you want, as long as there is no tension in our relationship.” Like the children of bad parents, we then “abuse the relationship.” We believe we can do anything we want – get away with anything we want – and the parent will always “be there,” stroking but never admonishing. Therefore, there is nothing that beckons the “child” to want to learn and study more … no hunger for catechesis. In fact, let’s just blow off the Mass, because, you know, God loves me just the way I am, no matter what I do. Poor catechesis is reflective of “poor leadership” (bad parenting) and “man-centered, watered down liturgies that do little or nothing to inspire souls to Awe and Wonder; nothing that compels them to “seek the more” of God. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf is exactly correct: “Save the Liturgy, Save the World.” Pope Benedict XVI famously said, “I am convinced that the crisis in the Church that we are experiencing is to a large extent due to the disintegration of the liturgy.” Unless and until the “bad parent” leadership in our Church awakens to this and begins to challenge their sheep with clear teaching, and insist on “Sacred – Awe Inspiring – Liturgies,” the sheep will continue to act as the proverbial spoilt child, easily manipulated and devoured by the wolves of the world. I am praying that the current shake up in the Church leads to the remedy of weak leadership/bad parenting in the Church. All that being said, my Bishop Robert Morlino should be the next pope. His teaching is clear and strong and he is unafraid to confront the culture. And, if that wasn’t enough, he promotes “Sacred” liturgy. It’s no wonder vocations have increased 500% since he has been here. Tomorrow we “celebrate” his 15th anniversary in our diocese. Please pray for our Church leaders! Please pray for Bishop Morlino!
