I know that, after my departure, ravening wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock. And of your own selves shall arise men speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Acts 20:29-30 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. By their fruits you shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them." Matthew 7:15-20 When I was 19 and training for the priesthood I lost my faith. The main reason I lost it was because I allowed myself to hate. However looking down the years I realise that there was another reason, that a worm had eaten my Faith from within. What was the worm. Well it was a worm with many heads but I think the teeth of the worm was the lost of belief in the mystical, the holy...or to put it another way the numinous. This came about as a result of Christian/Catholic liberal scholarship at that time. PASCENDI DOMINICI GREGIS "For, as We have said, they put into operation their designs for her undoing, not from without but from within. Hence, the danger is present almost in the very veins and heart of the Church, whose injury is the more certain from the very fact that their knowledge of her is more intimate. Moreover, they lay the ax not to the branches and shoots, but to the very root, that is, to the faith and its deepest fibers. And once having struck at this root of immortality, they proceed to diffuse poison through the whole tree, so that there is no part of Catholic truth which they leave untouched, none that they do not strive to corrupt. Further, none is more skillful, none more astute than they, in the employment of a thousand noxious devices; for they play the double part of rationalist and Catholic, and this so craftily that they easily lead the unwary into error; and as audacity is their chief characteristic, there is no conclusion of any kind from which they shrink or which they do not thrust forward with pertinacity and assurance" Encyclical "On the Doctrine of the Modernists" by Pope Pius X, SEPTEMBER 8, 1907 These reasons suffice to show superabundantly by how many roads Modernism leads to atheism and to the annihilation of all religion. The error of Protestantism made the first step on this path; that of Modernism makes the second; atheism makes the next" ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE MODERNISTS ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS X, SEPTEMBER 8, 1907 An instance of which was that Jesus Christ's miracles could be 'explained' in a human way. For instance at the miracles of the loaves and fishes people simply shared what they had at Christ's urging. The Hebrews crossed the Red Sea because of a Tidal Phenomena. ..and so on.. This Spirit of the World reached very deeply into every sphere of Church life. Thus the Blessed Sacrament was shunted off to a side altar, prayer was less important than social action, the priest was no more 'important' that the lay person, Devotion to Our Lady was a 'Distraction' and on and on and on.. I thought I was very modern and up to date while the worm of doubt was basically eating me alive. The basic root cause of the problem was that we were creating God in our own image ;rather than permitting God to create us in our own image. I sense the same spirit , the same sad old worm here. Therefore because 'I'., ...'Cannot accept' (Now where have I heard those words before 'cannot accept'..Satan said this before his fall didn't he) God as shown in the Catechism or scripture I remake God in my own image. Another way of looking at this is that we bring God down to out own miserable level. Instead of the Holy Spirit being a jack in the box , He becomes put in a box. Instead of Jesus being a , 'Sign of contradiction' He becomes an emasculated, contemporary , acceptable pink sludge. So if I do not like the idea , for instance of hell ,I simply remake it into something I can accept. Instead of attempting to ascend to God I press the elevator button to bring God down to my level. But this is simply the foolishness of the Liberal/ Progressivist worm . To accept it is to be eaten alive by the worms of your own doubts. IT IS THE VERY OPPOSITE TO WHERE TRUE MARIAN DEVOTION TAKES US. IT IS THE DEATH OF FAITH. This was such a great post I have reflected on it all day and it is so good I think it deserves a thread of its own. Garabandal
Thanks, Padraig for such a great and insightful post. Lots of food for though here. How do we keep the mystical alive in our own lives, in our homes & in our Church?
We keep the mystical alive with the mystical. The mystical food being the Holy Mass and the Body and Blood of Christ. John 6:51-58: "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." 52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?" 53 Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 "For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 "As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 "This is the bread which came down from heaven; not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever."
I think too of all prayers it is the rosary that is the greatest and it is no accident at all that Mary, the Mother of God strongly encourages it' s use over and over again when she is sent from heaven. It's such a deceptively simple prayer, simple as all things are. I think in its repetitiveness and continuum it resembles so much life itself, the act of our heart beating, our breathing, the passage of the days of the seasons and ties us into the living reality of the story of our Redemption. Perhaps one of the greatest signs of the efficacy of this prayer are the 15 promises revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan de la Roche additional benefits for those who devoutly pray the Rosary.
These reasons suffice to show superabundantly by how many roads Modernism leads to atheism and to the annihilation of all religion. The error of Protestantism made the first step on this path; that of Modernism makes the second; atheism makes the next" ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE MODERNISTS ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS X, SEPTEMBER 8, 1907 What the is Pope saying here is really interesting. Protestantism is at the root of modern atheistic philosophy. It has taken 500 years for the heresy of 'Protestantism' to reach its zenith in our modern era. It is a subtle but diabolical heresy. Private interpretation of religion eventually leads to atheism. We have now reached an absurd situation when the most popular article on the Irish Association of Catholic priests website is entitled 'Abolish the priesthood'. Oh boy, do they need prayers [and one third of all Irish priests are connected to this protesting organisation!]. http://www.associationofcatholicpriests.ie/2013/05/abolish-the-priesthood/ Many Catholics have become protestant at heart selecting only those parts of the faith that suit their needs and rejecting those parts that they find difficult. Church teachings are difficult but liberating. Narrow is the road that leads to salvation but wide is the road that leads to perdition.
Yes they just take one step in front of the other and never ask the question, 'Well where is all this leading?'
At the time of the persecutions in Ireland against the Catholic faith the faithful often sais the Rosary and Mass prayers in their homes. This became known as the 'Dry Mass' and kept the faith alive in Ireland. The Rosary follows the rhythms of life containing as they do reflections on joyful, sorrowful, illuminative and glorious experiences. The Rosary is a most powerful mental and contemplative prayer.
