You are welcome Dolours. I am sorry it took me longer than I expected to put that together. I had to rewrite parts of it several times. I wanted to be very careful in my wording. Judging from some of the responses I got perhaps people were still unclear as to what I meant. I was not in any way trying to gloss over the problems in the Church or say that everything a Pope says is straight from heaven. We are in the midst of a very serious crisis. Probably the most serious one the Church has ever faced. In my remarks about the Pope I was simply stating that we are supposed to be very charitable when dealing with the Pope, or anyone with authority over us, or even anyone at all, but especially the clergy who are In Persona Christi. This is not papalotry, it is simple charity. In regards to your questions, the Scapular and the Miraculous Medal have special prayers that are supposed to be said over them when we are invested by a priest. This is different from the standard blessing a priest does for other objects he blesses. Perhaps this is what the nuns at your school organized for you. If the priest is not familiar with the proper blessing you could just print out the prayers and bring them with you for him to say. Here are some links with the prayers: Scapular: http://www.fatima.org/essentials/requests/invest.asp Miraculous Medal: https://www.ewtn.com/library/PRAYER/MIR-MED.TXT
I am pretty sure that, once properly enrolled, the new replacement scapulars do not have to be blessed. I have read this several times to clarify for myself.
[QUOTE="On the other end of the spectrum the devil will try to attack people who see the errors by tricking them into hating the Pope, even separating themselves from submission to him. This is a serious error. Refusing to accept the authority of the Pope is called schism and it incurs an automatic excommunication from the Church. Some people will say "I am loyal to the Papacy, but just not this Pope". Sorry it doesn't work that way. Our loyalty to the Papacy is not dependent upon our personal feelings towards a particular Pope."[/QUOTE] Praetorian I really appreciate your awesome contribution to this forum...your posts are very informative and well put together.. but while i agree it is a slippery slope to criticize the Pope, I seriously do not think it means I am in schism, if I have negative responses about what I see, hear and view what he says, does and wants others to do, which I consider sinful and even gravely sinful. I am not separating myself from his 'authority" when I in good conscience, see (what I perceive that he promotes as intrinsically morally wrong and in conflict with Church doctrine. I believe I am not automatically excommunicated for following the traditional Church teaching. If a priest from Malta, Germany, Argentina were to refuse the bishops directive to give Holy Communion to a co-habiting couple, would he be in schism? Maybe there is someone who will read this post and see it as an affirmation that "my conscience" trumps everything without being informed. Be assured I will (intend t0) follow the True Church and whether or not it happens to intersect with some papal "disciplines" that I believe are in opposition to the life vine to Heaven ... then that is all I need. Right now any prayers that I say the end with "let us pray for the intentions of our Holy Father" I put in the qualification "good and Holy" before "intentions" because I am not sure what his intentions are. God Bless
Yes that is the way we get through this. The priest on the you tube download says as much while providing clarity about how the evil one has made captive the church. For the sake of our own souls we must respect the office and stay safe on the barque of peter in spite of grave errors. This is sich a subtle ploy from the enemy to play on our best qualities. Our reverence and our desire for the truth of Christ. The priest repeated it several times. Our salvation is at stake. I admit I've struggled with this myself but we mustn't break faith with our mother the church no matter how inadequate or dangerous our prelates are. We must pray the Rosary fiercely and lovingly for the restoration
I don't know if any of you are familiar with Fr. Hunwicke's blog. Fr. Hunwicke is a member of the Anglican Ordinariate and one of the most well educated priests in the whole Church in the UK (and possibly the world). This good priest has been deeply troubled by the current Papacy and, one day took his troubles and prayers to the statues of three former popes (Benedict XIV, Clement XIV and Clement XV) which are kept in a museum in Oxford, where he lives. He said that on one occasion, as he prayed for the help and guidance of these Popes, he witnessed the statues weep. Recently he returned to pray about the Pope and was very surprised to feel an atmosphere of joy and to be given very good news (by what means I don't know). He was told that our liberation from this Pope is at hand. I believe this and am as joyful at this news as he is.
I think one must be obedient in all but sin. In Jesus time on earth he respected the office of Pharisees even while he called them out on their sons. But paplotry is a different kettle of fish and that must be resisted.
Thank you for the compliment Light. No, I do not think you are in schism for being concerned about what is happening in the Church. Much confusion is coming down from portions of the Church hierarchy. You are right to stick to what the Church has always taught. St. Vincent of Lerins gave us the prescription for what to do in times of confusion in the Church. "Hold fast that faith which has been believed everywhere, always and by all." -St. Vincent of Lerins What I was talking about was a refusal to accept the Pope authority. This is a serious sin. Can. 751 Heresy is the obstinate denial or obstinate doubt after the reception of baptism of some truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith; apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith; schism is the refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him. -1983 Code of Canon Law As to your question, if a priest is ordered by a superior to do anything sinful he not only can refuse, he must refuse. We must all do the same as laity. This is not irreconcilable with being charitable towards the Pope or other Church superiors. We are called to be charitable towards our neighbor and especially towards the clergy. If I think my boss at work is a total jerk, even if I think he is misusing his position, that does not give me the right to cast slander or calmuny at him. It does not give me the right to disobey him when he tells me to do my job. If I have a grievance against him I must file the proper forms and deal with the problem legally. He does not cease to be the boss because I say so and I have no right to disobey him and expect to keep my job.
I don't know if any of you are familiar with Fr. Hunwicke's blog. Fr. Hunwicke is a member of the Anglican Ordinariate and one of the most well educated priests in the whole Church in the UK (and possibly the world). This good priest has been deeply troubled by the current Papacy and, one day took his troubles and prayers to the statues of three former popes (Benedict XIV, Clement XIV and Clement XV) which are kept in a museum in Oxford, where he lives. He said that on one occasion, as he prayed for the help and guidance of these Popes, he witnessed the statues weep. Recently he returned to pray about the Pope and was very surprised to feel an atmosphere of joy and to be given very good news (by what means I don't know). He was told that our liberation from this Pope is at hand. I believe this and am as joyful at this news as he is.
It was worth waiting for. I have copied and pasted it into a word processing file because I want to read it again when I have more time. The Pope and all the clergy are prayed for at every Mass, but I wonder how many Masses are actually offered for them. I have been thinking for a while that I would like to have Masses offered for the Pope and the four Cardinals. Maybe I'll actually go and do it. Regarding the Miraculous Medal and Brown Scapular enrolments, my memory is hazy. The nuns were meticulous about most things and especially about anything concerning the Faith and wouldn't have broken any rules or over-stepped their authority. (Strictly speaking, I suppose that I should refer to them as the sisters rather than the nuns because, although they weren't permitted to leave the convent grounds, it was not an enclosed order. Anyway, they were always "the nuns" to us and old habits die hard.) All I can recall about the Miraculous Medal was Sister saying that she had been given special permission to read some prayer and telling us that we had been enrolled before giving each of us a medal which had already been blessed by a priest. Perhaps I remember it better because each medal was on a length of blue wool. I don't remember the day we were given the brown scapular. Perhaps the procedure for the scapular enrolment was similar to that for the Miraculous Medal. Occasionally a missionary priest would visit the school and give a talk at assembly so perhaps the enrolment happened on one such occasion. Do you think I should ask a priest to re-enrol me in the Scapular to be on the safe side? According to the Sisters of Carmel website, we are required to recite daily the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin or abstain from meat on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I don't recall ever being told about that and the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin is new to me. There's a "Morning Offering" prayer on the website but no prayers of the "Little Office". The Rosary can be substituted for the Little Office with the permission of a priest. http://www.sistersofcarmel.com/brown-scapular-information.php
A interesting piece, you can go straight to check the letter and the conclusions from Rabbi Laras. Even the jews are perceiving something very troubling is going on in the Church. http://magister.blogautore.espresso...al-anti-judaism-rabbi-laras-sounds-the-alarm/
The little office or abstaining from meat on Wednesdays and Fridays is so you can be released from purgatory on the Saturday after your death. It is called the sabbatine privilege. Otherwise, if the scapular is worn and chastity observed for your state in life, you will escape hell but maybe burn for a bit longer in purgatory.
I don't know how it is anywhere else, but everyone who has made their Confirmation in the USA is enrolled and receives a brown scapular on the day of their Confirmation. Once enrolled any brown scapular that you wear works.
Thank you for the kind words Dolours. I think your idea of having Masses said for the Pope is a wonderful one. I never thought of that. As far as the Scapular/Miraculous medal I wouldn't see any problem with doing the blessing again if you weren't sure it was done correctly. They are so important to our time.
Denise do you know anymore about this? I was confirmed in New York in the early 80's. I don't remember being enrolled but that is around the time I started wearing the Scapular so maybe they gave it to me at Church. I always wondered where I picked it up from.
Well I do recall receiving the scapular at my Confirmation, but when my son made his Confirmation the priest at our parish told me about the kids being enrolled on their Confirmation day, and not having to get the new ones blessed when the old ones wear out. That's really all I know.
