Palm Sunday at St. Stans in Milwaukee

Here are the pictures from Palm Sunday.  I uploaded them earlier to the Facebook page:

Photos care of P. Wesely

Photos from Palm Sunday 2015.
Posted by St. Stanislaus Catholic Church (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) on Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Concerning the exile of Jews from Spain (1492)

It seems that in modernity’s take on Christianity there are a few sticking points that are used as bludgeons against Christ’s Only Church (The One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church for those unaware). Among these are the black legends, threats of evil popes, flat-Earther allegations, but among the protestant sects none comes close to the perceived mishandling of the Jew’s.

Explusion of the Jews

Protestant muckrakers like John Hagee and TV personalities like Glenn Beck spend a decent amount of time concerning themselves with the situation in Israel and how the Jew’s are being harmed here and there.  This might well be a well-intentioned endeavor and people, regardless of their religious affiliations, but it becomes a crime when such folks who have fashioned themselves as historical luminaries take historical occurrences, pull it out of context, then claim that the Whore of Babylon  can be seen persecuting God’s chosen people… the Jews of today.

With the Reconquista of Spain from the Moors came with it many difficulties, one such difficulty was concerned with how would those that aligned themselves with the Moors be treated when the Moors were finally forced off the Iberian Peninsula? Charles Coulomb gives us a little context in his book on Catholic US history entitled “Puritans Empire”:

Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain

“The entrance of Ferdinand and Isabella into the Alhambra marked the end of the age-long struggle begun when Don Pelayo emerged from the Covadonga eight centuries before. At last Spain was free.

One of the immediate results of this occurrence was the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. This happening has been frequently cited in recent years against the Queen, and it is an important question to address. In order to understand it in context, we must remember that the Spanish Jews had, from the first invasion by the Moors back in 711, collaborated closely with the Muslim invaders, who were after all, also a Semite people. This was considered an act of betrayal by the Spanish. During the long years of Moorish tyranny, Jews often served under them as governors of the Christian populace; Jewish culture in Spain flourished, Toledo and Cordova in particular becoming centers of Hebrew thought and learning. While such collaboration is easily understood, so too is the resentment toward it. When an occupying force is at last dislodged from a nations territories, those who collaborated with the occupiers – as Pierre Laval and Vikdun Quisling found out after World War II – often do not fare very well.

But the Twentieth Century rulers faced with large ethnic minorities might launch genocide against them, as did the Turks with the Armenians and the Nazis with the Gypsies, Jews, and Poles (or else “ethnic cleansing” as the Serbian Communists call it). Isabel had no such desire. She feared possible future collaboration of the Jews with Muslims – and she had not defeated restive nobles, brigands and the Granada Moors to see it all lost to Turks. But as a Catholic she would certainly not want them wantonly executed. What then to do?

At this point, in order to explain her motivations, a few points must be made about her and her contemporaries’ understanding of Catholicism. They believed Our Lord’s words “Unless a man be baptized of water and the Holy Ghost, he shall not enter the Kingdom of God.” And “Unless a man eat my body and drink my blood, he shall not have life in him.” They agreed with Pope Boniface VIII in his bull Unam Sanctam that “it is absolutely necessary to the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.” This is why the Protestant Henry of Navarre (later Henry IV of France) said in regard to his conversion to Catholicism, “the ministers say that I can save my soul as a Catholic, the priests that I cannot save it as a Protestant. Therefore I can surely be saved as a Catholic.” Without this understanding none of the Queen’s actions with regard to the Jews or to the Guanches and Indians can be understood.

For like her Savior, she did not desire the death of sinners, but that they should live. She wished that all of her subjects might be members of the Catholic Church, outside of which she believed there was no salvation. If the Jews would convert (for church law forbade her to force them to do so) they would be given all the privileges and rights of ordinary Spaniards. If not they were a security risk, and must go. In the event, at most 160,000 left. Many of these, interestingly enough, were picked up by Ottoman vessels and brought to Thessalonica and Constantinople, in which city the anniversary of their arrival was celebrated in 1992. Others went to North Africa and still others to the Netherlands where, unhampered by the Church’s laws against usury they laid the foundations for that country’s capitalist economy and eventual financial prowess. Those who converted, however soon reached the heights of Spanish society. Many became bishops and nobles and high courtiers; St. Teresa of Avila, for example was part Jewish.”

 

It is also interesting that during this time the exile of the Jews did not go unnoticed by the reigning pontiff Pope Alexander VI.  The pope encouraged migration of the Jewish people from Spain and called on Isabelle to be more lienent with them. While the Jews settled in Rome, Alexander demanded that they not be persecuted.  To this day the Jewish settlements of Rome are a result of his actions.

Canon 220 and the Chilean Bishop Crisis: Stop the accusations!

The Code of Canon Law 220: New Revised English Translation (London, Harper Collins, 1997) page 46.

 "No one is permitted to damage unlawfully the good reputation which another person enjoys nor to violate the right of another person to protect his or her own privacy."

 "Nemini licet bonam famam, qu quis gaudet, illegitime laedere, nec ius cuiusque personae ad propriam intimitatem tuendam violare." Code of Canon Law: Latin-English Edition (Washington, Canon Law Society of America,1983) pages 72 -73

The Burden of Proof is on those making the accusations!

The protestant fools have infiltrated this once Catholic nation and the walls are crumbling within.  They have even recognized "Reformation Day" as a national holiday.

I for one will stand and pray for this Bishop and all bishops (even Archbishop Weakland) because the Lord of Hosts demands our fidelity and love to be given to them!

What you dont know is that the Church is under fire because the Chilean government wants to legalize abortion and euthanasia right now and they will smear now and ask questions later!

See how they treat him? This is wrong!

St. Thomas Beckett pray for us!

Update on Fr. Kenneth Walker and Fr. Terra FSSP new picks

"Father Terra built the shrine in honor of and in thanksgiving to Our Lady for saving his life. I can't remember if I had already shared the picture of the stained glass piece that was installed in the choir loft of the church around Christmas time in memory of Fr. Walker."



The Shrine in Thanksgiving of Fr. Terra's Protector, Our Lady



The stained glass window in memory of Fr. Kenneth Walker FSSP as reported HERE

 

Please continue to pray for the repose of the soul of Fr. Walker FSSP

h/t FSSP Supporters Facebook Page

Breaking Luther: Luther's failed exorcism and the Catholic priest that was called to fix his problem

The following comes from Matthew Olson of Catholic Analysis:

Martin Luther’s Failed Exorcism

The Jesuit Fr. Louis Richeome “related a story of Luther attempting to exorcise a woman and failing”.  When it became clear that he could do nothing the family called upon the Catholic Church to perform the exorcism.  Needless to say the family came back to the One True Fold of Christ and few if any Lutherans speak of this matter outside of the belittleing of superstitious peasants and their papist healers.

The reference can be found below but it is in an old French dilect that is very hard even for today's Frenchmen (like my Priest) to read or outright translate, so google translate will not do.

(Sarah Ferber, Demonic Possession and Exorcism in Early Modern France, p. 34, ISBN 0-203-65227-4)

Transcribed from p. 203-204 of Richeome’s “Trois discours pour la religion catholique les Miracles, les Saincts, les Images"

"Il fe fouuenoit aufsi de plus freche date que l’an1545. Luther ayant entrepins en la ville de Vvitemberg de coniurer es diables, qui poffedoyent vne ieune fille de Mifne, fut prins aux toiles, & charge de coups, & de confufion comme apres nous reciterons. La memoire de ces chofes luy donna fcrupule pour penfer a fa confcience, & hardieffe de s’excufer de femblable efcrime, & faire la couard, referuant fa charite a autres exercices moins dangereux. La refte de la refponce qu’il faict, difant qu’il ne faut croire aux diables, & qu’ils colludent auec les exorciftes, eft en partie l’efcume de la vieille herefie d’Arrius, partie de la nouuelle de Caluin."

Transcribed from p. 481-482 of Florimond de Raemond’s “L’anti-Christ et l’anti-papesse" [link]:

"Luther preuoyant ue fon miracle n’auoit pas de nez, duuel il auoit fait tant de cas contre le Roy d’Angleterre, qu’vn pauure Moine comme luy euft affuiecty a fon Euangile l’Allemagne, voulut entrepredre d’exorcifer vneieune fille de Mifme poffedee du Diable. Mais il n’en rapporta que des coups, & tous les affiftan auffi. Comme celuy dont fainct Gregoire parle: Ie fuis content taire le furplus du conte, par-ce qu’il fent trop mal, pour l’infortune qui aduint au pauure Luther, femblable a celle de l’Empereur Copronyme fur les fonds du Baptefme. Qui fera curieux de fcauoir le difcours de cefte farce, l’aille voir chez Staphile, lequel eftant pour lors fon difciple, affifta a tout ce myftere, & auec vne hache enfonca la porte pour efchapper: car le Diable empechoit que la clefne peuft ioiier, & tenoit Luther tout tremblant au collet."

Great Catholic Politicians: New Series

It seems to many that we have been completely without solid Catholic leadership in politics at the highest levels for a long while.  Folks like JFK are supposed to be held up as role models for all Catholics to look up to.  Sadly such people betray the faith often for their own personal gain, and as Holy Writ describes "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his sou?"

The purpose of this series is to make better known recent politicians and rulers that you likely have never heard of.

+JMJ+

The ones that complain that Voris gossips do that which they pretend (yes pretend) to be against

Post by ChurchMilitant.TV.

CNA: Catholic dissenters' convention keynoter: A pornographic sex columnist?

Taken from Catholic News Agency:

"Dan Savage coordinates an annual pornography festival. He has made obscene tirades about Pope Benedict XVI, denigrated the practice of monogamy, insulted high school students and publicly harassed politicians he opposes.
>Now, dissenting Catholic group Dignity USA has invited the explicit sex columnist as a keynote speaker to its biennial convention in Seattle this June.
Dignity USA executive director Marianne Duddy-Burke called Savage “an important, provocative, and sometimes controversial figure in the LGBT community and the broader culture.” She told CNA that he would speak on how his Catholic roots have influenced his advocacy and his actions..."

 Read the whole of the article HERE

Oh, but dont concern youself with this... I mean things like Capitol Punishment and covering up CRS crimes are of no concern either!

WE HAVE ENTERED THE ERA OF MERCY!

And it has been found weak kneed and smells of patheos

The World Promises You Comfort...

As we commemorate the election of +Francis P.P. to the Chair of Peter, let us pray for him always and ask God for His Mercy and Grace!

+JMJ+

Pray for those in the Middle East!!!

There situation is desperate and our Holy Father has again and again asked us to pray for them and provide as possible to better their situation.

Yet there is something amazing that comes out of this evil, Hope, Faith and Charity.  Please watch the below video:

Post by SAT-7 Arabic.

(Thanks to Matt for re-posting the above video!)

We are called to be the salt of the Earth, the light of the world.  Christ has given us the responsibility to show him to others.  Change the world daily! You can make a difference with just one fervant prayer, with just one little act of charity!

+JMJ+

Breaking Luther: All in the apostolic college received the keys!

It is of note that when modern Protestants go about belittling the Holy Father they will often overestimate the constraints that Peter operates his ministry under.  Now, Catholics are bound to adhere to the teachings and disciplines spoken of by the Pope because Christ reminds us that “He who hears you hears me” and that “whatever you bind on Earth will be bound in Heaven.”  Peter was given the same offices that Christ had taken on including his role as chief Shepard, the steward (vicar) of the house of David and to be a strengthener of his brethren once converted (among many others). These examples are sufficient to show a primacy, and the guarantee that the gates of hell shall not prevail, and that Christ would be with this same group until the end of the age give perspective to the perpetual nature of the Church without interruption.

Enter Martin Luther, the self-styled, self-proclaimed, and self-determined monk from Germany.  In order to belittle the Pope of his own day it became necessary to introduce novelties into the Church’s tradition to justify his new religion. 

One of the most stunning novelties is his insistence that all the apostles were given the Keys for loosing and binding:

“…But not to fight them with mere words, we will quote the Scriptures. St. Paul says in I Corinthians 14:30: "If to anyone something better is revealed, though he be sitting and listening to another in God's Word, then the first, who is speaking, shall hold his peace and give place." What would be the use of this commandment, if we were only to believe him who does the talking or who has the highest seat? Christ also says in John 6:45 that all Christians shall be taught of God. Thus it may well happen that the pope and his followers are wicked men, and no true Christians, not taught of God, not having true understanding. On the other hand, an ordinary man may have true understanding; why then should we not follow him? Has not the pope erred many times? Who would help Christendom when the pope errs, if we were not to believe another, who had the Scriptures on his side, more than the pope?

Therefore it is a wickedly invented fable and they cannot produce a letter in defense of it, that the interpretation of Scripture or the confirmation of its interpretation belongs to the pope alone. They have themselves usurped this power; and although they allege that this power was given to Peter when the keys were given to him, it is plain enough that the keys were not given to Peter alone, but to the whole community. Moreover, the keys were not ordained for doctrine or government, but only for the binding and loosing of they arrogate to themselves is mere invention But Christ's word to Peter, Luke 22:32 "I have prayed for thee that thy faith fall not," cannot be applied to the pope, since the majority of the popes have been without faith, as they must themselves confess. Besides, it is not only for Peter that Christ prayed, but also for all Apostles and Christians, as he says in John 17:9, 20: "Father, I pray for those whom Thou hast given Me, and not for these only, but for all who believe on Me through their word." Is not this clear enough? …”

 

Again, so as not to take the fellow out of context the whole quote is given above.  A line by line critique is necessary to draw out just how full of it Mr. Luther was.

“Christ also says in John 6:45 that all Christians shall be taught of God.”

Sure they will be taught of God, but that supposes a teacher. Now the Lutheran might say that God speaks to the heart and man knows its God speaking to him.  After all Christ also says that “"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” But one has to ask if this is true why would God also say that when your brother offends the, take it first to him privately, then to another with him, and finally if that fails to tell it to the Church (a tangible, identifiable authority).  Luther did not think the God spoke to Calvin, but Calvin was convinced of it.  What is the Lutheran to say to the devout Mormon when they say they get a warm feeling in their bosom when they read the Mormon texts; therefore they are inspired because that’s how God speaks to them. All Christian’s will be taught of God indeed, but a student requires a teaching which they submit their minds to, identifiable and necessarily infallible teachers because God can neither deceive nor be deceived.

“Thus it may well happen that the pope and his followers are wicked men, and no true Christians, not taught of God, not having true understanding.”

Even if the Pope was the most evil fellow on the faith of the planet it would not follow that his authority to teach had been stripped.  To make such a claim is to overestimate the papal office, and would lack a basic understanding of authority which even Christ recognized the corrupt Pharisees exorcising in his day, telling the Jew’s to do what they said, but not what they did. So to even by Luther’s standards Christians are wicked and cannot not sin, so these too could never have true understanding being wicked themselves even if they had the Gospel set before them because they would twist the words as the Devil would if we go according to Luther’s thinking.

On the other hand, an ordinary man may have true understanding; why then should we not follow him?

This is not well thought out by Mr. Luther.  It opens the door to denominationalism, which he strictly opposed.  There is no objective rule to be applied in coming to how this would be applied in real life.  Who is to say that Joseph Smith was wrong, or Calvin?  Why not follow them if they display charismatic gifts?  What is being appealed to in saying that person A has a right to speak for God?  Was Luther a prophet?  If so let him stand in judgment as to his prophecies as the Old Testament puts forth.  But he can’t, and no signs and wonders to attest to his authority could be found so he along with the other revolutionaries of his age made it clear that miracles no longer took place (never mind the Tilma was given at this very time).

“Therefore it is a wickedly invented fable, and they cannot produce a letter in defense of it, that the interpretation of Scripture or the confirmation of its interpretation belongs to the pope alone.”

It is clear alone from the Old Testament that in the Davidic Kingdom there was only One King who when he was not present physically in his kingdom gave his one key to his one steward who had the ability to not just speak for the King but to open and close the Kingdom to all things that might enter and leave.  The fable is that there is no letter of defense.  This is pure rhetoric without any basis in why it was spoken.  In all of the scriptures (which the protestants got from us) it only says that Jesus gave Peter the Keys, he never speaks again of the keys, only of the power to loose and bind which though part of the keys is not the whole of it as stated before. 

“…it is plain enough that the keys were not given to Peter alone, but to the whole community.”

It’s not plain at all to see such.  You would have to insert your own thinking as to what loosing and binding means in relation to the keys then impose this thinking on others to get them to arrive at such thinking which presupposes that you had the God given authority to begin with to arrive at that interpretation, of which you can show no, not one shred of evidence to objectively arrive at this conclusion.

“Moreover, the keys were not ordained for doctrine or government, but only for the binding and loosing”

Again what objective authority can he point to make this statement?  He can say “look at the bible” because that presupposes that the Bible is authoritative.  Of course we must then ask why is the bible and the books therein authoritative to begin with in an objective way?  How do you know book X belongs in there and not book Z?  The scriptures did not fall out of the sky, but were compiled and recognized by the Church as scripture.  Peter can say Paul’s writings are scripture but how do you objectively know Peter himself wrote that scripture outside of a granting authority that says it is indeed scripture that Peter wrote that affirmed Paul.

But Christ's word to Peter, Luke 22:32 "I have prayed for thee that thy faith fall not," cannot be applied to the pope, since the majority of the popes have been without faith, as they must themselves confess.

How can he say that the majority of the Popes have been without faith?  Who is he to stand in judgment of anyone?  The protestant understanding of faith is a trusting in what God has done for them.  The Catholic, on the other hand, understands faith as follows:

“Faith is a grace

153      When St. Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus declared to him that this revelation did not come “from flesh and blood,” but from “my Father who is in heaven.”²⁴ Faith is a gift of God, a supernatural virtue infused by him. “Before this faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he must have the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and ‘makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth.’”²⁵ (552, 1814, 1996, 2606)

Faith is a human act

154      Believing is possible only by grace and the interior helps of the Holy Spirit. But it is no less true that believing is an authentically human act. Trusting in God and cleaving to the truths he has revealed are contrary neither to human freedom nor to human reason. Even in human relations it is not contrary to our dignity to believe what other persons tell us about themselves and their intentions or to trust their promises (for example, when a man and a woman marry) to share a communion of life with one another. If this is so, still less is it contrary to our dignity to “yield by faith the full submission of... intellect and will to God who reveals,”²⁶ and to share in an interior communion with him. (1749, 2126)

155      In faith, the human intellect and will cooperate with divine grace: “Believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of the will moved by God through grace.”²⁷

The protestant religion posits that man cannot cooperate with God because he ultimately has no free will, thus all works are useless, even teaching others about the faith to bring them to Christ. The difference is that even if a Pope failed to live up to the faith he possessed he was not unable to change his ways and affect real change.  The office of the Pope is not dependent on the person therein, but the perpetual promise of Christ to Peter until the ending of the age to loose and bind over the heavens and the earth (the heavens part also not given to the others). Plus who are the bad Popes that bound objectively bad doctrine on the Church? Pray tell? And by what authority have you come to the conclusion that the teaching is wrong to begin with?

“Besides, it is not only for Peter that Christ prayed, but also for all Apostles and Christians, as he says in John 17:9, 20: "Father, I pray for those whom Thou hast given Me, and not for these only, but for all who believe on Me through their word."

Of course Our Lord prayed to the Father for all Christians, he is our one mediator.  This, however, says nothing about why Christ would pray specifically for Peter (solely) that when he was specifically converted he would strengthen his brethren.  This makes no sense if you consider that St. John never left Christ and so would not have to be converted, but could immediately strengthen the brethren.  Christ makes the whole apostolic college wait upon Peter for his strengthening. Why because Peter acts for Christ (not against him).  Consider that when Christ was confronted because he had yet to pay the tax he did not abstain from payment but had Peter act for him (act in his place, even while he was on Earth).

 

Now, having related all that take a look at this quote from Mr. Luther:

“I shall not have it judged by any man, not even by any angel. For since I am certain of it, I shall be your judge and even the angels’ judge through this teaching (as St. Paul says [1 Cor. 6:3]) so that whoever does not accept my teaching may not be saved - for it is God’s teaching and not mine.”

And people say papal infallibility is impossibility, yet the Pope is constrained.  Luther however speaks on God’s behalf?  What objective authority has he to point to for this?

Against those that converge to confuse

If you don't like the death penalty great... protest, but no Catholic is bound to your decision, or as a matter of a fact to the Popes feeling here.

 

The Big Four all agree on this, therefore its Savonarola Contra Mundum


 

America = Dead to Me

National Catholic Reporter = Dead to me

Our Sunday Visitor = Dead to me

National Catholic Register = Dead to me

Why even create the perception that heretical rags have any legitimacy?

WHY?

Its the same thing again and again!

Mary, the first Tabernacle of Christ

"María, Madre de la Eucaristía", Raúl Berzosa

"In that chaste Parent's holy womb celestial grace hath found its home: and she, as earthly bride unknown, yet calls that Offspring Blest her own. The mansion of her modest breast becomes a shrine where God shall rest: the pure and undefiled one, conceived in her womb the Son."

-- Hymn 16 (stanzas 3-4), "The Hymns of the Dominican Missal and Breviary" (1943), p. 65 H/T Matthew Olson