Should we pray for the Jew, Moslem and Pagan?

The following are two prayers said at the Traditional Good Friday Mass which illustrate we should pray for the conversion of the Jew, Moslem and Pagan: These prayers were taken from the St. Andrew Missal 1945. Here are the prayers:

Let us pray.
Let us kneel.
R. Levate.



Let us pray, also, for the perfidious Jews, that our Lord and God may take away the veil from their hearts, so that they, too, may acknowledge Jesus Christ our Lord. Almighty, eternal God, Who repellest not even Jewish faithlessness from Thy mercy, hearken to our prayers which we make in behalf of the blindness of that people, that, recognizing the light of Thy truth, which is Christ, they may be delivered from their darkness. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God
For ever and ever.
R. Amen.
Let us pray, also, for the pagans, that almighty God may remove iniquity from their hearts, so that they may leave their idols and be converted to the living and true God and His only Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and God.

Let us pray.
Let us kneel.
R. Levate.

Variations of these prayers were common upto and including 1965. However, they were eliminated altogether after November 1969 when Paul VI ordered every Catholic Parish in the World to follow the New Modern Mass.

Portugal will always maintain the Faith

Benedict XVI said quite a bit in Portugal, the country in which our Lady promised the three seers would always maintain the faith. (Please see the prior post for the entire text) Speaking to the Portuguese public, Benedict XVI stated: “Thus the Church has a profound need to relearn penance, to accept purification, to learn forgiveness but also the need for justice. Forgiveness does not replace justice".

This seems to acknowledge the New Vatican Church’s need to subject itself to justice (hopefully severe punishment) for raping, molestation and humiliation of Christ’s own little children, so precious, trusting and innocent. Benedict XVI’s words give us hope that, finally, the New Vatican Church will get rid of any and all clergy who participated or hid paedophiles which includes any and all of its bishops. We shall see how much of his speech will yield good fruit or how much of his speech was political.

The Portuguese are a people, whose collective memory is imbued with the visions of Our Of Lady of Fatima and whose history is full of great saints which sacrificed themselves for the Glory of God to take Christ’s message of Salvation to the far corners of the earth so that every one could have the chance to partake in Christ’s promise at Calvary, that all that eat His bread and drink His cup would have eternal life.

Disturbingly, in this once “Catholic” country, the secular government has liberalized its laws on divorce and abortion, and whose parliament has moved to approve laws that would allow homosexuals to marry.

So what happened to this country that would always maintain the faith? Does this make our Lady a liar, the Church a liar, or is there some other explanation?
Firstly, I do not believe that Our Lady is a liar. The Vatican claims that the Third Secret has been published to its fullest. In its published report, the Vatican does not comment on Portugal’s special place among nations to uphold the faith. So why is it we should believe that the Vatican has revealed the Third Secret to its fullest?

Catholics have relied on the Pope and the Vatican over the centuries because of its credibility. Catholics believe that the sacraments administered by the Church are valid because of holy tradition, the Gospels, faith, and Apostolic Succession. We are essentially sheep following our pastors in good faith trusting that our Church would not lie to us.

However, logic dictates we look at the Vatican and ask our selves what kind of fruits has the Church had in the last 40 years?

The Church, headquartered in the Vatican, has lost innumerable amount of seminarians, priests and nuns in the past 40 years. The New Vatican Church has changed the Mass and created a political constitution for the Church call Lumen Gentium. It has hid homosexuality, secularism, and pedophilia within its clergy. Once these are “discovered” they appear not to be punished. Every time the New Vatican Church hid a priest who molested a child it lied. Every lie makes the New Vatican Church less and less credible. Essentially, then, the New Vatican Church has been a failure, a liar, and a sinner. Could this then still be the Church of Christ? Does this explain why so many people have left the New Vatican Church for Protestantism?

How is it then can we trust the New Vatican Church for telling us the truth about the Third Secret? The truth that it is very clear that Portugal is no longer a Catholic Country and neither is any other country in Europe for that matter. Most certainly, the Third Secret must address the consequences of sin, apostasy and suffering within the Church.

Fortunately, those of us lucky enough to have rediscovered the true Mass can enjoy the graces received through the reception of Our Lord and Savior at Holy Communion and Penance. We, should, then, give praise and thanksgiving for this grace, humble our selves to God asking for his mercy, and pray for those who do not have the Mass.

I do not believe that ever, in the history of the Western World, or in the History of the Church, has the “so called Catholic Church” been so steeped in mistruth and immorality until these last 40 years. Not even during the Great Western Schism or Arianism could we find such divergence from Catholic theology and morality as we find today in the New Vatican Church. The faithful during the Great Western Schism and Arianism still had the Mass and Sacraments. The New Vatican Church has doubtful Sacraments at best.

Regrettably, we are witnessing a divergence so large that it is really hard to believe. It feels as if we are somehow caught up in the eye of a tornado. We have the Sacraments and grace (praise God) yet we can see the destruction, filth and immorally all about us.

I humbly ask God for the grace and perseverance to ride out the storm. In Jesus’ name.

Praise God.

Excerpt form VIS, Benedict XVI’s own words:

Taken from the Vatican Information Sercvice:


SUMMARY OF POPE'S APOSTOLIC TRIP TO PORTUGAL: 11 - 12 MAY


" POPE REPLIES TO QUESTIONS FROM JOURNALISTS


VATICAN CITY, 11 MAY 2010 (VIS) - This morning during his flight to Portugal, the Holy Father responded - as he traditionally does on his flights abroad - to a number of questions put to him by the journalists accompanying him on the papal plane.

Answering a query about the current secularisation of Portugal, a once profoundly Catholic country, the Holy Father replied that Portugal "has carried the faith to all corners of the world; a courageous, intelligent and creative faith. ... The dialectic between secularism and faith in Portugal has a long history", he said, noting how "over centuries of discussion between enlightenment, secularism and faith, there has never been a lack of people who have sought to build bridges and create dialogue".

"I believe that the task and mission of Europe in this situation is to discover such dialogue, integrating faith and modern rationality into a single anthropological vision which completes the human being and thus also makes human cultures able to communicate with one another. Thus I would say that secularism is normal, but separation and contrast between secularism and the culture of faith is anomalous and must be overcome. The great challenge of the current time is for the two to meet and thus discover their true identity. This, as I have said, is a mission for Europe and the [great] human need of our own history".

Replying then to another question about the economic crisis, which some people believe could endanger the future of the European Union, Benedict XVI affirmed that "ethics are not something external, but inherent to rationality and economic pragmatism. ... Catholic faith, Christian faith, has often been too individualist, it left concrete and economic matters to the world and thought only of individual salvation", he said.

Yet "the entire tradition of the Church's social doctrine has sought ... to widen the ethical and faith-related dimension, over and above the individual, towards responsibility for the world, towards a rationality 'moulded' by ethics. Moreover, events on the markets over the last two or three years have shown that the ethical dimension is inherent and must become part of economic activity, because man is one, and what counts is ... a sound anthropology that embraces everything. Only in this way can the problem be resolved, only in this way can Europe accomplish its mission".

The third question put to the Pope concerned the significance of the apparitions of Fatima and whether the third secret, apart from referring to the shooting of John Paul II, also referred to the Church's suffering for the sexual abuse of minors.

"Apart from the great vision of the Pope's suffering, which we can primarily ascribe to Pope John Paul II", said Pope Benedict, the apparitions "indicate events of the future of the Church, which develop and are revealed little by little. Thus it is true that, apart from the moment indicated by the vision, we see the need for a passion of the Church, a passion naturally reflected in the person of the Pope, but the Pope stands for the Church and thus it is the sufferings of the Church that are being announced".

"As for the novelties we can discover in this message today", he went on, "we may see that attacks against the Pope and the Church do not only come from outside; rather, the sufferings of the Church come from inside the Church, from the sin that exists in the Church. This was always common knowledge, but today we see it in truly terrifying form: the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from external enemies, but is born of sin within the Church. Thus the Church has a profound need to relearn penance, to accept purification, to learn forgiveness but also the need for justice. Forgiveness does not replace justice".

PV-PORTUGAL/ VIS 20100512 (800) "

Benedict XVI in the USA

It is our sincere hope that Benedict, who has the capacity to celebrate the great mystery of the sacrifice of the Mass, will do so in full view of the public. We pray, with this action, the few remaining priests will be inspired to resume the sacrifice of the Mass, we so dearly need in our country. We also pray that Benedict will call together all of the Novus Ordo bishops involved in hiding pedophiles, and publicly admonish them, retire them to monasteries for their penance, and elevate true priests to the bishoprics. We also pray that Benedict would then submit himself and his Novus Ordo bishops to valid apostolic consecration (those in use prior to Vatican II) and bring the assembly back in line with apostolic teachings.

NOVENA FOR CHRISTMAS

NOVENA FOR CHRISTMAS

FIRST DAY DECEMBER 16
O God and Saviour of our souls, sweet Infant Jesus, Whom the angels and shepherds adored in the stable of Bethlehem on that holy night when Thou wert born of the Virgin Mary. We offer Thee our profound adoration and our most earnest thanksgiving for having become man for our redemption and salvation. Grant that we may apply all our powers to fulfill Thy gracious designs, that we may become perfectly renewed in heart, and inflamed with Thy holy love.
Our Father… Hail Mary...
Glory be… Hail and Blessed...

HAIL AND BLESSED be the hour and the moment in which the Son of God was born of the Most Pure Blessed Virgin Mary at midnight in Bethlehem in the piercing cold: In that hour, vouchsafe, 0 my God, to hear my, prayer and grant my petitions, through the merits of Jesus Christ Our Lord.


SECOND DAY: DECEMBER 17
0 Merciful Redeemer, Who didst vouchsafe to remain in the chaste cloister of Mary’s womb, hidden and unknown, though Thou wast the Eternal Word, and the Wisdom of the Father. O grant that we may learn from Thee to love solitude and silence, and escape the evils that are found in the tumult and distractions of the world; grant us greater purity of mind and of heart; grant that we may glorify Thee, and edify others by our purity and modesty.

Our Father… Hail Mary...
Glory be… Hail and Blessed...



THIRD DAY DECEMBER 18
O Infant God, Who, from the moment of Thy conception in holy Mary’s womb, didst offer Thyself to Thine Eternal Father for the salvation of our souls. 0 vouchsafe, to give us a lively sense of the one thing necessary, so that we may labor zealously for others, and work out our own salvation in fear and trembling, yet with confidence in Thy love.

Our Father...
Glory be...
Hail Mary... Hail and Blessed...
Amen.

FOURTH DAY: DECEMBER 19
O Sweetest Jesus, Who didst go up to Bethlehem in the womb of Mary, to obey the command of Caesar, who had ordered all his subjects to be enrolled. O grant us grace to obey with alacrity the most arduous commands from those who hold Thy place over us.

Our Father... Hail Mary...
Glory be... Hail and Blessed...

FIFTH DAY: DECEMBER 20

O Most Adorable Jesus, Who, upon Thine arrival at Bethlehem, wast rejected by all men. 0 grant us to follow Thine example in sufferings and contempt, that we may welcome Thee joyfully into our hearts, when Thou seekest an entrance there, either by holy inspirations or by Thy Divine Sacraments.

Our Father... Hail Mary...
Glory be... Hail and Blessed...


SIXTH DAY: DECEMBER 21

O Divine Infant, Who, when excluded from Bethlehem, didst inspire Thy holy Mother to retire to a poor and wretched stable, in which obscure and humble place it was Thy will to be born in order to confound our pride, and to teach us humility. 0 grant that henceforward, conforming ourselves to Thy will, we may renounce all pomp and pride, and become truly meek and humble of heart.

Our Father... Hail Mary...
Glory be... Hail and Blessed...

SEVENTH DAY: DEC EMBER 22

0 Divine Word, Who for the love of us, Thy poor creatures, wast pleased to be born under the most lowly roof, to be wrapped in the meanest swaddling- bands, and to be laid in a vile manger, amongst beasts, and to suffer a thousand evils. 0 grant that we also may renounce all worldly vanities, and embrace poverty of spirit, and mortification of the flesh, so necessary for our perfection. Grant that we may be thoroughly detached from creatures, and poor in all things save in Thy love and Thy grace.

Our Father... Hail Mary...
Glory be... Hail and Blessed...

EIGHTH DAY: DECEMBER 23

0 Divine Saviour, 0 King of peace, Who wast pleased to make Thine appearance amongst us when the whole world was in peace. 0 vouchsafe to send us Thy peace, so that all our powers being brought into subjection to Thee, Thou mayest at the approaching solemnity, be born anew into our souls.

Our Father... Hail Mary...
Glory be… Hail and Blessed...

NINTH DAY: DECEMBER 24

O Divine Saviour, 0 King of immortal glory, Who, in Thy great mercy, didst come into the world to redeem us and to make us holy. 0 grant that, denying all ungodliness and love of this world, we may live soberly in ourselves, justly toward our neighbor, and piously before Thee, that so we may be happy with Thee for all Eternity.

Our Father... Hail Mary...
Glory be... Hail and Blessed...

Dec. 7, 1585 Isle of Bomel, Netherlands, Vigil of the Immaculate Conception

Dec. 7, 1585 Isle of Bomel, Netherlands, Vigil of the Immaculate Conception.

With the onslaught on the Catholic Church in full swing Protestant Armies were out fitted and supported by people such as William of Orange with the aid of Elizabeth I of England, Cecil, and other disaffected non Christian financiers. Many churches and tabernacles had been desecrated. Many of the Holy relics of the had been defiled.

Phillip II of Spain had sent his armies north to the Netherlands to protect his estates and more importantly to safeguard Catholicism at the cross roads of heresies between Germany and England. The Protestant armies, though, had a plan to destroy the Catholic Army.

After Phillips Army's success at Antwerp, the Duke of Parma sent a multiude of his troops to garrison on Bomel, Netherlands. The Catholic Army believed that Bomel was a safe and built a fort to protect themselves from possible attack from the Protestants during the winter months.

As the Spanish garrison thought they were secure, the Dutch Protestant Naval forces, who new the country better, had a plan to destroy the Christian army. It turns out that the land the Spaniards thought was safe was actually below sea level. Owing to the Netherlands reliance on dykes to keep water our of their fertile farm lands the areas around Bomel had been drained of water.

The Calvinists came up with the plan to destroy the dykes and flood out the Spanish Army. Once the dykes were destroyed the Calvinist Navy waited for the water to rise. They wanted the water to rise so high that the hated Catholics would be drowned.

Soon, that night, as the water rose, the land around Bomel became the Island of Bomel. The Catholics had become completely surrounded by water. The Spanish had no means of escape, no means of re supply of food, water, arms or reinforcements.

The Spaniard, though, had the true faith of Jesus Christ and the holy sacraments. The Spanish Army, in this time of peril, knelt down and gave thanks to our Lord and besought protection from our Lady of Victory.

Miraculously, in answer to the Catholics’ prayer, the roaring sea froze solid!

As the sea rapidly froze it became impossible for the Calvinist navy to approach the Spaniards and the Protestants had to retreat. Our Lady heard the pleas of her Christian soldiers. The open sea became ice so hard that the entire Spanish Army was able to cross the sea on foot to dry land!

Praise God!

How to put Christ back in Christmas? Celebrate St. Nicholas Day

Every year we here Catholics and Protestants alike complain that Christ is missing from the season of Christmas. We Catholics complain that the Holy season of Advent is forgotten. In modern America Christmas begins on the day after Thanksgiving and ends when Santa Claus comes on Christmas morning.

We have heard our priests on preach on Advent, penance and preparation for the coming of the Lord. Ever since the Protestant Revolution and the commercialization of that Holy Day celebrating Christ's birth is only really celebrated by a few Catholics and some conservative Protestants.

One solution would be to return to the celebration of St. Nicholas Day on December 6th. You see, after the Protestant revolution many northern European countries down played Christmas. When the Puritans came to America Christmas was outlawed. It was only after Catholic Immigrants’ arrived from Europe that Christmas was again celebrated to a any great extent.

With this new found interest in Christmas came the marketers of merchandise and the desecration of this sacred holiday. The Merchandisers and seculars writers needed something to celebrate (they had since lost the Catholic Faith generations ago and really did not understand the true nature of the Holiday.) Consequently in their ignorance, irreligion and desire for profit they distorted St. Nicholas Day and moved it to December 25th. They also changed the character of this holy priest and bishop into a rolly, polly, fat, and gift giver named Santa Claus.

As our Catholic Immigrates started to suck up American culture they bought into this “ Santa Claus “ myth and started lying to their children thereby inadvertently deemphasizing the penitential nature of Advent, the true character of St. Nicholas, materializing Christ’s birthday and essentially knocking Christ out of Christmas along with all of the Protestants.

What should have happened was that the Catholic immigrant should have reintroduced these traditional observances to the spiritually weak and culturally deprived Anglo-Saxon Protestant. As we know this did not happen.

The plan for every Catholic this year should be to celebrate St. Nicholas Day some how on December 6th. Only in this way can we bring back Christ. Why? Well every year we all have this great desire to celebrate a mythical creature called Santa Claus albeit based on a true Saint of the Holy Catholic Church. This desire to celebrate Santa Claus and all the gifts, family and friends that go with it is sweeter that candy. So indulge, but indulge on St. Nicholas day. Get you fix, get it out of your system. It can be a beautiful happy holy day.

Once St. Nicholas Day is over it leaves Christ for Christmas. Christ is back because Santa Claus is gone.

Make it fun it fun. We can give candy away as is done in Europe. We could pray, eat dinner, and maybe have a special desert,. We could also acquire an image of St. Nicholas and light a candle thereby reintroducing the real St. Nicholas to our family and friends. I plan to take chocolates to work and give them out.

One of the hardest things for parents with small children would be to tell their children there is no Santa Claus. There is so much pressure on all of us to sustain the Santa Claus lie. So much is riding on this lie (big profits and secularization of society). I know I have been guilty of perpetuating this lie. I will break this lie this year and tell my children the truth.

A Catholic family has so many ways to observe the season. After St. Nicholas there are so many other Holy Days i.e.: Immaculate Conception Dec 8th, Our Lady of Guadalupe December 12th , St. Lucy’s Day December 13th , and of course the vigil Christmas and Christmas Day.

How many of you have heard “Traditional Catholics are “out of touch”?

To those of you whom have been blest with Our Heavenly Father’ Graces to be teetering on the fence whether to become a Traditional Catholic or not, you’re well aware that many criticize Traditional Roman Catholics as being out of touch with reality. Unfortunately without walking in a Traditional Roman Catholics shoes, how can one accurately describe and know what a traditional Catholic thinks, believes, and feels?

Many Traditional Roman Catholics used to be Vatican II Catholics. I was for 20 years, as an altar boy, lecturer, choir musician and attended Novus Ordo services weekly, sometimes daily. We Traditional Roman Catholics have worn both sets of shoes, been on each side of the fence, and happily keep our faith in the True Roman Catholic faith. We don’t feel we are better than our Novus Ordo brothers and sisters, just blest with the true 7 Holy Sacraments.

May the Holy Ghost help me here. We Traditional Roman Catholics are not a cult or schism. Traditional Roman Catholics come from all walks of life: rich and poor, old and young, healthy and ill, multiple races, and many nations.

We are your friends and neighbors, not adversaries. Despite these differences what is truly amazing is that Traditional Roman Catholics have the most important thing in common, we have the true Catholic faith etched in our hearts and do the best we can to make God the center of our lives daily.

It’s very heart-warming and reassuring to read another Traditional Roman Catholic’s blog describing the exact same matters and opinions of the true Catholic faith, the 7 Holy Sacraments; and viewpoints on the 10 Commandments, Catholic practices, and prayers -- we Traditional Roman Catholics are one Apostolic and Catholic.

D J Praska