Month: February 2023

Dr. Mazza’s new book: Fatima, Pope Benedict’s “resignation,” and a bunch of real Catholic Answers for Truthers

Woohoo! Just in time for Lenten reading. You will want to buy several copies, for family and friends. Enjoy!

 

ORDER HERE

Volume I: Pope Benedict’s Resignation provides the touchstone for interpreting the most tumultuous and bewildering events in Church history: the “resignation” of Pope Benedict XVI and the subsequent “election” of Pope Francis. In this book, Mazza weaves historical and canonical insights to illuminate the explosive papal paradox– the era of two popes:

Why did Pope Benedict “flee” his post, leaving the flock to be fleeced by a “progressive” pontiff? Is it true that Benedict renounced only the “exercise” of the Roman bishop, not the papacy itself? (Is that even metaphysically possible?) Can a pope “be evil”? Can a legitimate Vicar of Christ abuse his power “against God” in an attempt to “demolish” Christ’s Church? And have any (or all) of these things ever been foretold?

This book explores Joseph Ratzinger’s public statements over six decades to determine what exactly Ratzinger renounced and what is irrevocable (to his mind) regarding the Petrine Munus. It elucidates Ratzinger’s ecclesiology, his conciliar belief that jurisdiction and sacrament always interpenetrate. It looks at the potential consequences upon the validity of Ratzinger’s renunciation should his views on “office as rite” and “office as jurisdiction” prove illusory. It also reveals what readers of the Third Secret of Fatima have divulged concerning that mysterious prophecy and the popes.

Was Pope Benedict St. Paul’s Katechon (2 Thess. 2) dislodged from “the center” to hasten the arrival of the age of Antichrist? Is this why Benedict resigned? And what exactly is a “Pope Emeritus”? Are these things foretold in the Third Secret of Fatima? Will the Church be ruled by an antipope in league with the forces of Antichrist? Has it already begun? And how on earth will the Church ever be able to extricate herself from such a ghastly predicament?

The startling answers to these compelling questions unfold in The Third Secret of Fatima and The Synodal Church: Volume I, Pope Benedict’s Resignation.

ORDER HERE

Septuagesimatide… Don’t waste it!

Septuagesimatide is such a blessing. Two and a half weeks to get ready for Lent. Two and a half weeks to orient your bearing, and time to form precision around your Lenten Promises. You should already know the subject matter of your promises for this year; now is the time to sharpen them, be specific, and commit.

The killing off of this short prepping season in the Novus Ordo was a criminal act. An act of war, even. How was it remotely a good idea to march right along in “Ordinary Time,” and then BOOM, Ash Wednesday is on top of you. It’s almost as if the criminals WANTED the laity to be unprepared. Who or what could possibly have been behind that?

As for me, I will still be blogging, but I will say that “the internet” is on my list of penances.  Way too much time wasted going down rabbit holes. I’ll be honing in on specifics of that over these 17 days.

Get yer preppin goin… and GET READY!

What’s going on in Ireland?

Ireland sees 42% more deaths in past two months compared to pre-COVID levels

DUBLIN, Ireland (LifeSiteNews) — The number of deaths occurring in Ireland is now significantly higher than the number the country experienced both before and during the spread of COVID-19, prompting opposition politicians to call for a full investigation into the cause. 

Figures obtained on RIP.ie and analyzed by the mainstream Irish Examiner show deaths were 42% higher from 1 December 2022 to 25 January 2023 (9,718 deaths) compared to the 8 weeks to 25 January 2019 (6,802 deaths).

Deaths have risen 20% compared to the same period a year ago, while they are 19% higher than figures from that period two years ago when Ireland was entering another lockdown before Christmas 2020 and rolling out its vaccination program in early 2021. 

The leader of opposition party Aontú told Newstalk Breakfast the figures indicate “something very, very serious that is happening”. 

“The key point is this – and this is really, really important – the Government needs to investigate this very, very clearly, in a scientific fashion,” Deputy Peadar Tóibín said. “We need to get rid of the word ‘maybe’. When we see death rates 3,000 higher in a small six-week period than they were in a six-week period pre-COVID, we can’t have the Government standing idly by.” 

“When there was an elevated death rate in 2020, the government closed down the country. Here we have an elevated death rate and there are crickets coming from the government in terms of real scientific analysis,” he added. 

Tóibín, who obtained similarly startling figures from the Central Statistics Office last December showing Quarter 2 of 2022 had 39.2% more deaths than Q2 of 2021, pointed to the reduction in cancer screenings and hospital services during several COVID lockdowns as a possible cause of the spike in deaths…

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/ireland-sees-42-more-deaths-in-past-two-months-compared-to-pre-covid-levels/

When you’ve lost NEWSWEEK…

“As a medical student and researcher, I staunchly supported the efforts of the public health authorities when it came to COVID-19. I believed that the authorities responded to the largest public health crisis of our lives with compassion, diligence, and scientific expertise. I was with them when they called for lockdowns, vaccines, and boosters.

“I was wrong. We in the scientific community were wrong. And it cost lives. I can see now that the scientific community from the CDC to the WHO to the FDA and their representatives, repeatedly overstated the evidence and misled the public about its own views and policies, including on natural vs. artificial immunity, school closures and disease transmission, aerosol spread, mask mandates, and vaccine effectiveness andsafety, especially among the young. All of these were scientific mistakes at the time, not in hindsight. Amazingly, some of these obfuscations continue to the present day.

“But perhaps more important than any individual error was how inherently flawed the overall approach of the scientific community was, and continues to be. It was flawed in a way that undermined its efficacy and resulted in thousands if not millions of preventable deaths…”

Read every word of this: https://www.newsweek.com/its-time-scientific-community-admit-we-were-wrong-about-coivd-it-cost-lives-opinion-1776630

If a man continually demonstrates his hatred of the Law, he is demonstrating his hatred of its Author, Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life

Today is the Feast of Candlemas, the Presentation of Our Lord, which is also the Fourth Joyful Mystery of the Most Holy Rosary.

Fruit of the Mystery:

Obedience – Love of the Law.

Our Lord Himself is the Law. You cannot love Him without loving the Law; you can’t even get to know Him without loving the Law. Learning the Law, and understanding why the Law is what it is, is to develop your relationship with the Lord. Perfecting yourself in the Law is the sacrificial sanctification of this relationship, and He deeply desires this from you. He has told us with His own incarnate lips.

Steer well clear of anyone who teaches contrary to His word.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST:

“If you love me, keep my commandments.”
[John 14:15]

“If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; as I also have kept my Father’s commandments, and do abide in his love.”
[John 15:10]

“Who said to him: Why asketh thou me concerning good? One is good, God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.”
[Matthew 19:17]

“And by this we know that we have known him, if we keep his commandments.”
[1 John 2:3]

“And whatsoever we shall ask, we shall receive of him: because we keep his commandments, and do those things which are pleasing in his sight.”
[1 John 3:22]

“In this we know that we love the children of God: when we love God, and keep his commandments.”
[1 John 5:2]

“For this is the charity of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not heavy.”
[1 John 5:3]

“And the dragon was angry against the woman: and went to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
[Apocalypse  12:17]

“Here is the patience of the saints, who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
[Apocalypse (Revelation) 14:12]

“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them; he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father: and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”
[John 14:21]

“Jesus answered, and said to him: If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him.”
[John 14:23]

You picking up what I’m laying down? Blessed Candlemas!

“I am the wheat of Christ; may I be ground by the teeth of beasts that I may be found pure bread.”

Originally posted  February 1, 2021

Today is the Feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch. The Communion verse is literally his own words at the point of his martyrdom: “I am the wheat of Christ; may I be ground by the teeth of beasts that I may be found pure bread.”

GOSPEL (John 12:24-26)At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, Itself remaineth alone. But if it die it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it and he that hateth his life in this world keepeth it unto life eternal. If any man minister to me, let him follow me: and where I am, there also shall my minister be. If any man minister to me, him will my Father honour.”

Ignatius was the second bishop of Antioch after St. Peter. When Emperor Trajan tried to force the Christians of that region to worship the Roman gods, the greatest obstacle to his purpose proved to be the aged bishop of Antioch. Trajan ordered that the intrepid prelate be taken to Rome in the year 107 and then thrown to the lions in the arena. The magnificent letters Ignatius sent to several Christian communities during his journey recall the mysticism of St. Paul’s Epistles. “My yearning is for death. My love has been crucified, and I am not on fire with the love of earthly things. I desire incorruptible love,” he wrote. https://tridentine-mass.blogspot.com/2021/02/saint-ignatius-of-antioch-107-ad-saint.html

Yesterday was the feast of St. John Bosco. John Bosco (1815-88) grew up on a Piedmont farm in Italy. While still a student-priest at Turin, he began his mission for the abandoned boy apprentices of the early industrial era, who roamed uncared for on the streets of the city. Priests and Brothers gathered about John Bosco as his work developed, and formed the Salesian Order, named in honor of St. Francis of Sales. He also founded a community of Sisters to aid needy girls. Today, the missioners of John Bosco carry on his ideals of gentleness and charity among poor children in Asia, Africa, and South America, as well as in Europe and North America.

St. John Bosco was given much knowledge through prophetic dreams. The most famous is the one where the pope guides the barque away from shipwreck, to be anchored on two giant pillars, one being the Blessed Virgin Mary, the other being the Eucharist. Following is a lesser known one, that is quite telling:

One of the prototypical dream-visions St. John Bosco had concerned “The Snake and the Rosary.” In it, he and the boys were in a meadow where a stranger took him to see “a huge, ugly snake, over twenty feet long.” The stranger impelled him to dangle a rope over the snake, which he was quite hesitant to do out of fear. He finally agreed to hold the rope over the menacing snake, and the snake leaped up and “ensnared itself as in a noose.”  The snake then furiously writhed to free itself but ended up tearing itself to pieces. The stranger then took the rope and put it in a box saying “watch carefully.” Then, opening the box he saw the rope had taken the shape of the words “Ave Maria” or “Hail Mary.”  The man then explained to him that the snake is a symbol of the devil and the Ave Maria rope stands for the Rosary — with which “we can strike, conquer, and destroy all of hell’s demons.”

The dream, however, was not done.  In the second part of the dream, the boys of the Oratory were now congregated around the remnants of flesh from the snake. Then, against St. John Bosco’s protests that it was poisonous, some of the boys began to pick up the snake flesh and eat it saying, “It’s delicious!”  They promptly crumpled to the ground, with their bodies swelled and hardened like stone.  The saint tried vigorously to keep them from eating the meat but they just kept eating it.  He questioned the stranger why do they keep eating the meat even though it will kill them?  The stranger replied, “Because the sensual man does not perceive the things that are of God!”  He pleaded to the stranger that there must be some way to save them.  To which, the stranger said there is, by “anvil and hammer.”  St. John Bosco then put the boys on an anvil and hit them with a hammer.  With that, most of the boys were “restored to life and recovered.”  The stranger then explained to him that the anvil and hammer are symbols respectively for Holy Communion and Confession.  By Confession we strike away at sin, and by Holy Communion we are sustained. https://catholicexchange.com/snake-rosary-dreams-st-john-bosco