Is the Pope a Heretic? Dangers of Charging A Pope with Heresy!

Please read and pray over the 2 articles below before  we decide to  label the Pope a heretic. We need to know what we are talking about before we make accusations. 

My opinion our safest and best course of action is to reserve judgement. The Pope belongs to Christ. He is the only one to judge motives.  We could harm the faith of simple Catholics and contribute to schism. Finally and most important, we also risk putting the salvation of our own soul in danger. 

Unless we are a Cardinal we have no authority, hence no business making judgements if any Pope.  We will have to answer to God for any judgements made that damage the faith if others. 

King  David did not dare when the opportunity presented itself to him to kill Saul who was anointed as King. David  left him to God's providence. We also should do the same, refraining from unleashing the swords of our tongues against the Pope anointed by God to represent Him and lead His Church.

Prudence dictates, if the Pope is out of line the Cardinals are responsible to help make the pope aware of his error.  If it's God's will they will step in or the situation may warrant leaving Him in the hands if God's Providence as David did. 

Reading the articles below they both  indicate that there are no dogmas denied a requisite for a charge of heresy. We as laity need to take care of our own sphere of influence. Our family our work and leave judgement of the Pope to Christ and this who are able to assist the Pope to see any errors. Lets not become part of the problem by making charges on issues we are not educated in and  know nothing about!

We will not be asked on judgement day on the popes possible sins. We will be asked how we helped our families or that homeless guy we pass everyday on our way to work. We will be asked on judgement day if we kept the Pope close to us in prayer! The Fatima message requested this.

The following links are to articles requesting restraint in judgement if the charge of heresy. Their arguments to support  their reasons are legitimate. It is worth reading you are guaranteed to learn a thing or two!

The writers are  Phil Lawler and Jimmy Akin each  give sufficient reasons that are not considered by those who are pushing for the charge of heresy of this pope. You may not care for a certain author for one reason or another. Just consider the truth in the reported  facts in their articles. And above all pray very much for the Pope. May God Bless you!

Oremus,

Spera Rose, Ocds

Is the Pope a heretic? 

The danger of asking the wrong question!

Phil Lawler is the editor of Catholic World News (CWN), the first English-language Catholic news service operating on the internet, which he founded in 1995. CWN provides daily headline news coverage for the Catholic Culture site, where Phil Lawler also offers regular analysis and commentary

Well, is the Pope a heretic? I am not qualified to address that question. As a matter of fact, I don’t know who is. St. Robert Bellarmine introduced the possibility (note: he mentioned it as a theoretical possibility, not as an established certainty) that a Pontiff who promoted heresy would forfeit his office. But citing that argument begs the question. Who could make the authoritative judgment that the Pope had fallen into heresy and therefore lost his authority? Certainly not a handful of independent scholars.
https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otn.cfm?id=1344

Another article worth considering.

By Jimmy Akin

Charging A Pope with Heresy

Jimmy Akin is an internationally known author and speaker. As the senior apologist at Catholic Answers, he has more than twenty years of experiencing defending and explaining the Faith. It’s gravely reckless and irresponsible to charge anyone with an ecclesiastical crime as serious as heresy if you can’t prove it, and it’s even worse to do so with regard to the pope, given the scandal, confusion, and risk of individual schism that it will create for the faithful. It’s one thing to ask for clarifications, voice concerns or express disagreement, but making charges of heresy is another matter.

There are multiple problems with the recent Open Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church that charges Pope Francis with heresy, but here we will focus on the core problem: the letter fails to sustain the charge of heresy.

According to the Code of Canon Law, “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” (CIC 751; cf. CCC 2089).

(Generally in relation to the Dogmas.)

If you are going to charge anybody (especially the pope) with heresy, you need to prove your case, and this letter doesn’t.

A cursory review of the list of signatories indicates that none have doctorates in the relevant fields of canon law or sacred theology, though a few have licentiates (the equivalent of master’s degrees). None seem to be specialists in ecclesiology—the branch of theology that deals most directly with the Magisterium of the Church—and none seem to have published a book on the Magisterium and how it engages its infallibility.

The signatories of the Open Letter make no attempt to do the needed work. They either do not quote the language used by Church documents or they do not argue that the language they do quote shows that a truth has been infallibly defined as divinely revealed.

A dogma of Faith. 

What Dogma Is

A dogma is a special kind of Church teaching. Any time the Church authoritatively teaches something, it is a doctrine (Latin, doctrina = “teaching”). Within the set of doctrines is a smaller set of teachings that have been infallibly defined by the Magisterium. These are infallible doctrines.

Within the set of infallible doctrines is a smaller set that consists of those infallible teachings that the Magisterium has infallibly defined to be divinely revealed. These are the dogmas.

Note: That just because something is infallible, that doesn’t make it a dogma. The Magisterium has to have infallibly said that it is divinely revealed for that to be the case.

The distinctions between these categories, as well as examples of doctrines that belong to them, are discussed in a 1998 commentary by Joseph Ratzinger and Tarcisio Bertone.

The Open Letter has many other flaws, but its chief one is that it fails to make the case that the present pope is guilty of heresy. To do that, it would need to show the following:

1. The Magisterium has infallibly defined some specific truth
2. It has infallibly defined that this specific truth isdivinely revealed, creating a dogma
3. The pope has been baptized (that’s easy)
4. The pope’s words or actions indicate that he refuses to believe the dogma
5. His words or actions cannot be understood in a way consistent with the dogma
6. He does so obstinately.                                              

It’s one thing to ask for clarifications, voice concerns or express disagreement, but making charges of heresy is another matter. It’s gravely reckless and irresponsible to charge anyone with an ecclesiastical crime as serious as heresy if you can’t prove it, and it’s even worse to do so with regard to the pope, given the scandal, confusion, and risk of individual schism that it will create for the faithful.

http://m.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/on-charging-a-pope-with-heresy

Pope Francis began his pontificate under the sign of St. Joseph, only those who serve with love are able to protect!

 

March 13, is the first anniversary of the election of Pope Francis in 2013 and these last 365 days of his papacy have been characterized as a “time of mercy”, by the Pope himself. During these last twelve months the Pope who said he was called “from the ends of the earth”  asked us to pray for him.  He is called the “priest of the world”, by his secretary Msgr. Alfred Xuereb who said that the new pope “has not wasted a minute! He works tirelessly and, when he feels the need to take a moment's pause, he closes his eyes and does nothing: he simply sits and prays the Rosary”.  I want to pick out a few highlights that were important to me and indicated the path of Hope the Pope is leading us to travel down. 

I read some where that John Paul II gave us the New Catechism, Benedict XVI explained its meanings and reasons for our faith and Pope Francis is showing us how to live the faith! This is a time for actions not words!

The pontificate of Pope Francis began with his Inaugural Mass on March 19, 2013, under the sign of St. Joseph, father and protector of  the Holy Family and the Church. Also under the sign of St. Francis, whose name he choose, the protector of the earth, and all who are on the earth, the man of peace.


The essential message in the inaugural  homily given by Pope Francis to open his pontificate draws on the image of St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, head of the Holy Family. And that message is to "protect." This message is important at a time when the figure of the person who "protects," be he or she a father, a mother, a priest, a scholar, a leader, is under attack -- in a time when the "protection" is entrusted to others, or to none, when the "protectors" are anonymous, or hidden, or when they simply don't exist. To "protect" means to make sure what one protects is not harmed, not hurt. 

Only those like St Joseph,  

who serve with love are able to protect!

"He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked
Saint Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God’s people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Only those who serve with love are able to protect!"

 
"How does Joseph respond to his calling to be the protector of Mary, Jesus and the Church? By being constantly attentive to God, open to the signs of God's presence and receptive to God's plans, and not simply to his own. This is what God asked of David, as we heard in the first reading. God does not want a house built by men, but faithfulness to his word, to his plan. It is God himself who builds the house, but from living stones sealed by his Spirit. Joseph is a "protector" because he is able to hear God's voice and be guided by his will; and for this reason he is all the more sensitive to the persons entrusted to his safekeeping. He can look at things realistically, he is in touch with his surroundings, he can make truly wise decisions. In him, dear friends, we learn how to respond to God's call, readily and willingly, but we also see the core of the Christian vocation, which is Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation!"
"....Whenever human beings fail to live up to this responsibility, whenever we fail to care for creation and for our brothers and sisters, the way is opened to destruction and hearts are hardened. Tragically, in every period of history there are “Herod's” who plot death, wreak havoc, and mar the countenance of men and women."

This emphasis on "protecting" also seems to recall a passage in the Book of Revelation which focuses on "not hurting," that is, protecting.
In Chapter 7 of Revelation, an angel ascends from the east, bearing "the seal of the living God." The angel cried out in a "loud voice" to the other "angels," who had been "hurting" the earth. Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. Rev.7:3


"To protect Jesus with Mary, to protect the whole of creation, to protect each person, especially the poorest, to protect ourselves: this is a service that the Bishop of Rome is called to carry out, yet one to which all of us are called, so that the star of hope will shine brightly. Let us protect with love all that God has given us!"--Pope Francis

St. Joseph Hoped against Hope!

"ITE AD JOSEPH!" -"GO TO JOSEPH!" -St.Theresa of Avilia

Did You know that St Joseph was also present at the last Apparition of Fatima on October 13, 1917? The children saw him Blessing the world with the Child Jesus in his arms as the crowds beheld the Miracle of the Sun.

Follow links:

St. Joseph's Humble Appearance at Fatima Announces A Crisis of Fatherhood in Society and the Church!
 
St Joseph Protector of Church- Vatican II-Conversion of Russia & Timeline Leading to end of Soviet Union!



The Pope asked Our Lady to help him during his pontificate and also for the prayers of all Christians
Looking back on this first year of Surprises, the Pope  has shown a great devotion to Mary, since the very first day of his pontificate. One of the first things he did in the inauguration of his papacy was to ask Our Lady to help him during his pontificate and for the prayers of all Christians.

 

 

"I implore the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, Sts. Peter & Paul, and Saint Francis, that the Holy Spirit may accompany my ministry, and I ask all of you to pray for me! Amen"-Pope Francis Inaugural Mass See: A prayer for the Pope by Leo XIII



Divine providence choose the 13th of the month to elect him to the papacy. Perhaps it is an indication that his papacy was under the protection of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima. He requested that the Statue be brought  from Portugal to the Vatican, who  consecrated his papacy to her and also renewed the consecration of the the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on October 13th, 2013.

 
The Holy Father received the statue on the afternoon of Saturday, October 12th,  followed by a Marian talk. On Sunday, October 13th, the Pope offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the presence of the Fatima Statue. After the Mass the pope recited the following Consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary before the Angelus.   
See: Fatima Statue visits Rome

 

Consecration Prayer of Pope Francis

October 13, 2013

Fatima processional crown bullet from JPII in center

 Holy Mary Virgin of Fatima, with renewed gratitude for your maternal presence
we join our voice to that of all the generations who call you blessed. We celebrate in you the works of God,
who never tires of looking down with mercy upon humanity, afflicted with the wound of sin, to heal it and save it.
Accept with the benevolence of a Mother the act of consecration that we perform today with confidence, before this image of you that is so dear to us. We are certain that each of us is precious in your eyes and that nothing of all that lives in our hearts is unknown to you.
We let ourselves be touched by your most sweet regard and we welcome the consoling caress of your smile. Hold our life in your arms:  bless and strengthen every desire for good; revive and nourish faith; sustain and enlighten hope; awaken and animate charity; guide all of us along the path of holiness.  Teach us your own preferential love for the little and the poor, for the excluded and the suffering, for sinners and the downhearted: bring everyone under your protection and entrust everyone to your beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus. Amen. 
Zenet News  [Translation by Joseph Trabbic]

Pope Francis & Benedict XVI  

  Entrusted the Vatican City State 

to St. Michael the Archangel last July

This was a significant action taken by the Pope and may also signify that the pope is reinforcing the words of Venerable Paul VI.  The church is in the midst of the epic Battle of Revelation Chapter 12  with the forces of evil in the world. Evil "whose smoke has entered into the very confines  of the church. As  Pope Francis entrusted the Vatican City State to St Michael the Archangel he said :"Though the devil always tries to disfigure the face of the Archangel and that of humanity, God is stronger, it is His victory and His salvation that is offered to all men. We are not alone on the journey or in the trials of life, we are accompanied and supported by the Angels of God, who offer, so to speak, their wings to help us overcome so many dangers, in order to fly high compared to those realities that can weigh down our lives or drag us down. In consecrating Vatican City State to St. Michael the Archangel, I ask him to defend us from the evil one and banish him. "  Read more....

See The Epic Battle between St Michael and Lucifer is still being waged on earth



       

VIVA LA PAPA!

Pope Francis renews consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

 


Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima  traveled all the way from Portugal to the Vatican, at the request of Pope Francis, who  also  consecrated the world once more to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on May 13th. The Pope  has shown a great devotion to Mary, since the very first day of his pontificate. 





The Holy Father received the statue on the afternoon of Saturday, October 12th,  followed by a Marian talk. On Sunday, October 13th, the Pope offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the presence of the Fatima Statue. After the Mass the pope recited the following Consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary before the Angelus.

Statue at Fatima during visit of Benedict XVI in 2010

Benedict XVI was  also given some minutes to privately pray before the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, just after it arrived  into the Vatican by helicopter. Benedict XVI  visited the Fatima Shrine in 2010

Consecration Prayer of Pope Francis

October 13, 2013

Crown with bullet taken from JPII in center

Holy Mary Virgin of Fatima,
with renewed gratitude for your maternal presence we join our voice to that of all the generations who call you blessed.
We celebrate in you the works of God,
who never tires of looking down with mercy
upon humanity, afflicted with the wound of sin,
to heal it and save it.
Accept with the benevolence of a Mother
the act of consecration that we perform today with confidence, before this image of you that is so dear to us. We are certain that each of us is precious in your eyes and that nothing of all that lives in our hearts is unknown to you.
We let ourselves be touched by your most sweet regard and we welcome the consoling caress of your smile. Hold our life in your arms:
bless and strengthen every desire for good;
revive and nourish faith; sustain and enlighten hope; awaken and animate charity; guide all of us along the path of holiness.
Teach us your own preferential love
for the little and the poor, for the excluded and the suffering, for sinners and the downhearted:
bring everyone under your protection and entrust everyone to your beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus. Amen. Zenet News  [Translation by Joseph Trabbic]


Does the pope acknowledge a special need for this papal initiative at this time? Below Pope Pius XII Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, on October 31, 1942 just before major turning points in World War II. He did this  as “Father of Christianity” as the representative of Christ, who has all power in heaven and on earth”  Soon after this Consecration World War II started to go for the side of the allies.

While we are in the midst of a strange ominous government shutdown with its alleged threats of possible including  a world-wide economic disaster if the United States defaults on their debt. This is indeed sufficient to warrant our concerns. Not withstanding the Syrian crisis and  the list goes on....

One need not be a religious fanatic to think that today's world is headed towards a good lashing. Consequences of our own sins and omissions. Whatever in fact is the motivation for this act, I  surely hope for our Lady's intercession in answer to the prayers of the Pope as he renews what  past popes have already done, placing once more the world into her Immaculate Heart at this decisive hour.

The Collegial Consecration in 1984  
Fatima Statue's last visit to Rome 

For article and text of
Bl. John Paul II 1984 Collegial Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

The statue's last visit to Rome for 1984 Collegial Consecration by John Paul II

Below Pope Pius XII Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  
On October 31, 1942 just before major turning points in World War II he did so as “Father of Christianity” as the representative of Christ, who has all power in heaven and on earth”. The  following, October 31, 1942 consecration was performed via a Portuguese radio broadcast, and then renewed again on December 8, 1942 in Rome.  

Consecration of Pius XII of the World to Immaculate Heart of Mary

Queen of the Holy Rosary,

Statue of Pope Pius XII at Fatima Shrine

Help of the Christians,

Refuge of the human race,

Conqueress in God’s battlefields,

To You and to Your Immaculate Heart

In this tragic hour of human history

We entrust and consecrate ourselves,

And the Holy Church.

She is the Mystical Body of Your Jesus,

Suffering and bleeding in so many parts

And tormented in so many ways,

We consecrate to You the whole world torn by bitter strive

And consumed by the fire of hatred

The victim of its own wickedness.

Look with compassion to all material and moral destruction

To the suffering and fears of fathers and mothers

Of husbands and wives, of brother and sisters and innocent children.

Look at the many lives cut down in the flower of youth

So many bodies torn to pieces in brutal slaughter

So many souls tortured and troubled

And in danger of being lost eternally.

Oh, Mother of Mercy, obtain peace for us from God!

Obtain especially those graces, which can convert human hearts quickly.

Those graces, which can prepare, establish and insure peace.

Queen of Peace, pray for us;

Give the world at war the peace for which all are longing,

Peace in Truth, Justice and the Charity of Christ.

Give them peace of the arms and peace of mind,

That in tranquility and order

The Kingdom of God may expand.

Grant Your protection to infidels

And to those still walking in the shadow of death;

Give them peace and permit that the sun of truth may raise upon them;

And that together with us

They may repeat before the Only Saviour of the World:

Glory to God in the highest

And peace on earth among men of good will (Lk2.14)

Give peace to the people separated by error and schism,

Particularly those, who have special devotion to You

And among whom there was no home,

Where Your venerable Icon was not honoured,

Though at present it may be hidden

In the hope for better days.

Bring them back to the One Fold of Christ,

Under the One True Shepherd.

Obtain peace and complete liberty for the Holy Church of God,

Check the spreading flood of neo-paganism,

Arouse within the faithful love of purity

The practice of Christian life and apostolic zeal,

So that the people who serve God,

May increase in merit and number.

All of humanity were once consecrated to the Heart of Your Son.

All our hopes rest in Him, Who is in all times

Sign and pledge of victory and salvation.

Forever we consecrate ourselves to You

And to Your Immaculate Heart,

Oh, Mother and Queen of the World!

May Your love and patronage hasten the victory of the Kingdom of God,

May all nations, at peace with each other and with God, proclaim You Blessed

And sing with You from one end of the earth to the other,

The eternal Magnificat of glory, love and gratitude

To the Heart of Jesus, in which alone,

They can find Truth, Life and Peace.-Amen

This post registered on Catholic Blogger linkup for October, 2013

As Pope Francis Celebrated his name day! Let us embrace him with prayer! Say 3 Ave's!

 

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis called for an end to armed conflict and clarified the notion of Franciscan peace during the Mass he presided for the feast of St. Francis on Friday in Assisi. A few thousand gathered for the late morning Mass in St. Francis Square, before the world-famous shrine dedicated to the patron saint of the poor.

The Pope celebrated at a simple altar, behind which stood a giant two-bar wooden cross and on which hung a representation of the San Damiano Cross. St. Francis was praying before the San Damiano Cross when Jesus commissioned him to rebuild the Church.

Preaching his homily from the ambo, the Pope underlined the relevant witness St. Francis continues to offer. “His first and most essential witness is this: that being a Christian means having a living relationship with the person of Jesus; it means putting on Christ, being conformed to him,” he said.

“Where did Francis’ journey to Christ begin? It began with the gaze of the crucified Jesus,” he said. “With letting Jesus look at us at the very moment that he gives his life for us and draws us to himself. …When we let the crucified Jesus gaze upon us, we are re-created, we become ‘a new creation’.”  Read more: Text from page of the Vatican Radio website

”

Remember that Pope Francis asked for our prayers when he visited St. Mary Majors

Please say Three “Ave’s” for me!

 

 

[After leaving the basilica the Holy Father addressed these words to the many faithful gathered in the piazza outside:]

Brothers and sisters,

Good evening! Thank you for your presence in the house of the mother of Rome, our Mother. Hurrah (viva) the “Salus Populi Romani.” Hurrah for Our Lady. She is our Mother. Let us entrust ourselves to her because she protects us like a good mother. I will pray for you, but I ask you to pray for me, because I need it. Three “Ave’s” for me. I wish you a good Sunday tomorrow. Goodbye. Now I will give you the blessing – to you and to all your families. May the almighty Father bless you. Have a good Sunday. Read more....

Fatima Message embraces the Pope in Prayer  Jacinta’s Vision of the Pope He was Weeping, Insulted and Persecuted Poor Holy Father 

We must Pray much for him! 

One day, Lucy said, we spent our siesta down by my parents' well. Jacinta sat on the stone slabs on top of the well. Francisco and I climbed up a steep bank in search of wild honey among the brambles in a nearby thicket. After a little while, Jacinta called out to Lucia: "Didn't you see the Holy Father?"  "No I did not see him." Lucia said   "I saw the Holy Father!" Jacinta continued. "He was in a very big house, kneeling by a table, with his head buried in his hands, and he was weeping. Outside the house, there were many people. Some of them were throwing stones, others were cursing him and using bad language. Poor Holy Father, we must pray very much for him." 

 

 

This vision can be applied to all the popes since 1917.  See Fatima Message also embraces Benedict XVI in prayer

The Epic Battle between St. Michael and Lucifer that took place in Heaven is still being waged on Earth!

Today is the memorial to our Guardian Angels. Did you thank your Holy Angel for never leaving you even when he witnessed your most grievous sins. Your Holy Angel stood by your side grieivng and yes maybe even wanting to avange the honor of God but he did not he stood by waiting and praying for grace that God will open your eyes and you will repent! If you had a conversion experience this was also due to your Holy Angel who guided you to the people that would help you. Just like St Augustine who  through the prayers of his Mother St. Monica was led to St Ambrose whose homilies St. Ambrose helped awaken in St Augustine the light of faith!'  Similarly, our guardian angels  protect, defend and guides each of us through the warfare that is still taking place on Earth. 

The same war that began in Heaven at the beginning of time in the book of between St Michael and the Good Angels who cast Lucifer and the bad angels out of Heaven. Rev. chapter 12. St. John writes of the great conflict at the end of time, which reflected the battle in heaven at the beginning of time in the book of Genesis.  I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel. Genesis 3:15 

 Did you thank your  Guardian Angel today? 

It is he who will lead you through this life and the epic battle still waging around us between the good and the bad angels. Man is also a participant in this epic battle still being fought in time on earth. Man has a choice in time for and against good and our holy guardian angel wants us to be with then beholding the face of the father in Heaven!  to the Judgment seat of Christ.The battle that took place in heaven at the beginning of time will wage on earth  until Christ returns and makes his enemies his footstool. Each human person will also have his choice in this same battle either for God and His will or for mans will. "O Angel of Christ, my holy Guardian and Protector of my soul and body, forgive me all my sins of today. Deliver me from all the wiles of the enemy, that I may not anger my God by any sin. Pray for me, sinful and unworthy servant, that thou mayest present me worthy of the kindness and mercy of the All-holy Trinity and the Mother of my Lord Jesus Christ, and of all the Saints. Amen".  An Eastern Orthodox prayer to the Guardian Angel

The Epic Battle between St. Michael & Lucifer that took place in Heaven still waged on Earth!

Fall of the rebel Angels by Frans Floris

⁷ And there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels: ⁸ And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. ⁹ And that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who seduceth the whole world; and he was cast unto the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying: Now is come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ: because the accuser of our brethren is cast forth, who accused them before our God day and night. ¹² Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. Rev.12:7-12

Woman of the Apocalypse Peter Paul Ruben

The Woman of Genesis 3:15 and the Woman with the Dragon in Rev.:12 can viewed as the Church founded by Christ and/or the Virgin Mary who is the Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church.

Meditations on these verses should be made with both interpretations present because both are interchangeable. For me I can see more that Our Lord is referring to the Church of God that he left behind on earth when he ascended to Heaven. Her offspring are those who are baptized that the devil is seeking. The rivers of water the devil spews from his mouth are the heresies, the lies that make good evil and evil good. The devil uses them to try to destroy the church by these deceptions. 

Pope Francis & Benedict XVI 

Entrusted the Vatican City State 

to St. Michael the Archangel last July

This was a significant action taken by the Pope and may also signify that the pope is reinforcing the words of Venerable Paul VI.  The church is in the midst of the epic Battle of Revelation Chapter 12  with the forces of evil in the world. Evil "whose smoke has entered into the very confines  of the church. As  Pope Francis entrusted the Vatican City State to St Michael the Archangel he said :"Though the devil always tries to disfigure the face of the Archangel and that of humanity, God is stronger, it is His victory and His salvation that is offered to all men. We are not alone on the journey or in the trials of life, we are accompanied and supported by the Angels of God, who offer, so to speak, their wings to help us overcome so many dangers, in order to fly high compared to those realities that can weigh down our lives or drag us down. In consecrating Vatican City State to St. Michael the Archangel, I ask him to defend us from the evil one and banish him. "  Read more....

Venerable Pope Paul VI 

and the MYSTERY OF EVIL

 

This battle and deceptions were notably assessed and written about by the Venerable Paul VI as early as 1972 in a General Audience given on November 15 of that year.

 CONFRONTING THE DEVIL'S POWER  

"What are the Church's greatest needs at the present time? Don't be surprised at Our answer and don't write it off as simplistic or even superstitious: one of the Church's greatest needs is to be defended against the evil we call the Devil.

Man's Fatal Tempter

There are many things we do know, however, about this diabolical world, things that touch on our lives and on the whole history of mankind. The Devil is at the origin of mankind's first misfortune, he was the wily, fatal tempter involved in the first sin, the original sin. That fall of Adam gave the Devil a certain dominion over man, from which only Christ's Redemption can free us. It is a history that is still going on: let us recall the exorcisms at Baptism, and the frequent references in Sacred Scripture and in the liturgy to the aggressive and oppressive "power of darkness." The Devil is the number one enemy, the preeminent tempter.

So we know that this dark disturbing being exists and that he is still at work with his treacherous cunning; he is the hidden enemy who sows errors and misfortunes in human history. It is worth recalling the revealing Gospel parable of the good seed and the cockle, for it synthesizes and explains the lack of logic that seems to preside over our contradictory experiences: "An enemy has done this."He is "a murderer from the beginning, . . . and the father of lies," as Christ defines him. He undermines man's moral equilibrium with his sophistry. He is the malign, clever seducer who knows how to make his way into us through the senses, the imagination and the libido, through utopian logic, or through disordered social contacts in the give and take of our activities, so that he can bring about in us deviations that are all the more harmful because they seem to conform to our physical or mental makeup, or to our profound, instinctive aspirations.

Venerable Paul VI with President John F. Kennedy

This matter of the Devil and of the influence he can exert on individuals as well as on communities, entire societies or events, is a very important chapter of Catholic doctrine which should be studied again, although it is given little attention today. Some think a sufficient compensation can be found in psychoanalytic and psychiatric studies or in spiritualistic experiences, which are unfortunately so widespread in some countries today. We can presume that his sinister action is at work where the denial of God becomes radical, subtle and absurd; where lies become powerful and hypocritical in the face of evident truth; where love is smothered by cold, cruel selfishness; where Christ's name is attacked with conscious, rebellious hatred,where the spirit of the Gospel is watered down and rejected where despair is affirmed as the last word; and so forth.”

This was audience given by Venerable Paul VI in 1972.  How much deeper men have fallen and embraced the darkness of sin and error! What will it take to deliver us from it? The Divine intervention foretold at Fatima during the Miracle of the Sun? A purification by fire? 

Sts. Michael, Garbriel and Raphel

September 29^th  was the Feast of Sts. Michael, Garbriel and Raphel. This years feast fell on Sunday and the Sunday Mass usually takes precedence. However, If you were fortunate enough to participate in the Extraordinary or Tridentine form of the Mass you were able to celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of St Michael the Archangel. A double First Class Feast  may take precedence over the Sunday Mass. St Michael had his day in Divine providence  this year in the Extraordinary form of the Liturgy!

Around  530 A.D., on September 29^th , Pope Boniface II dedicated a church in the great circus, at Rome, to St. Michael the Archangel.   This particular Church was named after St. Michael to show the power of martyrdom and how it converted pagan Rome to the Christian faith. Previously in Italy, In the year 492, St Michael had appeared in a cave on Mt. Gargano in the region of  Foggia in the Kingdom of Naples. St. Francis of Assisi knelt at the entrance to the cave and could not bring himself to enter because of the holiness of the site.  St Michael appeared at Mt Gargano as the head of the heavenly army to remind us of that Great epic battle that took place in heaven at the beginning of time is still being fought today on Earth! 

The Hebrew meaning of Michael is, Who is like God, denoted the combat which took place in Heaven between the archangel and Lucifer. As we have fallen through sin into the power of satan it is St Michael’s mission along with our holy guardian angels to continue the fight for our deliverance.  And since Christ's coming the Church has ever venerated St. Michael as her special patron and protector. She invokes him by name in her confession of sin, summons him to the side of her children in the agony of death, and chooses him as their escort from the chastening flames of purgatory to the realms of holy light. 

When Antichrist shall have set up his kingdom on earth, it is Michael who will unfurl once more the standard of the Cross, sound the last trumpet, and binding together the false prophet and the beast, hurl them for all eternity into the burning pool.

The battle that took place in heaven at the beginning of time will wage on earth  until Christ returns and makes his enemies his footstool. Each human person will also have his choice in this same battle either for God and His will or for mans will. 

Holy Michael the archangel defend us in battle that we perish not in the dreadful judgement!--Amen. Maranatha -Come Lord Jesus

 

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