I finally read Pentin on Padre Pio

Photo: Inspecting the wound in St. Pio's side?  Not sure.

Pentin quoted Padre Pio on abortion.

"The day that people lose their horror for abortion will be the most terrible day for humanity. Abortion is not only a homicide but also a suicide. Shouldn’t we have the courage to manifest our faith before those who commit two crimes within one act?" St. Pio - NCReg.

That quote from an editorial on an Italian church permitting Italian abortionist, Emma Bonino to speak on immigration.  I May have never read the article if it weren't for a friend pointing it out for me.  I totally agree with St. Pio.  The Popes do too - at least I have confidence they do.  Pope Francis consistently condemns abortion, Pope Benedict and his predecessors did so as well.  The Catholic Church does so consistently.  The fact this woman was allowed to speak is out of my control.  The protest against her speech should be the occasion for reaffirming Catholic teaching and proclaiming the Gospel of life.

Strange, I'm not surprised by the fact she was invited to speak.  Odd speakers have been allowed to speak in churches for decades, and the Gospel is proclaimed and error dispelled.  Popes have met with all sorts of 'Gentiles', and discussed political issues, without giving approbation to wickedness or mass murder.  

St. Pio wasn't the first, nor the last to condemn such a complacency which appears to tolerate an evil such as abortion.  I came across a wonderful quote from Alfred Delp, SJ warning Christians in a similar vein:

"[T]he great question to us is whether we are still capable of being truly shocked or whether it is to remain so that we see thousands of things and know that they should not be and must not be, and that we get hardened to them. How many things have we become used to in the course of the years, of the weeks and months, so that we stand unshocked , unstirred, inwardly unmoved." - Delp

Fr. Delp is a prophet for our times, and yet no one listened.

If we are against abortion, or fear it has become an acceptable, tolerable evil, who is to blame?  Fr. Delp wrote elsewhere:

Woe to an age when the voices of those who cry in the wilderness have fallen silent, outshouted by the noise of the day or outlawed or swallowed up in the intoxication of progress, or growing smothered and fainter for fear and cowardice. The devastation will soon be so terrifying and universal that the word "wilderness" will again strike our hearts and minds. I think we know that." - Delp

I too think we know that.  We have to know it.  It seems as if Fr. Delp and the witnesses of the Nazi atrocities of WWII cry out to us:

"Are we prepared to promote conditions in which the living contact with God can be reestablished? For our lives today have become godless to the point of complete vacuity. God is no longer with us in the conscious sense of the word. He is denied, ignored, excluded from every claim to have a part in our daily life." - Alfred Delp, S.J.

And yet so many reject His Vicar and the teachings of the Church to suit our preferences.   Others, like Pentin, spread rumors and unsubstantiated stories to discredit the Holy Father and the Bishops in communion with him, feeding the flames, the climate of distrust.

What to do?

I often repeat the following from the JPII-Ratzinger CDF - it speaks of a similar complacency regarding moral issues:

There is an effort in some countries to manipulate the Church by gaining the often well-intentioned support of her pastors with a view to changing civil-statutes and laws. This is done in order to conform to these pressure groups' concept that homosexuality is at least a completely harmless, if not an entirely good, thing. - Letter to Bishops

That was promulgated in 1986 - how often has that been ignored - to the point that it is nearly completely ignored today?  Just saying.  So what can be done?

There are many, many evils today which we have become complacent about, anesthetized to.  We have a Pope constantly calling us out of our hiding places, from our tombs, calling those of us who take shelter in our comforts, 'anesthetized' Catholics:

"Christian hypocrites, like these, only interested in their formalities. It was a Sabbath? No, you cannot do miracles on the Sabbath, the grace of God cannot work on Sabbath days. They close the door to the grace of God. We have so many in the Church, we have many! It is another sin. The first, those who have the sin of sloth, are not able to go forward with their apostolic zeal, because they have decided to stand firm in themselves, in their sorrows, their resentments, in all of that. Such as these are not capable of bringing salvation because they close the door to salvation." - P. Francis

That's all I have to say on that.  Thanks for making me think, my friends.  I'm tired.

Many people mistake discernment with fault finding.

I love this photo because it reminds me

of when I was praying at Our Lady's altar

in the empty church in the gymn

at my grade school.* 

A note to self.

It seems to me, that in their discernment process, not a few devout Catholics seem to spend a lot of their time studying other Catholics, looking for any chink in their armor, any fault or indication something is morally wrong with them.  Like the Pharisees, they look for ways to entrap others they don't understand or happen to disagree with, while they sift and strain every word, every action, in order to condemn.  Today some Catholics do this not only to one another, they do it to the Pope.

What each man can change, first of all is himself. And each will have - indeed, must have - some influence on the people God brings into his life each day. He is expected to be a Christian, to influence them for good. He will in some small way at least touch their lives too, and it is in that touching that God will hold him responsible for the good or ill he does. In that simple truth lies the key to any understanding of the mystery of divine providence and ultimately of each man's salvation. " - He Leadeth Me

 *Photo note:  That was when some kids shouted out at me from the second floor, "Your dad is a jailbird!"  I learned early what it is like to be judged by others.

Dubia, dubia, do ...

"The soul in the state of abandonment can abstain from justifying itself by word or deed. The divine action justifies it." - Fr. de Caussade

Here you go ...

Anto Carte

Abandonment.

I mentioned that the other day in response to a friend concerning the Little Brother of Jesus called to become rector of the Roman seminary - his obedience is typical of the charism of the order.  Many are familiar with the Prayer of Blessed Charles:

Father,

I abandon myself into your hands;

do with me what you will.

Whatever you may do, I thank you:

I am ready for all, I accept all.

Let only your will be done in me,

and in all your creatures –

I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul:

I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,

for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,

to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,

and with boundless confidence,

for you are my Father.

That's how it goes.

It's good to always lose.

I forget that all the time.  I attempt to do what is beyond my ability, outside the realm of my responsibility.  It's good to be reminded of that.  I did some painting yesterday, it was a rainy cold day, so I stayed inside.  Later I came across my little book of consolation, and a holy card partially slipped out from a section it seemed Our Lady wanted me to read.  (It was her image on the card, Our Lady of Confidence.)  My eyes fell upon this:

"Poor souls who are so scorned by others despise themselves just as much as the others do. All they do, all they suffer seems as trifling and despicable to them as it does to others. There is nothing impressive about them. Everything is very ordinary. They are spiritually and mentally troubled, and their everyday lives are full of disappointments. They are often unwell and need many attentions and comforts, the very opposite of the austere poverty so much admired in the saints. In them we can see no burning zeal, no achievement of great enterprises, no overwhelming charity and no heroic austerity. Though united by faith and love to God, they find nothing but confusion in themselves. [...]" - de Caussade

What a consolation to find that section ... how often I need to return to it - especially in times of confusion, when I am confounded.  Thus I spent some time last night and this morning reading and thinking about these things.  It is a good reminder for me - a grace.  As Therese used to say, 'to even rejoice in my weakness'  - to be convinced of that once again, to love that - to love my misery and weakness and inability - ah, my disability.   To be found out.

Poor souls who are so scorned by others despise themselves just as much as the others do. Yes!

Section 7 - Conviction of Weakness.

The soul in the state of abandonment can abstain from justifying itself by word or deed. The divine action justifies it.

This order of the divine will is the solid and firm rock on which the submissive soul reposes, sheltered from change and tempest. It is continually present under the veil of crosses; and of the most ordinary actions. Behind this veil the hand of God is hidden to sustain and to support those who abandon themselves entirely to Him.

From the time that a soul becomes firmly established in abandonment, it will be protected from the opposition of talkers, for it need not ever say or do anything in self-defense. Since the work is of God, justification must never be sought elsewhere. Its effects and its consequences are justification enough. There is nothing but to let it develop "Dies diei eructat verbum"; "Day to day uttereth speech" (Ps xviii. 3). When one is no longer guided by reflection, words must no longer be used in self-defense. Our words can only express our thoughts; where no ideas are supposed to exist, words cannot be used. Of what use would they be? To give a satisfactory explanation of our conduct? But we cannot explain that of which we know nothing for it is hidden in the principle of our actions, and we have experienced nothing but an impression, and that in an ineffable manner. We must, therefore, let the results justify their principles.

All the links of this divine chain remain firm and solid, and the reason of that which precedes as cause is seen in that which follows as effect. It is no longer a life of dreams, a life of imaginations, a life of a multiplicity of words. The soul is no longer occupied with these things, nor nourished and maintained in this way; they are no longer of any avail, and afford no support.

The soul no longer sees where it is going, nor foresees where it will go; reflections no longer help it to gain courage to endure fatigue, and to sustain the hardships of the way. All this is swept aside by an interior conviction of weakness. The road widens as it advances; it has started, and goes on without hesitation. Being perfectly simple and straightforward, it follows the path of God's commandments quietly, relying on God Himself whom it finds at every step, and God, whom it seeks above all things, takes upon Himself to manifest His presence in such a way as to avenge it on its unjust detractors. - Abandonment to Divine Providence

Song for this post here.

I just found out the Marian Movement of Priests still exists.

Although I've always had my doubts about Fr. Gobbi's locutions.

Not that it matters what I think about them, but I didn't realize the MMP is still around and very faithful to the original consecration dictated by Gobbi.  Especially as it concerns the 'confusion in the Church' and fidelity to the Holy Father.

There are those who have doubts about the Pope’s teachings because of what is reported by the secular and even sometimes by the Catholic media. We are not to let ourselves be influenced by what the Pope might say during an impromptu interview. The Pope is infallible only when speaking ex cathedra (with Papal authority, from the Chair of Peter). I encourage you to read and meditate upon his original texts, not relying on other sources. We must warn all those who reject Pope Francis that they are in danger of heresy and are cutting themselves off from the Catholic faith. They increase the sorrow of Our Blessed Mother.

“Those will never fall who are always with the Pope.” (#106p)

Pope Francis and Mercy

I am saddened when I hear of those who do not support the Holy Father’s efforts to reach out to all sinners. Why is it that the same ones who espouse the message of Divine Mercy, as given to St. Faustina, do not accept Jesus’ embrace to sinners as exhibited by Pope Francis? At the beginning of his Papacy, he invited everyone to be sorry for their sins and to go to confession. He knows that all humanity, like the prodigal son, must come back to the Father before it is too late.

During this Year of Mercy, the Pope has been emphasizing a frequent theme of his – that no one can be excluded from God’s mercy. During his homily at the Mass during which he announced the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, he said, “I frequently have thought about how the church can make more evident its mission to be a witness of mercy.” According to St. Paul, Mercy is the highest attribute of God. Remember that the Blessed Mother promised that her Triumph will coincide with the Triumph of Divine Mercy! We should see a correlation. - Fr. Francis Geremia - 2016 Letter

Works for me.  (Although I'm not a follower.)

I had rather lie abject at the threshold of the house of my God ...

Carl Dobsky,The Lotus Eater

Today's Responsorial.

I would rather lie at the threshold of the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked. - Psalm 84

That psalm is used as an antiphon in the old Mass for St. Benedict Joseph Labre, and was given to me by my novice master when I was a novice.  I think of it often and it has remained my prayer ever since.

It is especially important for me today.

Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest ...

Blessed are they who dwell in your house!

Yet I had rather lie abject at the threshold of the house of my God
than dwell in the homes of the wicked.

Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson's 'Lord of the World'

Lord of the World

I noticed on Facebook that Aleteia has an article by Colin O'Brien on the book and its recommendation by Popes Benedict and Francis.  It's a prophetic book, no doubt.  I've written about it before, linking to Fr. John McCloskey's 2013 article, Introduction to Benson's 'Lord of the World'.  It's excellent.   I'll reprint an excerpt below.

Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson's Lord of the World is a novel about the Antichrist, who will tempt Christians to apostasy before Christ's Second Coming. It describes the final battle in the supernatural war for souls that has been fought continually both in heaven and on earth from the time of the Fall and will conclude with the general judgment; thereupon will follow the creation of a new heaven and a new earth. As we will see, before creating his fictional account, Msgr. Benson carefully explored the various passages on the endtimes included in Scripture and the teachings of the Church Fathers as background for this tale of the Antichrist.[...]I am, of course, drawing from traditional Catholic teaching regarding the events leading up to the Second Coming rather than to the hundreds of theories concerning the Antichrist, the Second Coming, and the Final Judgment that have multiplied in the thousands of Protestant denominations and sects whose authority is suspect at best and ludicrous at worst, given the absence of apostolic authority and divine foundation.
Blessed John Henry Newman says towards the end of the "Patristical Idea of Christ" that:

What I have said upon this subject may be summed up as follows: that the coming of Christ will be immediately preceded by a very awful and unparalleled outbreak of evil, called by St. Paul an Apostasy, a falling away, in the midst of which a certain terrible Man of sin and Child of perdition, the special and singular enemy of Christ, or Antichrist, will appear; that this will be when revolutions prevail, and the present framework of society breaks to pieces; and that at present the spirit which he will embody and represent is kept under by "the powers that be," but that on their dissolution, he will rise out of their bosom and knit them together again in his own evil way, under his own rule, to the exclusion of the Church. - Newman

These instances give us warning: Is the enemy of Christ, and His Church, to arise out of a certain special falling away from GOD?  - Finish reading here.

Sort of a Seven Quick Takes post that mommy bloggers do.

At least the Pope is nice to people like me.

I have to start being more honest.

I went to confession and I want to start all over again.  I want to stop trying to have everyone like me.  I want to be kind to others.  I also want to let others live and let live.  I want to be faithful to the Gospel.  I don't want to just post platitudes and parrot pop-catholic-cultural opinions and stuff like that.

Recently, an old friend from high school who friended me on Facebook started preaching his Protestant doctrine on why the pope is bad and why we shouldn't venerate Our Lady.  He's my age.  He should know better - especially hawking that crap in my direction.  Truth be told, I'm not engaging the guy who happens to be some sort of minister.  He has access to Catholic teaching, authentic Patristics and Mariology, and I'm not talking about the BS people come across online like 'my mother wears combat boots' or the crap the Fatamists and other cultists peddle, and to be sure the asinine prophecy crap from locutionists and so-called prophets who imagine quotes and personal relationships with the likes of Padre Pio as a form of credential. There is a catechism non Catholics can read, and even research the footnotes while they are at it.  They will be pleasantly surprised by the extent just about everything is based upon Scripture.

True, Catholics who blog would do better to write about those things that perplex non-Catholics, but it seems they would rather write about their stupid controversies and character assassinations of those who are placed in authority over them, than actually evangelize anyone.  Others enjoy writing their fiction and parodies about what the Church believes instead of being a witness to the faith.  But I digress.

A couple more quick takes ...

Earlier in the day I received a really nice note from a friend who confessed to me that he has problems understanding Pope Francis and some of the things he says and does. He was specifically referring to a Pentin article with a reference to an Italian woman, proponent of abortion who met with the pope and spoke to an Italian parish about immigration. I'll post my response here, without revealing my friend's name. The reason I want to post this is because it explains a lot about me and my faith in this so-called 'crises in the Church'.

Anyway ... My email response:

Dear Friend,

To be honest - I too have problems understanding some things, as they are reported, as they seem to be, as they are. (That's my discernment abilities at work - not very good, to be sure.) I just have a bigger problem with those who attribute evil intentions to the pope. My sense of the papacy is bigger than the man - but people think I idolize the pope or I'm blindly ultramontane and all of that crap. Not so. Not at all.

Years ago when I was in St. Peters, a mysterious nun appeared to me out of nowhere, she told me to look at the light coming into the Church, I turned to look at the light pouring in through the window at the front of the Basilica, I turned to say something to her but she was gone. It happened in a matter of seconds, and no one was around. She promised me we would meet again. I never knew what it meant, but soon after Paul VI died and eventually JPII came along to illuminate the Church with the mystery of light. What I take from that is we have Peter - at the helm - no matter what. If he is killed as in the 3rd secret and Don Bosco's dream, another Pope is soon elected to take the helm. So I can't worry or be distracted - although I am at times side-swipped by human frailty and misunderstandings within the hierarchy and clergy.

Be real.

I don't know what The Pope is doing at times either, but what I do understand, I like. I like a poor Church - Benedict predicted it. I can be confused or have a problem with things that happen - doesn't shake my faith. Take Fr. Martin's SJ recent book - I disagree with his joining with New Ways Ministry - but I get his concern and wanting to 'accompany' - and I'm convinced he's sincere and faithful to Catholic teaching. Sometimes people make mistakes. But there are horrid Catholics online calling him a sodomite, a homosexualist, a closet case, and so on - because he ministers to people who say they are LGBTQ.

Yet Joe Sciambra just wrote some stuff on Facebook about a gay sex fair he attended with the intention to evangelize. He conceded that he was hit on and flattered by the attention, but told the man he 'gave up sex for Jesus.' That's cool. He also posted he had bodily fluids splashed on him. He's at a sex fair for crying out loud!  He's in dangerous territory. Anyplace else it would be lewd conduct and against the law.  Nevertheless, he's accompanying people he calls gay until they follow him and then he says you can't say gay. The reality is, he's associating with people who identify as gay. Just like Fr. Martin.  Yet I doubt very much Martin would take in a gay sex fair.

Don't be crazy.

People will say, 'yeah but' - but what? Martin is a priest, he's straight, and reaches out to LGBTQ people and groups.

Sciambra is ssa - he identifies as formerly gay - and he reaches out to sex fair performers who splash bodily fluids on him. That's different alright. See what I'm getting at? It's maybe my version of a misperceptions theory, but I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one not getting it.

I think the Holy Father deals with reality, with real life - that's why I love him. He's honest. So is Sciambra - I hope - and so is Fr. Martin. I live in a place, you do too, where for the past 40+ years all sorts of people have spoken at Catholic universities and parishes. (We've hosted Gloria Steinem.) They've been protested, condemned, and Catholic teaching upheld. That's what bishops and clergy do, and in some cases laymen do too.

Leaving one's comfort zone.

I'm sort of tired of the double talk by anti-Francis people - almost as much as I am by so-called liberals and progressives - know what I'm saying? They agitate from both sides and fill cyberspace with exaggeration and lies, rumor and gossip, and discredit authority.

I didn't read the Pentin article, I don't like his journalism - he's a step above 1Peter5. That said, neither did I follow the story and blow back on the pope praising that woman for her support of immigration. P. Benedict may have done likewise - I can't remember where I've read some of his statements on dialogue and speaking and listening to 'gentiles' but I feel certain Benedict 'gets' what Francis says and does in speaking and associating with sinners. Call me naive and dumb - but what I don't understand, I surrender to God. If Ganzwein and significant others haven't resigned or abandoned ship, then I am not worried.

I could go on and on about the exasperation I can feel and sometimes experience as well - but I don't have the time or wit to do so. But I sometimes have problems too - I end up distrusting the news sources before I distrust the Holy Father. The things I don't get, I don't have to get. As Therese would say, I'm too little.

I'm not at all disturbed if you have problems with the pope, or disagree or anything like that. We are friends.

These problems will pass away.

One priest friend, well a couple, no longer message me. One friend reproved me telling me I didn't have to deal with all the people who come to him and say the pope ok'd this or that. I'm sure he didn't like it when I said that is the time to correct and teach the faith - with good humor. I told him what I'd say, "I don't know what the pope said or what people are saying he said, or what you think he meant - but this is what the Church teaches poodle, and it can't be changed." And then smile and say you are always available if they have any more questions.  Or just tell him the same thing matter-of-factly and let him go.

Another friend accused me of trying to channel Pope Francis - I thought that was funny and absurd at the same time. I have no authority to teach, nor would I dream of speaking for the Pope.  I'm capable of a healthy anti-clericalism all on my own, based upon experience, I might add.

'Supposing the Pope looked up and saw a cloud and said 'It's going to rain', would that be bound to happen?'

That said, Francis is the kind of Pope I idealized when I first came back to the Church - a poor pope, a pope who walks across the street to pick up a man who stumbled. A free pope, unencumbered by pageantry and the trappings of office.  Paul VI could only act symbolically, giving away the tiara. JPI only hinted at mercy and forgiveness even for the most habitual sinner. JPII taught the little ones not to be ashamed of piety and devotion - and not to be afraid! Benedict was kindness and mercy and love - deeper than any intellectual comprehension. Francis is all of these. It's the papacy, the chair of Peter that Catholics venerate - the vicar of Christ - not the man. Neither do we venerate volumes of encyclicals and dogmatic interpretations of this or that, like the Torah or Quran.

Simple Catholics, ordinary Catholics, little Catholics live with sinners, they are sinners; when challenged, they rely on the catechism, the scriptures, the rosary, the Mass, and the priest - if he is available to them, and not off in some vacation condo, or at a seminar, or the Acton Institute, or when his schedule is all filled up with fund raising and dinner engagements.

So, that'll do for today.

Yeah - not really - but I need to lighten up and not take myself so seriously.

St. Catherine of Siena called the Pope 'babbo'.

St. Catherine of Siena before Pope Gregory XI by Giovanni Pellegrini.

I like that.

Ah, my dear babbo, see that you attend to these things! Look for good virtuous men, and put them in charge of the little sheep. Such men will feed in the mystic body of holy Church not as wolves but as lambs. It will be for our good and for your peace and consolation, and they will help you to carry the great burdens I know are yours. It seems to me, gracious father, that you are like a lamb among wolves. But take heart and don't be afraid, for God's providential help will always be with you. Don't be surprised even though you see a great deal of opposition, and see that human help is failing us, and that those who should be helping us most disappoint us and act against us. Don't be afraid, but even more self-confident; don't give up or restrain your sweet holy desire, but let it be more enkindled with each day that passes. - St. Catherine

I still can't believe there are Catholics who persist in condemning our Holy Father.

Good, faithful, devout Catholics condemn and mock the Holy Father and say and print all sorts of evil things about him.  They mock every pronouncement, every appointment, every action.  That is protestant, that is schismatic.  (Schism leads almost invariably to denial of the papal primacy.)  And many of them profit from this - many ask donations to support their sites and work.  Lovers of money:  "Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so they also oppose the truth—people of depraved mind, unqualified in the faith."

"What the devil can't do himself he does by using other people. He takes up his position on the tongues and in the hearts of his servants and before their mind's eye. He makes them see what doesn't exist. So they conceive within their hearts all sorts of evil thoughts and resentments regarding their neighbors - often regarding those they most love." - S. Catherine of Siena

"Even if [the Pope an incarnate devil], we ought not to raise up our heads against him, but calmly lie down to rest on his bosom... He who rebels against our Father is condemned to death, for that which we do to him we do to Christ: we honor Christ if we honor the Pope; we dishonor Christ if we dishonor the Pope." - S. Catherine of Siena

Toties Quoties ... Feast of the Porziuncola

St. Francis loved this place above all others.

For there had also been built in that place a church of the Virgin Mother who merited by Her singular humility to be, after Her son, the head of all the saints. In this church the Order of Friars Minor had its beginning, there, as on a firm foundation, when their number had grown, the noble fabric of the order arose. The holy man loved this place above all others; this place he commanded his brothers to venerate with a special reverence; this place he willed to be preserved as a model of humility and highest poverty for their order, reserving the ownership of it to others, and keeping only the use of it for himself and his brothers. - Thomas of Celano

As is well known, St. Francis obtained from Our Lady 

what is known as the Porziuncola Indulgence 

- or Great Pardon of Assisi - 

which can be gained by any of the faithful

 on The 2nd of August from Midnight to Midnight. 

For information on the plenary indulgence, go here.

Prayer of St. Francis

Hail, O Lady, Holy Queen,Mary, holy Mother of God: you are the Virgin chosen by the most Holy Father in heaven whom He consecrated with His most holy beloved Son and with the Holy Spirit the Paraclete, in whom there was and is all fullness of grace and every good.

Hail His Tabernacle! 

Hail His Dwelling! 

Hail His Robe!

Hail His Servant! 

Hail His Mother!

And hail all you holy virtuesWhich are poured into the hearts of the faithfulthrough the grace and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit,that from being unbelievers,you may make them faithful to God. Amen.

Our Lady of the Angels.

August Queen of Heaven, sovereign queen of Angels, you who at the beginning received from God the power and the mission to crush the head of Satan, we beseech you humbly, send your holy legions so that, on your orders and by your power, they will track down demons, fight them everywhere, curb their audacity and plunge them into the hell.

Who can be compared to God? Oh good and tender Mother, you will always be our love and our hope. Oh divine Mother, send the Holy Angels and Archangels to defend me and to keep the cruel enemy far from me. Holy Angels and Archangels defend us, protect us. Amen. - Source

At the explicit request of the Holy Father.

Piccoli Fratelli di Jesus Caritas

Little Brother of Jesus, Father Gabriele Faraghini released for service as seminary rector in Rome.

This is real.  I'm stunned.  The Little Brothers of Jesus follow in the footsteps of Bl. Charles de Foucauld.  They live in poverty.  They work.  They live simply.  They are the type of religious Pope Francis praises, they live on the peripheries.  I am so edified by this news.

"The explicit request of Pope Francis" that Father Gabriele Faraghini, 51, be released for service as the seminary rector "was, for our little fraternity, a bolt out of the blue, a novelty that literally floored everyone," said a note posted on the brothers' website. But the order's general chapter confirmed the nomination, which was announced July 31.

Most of the brothers live in small communities with a home life revolving around eucharistic adoration and prayer. Many of them, the priests included, are manual laborers, who strive simply to be a presence of friendship and solidarity with their co-workers and neighbors. Service in diocesan institutions and offices is not a normal part of their ministry, although it is not explicitly excluded.

Father Faraghini studied at the Rome diocesan seminary and was ordained for the Diocese of Rome in 1992, although he already had begun exploring the teachings of Blessed Charles and life with the Little Brothers of Jesus, according to the order's announcement of his appointment. Superiors at the seminary had encouraged him to continue toward ordination while discerning his "call within the call" to priesthood and religious life.

He spent five years in parish ministry in Rome before beginning his formal formation with the Little Brothers in Foligno, Italy. He did his novitiate in Nazareth before returning to Italy and making his profession as a member of the order. - Finish reading here.

It's a little thing - with great big symbolism.  It gives me hope - renews my confidence.  If people do not get Pope Francis, it's because they don't get Christ and his saints: Francis of Assisi, Clare, Teresa and John, Therese, Charles de Foucauld - the Holy Family of Nazareth.

People are weird.

Each and every one.  So weird.

Mass Chat: I think The Remnant has morphed into Norvus Ordo Watch ...

Saturday, July 29, 2017 Next Stage in the Bergoglian Debacle: Gay Church Comes Out - Written by Christopher A. Ferrara

Bergolian? Gay Church?  

After a life of errors and falls and ...

Let yourself be taught. - John of the Cross 

Your own power and strength must collapse sooner or later. Strictly speaking, there is nothing you can call exclusively your own strength. Any kind of strength is a gift - a gift that you usually claim as your own, and that is why it must be taken from you. - Fr. Tadeusz Dajczer