I’m sure you’ve seen the headlines…
Pope Francis Credited With Performing ‘Miracle’ As St. Gennaro’s Blood Liquifies (Huffington Post)
Pope Francis Performs ‘Miracle’ In Naples (Christian Post)
Pope Francis credited for ‘half-miracle’ (AOL News)
A far more accurate headline, however, would read:
San Gennaro urges Pope Francis to conversion!
There has been no small amount of handwringing among some traditionalists (aka Catholics) over the events that took place at the Cathedral in Naples on Saturday.
(Though some questions remain concerning exactly when the blood of San Gennaro liquefied, the story is well known enough that I needn’t repeat it in its entirety here.)
According to Vatican Insider, when Cardinal Crescenzo Sepe, the Archbishop of Naples, noticed what had happened, he exclaimed, “It is the sign that St. Gennaro loves Pope Francis: half of the blood turned to liquid!”
So, what are we to make of this story?
Look, none of us knows for certain what happened in that Cathedral, much less why it happened, but there are some things about which there simply is no room for doubt.
First and foremost, we can say without any hesitation whatsoever, of course San Gennaro loves Pope Francis!
In fact, he loves the Bishop of Rome (and us) so much that he desires that the Holy Father should sentire cum ecclesia – to think, to feel, to behave and to govern according to the mind of the Holy Catholic Church.
In other words, San Gennaro, whose will is perfectly united with the will of the Almighty, desires that Pope Francis undergo a profound conversion.
The Patron Saint of Naples, just like most of the readers here, deeply desires that Pope Francis should cease denigrating faithful Catholics simply for embracing immutable doctrine, loving the Mass of Ages, and having babies.
Pope Francis, for his part, responded by saying:
If only half of it liquefied that means we still have work to do; we have to do better. We have only half of the saint’s love.
I can appreciate the attempt at humour, but let’s not kid ourselves.
When Pope Francis says “we have to do better,” all indications are that he means to say, “We have to redouble our efforts to fight youth unemployment, put an end to global warming, value same sex attraction, and welcome those in adulterous relationships to Holy Communion apart from any real remedy!”
So, long story short, you won’t find me wringing my hands over the events of last Saturday, and neither should you.
We know what our Holy Catholic faith teaches. We know when it is under attack. Nothing has changed.
At least not yet.
Bergoglio makes my blood boil!!!!!
God loves Pope Francis? Sure. He loved Judas too!
Dear Louie,
Well said. It did make us stop and think about what message God might be sending through those events, and how frustrating it is for us to have so many people assuming it’s a sign God approves of all he’s been doing.
Ultimately our reason and love tell us to keep speaking out against all that he does that harms the Faith and can lead souls away from repentance for sin, while we continue to love him enough to pray that he has that full conversion you mentioned.
God Bless you for your Faith and common sense in this matter
“We know what our Holy Catholic faith teaches. We know when it is under attack. Nothing has changed.”
Good common sense. Thank you.
The Remnant published an interesting article on this topic, talking about the last time this happened to a Pope visiting Naples; relating the persecutions the Pope underwent just after it, and how they seemed to make him into a better, holier, less liberal Pontiff. Encouraging words.
http://catholicozarks.blogspot.com/2015/03/pope-francis-and-blood-of-saint.html
If I recall correctly not only does the blood liquify on the two dates mentioned but also before great calamities.
To all who love the Church: A little Off Topic, but feeding our hunger for Truth from the Hierarchy, there’s a nice long, new, wide-ranging LifeSiteNews
interview with Cardinal Burke (just in time for tomorrow’s Double Feastday of the Annunciation/Incarnation) 🙂 🙂
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/exclusive-interview-cardinal-burke-says-confusion-spreading-among-catholics
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Sample Quote:
Cardinal Burke: “If you are living publicly in a state of mortal sin there isn’t any good act that you can perform that justifies that situation: the person remains in grave sin. We believe that God created everyone good, and that God wants the salvation of all men, but that can only come about by conversion of life. And so we have to call people who are living in these gravely sinful situations to conversion. And to give the impression that somehow there’s something good about living in a state of grave sin is simply contrary to what the Church has always and everywhere taught.”
LifeSiteNews: “So when the man in the street says, yes, it’s true these people are kind, they are dedicated, they are generous, that is not enough?
Cardinal Burke: “Of course it’s not. It’s like the person who murders someone and yet is kind to other people”
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Common sense is such music to our ears.
“At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. . . . For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect – if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time” (Matthew ;24 NIV).
With his antecedent will, but not his consequent will. 🙂
Dear ACT,
If we understand St. Thomas’ description of antecedent and consequent will correctly, those involve God’s not wanting anyone to be lost, and His act of judging –all based on the person’s free will actions/choices which at the moment of death become permanently fixed. Neither one involves any change in God’s love – whether a soul has chosen to be with Him in eternity or to be separated from Him.
So it seems to us that Christophorus 67 ‘s statement is true. Did you have something else in mind?
Mons. Pope has a very good explanation of these matters:
http://blog.adw.org/2011/02/does-god-love-the-souls-in-hell-then-why-do-they-suffer/
Can anyone say schmirical? The devil can use the ‘spectacular’ to keep people confirmed in their delusion, which is why the Saints consistantly teach that we shouldn’t place too much stock in a perceived ‘mircale’. The Church teaches us, when it comes to miracles, to wait for the fruits before deciding the source of the miracle. Remember when Benedict exorcised two men by merely being in proximity them in St Peter’s sqaure? And remember When Wojtyla failed spectacularly to exorcise someone of a demon in the Vatican?
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Here are the fruits of Frankie’s spectacles: ….We have to redouble our efforts to fight youth unemployment, put an end to global warming, value same sex attraction, and welcome those in adulterous relationships to Holy Communion apart from any real remedy….ah the miracles keep comin.
Maybe I’m just a Doubting Thomas? I saw several reports of this half miracle, a number of photos and a video. I studied them all closely. In the video,I noticed that the fingers of the pope and his helper kept obscuring the camera’s view of the contents of the vial until the vial was eventually hidden by a prayer book. Still several of the photos, including the one at the top of this blog, clearly show the bottom/floor of the vial and there is no fluid meniscus visible! Not even half a one! Funny, but the coagulum doesn’t change shape either? I hear that the blood did eventually liquefy, I suppose after Francis had departed. Anyway, a nasty little thought crept into my mind. Wouldn’t it be of great propaganda value for the Faithful if San Gennaro performed even half a miracle to endorse “Pope” Francis? Perish the thought! As I said, a nasty, suspicious little mind!
The thought was created before either of us came along so-s that we’d go…duh…duh…duh…shuah. We are warned to be suspicious of all spectacle that is PR for anit-Church, anti-Christ falsehood.
The blood was plainly and clearly very liquid before the Pope had received it. There is a shot just before the shot of St Janarius which shows FREE FLOWING LIQUID.
http://gloria.tv/media/wvdEZGkSJH8
From the video above it looks like it was actually SOLID AFTER the encounter with Pope Francis! I wonder if it solidified in his hands…… 🙂
ROFL !
I have read that sometimes the liquefaction occurs when the Saint warns of impending disaster or is “angry” Mmmm. Also it looks to me like they can barely keep as stole on the Bishop of Rome for ten seconds… Mmmmm.