On this Ascension Thursday, I am reminded of a critically important, but all-too-often overlooked, part of the Church’s doctrine concerning the Kingship of Christ.
In the words of Pope Pius XI:
“We cannot but see that the title and the power of King belongs to Christ as man in the strict and proper sense. For it is only as man that he may be said to have received from the Father ‘power and glory and a kingdom,’ since the Word of God, as consubstantial with the Father, has all things in common with him, and therefore has necessarily supreme and absolute dominion over all things created.” (Quas Primas 7)
So, what exactly is the Holy Father saying?
He is telling us that the Eternal Word – the second Person of the Blessed Trinity – has always possessed Kingly authority, and yet that authority has truly been given to Jesus Christ, true God and true man, such that the title and the power of King belongs to Our Lord in His sacred humanity.
The former sense of Divine Kingship, it seems, is the only one with which the great majority of modern day churchmen are even remotely comfortable.
Consider just how often they like to remind us (usually during the Novus Ordo Feast of Christ the King – the one day per year that they are forced to say something about the Lord’s Kingship), Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world!’
The punchline is always the same: Don’t expect Christ to reign in this world! Rather, it is enough to let Him reign in your hearts.
In other words, there is no Social Kingship of Christ!
To speak in such a way is to behave as if the Incarnation never happened, and our prayer is no different than that of the Jews who reject Jesus Christ while crying out, “Avinu, Malkeinu!” (Our Father, Our King!)
It is also necessarily to behave as if the Ascension of Our Lord never happened, as this too can only be understood in light of His sacred humanity and thus the Incarnation.
St. Thomas Aquinas teaches:
“Yet the Ascension is in keeping with Christ according to His human nature, which is limited by place, and can be the subject of motion. In this sense, then, we can say that Christ ascended into heaven as man, but not as God.” (Summa Theologiae III, q. 57, art. 2)
Having ascended, it is from His place at the right hand of the Father that Jesus Christ reigns as man in the strict and proper sense; all authority having been given to Him in Heaven and on earth – this latter truth informing the Church’s doctrine concerning the Social Kingship of Christ.
How should this understanding of Our Lord’s Ascension and His Kingship impact the way in which the Church carries out her mission?
For one thing, this knowledge should move us to make it known that those who deliberately withhold honor and worship from Jesus Christ cannot properly honor and worship God, in truth, as is every man’s duty according to the first demand of justice.
At its most basic, justice is rendering unto another what is due, and in the hierarchy of the demands of justice, God comes first.
As such, we must render unto God all that is due to Him first and foremost – not in whatever way we happen to see fit, but as He Himself wills and has made known to us by way of revelation; the same that He commissioned His Church to teach to all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
And so it is that the Church and her churchmen, as well as her lay members, can in no way encourage non-Catholics to persist in their false religions; most especially those that plainly reject Jesus Christ by name.
Even so…
“Then [we refer] to the adorers of God according to the conception of monotheism, the Muslim religion especially, deserving of our admiration for all that is true and good in their worship of God.” (Paul VI, Ecclesiam Suam 107, August 6, 1964)
“My brothers, when I think of this spiritual heritage (Islam) and the value it has for man and for society, its capacity of offering, particularly in the young, guidance for life, filing the gap left by materialism, and giving a reliable foundation to social and juridical organization, I wonder if it is not urgent, precisely today when Christians and Muslims have entered a new period of history, to recognize and develop the spiritual bonds that unite us, in order to preserve and promote together for the benefit of all men, ‘peace, liberty, social justice and moral values’ as the Council calls upon us to do. (John Paul II, address to the Catholic community of Ankara, Turkey, November 29, 1979)
“I am pleased to welcome you to this gathering that I wanted to arrange in order to strengthen the bonds of friendship and solidarity between the Holy See and Muslim communities throughout the world … I should like to reiterate today all the esteem and the profound respect that I have for Muslim believers.” (Benedict XVI, address to the representatives of the Muslim communities, Castel Gandolfo, September 25, 2006)
“Turning to mutual respect in interreligious relations, especially between Christians and Muslims, we are called to respect the religion of the other, its teachings, its symbols, its values. Particular respect is due to religious leaders and to places of worship.” (Francis, Message to Muslims throughout the world for the end of Ramadan, July 10, 2013)
What are we witnessing in these abominable quotes?
Simply put, denial of the Ascension; denial of Our Lord’s Kingship, and, ultimately, denial of the Incarnation; apart from which there is no Christian faith.
In other words, apostasy.
As Cardinal Mario Luigi Ciappi, who was the personal papal theologian to Popes John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I and John Paul II, stated in a personal communication to a Professor Baumgartner in Salzburg:
“In the Third Secret it is foretold, among other things, that the great apostasy in the Church will begin at the top.”
Our Lady of Fatima, ora pro nobis!
Archbishop Lefebvre quotes:
“Rome has lost the Faith, my dear friends. Rome is in apostasy. These are not words in the air. It is the truth. Rome is in apostasy… They have left the Church… This is sure, sure, sure.”
“The See of Peter and the posts of authority in Rome are being occupied by anti-Christs, the destruction of the Kingdom of Our Lord is being rapidly carried out even in His Mystical Body here below… This is what has brought down upon our hearts persecution by the Rome of the anti-Christs. This Rome, Modernist and Liberal, is carrying on its work on the destruction of the Kingdom of Our Lord, as Assisi and the confirmation of the liberal theses of Vatican on Religious Liberty prove…”
“Understand me rightly! – We are not against the pope insofar as he represents all the values of the Apostolic See which are unchanging, of the See of Peter, but we are against the pope insofar as he is a modernist who does not believe in his own infallibility, who practices ecumenism. Obviously, we are against the Conciliar Church which is virtually schismatic, even if they deny it. In practice, it is a Church virtually excommunicated because it is a Modernist Church. We are the ones that are excommunicated while and because we wish to remain Catholic, we wish to stay with the Catholic Pope and with the Catholic Church – that is the difference.”
I hope the Good Lord has mercy on those of us who feel like helpless pawns in these days. So many poor Catholics are not sure which way to go. It is easier to say find a TLM than to actually find one. Many are stuck between a rock and a hard place. The elderly are often stuck with their local NO church. There are lots of Catholics who have been led down the primrose path, led away from the true faith into error and social justice obsessions. The world is falling apart and our leaders can only talk Marxism. It truly feels like a world gone mad. May God have pity on us.
It has taken around sixty years to reach the edge of this cliff. Satan & his minions have done a great job in dismantling the One Holy Catholic & Apostolic Church, but it is not all over yet. This is reputed to be the final year (ending in October) of the hundred Our Lord gave Satan to wreck His Church, as witnessed by Leo XIII who composed the Leonine Prayers to be said at the end of Holy Mass prior to VII. Although Our Lady’s request to consecrate Russia to Her Immaculate Heart has not yet been properly carried out in accordance with her instructions, we do have her promise that it will be, but late.
All popes & hierarchies for the past six decades have come from the infiltrators placed in seminaries by Bella Dodd, the remnants of whom are now ageing with many already dead. While the recent appointments to the College of Cardinals makes it unlikely that PF’s successor will comply in obedience to Our Lady’s wishes, world events may, indeed, make them come to heel. It will be one hundred years in 2029 since she made her request in Tuy for this to be done & that was the time limit given to the King of France to consecrate that country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus which was ignored, the consequences of which are still being rained upon them.
So true, we are living in the times of the , Great Apostasy and surely it is from the very top on down. Francis is out to destroy the traditional Church and baring diving intervention, he will succeed. If Francis believes as a good Catholic, then count me out of that ,”church”. The passion of the Church continues and it is so painful to watch.
Dear MaryIloveHer,
You always have such great quotes, any chance you could reference them? I would like to use them, but it is difficult not knowing when and where they were stated. Archbishop Lefebvre, pray for us!
There is also the 100 year anniversary of the first mention by Our Lady of the request for the Consecration of Russia on July 13, 2017.
“What are we witnessing in these abominable quotes?
Simply put, denial of the Ascension; denial of Our Lord’s Kingship, and, ultimately, denial of the Incarnation; apart from which there is no Christian faith.
In other words, apostasy.”
+ Plus a dash or 2 of devil worshipping
“In other words, apostasy” I think theologically Vatican II Popes should be considered Apostates not just heretics. Fr. Gruner said “Francis has not been a Catholic for a long time, if he ever was one”
FatherMonk
For the above quotes:
“Rome has lost the Faith …(Archbishop Lefebvre, Retreat Conference, September 4, 1987)
“The See of Peter and the posts of authority in Rome …(Archbishop Lefebvre, Letter to the future Bishops, Aug 29, 1987)
Understand me rightly! – We are not against the pope…(Archbishop Lefebvre, Interview, One Year after the Consecrations, 1989)
I think if you copy and paste a couple of sentences of the quote into your search (or just websearch) you should be able to go right to the source.
Islam considers Jesus Christ the penultimate prophet while Jews explicitly reject Him by name. Islam has an interesting connection to Fatima and they venerate the Virgin Mary. Islam also outlaws usury. Those who self identity as Jews are a highly funded and organized “cult” that controls much of western culture, finance and politics. A rabbi probably wrote the koran. They are “perfidious.” Both are bad, one is worse. The Vatican exhibits admiration and adoration for both.
” What are we witnessing in these abominable quotes?”
Our Lady of LaSalette: “Rome will lose the Faith and become the Seat of the Antichrist.” “The Church will be in eclipse, the world will be in dismay.” “The Church will have a frightful crisis.”
We have been presented with and have existentially embraced the grandest illusion that has heretofore beset mankind. Were it not for Our Lady and our Love, as our Mother and the Mother of the One Who Is Love, we would have no recourse to the Truth in this time, as it relates to the very specific warnings of LaSalette and the loss of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Faith in Rome, which would then become the Seat of the Antichrist. As Rome has indeed in the temporal now, lost the Faith, for anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear, those human persons who do know, find themselves lamenting the loss of the very Bride of Christ in this world, His Mystical Body, to the wolves. At once we know with certitude that His Church prevails unto the end of time, we also know He commanded—- when the Son of Man returns, will He find any faith left upon the earth?
The partial eclipse of the Church began in 1958, with the assent of Cardinal Siri, as Pope Gregory XVII. He, under duress, abdicated not once, but through three subsequent faux meetings of the College of Cardinals, to elect 3 more, after Roncalli, anti-Popes to the Chair of Saint Peter. Perhaps Siri, as Pope Gregorious XVII (who died in 1989) was the one Our Lady spoke of when she said, I believe to Lucia, “And the one who should speak will remain silent”. This reality of the coercive abdication of Cardinal Siri from the Throne of Peter (http://www.padrepioandchiesaviva.com/padrepio-chiesaviva.html), even when placed aside, the authentically Catholic intellect is simply abandoned and left to undergo utter cognitive dissonance when faced with the reality of the acts of the 6 (realizing JPI was dead in 33 days) post-conciliar “pontiffs”. Simply reading the four “pontifical” quotes that Louie included above, regarding the satanic religion of Islam, one must acknowledge that something is patently wrong with what these “popes” have said, as what they have said utterly places an affront to Divine Caritas, regarding the salvific mission of the One True Faith, established on earth by the Son of God made Man, for the singular purpose of the salvation of all souls.
The One True Church now finds Herself in total eclipse, as evidenced by this malevolent “pontificate” of Bergoglio, a slave from hell. What the authentically Catholic intellect must acknowledge and give his free will assent to, is the Catholic reality that when a Pope speaks from the General Magisterium, which is on faith and morals and carries the charism from the Holy Ghost of Papal infallibility, that same authentically Catholic intellect must freely submit to the teaching authority of the Roman Pontiff, suppressing his own operation of intellect if need be, to the full authority of Peter’s successor, with the pain of hell as an utter consequence of the failure of the freely giving of one’s own will, to the will of Peter, as the Vicar of Christ in this wretched world. Enter “Amoris Laetitia”. We have in this encyclical, as that is what it is, as “being cannot both be and not be at the same time and under the same respect” (the Law of Non-contradiction), an utter affront placed against the Will of Almighty God, as His Sixth Commandment. This “being” as encyclical, cannot both be an encyclical and not be an encyclical, at the same time and under the same respect, as encyclical. In other words, it cannot be crafted as an “encyclical” and at once not be an encyclical because it contains profound dogmatic error. One need not be a theologian to see such realities as truth, rather one simply need be authentically Catholic. What is happening on the Catholic landscape writ large, is an attempt at placing a square peg into a round hole. As with certitude, Holy Mother Church cannot place within Her midst an internal contradiction to Truth, because He is a divine Person as Jesus the Christ, thus we cannot have an encyclical created by a Holy Roman Pontiff that contradicts the very Faith from which it flows as its wellspring. In plain truth, what we have in our midst as “Amoris Laetitia”, is an anti-encyclical which is being parlayed by a false Pope Bergoglio (false as there is no validly, canonically elected Pope who is yet alive, with Pope Gregorious XVII having died in 1989), who is the false Pope of the church of the Antichrist, who is preaching the anti-Gospel, as according to Our Blessed Lady, Rome has lost the Faith and become the Seat of the Antichrist. Only when these realities are confronted as they indeed existentially manifest themselves, is the law of non-contradiction not abridged and as thus, utter cognitive dissonance does not occur within the properly ordered Catholic intellect.
In closing, what we indeed have in our midst, is the church of the Antichrist which calls itself Catholic and is believed to be so, as it is in full control of the entire temporal edifice of the Catholic Church over the entire globe. This church of the Antichrist does have a pope but he is not, “The Pope”, as “The Pope”, is in full eclipse along with the authentic, One and True, Holy Catholic Church, as Our Lady prophesied would indeed occur. As the Church Herself is in full eclipse, so can Her true Vicar only be, as one cannot be visible without the other. This church of the Antichrist preaches the anti-Gospel, all for the purpose of the revelation of the person of the Antichrist. What this summa and summit of, as quintessential deception has accomplished, within our existentially manifest reality now, is the creation of the Great Apostasy, while at once also the Great Chastisement, as Our Lady promised at LaSalette, “The Church will have a frightful crisis”. For what could possibly be a more frightful crisis than to have the overwhelming majority of the now 1.2 billion baptized Catholics in utter apostasy without even knowing it, as they pray within the church of the Antichrist. As Saint Paul warned us in his letter to the Romans, chapter one, “They [we] have no excuse”, as they know God but refuse to worship Him as God. I pray this helps. In caritas.
I notice that you always refer to LaSalette, but you must consider Our Lady’s ultimate prophecy (as of now) at Fatima. Are you able, succinctly, to reconcile the two?
Good afternoon John314,
The prophecies are in fact, One in Truth. There is no distinction as to the reality of the message in its totality, as there can be no internal contradiction in our Lady’s prophesy, as in one against another. Her “contemporary message”, if you will, began in 1846 with LaSalette, followed with Lourdes in 1858, thirty-three years from LaSalette to Knock in 1879, ending with Fatima in 1917. It was in about 1625 when She appeared to Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres at, “Our Lady of Good Success”, in Quito, Ecuador, where She foretold of the Great Apostasy of the latter half of the 20th century. She also promised Mother Mariana that She would be present there at the monastery in Quito, until the end of time.
And so quoting Louie from above: “As Cardinal Mario Luigi Ciappi, who was the personal papal theologian to Popes John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I and John Paul II, stated in a personal communication to a Professor Baumgartner in Salzburg:”
‘ “In the Third Secret it is foretold, among other things, that the great apostasy in the Church will begin at the top.” ‘
We now know, as can only remain as res ipsa loquitur and therefore it is now knowable whether we had the Third Secret of Fatima regarding where the apostasy would start or not, the Great Apostasy has begun at the top. For those who now do not recognize this reality are willfully blinded, as there can be not one iota of internal contradiction in Truth, proffered by a true Vicar of Christ. If the Vicar could error in the Magisterium, then the Church simply could not prevail until the end of time. By definition, apostasy requires one to have first held the Faith before he rejects it, wittingly or unwittingly. For those who are in apostasy unwittingly will find themselves in such a state as they have assumed the operation of error, in lieu of grace, for the life of sin that is freely chosen. In caritas.
There is a very interesting multi part series on the Apparition of Our Lady at Knock. The series also shows the many striking similarities between La Salette, Lourdes and Fatima. It is well worth your time.
http://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/a056_Knock_1.html
Yes, thank-you for the reply. And we do find ourselves in a dire situation, foretold of course by Our Lady. But what of a solution? Has heaven provided one? Well yes—the consecration of Russia by the Pope and his bishops. You left this out of your reply. So we have an Antichrist as Pope, or there is no Vicar, yet the Pope is the only solution…?