By: Fr. Demetrius
Dear Faithful Catholics:
I address you as such because my assumption is that if you are a regular visitor to this blog site then you are a very well informed and faithful Catholic. I am grateful to Louie Verrecchio for his enlightening and inspiring (and often entertaining) material in defense of the true Catholic Faith and for this opportunity to reach a much larger congregation of faithful Catholics than is possible in my own parish church setting.
It is not my intent here to undertake a critical examination of the recent papal Exhortation Amoris Laetitia or to comment specifically upon any of the many other heterodox words and actions of the current Bishop of Rome, as Francis himself prefers to be called. Louie has done a yeoman’s job keeping us informed and educated throughout this horrific pontificate. Clearly his blog site is one of the good fruits of the internet.
Divine Providence has determined that each one of us should now be living in this unprecedented period in the history of the Church Militant. You have likely heard the English expression, “May you live in interesting times” which is said to be derived from an ancient Chinese curse. Perhaps; though a better known oriental curse is “Better to be a dog in a peaceful time, than to be a human in a chaotic period.”
We Christians need not think of the present circumstances as a curse but rather a blessing and an occasion for personal sanctification and whatever else God intends for us and the Church. For as Saint Paul said to the early Christians who were suffering persecution at the hands of corrupt religious leaders and the pagan world powers, “It is through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.” Amen to that!
What are particularly distressing and unsettling to those of us who adhere steadfastly to the true Catholic Faith are the source of the heterodoxy and the silence of the shepherds. Make no mistake about it we have a rogue pope who is deceptively misleading the Church. Some liken the silence of the hierarchy in the face of this to the Emperor with No Clothes. But it’s even worse than that. Francis is not naked (though the image fits, as a biblical symbol of religious infidelity); rather, he is a wolf disguised as a shepherd.
My short and simple message to you is this: remain steadfast in the Rule of Faith. By that I mean remain steadfast in what God has divinely revealed in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Do not be misled by the novelties of the past fifty years and do not be deceived by the words and deeds of modernists, to include Francis. Apply the Catholic Smell Test: if something does not seem to be consistent or compatible with what the Catholic Church has always believed, taught and practiced, then it is probably not Catholic.
It is disheartening, to say the least, that there are not more voices of prelates and pastors decrying the heterodoxy of the present times and the religious outrages of this particular pope. But remember that you are not alone and that in every period and circumstance in which true religion has been persecuted, whether from within or without, the divine Hand of Providence always preserved a remnant faithful few.
Each of us has a role to play in this time of ecclesiastical and cosmic chaos and confusion. For pastors it is to protect the flock entrusted to our care and for parents it is to protect your children from error. For all of us it means witnessing to the truth in whatever manner and circumstances Providence provides us. Many of us are convinced that we are witnessing and engaging in an apocalyptic drama that is sure to be world-altering if not world-ending. Semper fidem tene – always keep the Faith and keep connected to this blog!
– Fr. Demetrius is a diocesan priest, Scripture scholar, and pastor in the United States
BAM-!! I truly needed to hear this message right now. Thank you, Louie and Fr. Demetrius.
Thank you, Fr. Demetrius.
May God bless you and protect you.
My thanks go to you also.
“ecclesiastical and cosmic chaos and confusion”—-perfect description of the postconciliar church especially now during the papacy of Jorge Bergoglio. It is comforting to know that there are priests out there who fully understand the seriousness of this battle. May God give each and everyone of us the grace to sustain us and give us strength and fortitude to remain steadfast warriors. I fear the situation will get worse before it gets better. Thank you, Father. God bless you and keep you safe.
I always learn from your writings, dear Anastasia.
(AND I bought “The Apostolic Origins of Priestly Celibacy.”)
So happy that I have been pulled out of the gutters!
“Apply the Catholic Smell Test: if something does not seem to be consistent or compatible with what the Catholic Church has always believed, taught and practiced, then it is probably not Catholic.”
Very true and very much common sense teaching. Why then do we keep calling this man pope if what he universally teaches to the Catholic Church is not Catholic (and make NO MISTAKE, AL is BEYOND any doubt vatican 2 universal teaching, just as bergoglio himself would tell you if you asked him)?
Dear Father Demetrius,
Thank you for your words of encouragement. May Our Lady shield you with her mantle. It is heartening to know there are diocesan priests ministering to weak souls not with tainted pablum, but with true food for the battle. Your reward will be great come the Day of Judgement. God Keep You! St Margaret Clitherow, pray for your holy priests.
rich–I understand what you are saying. I think there are many Catholics (myself included) who refer to him simply as Francis or Bergoglio. Sadly, it does not matter how many individuals refuse to acknowledge this man as “Pope” because in the eyes of the World, he is the Pope. To make matters even worse, he is the pope “of the world” because he blends in with the world in the most horrible sense. Our Lord warned that the world would hate us because it hated Him first. The World loves Bergoglio. Do we have to wonder why???
My2cents, my thinking is simply this….and I know most on this site will disagree, to some degree or another, with me here: if I know in my heart that he is not Catholic and therefore not possibly a pope, and the entire vatican 2 church is not Catholic, then how much possible harm am I doing by referring to them as such? How culpable am I for lending the man or the institution credence? If a wayward Catholic hears me call bergoglio pope francis, am I leading that wayward Catholic further down the wrong path without even meaning to? Im not too much concerned with talking to people who are striving to be good Catholics as I am with talking to those who are severely lost…..like, unfortunately, members of my own family are. If I dont denounce this man and his false religion for exactly what they are, am I not doing wrong?
As always, thanks for your comment…I do appreciate your feedback.
If the Church is infallible, why should the teachings it proposes to me be required to pass my own personal “smell test”? Personal judgement is for protestants, not Catholics.
If the ordinary daily universal teaching of the Church is riddled with error, and has been so for the past half-century, then the gates of hell have prevailed. Period. Close the book.
Francis is the biblical false prophet we are here in these end times earthquakes & volcanoes will continue to increase WW3 & the economy will be made to collapse so as to go to a digital currency the Antichrist will make his apperence as the peace maker with all the solutions to social problems. He will introduce the mark of the beast which will be the implatable microchip.
It’s always a soothing relief when a priest speaks of the full reality of the situation. God Bless you father and may I say how fortunate your parishioners (and us here) are to have you.
For whatever reason, it is commonly believed that the Catholic Church (under the guise of the false vatican 2 church obviously) can freely promote universal error, which leads souls directly to hell, as long as it is labeled as simply being “pastoral” (no actual pope ever taught this, but whatever). According to the vatican 2 way of thinking, when something is simply”pastoral”, (as the entire vatican 2 council supposedly was….in addition to basically every word that ever came out of a “popes” mouth since vatican 2 took place), then we as Catholics can either accept it or reject it….and it doesnt matter….because its only “pastoral”. If we chose the right way then hooray for us….if we chose the wrong way then oh well.
This way of thinking is certainly a rejection of the perfect nature of the Catholic Church of Christ, which most certainly couldnt possibly promote even the SLIGHTEST error….but in 2016 this is the insanity that even men and woman of good will are willing to swallow. Pathetic.
Dear Louie,
Thanks for this posting. We laymen need to hear this from the few faithful priests that we have left. God has his reasons for choosing us to live in this time and although it is very disheartening to see Holy Mother the Church seemingly die in front of our eyes we must carry on like good soldiers and stay faithful till God intervenes, as he surely will, sooner or later. In the meantime, Catholic on!
rich–you are doing the right thing. There is no reason to pretend that Bergoglio and the Vatican II church are Catholic. As you know, Popes are only infallible when they preach/teach about faith or morals “ex cathedra”. Every time Bergoglio opens his mouth, he is giving his opinion as a man who appears to be Pope (in the eyes of the World). The gates of hell will not prevail as long as there is a remnant church which adheres to the tenets of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, as established by Christ, and celebrates with reverence and piety the ancient liturgies handed down to us by Peter and the Apostles. We are not alone in the frustration we feel when friends and family members cannot understand that they are lost sheep led by hirelings. It would be wrong to give the impression that all is well. It is not! God bless!
What is tolerated today is tomorrow’s dogma.
I have an idea!! Let’s pretend that this is Catholic!!
http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2016/05/not-your-usual-liturgical-dancers.html
So much nicer than that boring Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (TLM)!!
One trick I learned in my youth was to preserve the embers from the campfire by burying them in the ash and earth. The embers would stay glowing hot enough until the next day to re-ignite the fire. Likewise, there are a few great faithful priests left who are standing up for Truth, and telling their people the Truth without fear, and usually it seems as if they are exiled to small out-of-the- way parishes, where the “leadership” probably believes they won’t be heard and stir up trouble. Yet those small parishes are the burning embers; buried and unseen for now, but they are where the Faith is being preserved and passed on, mostly by faithful Catholic lay parents.
This is the age where the “little ones of the flock” must carry on the fight without shepherds against the enemy of the Faith.
Jeremiah 49:20
Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, which he hath taken concerning Edom: and his thoughts which he hath thought concerning the inhabitants of Theman: surely the little ones of the flock shall cast them down, of a truth they shall destroy them with their habitation
Michael F Poulin
Wow, mpoulin, cool.
Fr. Demetrius, it’s a comfort to know others who visit Louie’s site are out there and that we’re not alone. It’s very different, though, to know that you are here, speaking truth. Since you are a priest you are a light in the darkness, hope and a resting place. We are just drifting out here in the waters of this storm and need a place of rest. Than you.
GMU –
I put a link on the Voris post which supports your comments there.
Thank you Father D, for being willing to speak out about these serious problems-especially concerning the hierarchy. It is very much appreciated
When their errors go unchallenged by fellow clergy, they are used to destroy the credibility faithful Catholics need in order to serve as effective witnesses to the truth. Statements like yours, give us backup, which can help save souls.
God Bless you.
The Catholic common sense seems to tell me these silent and passive prelates are putting a higher premium on obedience than on truth and justice.
Yes, the devil was not obedient to God, but in Holy Scripture did Christ ever accuse the devil of being “the Disobedient One?” No, but Christ did accuse the devil of being a liar and a murderer right from the star, of being the Evil One.
It seems the disobedience of Lucifer was the symptom and result of a greater crime, just as the docile obedience of todays prelates before the apparent onslaught of modernism in the Church hierarchy is not a virtue at all, but a symptom and result of a greater evil.
Corrigedum: “…. a liar and murderer right from the start,…”
Dear Servant of Our Lady,
You made my day. So very glad to hear this!
Here is a great sermon by another courageous priest:
http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-errors-of-amoris-laetitia-danger-in.html
The “gates of hell shall not prevail” Scripture was not always interpreted by the Church as a quote concerning indefectibility. That was a later development piggybacked on top of it.
The primary and earliest known meaning of that phrase was that it was a promise that Christ’s disciples could never be held by Hades (or death), that is, it was a promise of the Resurrection. Jesus ” led a host of captives” from Hades after he descended into Hell, freeing them.
An example of this thinking is:
Gregory of Nyssa (d. 394) who quotes a prayer from Macrina addressing the
Lord:
“You crushed the heads of the serpent who seized us with his jaws in the
abyss of disobedience. Breaking down the gates of hell and overcoming
the one who had the empire of death, You opened up for us a path to the
resurrection. ” (from Gregory The Life of St. Macrina )
The application of this Scripture to indefectibility probably started with Origen, who commented that “all sin is a gate to Hell” Origen saw sin a a gate INTO hell, he failed to see hell as a jail for souls, with people trying to bust OUT. Later people in the Church started to apply the Scripture to the particular sin of heresy when the Church was fighting against heresy. And now the only explanation that you get today is that it only applies to the indefectibility of the Church – period. Nobody teaches or is taught the original meaning, which was a promise that death would have no ultimate power over Christ’s Church or His followers.
So I would not despair when it looks as if “the gates of Hell have prevailed” against the visible Church heirarchy, but instead return to the original meaning and promise: RESURRECTION!
Eternal life and freedom from Death was one great hope that made the Gospel so attractive to the pagans.
Michael F Poulin
In discussing death Ambrose asks:
Or is this not the land of the dead, where there is the shadow of death, thegate of death, the body of death? Therefore it is granted to Peter that “the gates of hell [inferi] shall not prevail against him.” The gates of hell arethese earthly gates, on which account the psalmist also says: “You raise meup from the gates of death” [Ps 9:(14)13]
Ambrose, Death as a Good 12.56
The ‘Song of Light’ : a Syriac hymn used by all East Syrian Christians on Sunday mornings
“His glory he hath caused to shine forth in the world : and hath enlightened the lowest abysses : death is extinguished and darkness hath fled : and the doors of Sheol are broken.”
St. Hilary of Poitiers, commenting on Matthew 16:18: “But in this bestowing of a new name is a happy foundation of the Church, and a rock worthy of that building, which should break up the laws of hell … and all the shackles of death.”
.
Sermon 62 On the Passion You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The strength, therefore, of the Christian Faith, which, built upon an impregnable rock, fears not the gates of death,…
St Leo the Great
The phrase pulai hadou (gates of hell) is a Jewish expression meaning “realm of the dead.” The same two words appear in the Septuagint version of Job 38:17: “Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness [ puloroi de hadou]?” They appear again in Isaiah 38:10: “I said in the middle of my days I must depart; I am consigned to the gates of Sheol [pulais hadou] for the rest of my years.” In both passages, pulai hadou is a euphemism for death. Notice the parallelism in both passages. The first half of each verse clarifies that the second half of the verse is not about hell but about death. The gates of hell represent the passageway from this life to the grave.
“What marvelous and unexpected things Christ did! He loosed the soul from the bonds of death. He burst open the portals of Hades.”
Chrysostom – On the Incomprehensible Nature of God, Homily 9.22
http://www.revelacionesmarianas.com/english.htm
Dear john6,
Do you NOT see the designs of the New World Order on this website that you link?
From your link:
“It is thus that the Divine Word that Luz de Maria receives invites humanity, as children of the same Father, to reach unity of all brothers and sisters, fulfilling the First Commandment and echo of the Call of Christ that calls His People to be one.”
–
That paragraph has New World Order written all over it. —- “…reach unity of all brothers and sisters…”—–
And from what I know of your writings here, you correctly despise the NWO.
Stay away from this site.
–
We have Fatima, La Salette, Good Success (Quito, Ecuador) — All prior to Vatican 2 and all approved by the True Church. What more do we need?
Francis just called for a commission to study the possibility of women deacons in the Church. (May 12 2016)
Rescind Amoris Laetitia? Right…