In his 1936 book studying the human character of Christ, In the Likeness of Christ, Fr. Edward Leen described the way in which the cave of Bethlehem shows us the “paradox of Christianity.” He began with a picture of the inhospitable cave in which the Divine Infant was born:

“The cave of Bethlehem is an exact presentation of the paradox of Christianity. It is austere and forbidding. Even in the daylight and under the bright sun the cavern would look miserable and uninviting. In the darkness it is positively repellant. The glimmer shed by Joseph’s lantern was not strong enough to shed a cheerful light; it served but to reveal and bring out into relief every harsh and rude feature. The sides dripped with moisture and showed bare and jagged. Through openings in them, here and there, the wind moaned dismally. The strong draughts increased the natural chilliness of the place. The floor was uneven and covered with straw that had been trampled to filth by the animals. What was in the rude manger, though clean, was coarse and prickly; it scarcely tempered the hardness of the few planks for the Infant limbs. The dripping of the water and the sounds of the animals as they stirred in their rest, falling on the ear, intensified the general feeling of comfortlessness.” (p. 51)

In the December 18, 2023 document approved by Francis, Fiducia Supplicans, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith approved the blessing of same-sex unions. The dicastery’s prefect, Cardinal Víctor Manuel "Tucho" Fernández, described the document as follows:

“As with the Holy Father’s above-mentioned response to the Dubia of two Cardinals, this Declaration remains firm on the traditional doctrine of the Church about marriage, not allowing any type of liturgical rite or blessing similar to a liturgical rite that can create confusion. The value of this document, however, is that it offers a specific and innovative contribution to the pastoral meaning of blessings, permitting a broadening and enrichment of the classical understanding of blessings, which is closely linked to a liturgical perspective. Such theological reflection, based on the pastoral vision of Pope Francis, implies a real development from what has been said about blessings in the Magisterium and the official texts of the Church. This explains why this text has taken on the typology of a ‘Declaration.’”

A few days ago, the head of the former Holy Office, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, went out of his way to let the world know that single mothers who repent and confess their sins should be allowed to receive Holy Communion. NEWSFLASH to Cardinal Victor: The Catholic Church has never said otherwise.

New from Remnant TV...

In this edition of The Remnant Underground, Michael Matt wishes Francis a happy 87th birthday.

Francis is now the oldest reigning pope in 120 years, but some would ask: Is Francis pope, or antipope? Michael takes a deep dive into a new thesis, singed by by nine Italian Catholic intellectuals, which puts an end to that circular firing squad once and for all.

In his 2016 conference dealing with the relations between the Society of St. Pius X and Rome, Bishop Bernard Fellay used the analogy of a poisoned soup to explain the SSPX’s objections to Vatican II:

“But the problem is not the good things that you can find in it, which actually exist. The problem is the bad things! If you put a drop of cyanide in the soup, what difference does it make if you add good vegetables, good stock, the best water that you can find; the soup is inedible because of the poison. That is what happens at the Council. That is why we say that the Council is inedible. Not because of the good things that you can find in it, but because of the poison.”

“Now, for any one to say that they believe in God—I doubt very much whether there is any one who really does believe, or understand what it means—but for any one even to say so is the very worst crime conceivable: it is high treason. But there is going to be no violence; it will all be quite quiet and merciful. Why, you have always approved of Euthanasia, as we all do. Well, it is that that will be used . . .” (Mr. Brand, from Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson’s Lord of the World)

As reported by Vatican Journalist Marco Tosatti, a group of nine Italian theologians recently published their so-called “Sedemenefreghismo Thesis,” named for the Italian term they invented:

“‘Sedemenefreghismo’ is an invented Italian word based on the word ‘sedevacantism’ which means ‘holding that the (Holy) See (sede) is vacant’ and ‘me ne frega,’ meaning, ‘I don’t care’, so that this invented word could be translated as ‘I don’t care at all whether the (Holy) See (is vacant or not).’”

New from Remnant TV...

In this episode of The Remnant Underground, Michael Matt takes a look at the ramifications of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s conclusion that the FBI views pro-life, pro-family traditional Catholics as “possible domestic terrorists.” 

Here’s the bigger problem: Pope Francis is carrying water for the FBI. How so? Watch and see.

It always hinges on your perspective                         

Every year at this time I send out into the greater void on FaceBook and other social media sites a reminder that the St. Andrew Christmas novena begins on November 30 (the feast of St. Andrew) and ends on Christmas. It has been also called the “Christmas Novena” for obvious reasons.

Was it a gigantic crocodile? Or perhaps a whale? But what if it was a dragon? Or, who knows, maybe a gigantic sea serpent? As you probably anticipated, all these questions with uncertain answers refer to another rare creature described in the pages of the Bible: Leviathan.

Returning to the discussion of reclaiming our Catholic Holy Days. In a previous article, we covered the Advent Season which has substantially disappeared since Vatican II, at least in how it is observed in most Catholic homes.