The apparition of the Mother of God at La Salette in France was succeeded by two more great mariophanies. At Lourdes in 1858 she identified herself to little St. Bernadette Soubirous as the Immaculate Conception and requested the recitation of the Holy Rosary. At Fatima in 1917, while World War I was still raging on the European continent, she announced that she wished to establish devotion to her Immaculate Heart, insisting once more on the recitation of the Rosary, to which she promised to attach “a new efficacy” for the salvation of souls. She also told little Lucy dos Santos that at some future date, “I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia.” That day turned out to be Thursday June 13, 1929.

The Passion really begins at the Nativity, since Jesus, in His Divine Omniscience, always knew, saw and willed the sufferings which awaited His Humanity. The first blood shed for us was on the occasion of the Circumcision, eight days after Christmas. One can readily imagine what it must be for a man to be able to foresee his martyrdom.

The holocaust was to begin at Gethsemane. Jesus, having given His own body to eat and His blood to drink, leads His apostles by night to that grove of olives where they were in the habit of going. He allows them to rest at the entrance, taking with Him a little further Peter, James and John, from whom He separates Himself about a stone’s throw, to prepare Himself in prayer. He knows His hour has come. He has sent out the traitor Judas (“That which thou dost, do quickly”). He is eager to be finished with it and it is His will.

If all religions can lead to God and there may not be any souls in hell, couldn't it be argued that all departed men and women are, in fact, already enjoying eternal beatitude? And if that were the case, then obviously it would render canonization quite redundant.  What exactly does the post-conciliar Vatican mean by salvation, sanctity and canonization? Devil's advocates everywhere would like to know.

As the days go by, we are getting closer to the scheduled canonizations of Blesseds John XXIII and John Paul II. Most Catholics, unaware of the true significance of this event, are looking forward to a worldwide celebration of these two popular popes. John XXIII is remembered by older generations as “Good Pope John”, a moniker given due to both his affectionate demeanor and media praise for opening the Church to the world.

Similarly, John Paul II was, and is still, very popular due to his personal charisma, globetrotting travels, and fantastical World Youth Days. Thus, a certain cult of personality has developed around both men. In the case of Blessed John Paul, the fervor for his canonization has not subsided from the time of his death in 2005.

Supremes Hear Oral Arguments
Over Contraception Mandate

Washington, D.C.—For those who have never visited the U.S. Supreme Court during a trip to the District of Colombia, a very pleasant aesthetic surprise awaits you. Although there are other government buildings constructed during the decade of the 1930s, many of them in the older "Federal style" using classical architectural forms, the Supreme Court's outside and interior design clearly make it one of the most impressive, along with the original Library of Congress. 

Editor’s Note: After long and inexplicable delays the great Pope Pius IX was finally beatified (alongside, incredibly, Pope John XXIII) on September 2, 2000 by Pope John Paul II. A few weeks from now, John XXIII is scheduled to be promoted again, this time as a canonized saint—despite the lack of any particular cult surrounding his cause, the required miracle or even a serious claim of heroic virtue. He is apparently being canonized on the grounds that during Vatican II, Yves Congar wrote in his diary that Cardinal Suenens “planned to conclude his ‘De Ecclesia’ speech asking for John XXIII’s immediate canonization by acclamation.”  Evidently, John XXIII is to be canonized because his friends in the curia, mourning his death at the time, said they wanted his canonization recorded as a "Council decision". Fifty years later, they're still at it. Good for them! But on a more serious note and given Pius’ massive contribution to the Church’s heroic last stand against the very liberalism that is today tearing the world in half, some Catholics are wondering why the Vatican seems to have chosen style over substance once again. Could it possibly be that  canonization  has  become  somehow politicized?  Meanwhile Pope Pius IX is again waiting in the wings, which is why even as he did for so many years back in the 1990s until Pio Nono was finally beatified, Dr. Rao is again calling for the Vatican to do the right thing. MJM

Conquered peoples frequently adopt their victors’ language, customs, religion and heroes as their own. Indeed, they often so reject their former ways as to wince with shame at the mere mention of the names of their past champions, or forget them entirely. We are rightly edified at the thought of a powerful barbarian tribe like the Franks under Clovis, Pippin, and Charlemagne being conquered by what it saw to be a superior Roman Catholic culture, and abandoning in horror its traditional pagan brutality.

(Complete Article) 

The only true Catholic attitude to ecumenism is that set out by Pope Pius XI in his encyclicalMortalium Animos: “Let these separated children return to the Apostolic See established in this city which the Princes of the Apostles, Peter and Paul, consecrated with their blood, to this See, ‘the root and matrix of the Catholic Church,’ not indeed with the idea or hope that the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth will abandon the integrity of the Faith and bear their errors, but to subject themselves to its teaching authority and rule.”

Address by Michael Davies The Remnant Forum
Tarrytown, N.Y., Nov. 1979

We hear a great deal about the ecumenical movement. Today I am going to speak to you about the ecumenical heresy. The theme of this forum is “Fidelity to the Catholic Tradition”. Catholic tradition has been challenged in many ways since the Second Vatican Council but no challenge has been more blatant, more widespread, and more dangerous than that of those who wish the Church to deny Her very nature in the interests of spurious ecumenism.

The anti-traditionalists are back in the saddle again, and the neo-Catholic nomenklatura have resumed with renewed vigor their role as compliant Mensheviks alongside the still passionate, however elderly, Bolsheviks of the conciliar revolution.

A Blessed Respite

During the seven-year Benedictine Respite, the post-conciliar revolution in the Church seemed to have lost its momentum, even if it was far from being in retreat. Traditional Catholics rejoiced to see a series of papal acts favorable to Tradition: the promulgation of Summorum Pontificum (2007), bringing an end at last to the insane suppression of the traditional Roman Rite; the lifting of the increasingly ridiculous excommunications of the four bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX)—the only four clerics in the world still deemed schismatic; and the long-overdue correction of the errant, doctrinally defective translations of the Latin typical edition of the Novus Ordo Missal, which the neo-Catholic establishment had been doggedly defending for forty years.

Editor’s Note: Back in 1971, the Archbishop of Portland, Oregon, commented in his archdiocesan newspaper on what was already happening to the New Mass, even at that early date--something Pope Benedict XVI himself would confirm many years later on February 14, 2013, when he noted in his address to the Roman clergy that the New Mass had been "trivialized" throughout the whole world. We quote the late Archbishop Robert J. Dwyer (who attended every session of Vatican II) with a sense of loss and even longing in our hearts for the days when Catholic bishops were still vigilant defenders of the Catholic Faith. Please, God, send us holy priests and bishops once again. …Michael J. Matt

When whole segments of the contemporary Church are set on a downward course of vulgarization, of anti-intellectualism, of revolt, and rebellion against all standards and authority, it is exceedingly difficult to put a stop to the trend, holding back the enormous weight, and then attempting to turn these segments back the other way, to begin all over again the slow, laborious climb to the high and distant peaks.

It is just such a catastrophe which overwhelms us today.  We recall the dream of St. Francis and Pope Innocent III where the little Poor Man was holding up with his feeble hands the collapsing fabric of the Lateran…

Introduction by Scott Montgomery

In the unfolding of Salvation History, it has pleased our Heavenly Father to make use of created beings to reveal His most Holy Will to mankind.  Following the proto evangelium thundered against Satan by God in the Garden of Eden, a long line of holy patriarchs and prophets paved the way for the arrival of the Messiah through inspired teaching and foreshadowing of what was to come.  In doing so, they lifted and consoled the hearts of those living under the Old Law who longed to see the Christ, and they revealed in veiled ways – for those who had eyes to see – the signs that would signify His arrival.

Along with the prophecies and types pointing to our Divine King, there were other prophecies and types that pointed to two humble creatures who would play extremely important roles in our deliverance from sin and death:  A fair young maiden who would give Jesus His flesh and human nature; and a lowly carpenter who would serve as her chaste spouse and the protector of this Holy Family. 

Obervations of a Recent Convert from Lutheranism

"As traditionalists, our primary complaint, and our reason for our curmudgeonry, is that the prayers of the new mass have been gutted of Catholic-specific content. That’s the reason for our ire, and that’s the reason we fight the good fight." ...Nate Metzger

One of my favorite Seinfeld episodes features Jerry’s dentist, who has decided to convert to Judaism. Jerry suspects that his dentist has only converted so that he can use self-deprecating Jewish humor without being offensive. Concerned, Jerry visits a priest (a fact in the storyline that is ironically incidental for my purposes) and tells him what’s going on. “Hmm,” replies the priest after hearing about the offensive dentist. “And this offends you as a Jewish person?” “NO!” replies Jerry. “It offends me as a comedian!”

Press Release – March 16, 2014

Bishop Joseph FAN ZhongLiang, S.J., the underground Bishop of Shanghai appointed by Blessed Pope John Paul II, died today at 5:58 pm Shanghai surrounded by some of his faithful parishioners. He was 97 year old. The Cardinal Kung Foundation has learned that Bishop Fan suffered from a high fever several days before he died. He died at his home still under house arrest, a sentence that entailed strict surveillance by the government for most of the last two decades. The funeral arrangements for Bishop Fan has not been finalized, but will be limited for only two days as dictated by the government.