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• Feast of Easter Sunday and St. Vincent Ferrer, 2015 (4-5-15)

Posted Part Six of the book, Baptismal Confusion, which now takes us through Chapter 169.

Also, made an addition to Part Five (namely, Chapters 128-132, which briefly address the salvation heresy --- the lie that someone of sound mind can die without professing the Roman Catholic Faith in the state of a supposedly ‘invincible ignorance’ along with a presumed ‘sincerity of heart’ --- and show, from very distinguished and authoritative orthodox testimony from of old, how anyone can know that this lie is indeed a heresy), and an edit to Part Four (specifically, trimmed Chapters 91-100, which I had always thought were rather messy, but, feeling pressed for time, had put on the website as they were at the time). On top of this, have corrected half a dozen or so typos that, somehow, still survived in the text till recently.

Part Six, by the way, turns the reader’s attention to Sacred Scripture.

What does the Bible have to say about the conflict between WO (‘water only’) and BOD (‘baptism of desire’)?

Unfortunately, not very much. Sacred Scripture is the weakest of evidence for either side. Just as unfortunately, though, partisans for both sides act as if this is not so.

For instance, most English-speaking BODers of a less educated background have embraced the BOD stance because the early 20^th century catechism they grew up with --- the Baltimore Catechism --- insists that ‘baptism of desire’ is true and claims, without providing quotes or even any references, that the Bible says it is so.

Hence, it behooves us, in a book purporting to clear up the confusion about baptism, to address the scriptural arguments of these partisans, too.

Because both sides --- where clever enough to cite passages from Sacred Scripture --- have certain verses that they love to trot out and display for the amazement of those who are already inclined to believe what the presenter is claiming to ‘prove’.

Or, to put it differently, the Bible is just another example of circumstantial evidence put forth as if it’s ironclad evidence that cannot be reasonably or rightly interpreted in any other way than as the purported ‘proof’ that a WO or a BOD position is ‘correct’ and thus beyond doubt.

The problem is, Sacred Scripture is so circumstantial when it comes to the question of WO vs. BOD that it is impossible to quote verses and expect someone who is intelligent & just to accept these arguments without grave reservations or pithy skepticism!

Enough about this, though. Read the book, my dear reader, to understand what the controversy is about. Meanwhile, let us move on to a final note about the date of this posting.

Today is April 5^th. For the year 2015, it’s Easter Sunday. However, as well-informed or observant people know, Easter never occurs on the same calendar date two years in a row. This is because the date of Easter for any particular year depends on the phases of the moon, in addition to the start of spring and the neverending cycle of the days of the week.

But the phases of the moon never perfectly synchronize with the length of a solar year. Ergo, the date of Easter moves around every year, jumping as much as a month-and-a-half.

Yet why should the phases of the moon have anything to do with this in the first place?

Because the Old Testament Church based its religious festivals upon a lunar calendar. Hence, the day that Jesus died, which was the Feast of the Pasch (or Passover), occurred on the 14^th day of the first lunar month. Each lunar month beginning with a new moon, this meant Passover always occurred on the day of a full moon.

The New Testament Church kept this lunar influence but did not want to always celebrate Easter on the same day as the Jews celebrated their Passover feast. Consequently, the date of Easter in our solar-based calendar can move around dramatically from year to year, as the full moon happens closer to, or further away from, the first day of spring.

What, though, was the solar calendar date for the very first Easter Sunday?

Scholars have argued about this for centuries. Most of the modern, anti-Christian stuff is ridiculous. Such scholars (or scientists) have little respect for, or knowledge of, ancient testimony. As a result, they merely cherry-pick the stuff they want to take seriously from ancient accounts (if only from the ancient testimony of the Gospels) and then build a theory based on this along with lots of out-of-thin-air assumptions and personal prejudices.

Notwithstanding, there is a very ancient tradition that says Jesus was crucified upon March 25^th. If true, then that day was Good Friday, and Easter Sunday would have been March 27^th.

Further affirmation for this ancient tradition comes from Ven. Mary of Agreda, who I personally consider to be amongst the greatest of saints. She received a lengthy and detailed private revelation from the Blessed Virgin Mary Herself concerning the hidden lives of the Holy Family, and was constrained by obedience to her Franciscan superiors to write it down over the course of some ten years.

This writing became the publication, The City of God (which shares an identical title with St. Augustine of Hippo’s masterpiece, but is an entirely different tome altogether). Agreda’s The City of God was much hailed and acclaimed by numerous popes of the 1600s and on into the 1700s. Thus, whilst not infallible, it is of the highest caliber and can be read and studied with the utmost of confidence by any good Catholic.

Incidentally, Agreda’s testimony confirmed a calendrical investigation that I had been carrying on informally, during my spare time, for several years prior to discovering her work. That is to say, I had been investigating the history of our solar calendar, which originated with the Roman Empire as the Julian Calendar roughly a half century before Christ’s Birth, and which became known as the Gregorian Calendar in the 16^th century after a few tweaks to make sure the calendar kept track with the seasons better.

This investigation led me to conclude that Jesus was not crucified and resurrected in AD 33 as everyone nowadays assumes (everyone, that is, who at least acts like they believe Jesus was real and that Sacred Scripture is to be taken seriously).

The reasoning is simple. The Gospels tell us Jesus was about thirty years old when He began preaching throughout the cities & towns of Palestine. The Gospels also tell us this ministry took place over a three year period. Ancient Christian writers assure us of these facts, too.

Therefore, Jesus was, at a bare minimum, 33 years old when He died and resurrected.

However, earliest tradition and the Catholic Church’s ancient liturgy tell us Jesus was born on December 25^th. (We haven’t time to go into detail about it here, but the kneejerk modern skepticism regarding this date is a bunch of nonsense.) Meanwhile, Sacred Scripture, earliest tradition and the Catholic Church’s ancient liturgy tell us, as well, that Jesus died and resurrected at the beginning of spring --- which is several months after December.

The upshot?

Even if you take Jesus’ birthdate as AD 1 --- which most fervently religious people, who call themselves Christian, do --- then, obviously, December 25, AD 1, plus 33 years brings you to AD 34, and not AD 33 as everyone assumes! After all, 1+33=34… and not 33. Then adding a few more months to bring you to springtime takes you into the year of AD 35.

Notwithstanding, Ven. Mary of Agreda assures us that Jesus was actually born on December 25, 1 BC… and not AD 1. Her explanation is highly intelligent and very persuasive. That, and given her incredible holiness, not to mention the approbation of multiple popes for her book, makes me quite confident that she is right.

Again, the upshot?

Taking the saintly Agreda’s starting point of December 25, 1 BC, adding 33 years to this date brings us to AD 33. Nevertheless, adding a few more months brings us to spring --- the time when Jesus actually died and resurrected --- and thus takes us into the following year, AD 34!

This, then, is the year during which Jesus truly died and resurrected.

Oh, and the date of March 25?

As I said, Mary of Agreda confirms the ancient tradition that this is the day of our solar calendar upon which Jesus was crucified. Thus, March 27, AD 34, is the day of our solar calendar upon which Jesus resurrected.

This was very exciting to me when I discovered it. My own calendrical investigations coincided with her testimony to within one solar calendar day. A single day that bothered me not in the least. For as anyone knows who has tried to investigate our solar calendar, the niggling details that govern it and the long time that it has been in effect with periodic adjustments here-and-there, makes it unimaginably difficult to get a date precise and absolutely certain when you’re talking about a time that is nearly two millennia ago.

One day off is thus pretty darn accurate.

Moreover, I have no trouble conceding to Ven. Mary of Agreda. I’m quite confident that she is dead-on right and that I was one day off, being slightly inaccurate in all of my labyrinthine calculations.

By the way, if this date is accurate, then, as of today, it has been precisely one thousand nine hundred and eighty-one years, plus nine days, since Jesus’ Resurrection.

If you’re keeping count.

Yet the further significance of March 25?

It’s right after the start of spring and hence the beginning of new life.

It’s also the very same day that Jesus was conceived supernaturally in the womb of His Mother, the Blessed Ever-Virgin Mary. For, as any good Catholic knows, this is the day of the Feast of the Annunciation, when St. Gabriel the Archangel announced to Mary that She would conceive a Son Who was God-in-the-Flesh, and at Her humble acquiescence the Holy Ghost incarnated Jesus within Her Precious Womb.

An ancient tradition, as well, pegs this as the day that God began creating our world.

So, all in all, a pretty significant date.

Not that you have to believe Jesus died exactly on March 25 in order to be truly Catholic. It has never been infallibly defined as of yet. Nonetheless, it is a venerable tradition, and, if you as a Catholic learn of it, knowing how venerable it is, it would be impious of you --- and hence possibly sinful to the point of mortality --- to doubt or disbelieve in it without most excellent reason.

Oh, and for the record, it is the day I inaugurated The Epistemologic Works website. Something I was well aware of and purposely chose for its symbolism.

But what about St. Vincent Ferrer?

He is an amazing saint.

He called himself the ‘Preacher of Judgment’ and, in his sermons, constantly referenced the Apocalypse (what Protestants know as the Book of Revelation) for this title. A significant thing for true Catholics, who are going through the Great Apostasy right now. For, although it may have been six hundred years ago that he lived, what he warned about actually came to pass. The Protestant Rebellion, the Endarkenment (what modern people call the ‘Enlightenment’), the French Revolution (which was Freemasonic and anti-Catholic), Darwinism (which, as any intelligent person knows, very much tends to destroy belief in a Creator), the Sexual Revolution, and etc., etc.

St. Vincent may not have told in excruciating detail everything that was to happen, but his warnings were dire and the consequences have been just as hideous as he said. The world did not get better after his time on earth --- it got worse. And his warnings are not out-of-date for a real Catholic --- they are even more poignant.

Vincent also converted untold numbers of sinners, heretics, schismatics, Jews and infidels from unbelief and wickedness, making them into good members of the Roman Catholic Church.

Which, of course, makes him very distasteful to the biases of modern people, but it bears noting how he, more than anyone else in Europe at the time (he lived around the turn of the 15^th century), protected Jews from unjust harm and sought to relieve their miseries.

It’s simply that, in addition to this, he converted a whole bunch of Jews to Catholicism.

Which is a politically incorrect thing to do nowadays in our part of the world.

Try to do so now (and, naturally, if you’re not a great saint like Vincent Ferrer, then you will fail terribly) and Jewish people --- as well as others --- will accuse you of ‘anti-Semitism’.

Yet is it really ‘anti-Semitic’?

Not if the Catholic Church truly is the only way to save your immortal soul and live with God in Heaven forever with perfect happiness.

Then, of course, it’s the most loving thing you could do for anyone in this world, ever.

Period.

• Feast of St. Anacletus and the 96^th Anniversary of the 3^rd Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, 2013 (7-13-13)

Posted Part Five of the book, Baptismal Confusion, which now takes us through Chapter 127.

Continuing with the evidence of the catechisms, we examine the English Catechism of 1583, the Douay Catechism of 1649, the Penny Catechism, Baltimore Catechism No. 3, and Christian Doctrine Drills.

What has all of this to tell us about the Sacrament of Baptism and the notions of ‘baptism of desire’ (BOD) or ‘baptism of blood’ (BOB)?

Read the post to find out!

Then, tying all of the evidence together and giving a recap, I then turn to a problem that is beyond the scope of this book --- the salvation heresy of modern times.

Unfortunately, the problem cannot be ducked. And so, although the topic will be dealt with adequately and comprehensively in another book to come (God willing) in the near future, it has to be touched on here:

Namely, that as the idea of BOD became enthroned in the thinking of practically everyone who went by the name of Catholic by the beginning of the 20^th century… at the very same time, the salvation heresy of modern times was insinuated into the thinking of everyone, too.

The repercussions?

That will be dealt with more fully in Part Six, which is still to come. In the meanwhile, please digest everything thoroughly in the latest post. The story of BOD is fascinating and --- whichever position you may prefer, whether it be BOD or WO (‘water only’) --- you need to know, understand and humbly admit, that the Church has never yet with infallibility of an explicit nature pronounced upon the subject one way or another. To fail to admit this invariably leads a soul into heresy or schism, both of which are damnable situations.

I beg you, my dear reader, not to fall into such a horrid condition!

Incidentally, I have updated this website on the Feast of St. Anacletus, who was second in line after St. Peter the First Pope. Indeed, he was personally ordained a priest by the leader of the Apostles. May he, then, who was an ancient pope and personally knew the first of all popes, pray for us now, who have no real pope. It will take a great miracle to rectify the situation facing us today. But, after all, what is Catholicism if not mighty miracles?

We therefore put our trust in the Triune Catholic God, and His Son’s Mother, the Blessed Ever-Virgin Mary.

Speaking of Whom, this is the 96^th anniversary today of Her third appearance to the three shepherd children at Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. This is, arguably, the most important of Her six consecutive appearances to them, for several reasons.

First, She imparted to them a Secret, part of which --- now called the ‘Third Secret of Fatima’ --- has never yet been fully and properly revealed to the Catholic world. It was supposed to be released publically in 1960 by the Vatican. Instead, a tiny notice to the press was issued that, without any explanation, stated it would not be revealed and probably would never see the light of day. (By the way, the purported release of the Third Secret in 2000 by John Paul II has been investigated exhaustively by many journalists or scholars and the evidence is clear: what was given out was a description of a vision seen by the children at the time, and not the so-called ‘Third Secret’. This was obviously a ploy to defuse further demands that the Third Secret be revealed and so put the implications of the Fatima Apparitions behind them.)

Second, the Blessed Virgin first foretold to the children that She would perform a great miracle at Her sixth appearance on October 13^th. This is what became known as the Miracle of the Sun, when some 70,000 people watched the sun ‘dance’ across the sky and seem to fall from its place in the heavens upon a terrified crowd. Immediately after this, the rain-soaked observers were inexplicably dry and even the Masonic newspapers, who had hitherto mocked the events at Fatima, had to admit to its astonishing reality.

And, third, the poor shepherd children were given a horrifying and flabbergasting vision of hell at the very center of our earth, seeing the monstrous forms of the tormenting demons and the pathetic souls of the damned perishing eternally in its flames.

This final thing is particularly applicable to our times. For in the less than one hundred years that have passed since this event, our world has become only more evil than it was then… and it was pretty bad already in the early twentieth century. That is to say, people the world over are only more immoral and more apostate or rebellious or blind toward the Catholic Religion than they were then --- and they were already pretty apostate, rebellious and blind at that relatively early date!

And, of course, any real Catholic knows that this means that even more souls are headed for hell. Because there is no Salvation outside the Catholic Church, and there is no Salvation even for someone who is in the Catholic Church if this person is a bad Catholic and in the state of mortal sin. The Vision of Hell, consequently, is a vision that should haunt any real Catholic.

Haunt us, because, even if Catholic, we will not go to Heaven if our souls are not in the state of grace, and everlasting hell will be our fate for such a careless condition. And haunt us, because every human being --- no matter how wicked --- is made in the image of God and thus is a priceless immortal soul, an immortal soul that will certainly languish in the fiery torments of hell forever if he does not enter the Roman Catholic Body of Jesus Christ before he ends his life in this temporal world.

If truly Catholic, then, I beg you to take heed of your immortal soul and practice virtue for the sake of Neverending Heavenly Life. And if not truly Catholic, I beg you to take heed of your immortal soul and begin with the first necessary virtue in this earthly life… which is to love your Almighty Creator enough that you would obey His command to join His Body on earth, the Holy Roman Catholic Church, and so have real hope of Eternal Life in the world to come.

This website now has plenty of resources to help you to do so, and plenty more to come, I pray, in the not-too-distant future.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us! That we might not lose our priceless immortal souls in the fires of hell beneath us. Pray that we might join and stay within the Ecclesial Body of Your Son, the Roman Catholic Church, and so save our souls in the state of grace when we exit this material life.

Amen.

• Feasts of Our Lady of Fatima, Queen of Highest Heaven, & St. Robert Bellarmine, 2013 (5-13-13)

Uploaded Part Four of the book, Baptismal Confusion, which takes us through Chapter 105.

Turning to the evidence of catechisms when it comes to ‘baptism of desire’ (BOD) vs. ‘water only’ (WO), we first find that no catechism yet has ever been infallible in every single one of its words. Proof of this assertion is easy to see, both from the infallible & explicit definition of Pope Pius IX via the Vatican Council in 1879 about the nature of papal infallibility and from a scholarly & imprimatured text of a famous English translation of the Catechism of the Council of Trent published in the early 20^th century.

Then, going from the fourth century with its Catechism of St. Cyril of Jerusalem --- who was a doctor and father of the Catholic Church --- we jump to Trent’s Catechism itself, finding that the former mentions only ‘baptism of blood’ (BOB) as an exception to the otherwise absolute necessity of water baptism, while the latter mentions BOD briefly, but not explicitly by name. Meanwhile, we show that it is nevertheless morally certain that this greatest of all catechisms speaks of BOD, however fleetingly, and that it is thus a moral certainty, too, that Trent never explicitly by name ruled out the possibility of BOD.

Yet if a hardcore WOer still balks, then we also look at a famous doctor of the Church and Jesuit cardinal, St. Robert Bellarmine --- who was the personal theologian of two popes and lived after Trent --- and find that he upheld the notion of BOD.

Notwithstanding, should this plain proof not be enough for a Catholic fundamentalist (CF) WO enthusiast, then we re-visit St. Alphonsus Liguori, who is also a very famous & renowned doctor of the Church who lived after the Council of Trent, and find that he, too, clearly upheld the notion of BOD… and did so even citing the infallible (but not explicit, when it comes to BOD!) words of Trent as erroneous ‘proof’ of his teaching regarding a waterless ‘baptism’.

Pray God and His Holy Virginal Mother that these new additions go far in preventing either BOD supporters or WO aficionados from going schismatic or heretical over the theological dispute between the two opposing sides. If but one soul is recovered from such a deadly situation of mortal sin, it will be worth every minute of study, prayer & sweat.

Today, by the way, is the feast (albeit not yet a universally decreed feast) of Our Lady of Fatima, arguably the greatest Marian apparition that has ever occurred. She first appeared to the three little Portuguese shepherd children of Fatima --- Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta --- on May 13^th, 1917. She then appeared to them every month thereafter on the 13^th (except for August, when they were imprisoned by a Masonic ruler, and Blessed Mary appeared to them on the 19^th instead) until October 13^th when, by the Power of the Triune Catholic God Almighty, She performed the flabbergasting Miracle of the Sun.

During these apparitions She warned that Russia would spread its errors throughout the world if this nation were not publicly consecrated to Her Immaculate Heart by the Pope and all of his bishops everywhere on the earth together on the same day. This request of Hers, unfortunately, was never met. Pope Pius XII attempted to do something near to it in the early 1940s, consecrating the world to Her Heart, but, as Sister Lucia (she became a nun when grown) attested, this failed to meet the requirement by the Virgin Mary of consecrating publicly Russia itself explicitly by name to Her Immaculate Heart.

Ergo, the promise She gave for that poor nation’s conversion to the Roman Catholic Faith has not yet been fulfilled. And, indeed, Russia’s errors of atheistic and anti-Catholic Communism have been spread throughout the world. A third of the earth is still overtly Communist, another third, at least, is covertly Communist (that is, ruled by governments who call themselves ‘Socialist’, which is just another name for basic Communist principles), and the last third, if neither overtly Communist or Socialist, is, nonetheless, imbued heavily with the principles of Communism and Socialism.

In short, what few true Catholics are left today are laboring under the heavy tyranny of atheistic and anti-Catholic rulers, who bear no love or understanding for the One True Faith of Jesus’ Singular Catholic Body. All the same, Mary did promise us through the Fatima children that a pope would eventually consecrate Russia by name with all of his bishops, publicly, but that it would come very late. May this promise be fulfilled sooner rather than later, Our Dear Heavenly Lady, since we languish without shepherds and are victims of the wolves!

(Some WO-espousing CFs, by the way, dare to call the early 20^th century popes ‘antipopes’ and thereby also deny and cast aspersions upon Our Lady of Fatima. May God forgive them, since they know not what they do and attack the Blessed Ever-Virgin Mother of God. You may read a short but detailed refutation of this mistaken idea in the book, Was Benedict XV an Antipope? Specifically, Chapters 34 and 35 in this book.)

Incidentally, this is, as well, the fifth anniversary of The Epistemologic Works website. Precisely five years ago today, on Our Lady’s feast under the name of Fatima, I posted the homepage, the first page of the website to be uploaded and made publicly available. Then, as now, the homepage has a long article in defense of Mary’s celestial prerogatives if you scroll down, which has been posted, too, in the Books & Articles (B&A) section with the title of Mary Exalted. If you think The Epistemologic Works writings are worthwhile, then please pray that they reach the people they are supposed to reach, and that I have plenty of time, strength & willpower to continue the effort.

Finally, this is today, in addition, the feast of a great doctor of the Catholic Church, St. Robert Bellarmine, who powerfully opposed the religious falsehoods of the newly-minted Protestants of his time (the late 1500s to the early 1600s). I, also, have opposed Protestant falsehoods, although not with the eloquence and holiness of he, such a great saint. But how apropos that Part 4 of Baptismal Confusion that I’ve just posted today should include two chapters in description of him, and using his testimony in writing to help clarify and resolve the absolutely horrible confusion over water baptism that reigns now amongst those who call themselves Catholic and may actually be so. Until this confusion is banished, the Visible Body of the Holy Catholic Faith cannot be fully and rightly resurrected!

Our Lady of Fatima, Queen of Highest Heaven, please help us in our most desperate need and crush the Serpent’s Head who dares to defy you and spew his venom in the Face of Almighty God. By Your powerful prayers, please obtain for us the fulfillment of the promise you made via the little Fatima shepherds, and give to us a pope who will obey your request to consecrate Russia publicly by name along with all of the Catholic bishops of the earth, and so convert Russia wholly and miraculously to the Catholic Faith, that she might bless the world rather than subvert it with her errors!

And St. Robert Bellarmine, who so powerfully opposed the religious lies of Protestantism --- that spiritual plague that, like a black dawn, ushered in the horrors of Modernism and Communism that so sicken the earth’s peoples today --- by your efficacious intercession please obtain for us relief and salvation from the diabolic deception that blinds the minds of almost everyone, the devil appearing like an angel of light to them, and that oppresses the members of the Church Militant with sufferings untold!

• Ascension Day & Feast of St. Gregory Nazianzen, 2013 (5-9-13)

Posted Part Three of Baptismal Confusion, which amounts to Chapters 61 to 82, and covers a doctor, saint & theologian who are both powerful theological evidence and powerful historical evidence against the notion of ‘baptism of desire’ (BOD). That is to say, BOD supporters usually assume --- out of thin air and without even knowing any better --- that BOD has been defined by the Church or around in common belief amongst Catholics since the beginning with Jesus and His Apostles.

In reality, this is not the case. Read the just-posted chapters to see hard proof for this assertion. Indeed, read the entire book as it is posted if you are either a committed BODer or staunch WOer (‘water only’ enthusiast), or if you don’t know what to think about the two sides.

And what a beautiful day to upload it… the day Jesus Christ ascended bodily into Heaven to sit at the right hand of His Father, and from where He sent the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Ghost, to vivify His Singular Body, the Roman Catholic Church on the Day of Pentecost.

The Doctrine of the Ascension is crucial to the Dogma of Salvation, too. The Gospels tell us that no man has ascended into Heaven except He Who descends from Heaven, which is God Himself --- Jesus alone --- and no one else. Meanwhile, how are we, mere human beings, to enter into Heaven since we never came from there in the first place?

Elementary, my dear Watson. We join ourselves baptismally to the Singular Body of He Who is God and Who descended from Heaven --- Jesus --- and, by dying in the state of grace, thereby ascend into Heaven along with His Ecclesial Body.

And what is this Body of His?

The Roman Catholic Church and none other.

Which, by the way, is highly offensive and irritating to most people. In their offense and irritation they act as if this exclusive salvation is exclusive in a bad way. I.e., as if good Catholics are looking at them and going, “Nah nah nah nah nah. We’re saved and you’re not. Ha ha!”

When, in reality, it is the opposite. The good Catholic is praying earnestly that others join him in the Catholic Body of Jesus Christ --- the real reason for saying that no one is saved outside the Catholic Church, so that others may know that anyone can be saved within this Church, and that this exclusive salvation can be found nowhere else --- and does not dare to presume that he himself, Catholic though he is, will save his soul unless he is a good Catholic and dies good in the state of grace.

But this is also the feast of St. Gregory Nazianzen, who I speak of in the book, Baptismal Confusion, in Chapters 62 to 71. A marvelous bishop who recovered many poor lost souls to the Catholic Faith in Constantinople in Asia Minor (modern day Istanbul in Turkey) after the lies of the Arian Heresy had ravaged the Roman Empire for the better part of a century, may this tiny website be, in some small way, a mirror of what he did there in that city. For just as Arians ultimately denied the Incarnation (Jesus is God) and its absolute necessity for salvation, so, too, do Modernists today ultimately deny the Ecclesiation (Jesus’ Body is the Catholic Church) and its absolute necessity for salvation.

The denial of either one will damn a precious soul, casting it outside Jesus’ Catholic Body, if, truly, it was ever inside to begin with.

Dear reader, let us not be waylaid by these terrible lies!

And let us oppose them where we can.

Not everyone is an apostle, or bishop, or priest, or monk, or nun, or what-have-you. But even the lowliest layperson must uphold the Catholic Faith in the sight of others where silence is tantamount to denial. In the meantime, even the least of us can pray and offer sacrifices for the destruction of these horrible religious lies.

For Your Great Sake, O Lord, please save us. For Your Great Name, O Lady, please intercede on our behalves and crush the head of the serpent. Don’t let lies or confusions have sway any longer… send us the blessed light of truth & wisdom, for all of us!

• Holy Saturday, 2013 (3-30-13)

Added Part Two of Baptismal Confusion, as promised, which consists of Chapters 33 to 60 and focuses on the evidence from the saints, doctors & fathers concerning ‘baptism of desire’ (BOD) vs. ‘water only’ (WO) when it comes to the Sacrament of Baptism. Whether a BODer or a WOer, please look at this section and these chapters very closely. WOers are exceedingly ignorant about the overwhelming evidence for BOD found in the later doctors and saints, whilst BODers are exceedingly ignorant about the distinct lack of evidence for BOD found in the most ancient doctors and saints.

Both need a wake up call of knowledge and humility!

Also tweaked the Books & Articles synopsis of Baptismal Confusion slightly, as well as corrected three typos in Part One of the new book that was already posted as of March 25^th. Too, corrected one typo in the latest entry of What’s New (till this one, of course…) and corrected one slightly mistaken piece of information in a much earlier What’s New entry from 2011 (specifically, where I accidentally subtracted one year from the Blessed Virgin Mary’s human age of 2026 years old at the time, she now being 2027 years old going on 2028 now!).

I hope to have Part Three of Baptismal Confusion uploaded very soon. It will focus on the evidence from the saints, doctors & fathers expressly against the BOD theological opinion, something BODers are blithely unaware of.

Please pray for strength, time and concentration on my part, that I might be able to finish composition of the last parts of this book as soon as possible. I cannot, all by myself and in my own cleverness or might, get people to see straight and act accordingly about the Sacrament of Baptism and this confusing debate which blinds the minds of both the smart and the ordinary thinker. I have not the holiness to draw down heavenly graces to miraculously open men’s eyes, nor the jurisdiction and power to figuratively knock some heads around until they meekly admit the truth…

Nevertheless, the Church cannot be restored properly until this fight is quieted. None of us --- apart from a real pope --- can settle this issue for good. It will take an explicit & infallible pronouncement. But we can, in the meantime, be sensible and gracious and admit that the topic is a matter of theological opinion and not yet a thing of defined certainty.

That much is made clear from my book. Pray, then, that Heaven would be merciful and allow the truth about this to be known --- and humbly acknowledged --- so that the restoration of the Church’s Visible Body would arrive the more quickly.

As I hinted several days ago, the devil has all angles covered. Most of the world today is lost in the lies of modernism or some other false religion. Catholicism is, humanly speaking, nearly extinct… and yet not totally extinct. Miraculous and even shocking conversions to real Catholicity still occur, even in the midst of all the darkness and unbelief. I am proof of this, since I converted out of nowhere from Evangelic Protestantism during the 1990s.

The point is, how tragic that the few converts there are, if not swept away by various forms of false ‘catholicity’ (conservative novus ordoism or traditional novus ordoism, mainly, who are subject to the salvation heresy which claims grown up people of adequate mind can be saved while ignorant of the truth of the Catholic Faith and dying visibly in the practice of a false religion), are then overwhelmed by the flood of this baptismal confusion and propelled into either heresy or schism because of it!

Either is damnable, and either can damn a man.

This is what the devil has been allowed to accomplish today.

The path to eternal salvation has always been narrow, as Jesus makes plain near the end of Chapter 7 in the Gospel of St. Matthew. Yet narrower still has this precious path become during the Great Apostasy when even those who make it so far as to know and believe the Catholic Faith… what precious few there are… are then torn into the hideousness of schism or the equal hideousness of heresy, the pair being but two sides of the same evil coin.

Most Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary, please save us from our ignorance, impatience, pride and stubbornness.

Please save us. Not because we deserve it --- for we don’t, since we are so wicked --- but for the sake of your One & Only Catholic Body, that it might be restored and no longer mocked or insulted.

• The Feast of the Annunciation and Monday in Holy Week, 2013 (3-25-13)

First post in a year and a half! What have I been doing all that time?

Governing and supporting a large family, which takes a lot of strength and effort.

Yet also studying for and composing a large book, called Baptismal Confusion: What the Fight Over ‘Baptism of Desire’ vs. ‘Water Only’ Is All About and Where Both Sides Get It Very Wrong, Falling into Heresy or Schism as a Result.

Perhaps the title is a clue --- and, yes, I do dare to say that most subjects dealt with on this website are important --- nevertheless, the subject of this book is particularly important. Not because everyone is Catholic; most people are not today. But because those very few people who really may be Catholic are sucked up onto one side or the other of this conflict… and then become heretical or schismatic as a consequence, falling out of Jesus’ One & Only Catholic Body.

A most tragic situation! Is there a remedy?

There most certainly is. And it comes from close study, good sense and humble honesty. That is to say, lay aside your prejudices and your impatience, pretend for a moment that you don’t know everything you need to know already (this is a tough one for most of us, I realize), put your thinking cap on carefully, learn all that you can about both sides of the argument (and not just the side you already want to think is ‘right’) and be humble & honest about what you find out.

There. Now is that so hard?

Unfortunately for many of us, it is. We so badly want to be right… and so eagerly want to believe everyone else is wrong. And, to make it more interesting, the Catholic Church really is absolutely right when it comes to faith & morals! But does that mean that you, as a Catholic, are therefore right about everything just because you want to think you are, and that you don’t have to be humble and admit that you don’t know everything --- and that it’s worth your while to study something in detail that is fought over hard before you dare to say you’ve got it figured out correctly?

The answer is clear for anyone who uses his God-given mind and doesn’t have a terrible sin of pride, as well as wrestle with chilling fear at the prospect of being in the wrong. The Catholic Church is infallibly right --- but we, mere mortals that we are despite being members of this Church, must study to make sure that we understand this Church’s infallible pronouncements correctly before we go around acting like we couldn’t be wrong… especially when it comes to a much disputed topic amongst real Catholics that the Church has never yet both explicitly & infallibly declared upon!

The exact parameters of the Sacrament of Baptism are not yet drawn by the Infallible Authority of the Church in absolutely explicit and clear words. We know by infallible dogma that water baptism is necessary --- that much is explicitly taught by the Church. What we don’t know is what that necessity amounts to… an absolute necessity or a preceptive necessity? That is, are there ever any exceptions to the need for water (e.g., will God let a good-willed catechumen die ‘accidentally’ before he gets baptized in water and still let him into Heaven?), or has God made it absolutely necessary to receive sacramental water in every situation (and thus a good-willed catechumen will get that baptismal water no matter what before he dies)?

This is what the fight is over.

Already got your mind made up? Too proud to admit that you could be wrong and that you don’t know everything already?

Why, then, of course, it’s a waste of your precious time to read this book.

But are you humble, and ready to confess that you could still learn something… and that it might end up making you acknowledge that you’re on the wrong side of the fight, or that neither side is completely right?

Then read the book, my dear soul. Heaven and Hell are at stake. The devil wants you, and a ‘little thing’ like being Catholic is not going to deter him. This is where he gets most of the people who are Catholic --- what few there are nowadays --- to go astray into heresy or schism, acting dogmatic about what has not yet become a perfectly explicit and infallible dogma of the Roman Catholic Church.

Most Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary! O Blessed Ever-Virgin Mother of God, Whose Immaculate Soul the sword still pierces as your children are ravished and devoured by the wolf let loose upon the world today. Have mercy on us, your poor wandering children! Crush the Serpent’s Head and free us from his poison. Without You we are lost. We put our trust in You and in Your Divine Son. Please don’t let us perish and fall into hell!

• The Feasts of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Nicomedes, 2011 (9-15-11)

Posted part one of a new book, Mary Exalted. In it I go through Sacred Scripture carefully and explain even more carefully --- with ironclad logic and simple good sense --- why it is that the Blessed Virgin Mary is so highly venerated by good Roman Catholics. And that this is as it should be… the Virgin Mary being God’s Most Admirable Creature by far!

In actuality, it’s not quite so new; I posted it first thing when I uploaded the website in May of 2008. However, it was only part of the home page as you scroll down --- and how many people pay close attention to that? But I did edit it and change the font style significantly late last year. Now it has a proper place of its own, standing alone as a book in the Books & Articles section of this website. Hopefully, this will gain it a little bit more readership amongst those very few souls who really do care for the truth, and who want to gain the great & mighty salvation that Our Creator has prepared for those who humbly believe what He has proclaimed through His Son’s Body, the Church, which is the Pillar & Foundation of the Truth, and which He has wrought through His Son’s Mother, the Blessed Ever-Virgin Mary.

Also posted an expanded Quiklinks frame on the right. It now has not only recent posts but, in blog-like fashion, an alphabetical list of all pages that I have posted to this website. Again, it increases the odds that someone will find and pay close attention to something that could prove salvific for his immortal soul. Because a surfer might not bother to search each section, whereas he just may, scanning the easy to scroll list of 109 pages (thus far), see a title that catches his fancy and read it unto a full understanding, profiting his soul.

And a word about the Virgin Mary’s Seven Sorrows. They are, in this exact order: 1) the words of St. Simeon about the sword piercing Her soul at the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple; 2) the flight into Egypt to save the life of Jesus, leaving everything they knew behind them in Palestine; 3) the loss of Jesus at age twelve in Jerusalem, it taking Joseph & Mary three days to find him; 4) Jesus carrying His Cross through the streets of Jerusalem and meeting His Mother along the way; 5) Jesus being crucified upon the Cross and dying in front of His Mother’s eyes; 6) Jesus being taken down from the Cross and His Bloody & Bruised Body placed dead in Her arms; and 7) Jesus being laid in the Tomb as His Mother watches, seeing Him for the last time prior to His Resurrection.

There are special promises & blessings associated with reflection upon these sorrows, or dolors. They are intimately akin to the Stations of the Cross and the terrible horrors & sufferings that Her Divine Son, Jesus, endured during His Passion & Crucifixion. The two of them are like one, the Immaculate & Sorrowful Heart of Mary inextricably merging with and attached to the Sacred & Suffering Heart of Jesus. This is the essence of --- and secret to --- Her being the Co-Redemptress. For though She could not redeem or save Humankind without Her Son, He being absolutely necessary to Our Salvation, God in His Eternal Wisdom chose to execute His Salvation through Her and never without Her, it being Her Blood & Flesh that Jesus wore like a Sacred Veil, the Sacrifice of which was the means of Our Glorious Redemption in His Body via the Sacrament of Baptism and Profession of the Catholic Religion. And this is why God prophesied right from the beginning in the Garden at the Fall of Man, saying to that ancient serpent, the Devil, “She shall crush your head…” Not He --- and even though it was Jesus, Her Son, Who died upon the Cross, literally accomplishing the Redemption! But She --- it being Her Flesh & Blood shed upon the Cross by which He consummated the Eternal Sacrifice.

Praised be the Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary! O Most Divine Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. O Most Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us. Ad Jesum per Mariam!

• The Feasts of the Nativity of the Blessed Ever-Virgin Mary and St. Adrian, 2011 (9-8-11)

New article posted called Modest Dress: What It Is and Why It Is So Crucial. Ever wondered about the way we clothe ourselves nowadays in this part of the world, my dear reader? Does it make sense to you? Or, if liking the way we dress, do you nevertheless realize it’s drastically different --- and at complete odds --- with the way people in our part of the world used to dress less than a century or two ago? What happened? Was it a mere change of ‘styles’? Yet how could it have merely amounted to a change in styles when the way we dress now would have been condemned and hissed at by the average person in the mid-1800s as shocking, immoral & reprehensible?

You see where I’m headed with this. It’s not mere ‘style’… it’s a matter of morality. Something changed in us as a people in the last hundred years, something that began happening in the previous century to that but only culminated in our times, in the past fifty years. Our sense of right & wrong shifted drastically. And while I don’t get into the nitty gritty details of why that shift occurred, I do explain carefully why we, as real Roman Catholics, must defy that change in our own lives. That is to say, we cannot dress the way most everyone else dresses today. Not because we relish being odd or want to stick out like sore thumbs, but because modesty in clothing is something that both God and His Church command us to practice. Not sure what to make of it? Or not certain where to draw the line in the clothing you wear? And, yet, do you call yourself Catholic? Then dig in and read the article! You can find a quick link at the top of the far right frame. Or go to the link for Books & Articles (B&A) in the far left frame and scroll down till you find the hyperlinked title listed alphabetically.

Also posted a companion page to the Modest Dress article called A Chart for Modest Dress. It’s literally just what it says it is --- a rapid way at one glance to see the guidelines for how Catholics should dress, whether man or woman. You can find a quick link at the right for it, or go to the B&A section. It can also be linked to from inside the Modest Dress article itself.

Finally, a word on the wonderful feast day today. The nativity --- or birth --- of the Mother of God is one of the greater solemnities celebrating Her in the Catholic Church. While not a holy day of obligation in the United States, and not quite equal to the Feasts of Her Immaculate Conception or Her Glorious Assumption, it is almost the next thing to it. Because without Her birth and existence in this world, Her Divine Son, Jesus Christ, could not have been born and clothed with our humanity. And without that, no Sacrifice for Men’s Sins upon the Cross could have occurred. Let us then rejoice in Her Birthday!

Yet how old is She exactly in terms of years today? Believe it or not, we can know the answer to that question. Sacred Scripture tells us that she was in her fifteenth year when She conceived Jesus in Her Womb. That is to say, past what we’d call fourteen years old, but not yet fifteen. And Jesus’ conception was on March 25, precisely nine months prior to his birth upon December 25^th. Yet Her birthday happened between those two dates. Hence, if she was what we’d call fourteen (the Jews termed it differently, counting inclusively in contrast to our habit of counting exclusively) when She conceived Jesus, then the Blessed Virgin Mary was fifteen when She gave birth to Jesus. Now, Jesus was born at the very end of BC 1, per a incredibly saintly nun named Mary of Agreda. Therefore, Mary was fifteen years old on September 8, BC 1. Consequently, She had to have been born on September 8, 16 BC. Which means, then, too --- remembering that there is no year zero --- that She is two thousand and twenty-six years old today. Happy 2026^th Birthday, My Dearest & Most Celestial of Ladies! Thank the Triune Catholic God that He gave us You as Our Heavenly Queen!

• The Feast of St. Jane Frances Fremiot de Chantal, 2011 (8-21-11)

Re-posted Should You Go to a CMRI Mass or Take Part in the Worship of Other Traditionalists? with several additions meant to address the questions or concerns of certain readers. Nothing in the gist of the article is changed; its points are merely made with even greater scope & clarity. As an example of what I’m talking about, certain people are concerned about the words of Pope Innocent III through the 4^th Lateran Council regarding the avoidance of heretics. Doesn’t this mean, thought they, that Catholics are justified in receiving the sacraments from ‘undeclared’ heretics… that is, if the Hierarchy has not yet explicitly condemned them by name? And the answer: not at all. I had already addressed this concern in dealing with Pope Martin V’s Ad evitanda scandala. However, to make it perfectly clear to all of my potential readers, I have now included the words of the 4^th Lateran Council in the article, explaining how they are to be rightly understood and why they can’t change anything for the truly Catholic soul when comes to dealing with heresy or schism. Or, to put it differently, how the Church has never deviated on this matter by one single iota --- notorious & pertinacious heretics or schismatics are automatically excommunicated, despite no formal declaration from the Hierarchy, and we are hence, once aware of their notorious crime, to avoid them in all things religious from that point in time onward!

Fervent disciple of that saint of apologetics, Frances de Sales, let us beseech St. Jane Frances Fremiot de Chantal to beg him for his helpful intercession from Heaven. That any of us engaged in the battle of truth against lie, of true religion against false religion, may uphold the Catholic Faith gently yet firmly, charitably yet strongly, in the face of everyone, whether in Heaven or on earth, for the salvation of errant souls. Outside this Catholic Church, no one can hope to be saved. It is therefore an act of kindness toward our neighbors to stand fast in the Ark of Catholic Salvation, which is the One & Only Body of Christ. St. Jane, pray for us! That we might always be able to give an answer for the Divine Hope for which we strive, never timidly that we be thought unable to do so, but never viciously that we be thought to do so out of cruel glee instead of love for God and humankind.

• The Feast of St. Igatius of Loyola, 2011 (7-31-11)

Added another new article to the Books & Articles (B&A) section. It’s called Should You Go to a CMRI Mass or Take Part in the Worship of Other Traditionalists? Many people claiming to be Catholic nowadays are confused about this matter. They may hold the Salvation Dogma correctly --- not allowing for loopholes where a supposedly ‘invincible ignorance’ will let someone into Heaven regardless of not professing the One True Religion whole & entire --- but they either think the traditionalists don’t teach salvation heresy or don’t think God cares if we get the sacraments from notorious & pertinacious heretics… or that it’s somehow okay during unusual circumstances like ours, with nothing else available.

Has that been your attitude as well, my dear soul? Then please read this article in the B&A now! It is a subject of eternal life or eternal death, as is so much which I deal with on this website. And why wouldn’t it be? For this is God’s One & Only True Church we’re talking about!

How appropriate that I should post this on the Feast of St. Ignatius. Not to be mixed up with St. Ignatius of Antioch (who lived in the first two centuries and is another favorite of mine), this is the man who started the Jesuits, or Company of Jesus. Catholics in later decades generally agree that he was the one who God chose, more than any others, to be His opponent on earth against the great heresy of Luther. To wit, Protestantism. Luther’s religious lies caused a lot of darkness & death. The religious lies of our apostate times are even worse, building on the filthy foundations that Luther laid in the 16^th century. I cannot hope to rival Ignatius, for his holiness far exceeds mine. But I can hope to contribute a little something in the reparation of spiritual falsehoods. I can also expect a little bit of the opposition that he faced --- the devil and his minions do not like their lies to be opposed. In fact, St. Ignatius learned to expect such combat everywhere. He is even said to have famously inquired of one of his order’s sons, who was serving in a far away place (and I paraphrase very roughly), “Why are you not facing opposition? You must be doing something wrong.” Later his religious organization was more vilified and infiltrated by enemies than any other religious order in the Church. Why? Because his Jesuits struck right where the enemy is most tender --- upholding the papacy obediently and teaching dogmatic truth thoroughly to people everywhere. Heavenly truth against hellish lie. That is the battle in which we are engaged if truly, and earnestly, Roman Catholic.

• The Feast of St. Vincent de Paul, 2011 (7-19-11)

Added a new article to the Books & Articles (B&A) section. It’s called What Are We to Think of Written Abjurations? Ever run into the claim, my dear reader, that a baptized heretic must sign a written abjuration in order to be admitted (or re-admitted) to the Catholic Church and have hope of saving his soul? And ever wondered if this could be true? Or, perhaps, you presume it to be true, no questions asked and no doubts entertained? Then read this article in B&A! You will learn what abjuration is, why it is necessary, and what the role of signed & written abjurations is --- if any --- nowadays during the Great Apostasy when no bishops with jurisdiction are to be found.

Heaven willing, I shall be posting several more short articles in B&A. I’ve long wanted to address certain pressing issues regarding Catholicity, especially in the apostate times that we live in. Keep an eye out for them. They will contain useful information (even lifesaving information) that everyone needs to know, surrounded by chaos, confusion & rebellion like we are presently.

Finally, a very brief note on St. Vincent. He is the Patron of Catholic Charities by decree of Pope Leo XIII, responding to the pleas of many bishops. My dear soul, if truly Catholic, please never forget that we are called to disperse alms. No matter how little we have, we can give a little tiny something of that very little. Remember the widow and her two pennies in the Gospel? And as Tobias makes clear in Sacred Scripture (and Ecclesiasticus, too), alms given is great payment for the temporal debt of our sins. Nor need the alms be material. We should give materially so as not to be too attached to the things of this earth! Nevertheless, there is spiritual alms as well. When we offer someone sympathy, or give good counsel, or catechize a person in the Catholic Faith, we are granting them a spiritual alms. St. Vincent de Paul, pray for us! That we might follow your good example and have charity for those who are in need… and not just in word, but in deed! Amen.

• The Feasts of the Most Sacred Heart & Most Precious Blood of Jesus, 2011 (7-1-11)

Updated a webpage in the Admonishments subsection of the Letters & Admonishments section. There are four webpages there presently, apart from the main page that hyperlinks to the others. One of them is brand new, having been added just yesterday. Now one of the remaining three is updated, having a new preface and being converted to the smaller font that I’ve been using lately. Take a look at this subsection if you’re Catholic! You’ll find some of the ground rules for when & how a Catholic should admonish or rebuke his fellow Catholic, and you’ll discover who to refrain from worshipping with religiously when it comes to some people that are only pretending to be Catholic, or who may be Catholic but are schismatic toward certain popes or fellow laypersons.

Today is a very special & unique day. The Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus always falls on July 1^st, no matter what the year or what the day of the week. Nevertheless, this year it just happens to fall upon a Friday, which is the day Jesus shed His Most Precious Blood upon the Cross. However, this alone would not be that unique since it happens every few years. No, what makes it particularly rare is that Easter occurred late enough his year that the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus just happened to occur on this exact Friday --- the same day that the Feast of His Most Precious Blood is celebrated in 2011! This is exceedingly rare. Indeed, it may be so rare as to be the first time that it has ever happened in history, considering that these two feasts don’t go back too many centuries yet. The Feast of the Most Sacred Heart, like many others, depends intrinsically on the exact date of Easter in any given year. Notwithstanding, it always falls on a Friday… but only the first Friday after the Octave of the Feast of Corpus Christi, which is always on a Thursday… the Thursday following Trinity Sunday, which in turn follows Pentecost Sunday, which in turn comes seven weeks after Easter Sunday.

Yet from what does the Precious Blood of Jesus flow? Right --- His Sacred Heart. Thus, how glorious & beautiful that these two feasts would fall together this year! His Sacred Heart represents the Divine Love that He has for Humankind, which has been created in His Image. It is why He sacrificed Himself upon the Cross, dying in both bodily and soulful agony. The Blood that flows from this Heart, though, is the Source of All Life, and the means by which men can redeem themselves from the awful debt of mortal sin, which takes an eternity to pay… but which can be remitted in an instant via Baptism of Water and Profession of the Catholic Faith! This is the free gift of God; it is the love of God for His creatures of mere flesh. We, who had no reason to expect anything other than a just condemnation from Our Creator. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us! Most Precious Blood of Jesus, we worship & adore You!

• The Commemoration of St. Paul, 2011 (6-30-11)

Revamped the Letter & Admonishments (L&A) section. The letters were very many, and I have tried to find the best way possible to warn Catholics of those who --- while they may be members of the Body of Christ --- are publicly grievous sinners, heretics or schismatics. I do not wish to needlessly disgrace them or pretend to take vengeance on them. Nevertheless, I must make known their notorious & obstinate sins lest others become harmed by them, too, in some terrible way. I have therefore split the Admonishments into its own subsection, which can be linked to immediately after entering L&A. Then, after a preface detailing the correct way to rebuke a fellow Catholic, the surfer can follow whichever link he wishes to investigate. There are four admonishments thus far (one of which is brand new), with several more arriving by the end of this year, I would expect.

Today is the Commemoration of St. Paul. He tends to get swallowed up in the shadow of St. Peter. This is why the Church separately commemorates him on this day, the day after June 29^th, which is the Feast of Ss. Peter & Paul together. St. Paul is the greatest of all missioners, having done more than anyone else in the first century to spread the One True Religion, and his efforts have resulted in the Catholicity of innumerable people in the past nineteen hundred years. St. Peter holding the position, as it were, of St. Moses during New Testament times, Paul is to Peter what Aaron was to Moses. That is to say, Moses complained to God of not being able to speak well. God then said He would appoint Aaron, his brother, as his spokesman. Indeed, said the Deity, Moses would be like ‘God’ to Aaron inasmuch as what Moses said, Aaron would speak it publicly for him to others. Likewise St. Paul for St. Peter. Peter’s high position and great dignity gives him the greater of honor between the two; yet Paul has spoken more, and more eloquently, of the True Faith than anyone else, including Peter. Peter is the Rock of the Church (Peter is literally his nickname --- his original name is Simon --- and means ‘rock’), and Paul --- which means ‘small’ --- is the humble apologist. For God delights in using the little and despised things of this world… that His Great Might & Glory may be the more exulted!

• The Feast of Ss. Peter & Paul, 2011 (6-29-11)

Updated the First Things First section with a new article for those who consider themselves Catholic. Like the original article that I had back in 2008 for those who call themselves Christian or ‘born again’ before I updated it for a new one, I thought the old article for self-styled Catholics to be a bit too lengthy or rambly. It also failed to address the controversy (amongst those few who purport to be truly Catholic during these horribly apostate times, leastwise) of written abjurations. This new article tackles that thorny beast head on. And if you think written abjurations are absolutely necessary for the hope of salvation when a baptized soul abjures his heresy, then you had best read this article now. You can link to it directly here. You may be truly Catholic, my dear soul, but foolish adherence to an ‘absolute necessity’ for written abjurations --- especially during our apostate times --- reveals a tendency toward Catholic fundamentalism (about which you may learn more here.)

I also updated the First Things First section with an article for those who consider themselves some other form of religion, or who lay claim to no religion at all… finally! This has been waiting for three years. I think, though, that it is worth it. I had long ruminated over what would be the best approach to such a person on a website like this. While under no illusions --- this article will not, apart from miraculous graces from God, convert hordes of non-Catholics to the Catholic Faith --- the good-willed man who really wants to know the truth will find it compelling. I know, because that’s how I am. Before I became Catholic, I really did want to know the truth about things… particularly the truth about our purpose in this existence. Such an article could have, at the right moment, much shortened my journey out of the vain religions or philosophies of this endarkened world. So if you are such a person, then please read it now. You can link directly to it here.

I hope for more to come tomorrow. It is waiting in the wings, almost ready to go.

Last but not least, the Feast of Ss. Peter & Paul is, in many very real ways, the most important feast of the Catholic Church after the three solemnities concerned with God. To wit, the Feasts of Easter, Pentecost & Christmas. Only the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (wherein Catholics honor the Mother of God as the only human being born without sin in this world, aside from Her Divine Son, Jesus) is a possible rival to its importance. This is because Peter & Paul founded the Church in Rome, Italy. Peter being the Rock --- what his nickname, Peter, means, having been bestowed upon him by Christ --- upon which Jesus’ Church Body is built, and Paul being its greatest purveyor amongst the Gentile peoples, the two by ending their lives in the Eternal City consecrated it with their holy blood in martyrdom and laid the Foundation for the Saving Truth on Earth. That is to say, the Body of Christ, which is the Roman Catholic Church, is made by God’s Power to be the Source of All That We Must Know in order to save our precious & immortal souls. This Saving Truth was planted by Paul all over the world, and it was upheld by Peter via his Divinely-Granted Gift of Infallibility. A gift not given to exalt himself, but to safeguard the Narrow Way to Salvation lest men obscure the Saving Truth by their carelessness, lies & rebellions. No other Church vaunts this infallible guarantee, and no other Religion preserves both untainted and unchanged the memory of what Our Creator has said to Humanity, which He has made in His Holy & Eternal Image.

• The Solemnity of St. Joseph, 2011 (5-11-11)

Added my latest book, Catholic Fundamentalism: What It Is and Why It Is So Deadly, to the Books & Articles section. While not exhaustive, this is my definitive statement upon the subject for now. Who are Catholic fundamentalists? Read the book to find out! It’s fairly short and not that hard to get through.

In brief, though, Catholic fundamentalists (CFs for short) are those who pretend to know what the Magisterium is saying about a particular topic even though the Magisterium is neither explicit nor thorough about the topic in question. Indeed, even when --- at least sometimes --- the Magisterium isn’t addressing that particular issue at all!

The point is, CFs like to see what isn’t actually there… and then pretend they can’t possibly be wrong about it. This causes all sorts of problems, not least of which is schism, heresy, and the unjust treatment of others as CFs accuse fellow Catholics of heresy where no heresy exists, or where only a material heresy is involved. My dear reader, study this book carefully to make sure that you aren’t a Catholic fundamentalist, and, if not, to make certain you know how to defend yourself against these pestilent troublemakers.

Incidentally, May 11^th has not been called the Solemnity of St. Joseph since 1955. However, it was observed as the Solemnity of St. Joseph for centuries prior to the 20^th century. Moreover, Pius XII was a weakened and unvigilant pope by the mid-1950s. (Some accuse him of being an antipope by then, but that’s another can of worms which I will deal with later elsewhere.) It is therefore wiser, in my opinion, to keep the day as it was previous to that date. In any case, a future pope can clear this up in not-too-distant days to come. My own conscience meanwhile bids me to honor Joseph in this fashion.

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