Thursday, October 24, 2013

Remember the Poor Souls - Diocese of Scranton

Yes, I'm still here. Much more active on my Facebook page than I am here. I encourage you to visit me there where you can get the latest in real news that matters to Catholics as well as interact with me.


Todays post is here to remind Catholics that All Souls Day is fast approaching. Those of my readers with a Novus Ordo attachment undoubtedly have not heard this mentioned in your parishes yet, unless you're having a piggie dinner or something on that day.

The Catholic custom is that when we die, our loved ones pray for our souls. And continue to pray for our souls until they die.

Because we need their prayers.

We are not dead when we die, but alive in Christ, and our loved ones help us with their prayers after we die.

We should pray for our dearly departed everyday, but the octave of All Souls is put aside by Holy Mother Church to pray for them and to gain indulgences for ourselves.

PLENARY INDULGENCES FOR THE POOR SOULS

Six General rules for obtaining a plenary indulgence:

1. State of grace at when performing the indulgenced act.
2. Complete detachment from sin, even venial sin.
3. Confession (20 days before or after the indulgenced act)
4. Communion (20 days before or after the indulgenced act)
5. Prayers for the Supreme Pontiff (20 days before or after the indulgenced act)
6. Indulgenced act: a special good work with special conditions of place and time.

Indulgenced acts to be performed for obtaining a plenary indulgence:
*From November 1 to 8: visit of a cemetery with mental prayer for the poor souls.
*On November 2: visit of a church or an oratory with one Our Father and one Creed being recited.

A partial indulgence can be obtained any time by visiting a cemetery and praying for the Poor Souls. The following prayer is especially recommended:

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

POOR SOULS NOVENA

Starting on October 24th, and continuing until November 2nd,  you may say this novena once a day:

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of thy servants and handmaids departed, the remission of all their sins; that through pious supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Who livest and reignest with God the Father in unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen. 

Friday, April 5, 2013

USCCB and your guns - diocese of scranton

Apparently the Bishops of America do not believe you should have guns either.


Because ya know, owning a firearm is as terrible as sucking a baby out of your womb with a vacuum. Apparently.

And who is this Sister Mary Liberated speaking for the USCCB? Have they even had a vote on this? Has it come up over afternoon tea?

And anyway, the teaching authority of the USCCB doesn't even exist. According to the Magisterium. We'll get to that next time. For now, have a giggle, enjoy the good sister's assault on "assault weapons". You'll notice she is only credited as "Mary Ann Walsh" in the Post article. Here's her HuffPo bio:

Sister Mary Ann Walsh is director of media relations for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. She is a member of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Northeast Community. She is an award-winning writer and has been published in several periodicals including The Washington Post, USA Today, America, and Editor & Publisher and is editor of three books: Pope John Paul II: A Light for the WorldFrom John Paul II to Benedict XVI: An Inside Look at the End of an Era, the Beginning of a New One and the Future of the Church, and Benedict XVI: Essays and Reflections on His Papacy.


Catholic bishops: It’s pro-life to ban assault weaponsBy Mary Ann Walsh, Published: April 3
Some things seem naturally abhorrent – forceps to crush a cranium in an abortion, a needle to deliver a sentence intravenously on death row, and an assault weapon in the hands of the man on the street. Each instrument may have a purpose some time, somewhere, but as used above, each reflects brutality in our society.
The Catholic Church opposes use of all three instruments to take a life. The church’s pro-life stand against abortion is undisputed. So is its pro-life stand in opposition to the death penalty. It can only be justified if there is no other way to keep a deadly criminal from hurting more people. And in the most recent – and all too common – threat to human life, the church opposes the growing preponderance of lethal weapons on the streets. It stands as another important pro-life position.   Read more

Pedophilia, the new norm - diocese of scranton

In regard to this matter of gays and marriage I have often asked the question:

If we make homosexual behavior normal as has slowly been happening for the last 45 years, and if the government redefines marriage, where does it end?

I have often said some day pedophiles will be declared normal. Just another sexual orientation that we need to recognize and celebrate.

That day is here.


California Congresswoman, Rep. Jackie Speier CA (D), wants to federalize a state law to prohibit counseling to change a person’s sexual orientation. That doesn’t sound that extreme, but pedophilia is a sexual orientation according to this bill as well.
Under the bill’s language, a mental health counselor could be sanctioned if there was an attempt to get a pedophile or gay individual to change his behavior or speak negatively about their behavior as it relates to sexuality. 
The bill calls on states to prohibit efforts to change a minor’s sexual orientation, even if the minor requests it, saying that doing so is “dangerous and harmful.” 
The text of the legislation doesn’t specifically ban “gay” conversion therapy. Instead, it prohibits attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation. 
“Sexual orientation change efforts’ means any practices by mental health providers that seek to change an individual’s sexual orientation,” the bill says. 
Republicans attempted to add an amendment specifying that, “pedophilia is not covered as an orientation.” However, the Democrats defeated the amendment. Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) stated that all alternative sexual lifestyles should be protected under the law, and accordingly decided that pedophilia is a sexual orientation that should be equally as embraced as homosexuality.  Read the rest here


The chastisements must be close.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

The Wuss of Scranton - diocese of Scranton

Instead of the Bishop of Scranton. I like it.

So little Bobby Casey supports the current administrations stand on same sex marriage, clearly showing his disregard of church teaching.

What does the Wuss of Scranton do?

Bar Casey from receiving Holy Communion?

Nah. Too high church.

Demand Casey follow church teaching on this subject?

Nah. Going against church teaching is the norm. Move along people, nothing to see here.

So what exactly does Wuss Bambera do?

Nothing.

Here is the milquetoast response to Bobby Casey support of same sex marriage:

"Posted on: 04-1-2013 Posted in: News
On April 1, 2013, Pennsylvania’s senior United States Senator, Robert Casey issued a statement supporting marriage equality for same-sex couples and asserting his belief that the Defense of Marriage Act should be repealed. In so doing, Senator Casey has unfortunately and disappointingly set aside the Catholic belief and teaching that the sacrament of marriage, rooted in the natural law, is a faithful, exclusive, lifelong, loving union of a man and a woman open to the transmission of human life. The dual purpose of marriage: the unity and love of a man and a woman, and procreation has been rooted in human history long before any religion, nation or law was established. Senator Casey’s position is contrary to the teaching of the Catholic Church.

While the Church has been and continues to be clear in its long standing teaching on marriage, its defense of marriage should not be interpreted as an attack on individuals with same sex attractions. The Church likewise has proclaimed since its beginnings that every person has an inherent dignity. Like all human beings, our lesbian or gay sisters and brothers are beloved children of God. As a result, the Catholic Church affirms that they “must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in this regard should be avoided” [Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 2358]. Clearly, the Church asserts that the fundamental human rights of all persons must be defended, and encourages the elimination of any form of injustice, oppression, or violence against all people, regardless of sexual orientation."

So what's the penalty for someone who sets aside catholic belief in this diocese?

There is none.

Bambera should be ashamed.

I know I am.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Maundy Thursday - Diocese of Scranton




This day, Maundy Thursday (also "Holy Thursday" or "Shire Thursday") commemorates Christ's Last Supper and the initiation of the Eucharist. Its name of "Maundy" comes from the Latin word mandatum, meaning "command." This stems from Christ's words in John 13:34, "A new commandment I give unto you." It is the first of the three days known as the "Triduum," and after the Vigil tonight, and until the Vigil of Easter, a more profoundly somber attitude prevails (most especially during the hours between Noon and 3:00 PM on Good Friday). Raucous amusements should be set aside...

The Last Supper took place in "the upper room" of the house believed to have been owned by John Mark and his mother, Mary (Acts 12:12). This room, also the site of the Pentecost, is known as the "Coenaculum" or the "Cenacle" and is referred to as "Holy and glorious Sion, mother of all churches" in St. James' Liturgy. At the site of this place -- our first Christian church -- a basilica was built in the 4th century. It was destroyed by Muslims and later re-built by the Crusaders. Underneath the place is the tomb of David.

After the Supper, He went outside the Old City of Jerusalem, crossed the Kidron Valley, and came to the Garden of Gethsemani, a place whose name means "Olive Press," and where olives still grow today. There He suffered in three ineffable ways: He knew exactly what would befall Him physically and mentally -- every stroke, every thorn in the crown He would wear, every labored breath He would try to take while hanging on the Cross, the pain in each glance at His mother; He knew that He was taking on all the sins of the world -- all the sins that had ever been or ever will be committed; and, finally, He knew that, for some people, this Sacrifice would not be fruitful because they would reject Him. Here He was let down by His Apostles when they fell asleep instead of keeping watch, here is where He was further betrayed by Judas with a kiss, and where He was siezed by "a great multitude with swords and clubs, sent from the chief Priests and the ancients of the people" and taken before Caiphas, the high priest, where he was accused of blasphemy, beaten, spat upon, and prepared to be taken to Pontius Pilate tomorrow morning.

As for today's liturgies, in the morning, the local Bishop will offer a special Chrism Mass (notmn this diocese, however) during which blesses the oils used in Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders, Unction, and the consecration of Altars and churches.

At the evening Mass, after the bells ring during the Gloria, they are rung no more until the Easter Vigil (a wooden clapper called a "crotalus" is used insead). Parents explain this to their children by saying that the all the bells fly to Rome after the Gloria of the Mass on Maundy Thursday to visit the Popes. Children are told that the bells sleep on the roof of St. Peter's Basilica, and, bringing Easter eggs with them, start their flight home at the Gloria at the Easter Vigil, when when they peal wildly.

Then comes the Washing of the Feet after the homily, a rite performed by Christ upon His disciples to prepare them for the priesthood and the marriage banquet they will offer, and which is rooted in the Old Testament practice of foot-washing in preparation for the marital embrace (II Kings 11:8-11, Canticles 5:3) and in the ritual ablutions performed by the High Priest of the Old Covenant (contrast Leviticus 16:23-24 with John 13:3-5). The priest girds himself with a cloth and washes the feet of 12 men he's chosen to represent the Apostles for the ceremony.

The rest of the Mass after the Washing of the Feet has a special form, unlike all other Masses. After the Mass, the priest takes off his chasuble and vests in a white cope. He returns to the Altar, incenses the Sacred Hosts in the ciborium, and, preceded by the Crucifer and torchbearers, carries the Ciborium to the "Altar of Repose," also called the "Holy Sepulchre," where it will remain "entombed" until the Mass of the Presanctified on Good Friday.

Then there follows the Stripping of the Altars, during which everything is removed as Antiphons and Psalms are recited. All the glorious symbols of Christ's Presence are removed to give us the sense of His entering most fully into His Passion. Christ enters the Garden of Gethsemani; His arrest is imminent. Fortescue's "Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described" tells us: "From now till Saturday no lamps in the church are lit. No bells are rung. Holy Water should be removed from all stoups and thrown into the sacrarium. A small quantity is kept for blessing the fire on Holy Saturday or for a sick call." The joyful signs of His Presence won't return until Easter begins with the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday evening.

And, of course, tomorrow's Matins and Lauds may be read as part of the "tenebrae service".


Thursday, March 21, 2013

All About Him - diocese of Scranton

I have taken my own advice this past week and prayed. And discerned.

So now I have to speak up.

The Pope is not just the Pope.

He is the Bishop of Rome.

Now everyone pretty much thinks of St. Peter's Basilica when they think of the Pope. Well, as Bishop of Rome he also has St. John Lateran as his diocesan cathedral.

But in his eagerness to be humble, Pope Francis has not yet taken possession of St. John Lateran.

Holy Thursday Mass, which celebrates the institution of the holy priesthood and the Eucharist has for hundreds of years been celebrated by the Bishop of Rome at St. John Lateran.

Not this year.

This year the new Holy Father has decided to take a road trip down to the local prison.

Yep.

Pope Francis will celebrate Holy Mass in a youth prison outside of Rome.

Ok, fine.

We get it. You're channeling St Francis of Assisi.

Great.

Get over it because you are the Pope now, not the bishop of Buenos Aires. You have duties and responsibilities. Remember all those people who stood outside in the crappy weather when you were elected?

Remember how you spoke as the Bishop of Rome to your flock?

Yes, it is an act of mercy to visit those in prison.

But couldn't you visit the prison earlier in the day? Wednesday, perhaps? Said Mass for them some other time?

The bigger picture is that every time he rides the bus or doesn't wear the Mozzetta, or wears black shoes or moves Holy Thursday Mass to a prison, he makes it all about him. "Oh look! Our Pope is sooooo humble and nice!"

If he really wanted to show them some mercy, he should have arranged for the prisoners to come to St. John Lateran and get them out of the prison for a few hours to assist at Holy Mass.

But, what are ya gonna do? Hopefully someone at the Vatican will tell him what he's supposed to be doing. We'll see.

Watch and pray my friends as the Pope Francis show continues!


Latest update: Pope Francis also got rid of the Papal Throne, and is making the humble Papal apartments in the Vatican smaller. On top of that, lets not forget they had to order brand new vestments for his installation. He didn't like any of the ones the Vatican had laying around. Not too thrifty, eh? More money that could have been saved for the poor.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Pray and Discern - Diocese of Scranton

Yes, we have a Pope.

Yes, he is from the "Americas".

Yes, his name is Francis.

Other than that, I am praying, watching, and praying some more.

That's what you all should be doing as well.

I'll be back, something of this magnitude requires quiet and reflection. And prayer.

There's a lot of questions. A lot of accusations. A lot of joy. A lot of sadness.

Discernment is required.

Don't listen to CNN on this. Don't listen to CBS.

Pray and listen to what God says to you.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.




Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Obamalley - The Diocese of Scranton

If you're my friend on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/rockin.traddy.7, you've seen my ongoing comments regarding the conclave today and our first look at the black smoke, and some of my criticism of the American "cardinals" Dolan and O'Malley.

Here's a story I had to go to Canada for about Obama's connection to O'Malley. Shame on the American media for not reporting this.


http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/53707

Friday, March 8, 2013

Conclave 3-12-13 - Diocese of Scranton

Well, they have set the start date for the conclave that will elect Raymond Cardinal Burke the next Supreme Pontiff. (I hope and pray!) 

(Vatican Radio) The eighth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals meeting in the Vatican Synod Hall Friday has decided that the Conclave for the election of the Pope will begin on Tuesday, 12 March 2013.A “pro eligendo Romano Pontifice” Mass will be celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica in the morning. Then Tuesday afternoon the 115 Cardinal Electors will gather in the Pauline Chapel for a moment of collection and prayer and from there they will process in order of precedence through the Sala Regia to the Sistine Chapel invoking the Holy Spirit.There they will take their seats, again observing the order of precedence, to elect the 265thSuccessor to St Peter. Once they have taken their seats they will hear the second meditation established by the Apostolic Constitution governing the papal transitions. It will be given by the Maltese Augustinian, Cardinal Prospero Grech. Following the mediation, the 115 cardinals will swear an oath to observe the rules of Conclave which include to maintain fidelity to the election of the Pope, to maintain secrecy, never to support or favor interference. The Cardinal Dean Angelo Sodano, reads aloud the formula of the oath, the Cardinal electors respond: I do so promise, pledge and swear. After all the Cardinals have taken the oath, the Master of the Papal Ceremonies, Msgr. Guido Marini orders all individuals other than the Cardinal Electors and conclave participants to leave the Sistine Chapel. He stands at the great wooden doors and pronounces the phrase: "Extra omnes!" He then closes the door. According to the Apostolic Constitution, on the afternoon of the first day, one ballot may be held. If a ballot takes place on the afternoon of the first day and no-one is elected, four ballots are held on each successive day, two in the morning and two in the afternoon. If no result is obtained after three vote days of balloting, the process is suspended for a maximum of one day for prayer, meditation and reflection. A two thirds majority is required for the election of a Pope.Of the 115 Cardinal Electors, more than half are European with the largest single nationality represented by the 28 Italian Cardinal Electors. In a geographical breakdown: 60 come from Europe, 19 from Latin America, 14 from North America, 11 from Africa, 10 from Asia and 1 from Oceania. The average age of the Cardinal Electors is 71 while 67 of the Cardinals who will enter in the Conclave Tuesday were appointed by Pope emeritus, Benedict XVI. There were eight Conclaves in the 20th century, only three of which lasted longer than three days. The longest Conclave in the last two hundred years was 1830-1831. It lasted 50 days for a total of 83 ballots resulting in the election of Gregory XVI, the last religious elected to the papacy. The shortest Conclave in the 20th century took place in 1939. Eugenio Pacelli was elected Pius XII after just three ballots

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Fit For A Pope - Diocese of Scranton

While everyone else is blogging about the coming conclave and what qualities the new Pontiff will need, I wanted to focus a bit more on something gravely important.

Fashion!

What will the new Pope be wearing?

Well, the famous Rome tailor shop Gammarelli, just a stones throw from the Pantheon now has on display in its front window the cassock and accessories to be worn for the new Pope's presentation to the people just after his election the Catholic News Service reported.

"The Gammarelli shop proudly showcased in its street-level window the white wool cassocks in three different sizes: "tall," "medium," and "small," since no one knows who will be the new pope or what his measurements will be.

It takes three-and-a-half days to cut, prepare and sew by hand one complete cassock, said the sixth-generation family member, so all three were finished "very quickly" by March 1 and displayed in the shop window the morning of March 4.

The shop eventually will deliver the ensemble to the Vatican in time for the conclave and election.

The Gammarelli shop was founded in 1798 and has served every 21st- and 20th-century pontiff except for Pope Pius XII, who stuck with his family's tailor."

Read the complete story here: http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1300975.htm

I'm thinking about ordering a pair of socks from Gammarelli for Sunday Mass. Probably the only thing I can afford. If anyone else wants to order something, email me, we can save on shipping!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Ash Wednesday - Diocese of Scranton

Remember - Today Lent begins. What are your plans? Fasting and abstinence is the norm. Two small snacks and a meal. And remember - no meat!

Did you get "shrived" yesterday?

Is your parish offering the sacrament of confession today? Take advantage if they are.

Did you know? Parishes diocese-wide will be offering confession every Monday evening during Lent?

A sincere thank you to Bishop Bambera for making this available to the faithful. It is sorely needed.


Wolves at the Vatican - Diocese of Scranton

Wow. What an article by Christopher Ferrera at the Remnant.

(www.RemnantNewspaper.com) It has been my great privilege to write for this venerable journal regarding some of the most important events in recent Church history, including the election of Pope Benedict XVI, which Michael Matt and I were fortunate enough to witness in Rome itself beneath the very balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica. But how does one gather his wits on such short notice to offer a useful assessment of an event as epochal as the abdication of a Roman Pontiff, and in particular this Pontiff, whose dramatic gestures have favorably altered the landscape of our devastated ecclesial commonwealth in ways we could only hope for during the long and increasingly ruinous pontificate of John Paul “the Great.”

Two questions immediately present themselves: Can a Pope resign, that is, abdicate, and why did Pope Benedict do so? The first is easily answered, at least technically. As the Catholic Encyclopedia observes: “Like every other ecclesiastical dignity, the papal throne may also be resigned.” Indeed, “[t]he reasons which make it lawful for a bishop to abdicate his see, such as the necessity or utility of his particular church, or the salvation of his own soul, apply in a stronger manner to the one who governs the universal church.” And while there is no higher earthly authority to which a Pope can tender his resignation, “he himself by the papal power can dissolve the spiritual marriage between himself and the Roman Church.” We can dispense by anticipation with any contrary canonical arguments we can expect hear from the amateur canonists of the Internet. None other than Pope Boniface VIII, that great exemplar of the papal supremacy, decreed the inherent capacity of a Pope to resign his own office, which decree is codified in the Corpus Juris Canonici (Cap. Quoniam I, de renun., in 6).

So, technically and logically at least a Pope has the capacity to renounce his own office as Vicar of Christ. And the abdication of a Pope, while exceedingly rare, is not unprecedented. There are several examples, including the well-known abdication of Pope Celestine V in 1294. One case is particularly striking: Pope Benedict IX (1033-44), who “had long caused scandal to the Church by his disorderly life, freely renounced the pontificate and took the habit of a monk,” to be succeeded by Clement II. (Benedict IX attempted to reclaim the papal throne after Clement’s death, but evidently failed in the endeavor).

But the abdication of Benedict XVI appears to be sui generis—a purely discretionary decision by a pontiff who is neither incapacitated nor under some objective duty to resign on account of, say, personal scandal or a contested election that has thrown the Church into turmoil, as we see with the abdication of Pope Gregory XII during the Great Western Schism. Quite the contrary, by all appearances, including the elegant text of his own statement of resignation, the Pope retains to the full his intellectual acuity and suffers from no life-threating medical condition, as the Vatican itself insists.

Why, then, did Benedict XVI abdicate, and so suddenly? The proffered explanation of declining health and strength, which has afflicted any number of Popes who remained in office until God called them, would suggest a Pope who has simply failed in the virtue of perseverance and done something contemptible. (Dante for this reason places Pope Celestine in Hell.) But charity counsels that we seek another explanation. Hilary White of Life Site News has pointed me to the view of theologian Brian Flanagan, who opines that the Pope’s “resignation” reflects a two-fold rationale: “the possible practical benefits of having a younger man… at the helm, preventing the administrative and bureaucratic mayhem of the last years of John Paul’s papacy, [and] this move symbolically brings the papacy down to its proper size. The papacy can now be clearly seen as a crucial office of the universal church, but one in which the pope remains an officeholder, rather than an irreplaceable, magical figure.”

I think Flanagan may have it have half right: the Pope has abdicated because he perceives that he is simply unable to mitigate any further the ecclesial chaos John Paul “the Great” left behind after the vast crowds had dispersed and their rowdy cheers of “Santo Subito” had faded away. I believe—or at least I want to believe—that Benedict sees as the only hope for an ecclesial restoration the elevation of a younger, fitter conservative to the Throne of Peter. I also believe that Benedict has concluded that if he were to remain in office for several years to come, something disastrous would happen that a more vigorous successor, if elected now, might be able to avert—about which more in a moment.

In assessing this hypothesis we must begin with the Pope’s extraordinary statement of abdication—the first of its kind in Church history—to see what we can see. Given the enormous historical importance of the document, I set it forth entirely here:

Dear Brothers,

I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.

Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.

From the Vatican, 10 February 2013

The first clue the document provides about what is really going on is that it was issued during a Consistory convoked for the canonizations of saints of the pre-Vatican II epoch: First, the martyrs Antonio Primaldo and 799 companions, beheaded at Otranto, Italy in 1480 by invading Turkish soldiers after they refused to convert to Islam. (It is said that the headless body of Primaldo, a humble tailor, stood erect and could not be toppled until every last of one his companions had been martyred.) Second, Laura di Santa Caterina da Siena Montoya y Upegui (1874-1949), the virgin foundress of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Mary Immaculate, who led a mission to convert the Indians of Latin America. Third, Maria Guadalupe García Zavala (1878-1963), foundress of the Handmaids of St. Margaret Mary and the Poor and a victim of the Mexican government’s persecution of the Catholic Church.

Tellingly, what appear to be Pope Benedict’s final three acts of canonization—generally acknowledged by theologians to be an infallible act of the Magisterium because it establishes a cult for the universal Church—involved only classic candidates for sainthood. Their heroic virtues were patent and were accompanied by the highest fidelity to their stations in the Church. This is quite unlike the non-infallible beatification of John Paul II, establishing only a local cult in the dioceses of Rome and Krakow (although this crucial distinction was promptly ignored). Concerning this beatification, Vatican spokesmen offered the astonishing rationale that “Pope John Paul II is being beatified not because of his impact on history or on the Catholic Church, but because of the way he lived the Christian virtues of faith, hope and love... John Paul II is being beatified for holiness, not his papacy….” A Pope whose beatification had nothing to do with his pontificate, and yet is called “the Great,” is another of the innumerable oddities that litter the post-conciliar landscape of the Church.

Now, Pope Benedict’s abdication is to take effect a mere seventeen days from today, on February 28, 2013 at precisely 8 p.m. This means that Benedict will avoid the dubious canonization of John Paul II and the simply absurd beatification of Paul VI. The steamroller driving toward those vexatious events, sweeping aside all reasonable objections, has suddenly been stopped dead in its tracks. Did the Pope abdicate, at least in part, to slow down John Paul II’s saint-making machine, which was threatening to canonize the Council of which Benedict himself (in his more candid moments) has been so critical? We may be permitted think so.

Consider: Benedict might have been wrestling with the propriety of raising John Paul to the altars of the universal Church and declaring Paul VI a beatus, thus placing his papal imprimatur on what he himself, when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, described as a post-conciliar “process of decay”—a process only Pope Benedict has done anything to reverse since the Council. Yet, Benedict was also under tremendous pressure from “conciliarist” forces to perform both acts in order to shore up the collapsing credibility of the conciliar aggiornamento. At this very moment, the trickle of traditionalist critiques is becoming a torrent of criticism by respectable theologians of the mainstream, as the “spirit” of the Council wanes while its disastrous effects become too obvious to explain away any longer. (See, for example, the posthumously revealed commentary by the eminent non-traditionalist theologian Fr. Divo Barsotti, whose diary records this damning assessment: “I am perplexed with regard to the Council: the plethora of documents, their length, often their language, these frightened me. They are documents that bear witness to a purely human assurance more than to a simple firmness of faith.”)

Thus, we can surmise that Benedict faced a dilemma: If he simply refused to exercise the papal primacy to canonize the Council, he would be met with a storm of outrage from conciliarist militants. But if he yielded to pressure and proceeded with those acts, he would have to answer to his own conscience and ultimately to the Judge of us all. Fearing that he would be unable to resist the pressure to perform the ceremonies demanded and already arranged, awaiting only his approving act, he might have concluded that his best course of action was to jump off the steamroller before it could reach its destination. It stands to reason that if Benedict were at all committed to the idea of “Saint John Paul II the Great” and “Blessed Paul VI,” he would have remained in office at least long enough to perform the necessary papal acts. Yet he has left office, in a purely discretionary manner, just as those acts were slated to occur—during the ironically designated “Year of Faith” that is taking place in the midst of the “silent apostasy” that is our inheritance from the previous two pontificates.

Or perhaps, even if this was not the Pope’s conscious intent, the Holy Ghost has intervened by prompting him to abdicate rather than inflicting further damage to the Church by acceding to the Council’s canonization via improvident acts of the Magisterium. As this newspaper noted in a recent news item, it does appear to be a miracle that, just days ago, the seemingly imminent canonization of John Paul II was abruptly postponed until at least 2014. Was that postponement Pope Benedict’s doing in anticipation of his abdication? Did he act under the influence of the Holy Ghost? These are reasonable questions in view of the shocking decision by a reigning Roman Pontiff to renounce his office even though he is neither physically nor mentally incapacitated.

Benedict’s statement does cite his awareness of his own declining mental and physical state, but these are only the normal consequences of aging. If the italicized sentences are read carefully in context, however, they provide key indications of why the Pope has abdicated in the circumstances peculiar to his pontificate. While still physically and mentally sound, he feels himself too weak of mind as well as body to confront “questions of deep relevance for the life of faith” and “to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel…”

Here we confront what I believe the Pope must know but we do not: that something wicked this way comes. Has Pope Benedict been driven from office by the wolves he feared when his Pontificate began? Recall his momentous words in the sermon during the Mass for what the conciliar neo-modernists refuse to call his coronation, but rather an “inauguration,” as if the Pope were a mere elected official: “Pray for me, that I may not flee for fear of the wolves.” Among the wolves are, as always, the numberless external enemies of the Church, many of whom demanded precisely that he resign. The apostate Sinead O’Connor is typical of these. Pointing to the sex-abuse scandals that racked the pontificate of John Paul “the Great,” O’Connor declared that “Benedict is in no position to call himself Christ’s representative. The pope should stand down…”

But we can be certain that the wolves the Pope has in view are preeminently the ones nearest to him, encircling him within the very confines of a Vatican bureaucracy that has crushed the monarchical papacy under the massive machinery of an ecclesiastical democracy installed during the post-conciliar revolution, with its “collegiality” and its “reform” of the Roman Curia. I am reminded here of Bishop Fellay’s revelation that during his audience with Pope Benedict at Castel Gondolfo in August 2005, he pleaded with the Pope to take action to restore the Church fully: “You are the Pope!” said Bishop Fellay (in substance) when the two of them were left alone for a moment. But the Pope, pointing to the door of the room in which the audience took place, replied forlornly: “My authority ends at that door.”

And what is outside that door? The wolves in the Pope’s own household. The Pope himself confirms a veritable overthrow of the papacy to the extent such is humanly possible. Seen in this light, the Pope’s unprecedented discretionary abdication takes on an apocalyptic aspect. And it was Benedict himself who made it a point to link his situation precisely to the apocalyptic Third Secret of Fatima. During his pilgrimage to Fatima two years ago Benedict revealed what the Secret in its entirety foretells, which is more than what we see in the vision published in 2000 standing alone:

Beyond this great vision of the suffering of the Pope… are indicated future realities of the Church which are little by little developing and revealing themselves.… Thus it is true beyond the moment indicated in the vision, it is spoken, it is seen, the necessity of a passion of the Church that naturally is reflected in the person of the Pope; but the Pope is in the Church, and therefore the sufferings of the Church are what is announced...

As for the novelty that we can discover today in this message, it is that attacks on the Pope and the Church do not come only from outside, but the sufferings of the Church come precisely from within the Church, from sins that exist in the Church. This has always been known, but today we see it in a really terrifying way: that the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from enemies outside, but arises from sin in the Church.

In light of these statements one must ask: What does the Pope know that he has been constrained not to tell us? Why does he speak of terrifying “future realities” that are developing “little by little” without telling us what they are? Does he know, for example, why, as we see in the vision, a future Pope meets his end atop a hill outside a ruined city filled with the dead, from which he has escaped only to be executed by a band of soldiers? Has he read the words of the Virgin that would clarify the vision’s post-apocalyptic scenario? (Only a fool would think that the Mother of God assigned to Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican Secretary of State who covered up the Father Maciel scandal, the task of “interpreting” a vision she herself must have explained quite clearly.) Are the Virgin’s words intimated in the Pope’s statement that “beyond the moment indicated in the vision” the details of a terrifying future are “spoken,” not merely seen? What part of the Secret is beyond the moment indicated in the vision if not a text that speaks where the vision is silent?

Whatever the Pope sees coming must be the motive for his abdication, unless we are willing to conclude that he simply wearied of his office and decided in his weakness to abandon it. No, there must be more. I echo the sentiments of the Editor in concluding that Pope Benedict has sacrificed himself to the wolves, lying down in front of them while they sniff the corpse of his pontificate in puzzlement, surprised by their ultimately easy prey, and momentarily distracted from what may already have been put in motion respecting the next conclave.

Benedict, we can suppose, has placed his hope in the Holy Ghost and the election of a successor who might resist where he can no longer resist, repel what he can no longer repel, restore in full what he no longer has the strength to recover in full from those who have kept it from us—including, one must say, the two ill-starred predecessors it is insanely proposed to exalt as among the greatest of Popes. This seems to be what Pope Benedict is saying when he declares, surely in the light of Fatima: “let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff.”

All of this, of course, is speculation. But reasonable speculation is all we have in the face of this astounding and frightening development. The Pope who, whatever his failings, ended the diabolical suppression of the traditional Roman Rite permitted by his predecessors, and who lifted the preposterous “excommunication” of the bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X, has suddenly resigned. We are left in a mixed state of bewilderment, gratitude, fear for the future, and hope for what the Holy Ghost may yet bring about despite the best laid plans of the wolves who now look down upon our fallen Pope, pondering their next move. Our Lady of Fatima, confound them!

Monday, February 11, 2013

SSPX on the Abdication of the Holy Father - Diocese of Scranton

Most interesting. But has the ship already sailed in regards to the SSPX? Quite possibly.


The Society of Saint Pius X has learned of the sudden announcement about the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, which will be effective on the evening of February 28, 2013.  Despite the doctrinal differences that were still evident on the occasion of the theological talks held between 2009 and 2011, the Society of Saint Pius X does not forget that the Holy Father had the courage to recall the fact that the Traditional Mass had never been abrogated, and to do away with the canonical sanctions that had been imposed on its bishops following their consecration in 1988.  It is not unaware of the opposition that these decisions have stirred up, obliging the pope to justify himself to the bishops of the whole world.  The Society expresses its gratitude to him for the strength and the constancy that he has shown toward it in such difficult circumstances, and assures him of its prayers for the time that he wishes to devote from now on to recollection.
Following its founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the Society of Saint Pius X reaffirms its attachment to eternal Rome, Mother and Instructress [Mater et Magistra] of Truth, and to the See of Peter.  It reiterates its desire to make its contribution, according to its abilities, to resolving the grave crisis that is shaking the Church.  It prays that, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the cardinals of the next conclave may elect the pope who, according to the will of God, will work for the restoration of all things in Christ (Eph 1:10).
Menzingen, February 11, 2013,
on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

Pope Benedict to resign - Diocese of Scranton

The first Vicar of Christ to resign in 600 years.

In the consistory for canonizations today, Pope Benedict XVI announced he will resign, "for the good of the Church", on Feb. 28.
--------------------

Text of the address:

Dear Brothers, I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.

Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Quinquagesima Sunday - Diocese of Scranton

Happy Quinquagesima Sunday!

Huh?

Do you mean to say that YOUR catholic parish didn't celebrate Quinquagesima Sunday?

Not surprising.

Quinquagesima is Latin for "fiftieth", or "fiftieth day before Easter".

Today is a special day, reminding us that the physical suffering and renewal of our souls through the Lenten sacrifices are close at hand.

Wednesday, actually.

Traddy and his family spent a refreshing morning at a catholic parish somewhere in the diocese of Scranton where tradition and God are celebrated.

A very traditional Mass in their own tradition was celebrated, the homily was well done, with no thought to the entertainment of the congregation.

Traddy and his family will be returning, and watch here for more information on this particular parish.

"O come, let us worship and fall down, and kneel before the Lord our maker: for he is the Lord our God."

God love you!

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Catechesis or Heresy? - Diocese of Scranton



Since the 1960s and Vatican II, a heretical revolution has overtaken Catholic catechesis and theology, just as it has in the liturgy of the church and the faith of the average church goer. I have taken the time to meet and speak at length to several students of our Scranton diocese high schools, and these students seem to know hardly anything definite. They lack the basic knowledge that I had in catholic elementary schools back in the late 70's. I of course was taught by several older nuns and now looking back, it seems to me that they were unaffected by Vatican II.

In other words, I knew and could explain my faith and religion to others.

Now, these students spend time learning the history of other religions. They are taught to respect and even celebrate these differences, even though fifty years ago these differences were defined as heresy. But they neglect their own Catholic Faith. They have never heard of a nightly examination of conscience, devotion to the Holy Name, or Grace, Faith, and Works. We used to teach our young catholics about Heaven, Hell, and the Last Things. Today how we feel is more important. Relativism has taken over.

Today some truths are ignored or outright denied. Angels and demons are portrayed as symbols, not the real spiritual beings we know them to be. They are superstitions worthy of scorn.

The priest is seen primarily as a counselor, there more to help us deal with football season being over or seen as the "parish administrator" there to plan the bazaar. A rather corporate like view of one that is supposed to be acting in persona Christi.

The Real Presence is only a symbol of Christ, and the Incarnation of God in Jesus Christ is to be questioned. Do you remember when the chalice was veiled due to its sacredness? Do you remember when altar boys held patens beneath your chin in case the blessed sacrament should fall to the ground?

Confession is not deemed to be important. One only has to see the availability of the sacrament to understand what priests think of it today.

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is barely thought of. Try to find a church offering this devotion.

Miracles did not happen, they were stories invented by the writers of the Bible to suck the superstitious population into accepting Christ.

The inspiration of the Bible is a myth and can be rationally explained.

These are some of the outright lies being taught or hinted at to Catholics in our post-conciliar times. They all contradict Catholic Tradition, and violate many of the defined dogmas of our Faith.

How did these Protestant ideas find their way into holy Mother Church? Why are they allowed to circulate? Why hasn't Rome smashed these heresies, and in some cases, why do they seem to embrace them?

If what our religion has taught for 2,000 years was right, how can it now be wrong? Am I to believe that some in the church, who strive to promote the ideas of Protestant heresy suddenly have learned some truth that men such as Ignatius, Aquinas, and Augustine were unable to grasp?

What do you think?

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Terrible Day - Diocese of Scranton

40 years of murdering our children.

4 more years of occupation by a man that makes others pay money to fund our willful murder.

When does it end?



Sunday, January 20, 2013

Islamic Threat Against the West - Diocese of Scanton

The peaceful, friendly Mohammedans boldly remind Europe of their goal - a worldwide Caliphate.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/01/20/watch-the-wild-vid-of-islamists-protesting-in-england-shariah-is-an-inevitability/

Check it out and pray for leaders who will protect the population from the evil of Islam.

Lol! No one's going to protect us except us! And that is why they are so hellbent on disarming the populace.

Get a gun, get a permit to carry, and shoot often, become an expert. You'll be glad you did.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

American Hostages Taken - diocese of Scranton

It seems that an Al Qaeda affiliated group has several Americans they are holding hostage in a natural gas plant in Algeria. Pray that the President can turn his attention away from stealing our liberty to do something about this.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

SSPX Future? - Diocese of Scranton

Sadly, it seems that what we have thought we knew for sometime is true.

It has always been my hope that the SSPX would come home, be reconciled with Rome, and be an ally in the troubled times ahead.

We have known there is a small group of priests, led by Bp. Williamson who have operated as obstacles to the talks. While several of those priests have been expelled from the SSPX, now it would seem that perhaps they are organizing a "true" SSPX.

It has also been rumored that Bp. Williamson will be in the United States in two weeks to consecrate a new SSPX Bishop.

Can you say "excommunication"?

I truly think Bp. Fellay wants to see SSPX regularize. If Williamson and his misguided compatriots are truly gone perhaps the way forward for Rome and the Society is less muddied.

We must pray for all concerned. The SSPX coming back into the Church is of utmost importance to the future of the church.

PAX


Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Race Relations - The White Position - Diocese of Scranton

It is about time that the white position is stated. Has Buchanan been called a racist for this article? Most likely, and I will be too. I've been called several things for posting similar comments myself. How anyone can read this and think "that guys a racist" is beyond me.

So, read and enjoy, and be sure to comment below!

BUCHANAN TO OBAMA
By Patrick J. Buchanan

Barack says we need to have a conversation about race in America .. Fair enough. But this time, it has to be a two-way conversation.. White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to.... This time, the Silent Majority needs to have its convictions, grievances and demands heard. And among them are these:

First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.. Jeremiah Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American.

Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the '60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream. Governments, businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks -- with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas -- to advance black applicants over white applicants. Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools and individuals all over America have donated their time and money to support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks.

We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude??

Barack talks about new 'ladders of opportunity' for blacks. Let him go to Altoona ? And Johnstown, and ask the white kids in Catholic schools how many were visited lately by Ivy League recruiters handing out scholarships for 'deserving' white kids...? Is white America really responsible for the fact that the crime and incarceration rates for African-Americans are seven times those of white America ? Is it really white America 's fault that illegitimacy in the African-American community has hit 70 percent and the black dropout rate from high schools in some cities has reached 50 percent?

Is that the fault of white America or, first and foremost, a failure of the black community itself?

As for racism, its ugliest manifestation is in interracial crime, and especially interracial crimes of violence. Is Barack Obama aware that while white criminals choose black victims 3 percent of the time, black criminals choose white victims 45 percent of the time?

Is Barack aware that black-on-white rapes are 100 times more common than the reverse, that black-on-white robberies were 139 times as common in the first three years of this decade as the reverse?

We have all heard ad nauseam from the Rev. Al about Tawana Brawley, the Duke rape case and Jena . And all turned out to be hoaxes. But about the epidemic of black assaults on whites that are real, we hear nothing.

Sorry, Barack, some of us have heard it all before, about 40 years and 40 trillion tax dollars ago. This needs to be passed around because, this is a message everyone needs to hear!!!

I'm for a better America…
I am
Not racist,
Not violent,
Just not silent anymore.

Monday, January 7, 2013

Traddy's Back! - Diocese of Scranton

Well friends, we have suffered, we will suffer more, but we must trust in God and fear nothing. He will lead us forward. We only need to let him.

It's been a while since I've posted, nearly the whole election cycle, which saw the American people vote for a baby killing Marxist to lead them to ruin. 

What's been going on with the Traddy? Baby number 4 made her appearance and we are eternally grateful to God for her good health. 

I lost my job through no fault of my own. I have other things I am working on, but it has been slow. 

I'll be around more now. We have a lot to do. The heat is about to get turned up on Catholics around the world, and now here in America. From the French resolve to "watch" Traditional Catholics to learn if they should be clamped down on, to the American president's desire to hold the Catholic Church accountable for refusing to follow his abortion mandates, things are about to change in a big way.

Stay close to God, pray and do penance.

God bless you!