A Crusade! (August 15 - December 8)

The Order of the Knights of our Lady is answering to the call for crusade.

The Crusade

A Perpetual Rosary Crusade For the Holy Father and the Triumph of Catholic Faith.
It consists of a continuous rosary being said 24 hours a day, 7 days a week between the feasts of the Assumption and the Immaculate Conception this year. The Order had been contacted by Fr Daniel Couture, District Superior for Asia during the Order's General Chapter and decided to answer the call to join his effort during the same short span of time (August 15/ December 8). Members of the order both within and without the Asian District is answering to the call for a crusade, with a specific Perpetual Rosary schedule including members from various time zones built on the same basis.

Organization

Master grids are being sent to all priories in Asia and Knights of the Order will fill their own specific grid or schedule worldwide. Upon completion the grids will be sent both to Fr Couture and to the Superior General.

The purpose

Two reasons exist for the crusade.

I) The crusade was requested by Bishop Fellay:

"If now I launch a Perpetual Crusade, it is because today we must consent to an effort which is not momentary but constant and persevering, at the level of what is at stake. The battle for the faith cannot be fought with one-day, or intermittent soldiers. We need tough faithful. The battle is going to be one in length but for very precise objects: last time we prayed for the liberation of the Holy Mass (note: with a spiritual bouquet of 2.5 million rosary). Now, we are asking the Blessed Virgin the withdrawal of the decree of excommunication, i.e. the liberation of Tradition. Later on, we will have other objectives, other intentions for our prayers.
With the number and the geographical locations of the faithful attached to Tradition worldwide, we are sure that at every hour of the day and of the night there will be souls who will be praying for the liberation of Tradition in the huge Perpetual Rosary"

II) We are in the last month of the Marian year of the 150th anniversary of Lourdes, now is a good opportunity to honour our Lady!

Seven Degrees of Humility

+JMJ+

The Knight is humble, magnanimous and loyal. (Knightly Code of Honour)

Seven Degrees of Humility:

1) To acknowledge oneself contemptible;
2) To grieve on account of this;
3) To confess or admit we are so;
4) To convince our neighbor of this, that is to wish them to believe it;
5) To bear patiently that this be said of us;
6) To suffer oneself to be treated with contempt
7) To love being thus treated

- taken from St Anselm (De Simil. ci, seqq.) and St Thomas Aquinas (Humility: Secunda Secundae Partis, Q. 161)

Transubstantiation, "a long and difficult term"

From the Book, "Priest where is thy Mass, Mass where is thy Priest?", Angelus Press

Seventeen Roman Catholic priests (none of whom are formally members of the Society of Saint Pius X) explain why they celebrate the old rite of the Latin Mass instead of the New Mass. In question and answer format, these priests tell their trials and triumphs over the Novus Ordo establishment. Inspiring and often heroic examples of fidelity to their priestly vocation. Who ever would have thought that it would come to this?

Archbishop William Levada, Prefect for the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told Father Eugene Heidt that Transubstantiation is a “long and difficult term” and “we don’t use that term any more”. (p. 64)

Cremation

+JMJ+

Please pray for the soul of the former Archbishop of Singapore, Gregory Yong who was cremated recently.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/357787/1/.html

In the churches and chapels of the Society of St. Pius X, as the SSPX teach the traditional doctrine of the Catholic Church, they also keep its traditional practices.

The SSPX continue to follow the teaching of the 1917 Canon Law on burial & cremation, which expresses the constant thought of the holy Catholic Church:

Canon 1203: "The bodies of the faithful must be buried, and cremation is reprobated. If anyone has in any manner ordered his body to be cremated, it shall be unlawful to execute his wish."

Canon 1240, 5° says that "Persons who have given orders for the cremation of their bodies are deprived of ecclesiastical burial, unless they have before death given some signs of repentance."

Canon 2339 says that "Persons who, in violation of the prohibition of Canon 1240, dare to order or force the ecclesiastical burial (of those who are to be deprived of it) incur excommunication ipso facto; and persons who of their own accord give ecclesiastical burial to the above mentioned, incur an interdict from entering a church."

Summary:
- The bodies of the dead must be buried - cremation is forbidden.
- Ecclesiastical burial will be denied to those who asked for the cremation of their bodies.

In an Instruction dated June 19th 1926, the Holy Office said that the Last Sacraments could not be given to a person who is asking for cremation for itself. It adds that, entering in a society for cremation linked with Freemasonry makes this person incur the penalties for joining Freemasons, especially excommunication. Public Masses for the repose of the soul of persons who asked for cremation, are also forbidden. It comes from Canon 1241, which forbids public Masses for persons having been deprived of ecclesiastical burial. Obviously let us not forget that the Holy Church permits cremation in exceptional circumstances, as in times of epidemic, war, etc. (same Instruction)


The constant Traditional Doctrine of the Catholic Church for 1,900 years is that it condemns Cremation, because:

a) Freemasonry promotes it as a public profession of irreligion and materialism. Cremation is condemned by the Catholic Church because of its symbolism and because cremation was promoted by the enemies of the Faith for the very purpose of expressing and advancing their materialistic belief in annihilation.

b) Cremation is a barbarous custom opposed to the respect and piety that one must have for our dead, even on the natural level.

Holy Church permits cremation in exceptional circumstances, as in times of epidemic, war..

c) Conciliar modernism and the doctrine of the Catholic Church

In the new Canon Law promulgated in 1983 (n. 1176 paragraph 3), the actual authorities of the Church do not forbid anymore cremation "unless it was chosen because of reasons opposite to the Catholic doctrine" (for example, denial of the dogma of the resurrection of the bodies).

But isn't it in fact a great help given to all these associations for cremation founded all over the world now to spread this practice? These associations are inspired by Freemasonry which is now spreading cremation to fight the Catholic Church and its beliefs.

Even if the new Canon Law continues to deeply recommend the burial of the bodies, its new politics of no-condemnation favors once again the action of the enemies of the Church who, by their diabolical hatred of the creation of God, kill the fetus by abortion, the sick and the old people by euthanasia, and savagely destroy the bodies of the dead by cremation.

One can also add that cremation endangers the practice of the veneration of relics.

Let us honor our dead by burying their bodies with respect in a cemetery, and taking care of their souls by Masses, prayers and sacrifices.

http://www.sspxasia.com/Newsletters/1999/May/Is-cremation-allowed.htm

St Thomas Aquinas Five Ways (Summa Theologica Question 2 Article 3)

Very often a Christian is asked the question “why are you a Christian? Why do you believe that God exists?”

Can the existence of God be proven logically and philosophically?

According to the Doctor of the Church, St Thomas Aquinas, there exist five ways to prove that God exists.

First Way

1. There exist changes in the world. And for every change(effect) there must be a cause.
2. It is impossible to believe that there is no first cause as every effect has a cause and if there is no first cause there will be no effects.
3. This first cause, we understand as God.

Second Way

1. Nothing is the cause of itself. Everything is caused by something as it is impossible for anything to create itself out of nothing.
2. There must be an uncaused first cause to start the chain going.
3. God is the uncaused first cause.

Third Way

1. There are things that exist and things that fail to exist,
2. If everything can fail to exist, there must be a time when everything doesn’t exist
3. But we exist, therefore if there had been a time when nothing exist then we shouldn’t be existing. (refer to second way)
4. There must be something that exist necessary for the existence of everything else.
5. This we understand as God

Fourth Way

1. For everything there are different degrees of quality. Like some people are smarter than others by a certain degree. Or that boiling water is hotter than tap water.
2. The things with the highest quality are the cause of the quality of the same kind. (such as fire which is hottest is the cause of everything else that is hot)
3. As Aristotle says that the greatest in truth are the greatest in being.
4. The greatest in truth, good and noble and of other perfections, this we understand as God.

Fifth Way

1. There are natural laws in the world. (gravity, a working ecosystem, even how the human body works without our active consciousness)
2. These things work towards a purpose and tend towards what is the best.
3. Consistency of the laws and purposeful actions reflect that things work with a purpose and not by mere chance.
4. Something that lacks consciousness can act in a unified way only if it is directed by something with consciousness and intelligence.
5. This intelligence we understand as God.

Bishop Williamson SSPX

Confirmation SermonApril 16, 2008

St. Thomas Becket Catholic Church

Veneta, Oregon - USA

More Weeds in the Church

Via Crucis (The Way of the Cross) composed by Cardinal Ratzinger, March 25, 2005, Good Friday

9th Station of the Cross: Our Lord falls the Third Time:

http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/2005/via_crucis/en/station_09.html

Meditation:
How much filth there is in the Church, and even among those who, in the priesthood, ought to belong entirely to him!


Prayer:
Lord, Thy Church often seems like a boat about to sink, a boat taking in water on every side. In Thy field we see more weeds than wheat. The soiled garments and face of Thy Church throw us into confusion. Yet it is we ourselves who have soiled them! It is we who betray Thee time and time again, after all our lofty words and grand gestures. Have mercy on Thy Church; within Her too, Adam continues to fall. When we fall, we drag Thee down to earth, and Satan laughs, for he hopes that Thou will not be able to rise from that fall; he hopes that being dragged down in the fall of Thy Church, Thou will remain prostrate and overpowered. But Thou will rise again. Thou stood up, Thou arose and Thou can also raise us up. Save and sanctify Thy Church. Save and sanctify us all.

http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/2005/documents/ns_lit_doc_20050325_via-crucis_en.html

Communion in the Hand

Malcolm Ranjith
Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship

Archbishop Ranjith on Kneeling for Communion during the liturgy and Communion on the
Tongue, writing a foreword on the Book, "Dominus Est":

1) At the same time, speaking of communion in the hand, it must be recognized that the practice was improperly and quickly introduced in some quarters of the Church shortly after the Council, changing the age-old practice and becoming regular practice for the whole Church. They justified the change saying that it better reflected the Gospel or the ancient practice of the Church... Some, to justify this practice referred to the words of Jesus: "Take and eat" (Mk 14, 22; Mt 26, 26).

Now I think it is high time to review and re-evaluate such good practices and, if necessary, to abandon the current practice that was not called for by Sacrosanctum Concilium, nor by Fathers, but was only accepted after its illegitimate introduction in some countries.Now, more than ever, we must help the faithful to renew a deep faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharistic species in order to strengthen the life of the Church and defend it in the midst of dangerous distortions of the faith that this situation continues to cause.

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18181

--------------------------

http://conversiaddominum.com/2007/11/28/english-translation-of-ranjith-interview/

I mention for example, a change not proposed by the Council Fathers or by the Sacrosanctum Concilium, Holy Communion received in the hand. This has contributed to some extent to a weakening of faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This, and the removal of altar rails and kneelers in church and the introduction of practices which oblige the faithful to sit or stand at the elevation of the Sacred Host, weakens the genuine significance of the Eucharist and the Church's profound sense of adoration for the Lord, the Only Son of God. Moreover in many places, the church the 'house of God', is used for meetings, concerts or interreligious celebrations. In some churches the Blessed Sacrament is almost hidden away in a little chapel, hardly seen and little decorated. All this obscures a belief so central in the Church, belief in the real presence of Christ. The church, for Catholics, is the 'home' of the Eternal One.

Another serious mistake is to confuse specific roles of the clergy and the laity at the altar making the sanctuary a place of disorder, too much movement and certainly not the 'place' where the Christian is filled with a sense of wonder and awe in front of the Lord's presence and His act of redemption. The use of dancing, musical instruments and singing which have little to do with liturgy, is not in keeping with the sacredness of a church and liturgical celebrations; I would also add, certain homilies of a political-social character, often badly prepared. All this distorts the celebration of Mass, making it a choreographic, theatrical event, instead of an event of faith.

"Numquam abrogatam - Never abrogated"

"Numquam abrogatam - Never abrogated" ."It is, therefore, permissible to celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass following the typical edition of the Roman Missal promulgated by Blessed John XXIII in 1962 and never abrogated." (Motu Proprio, art. 1)

1) If the Tridentine Mass is never abrogated, it is still in force ever since 1969, when the New Mass was promulgated.

2) What legal force the Tridentine Mass had then, in 1969, it therefore still has today.

3) In 1570, Pope St. Pius V in "Quo Primum' had made the Tridentine Mass

a) a general (universal) law of the Church,
b) recognized it as an immemorial custom, and
c) made it a perpetual privilege. It means in short that the Traditional Mass now in 2008 is still what it was legally in 1969: the normal, ordinary, universal rite of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, an immemorial custom and a perpetual privilege.

4) In relation to the Society of St Pius X: Msgr Lefebvre, in his historical sermon of June 29, 1976, summed up the pressure which had been continuously put on him, especially in the previous days, to abstain from giving any priestly ordinations on that day. "They put a new missal in my hands, saying, 'Here is the Mass that you must celebrate and that you shall celebrate henceforth on all your houses'. They told me as well that if on this date, this June 29th,, 1976, before your entire assembly, we celebrated a mass according to the new rite, all would be straightened out henceforth between ourselves and Rome. Thus it is clear, it is obvious that it is on the problem of the Mass that the whole drama between Ecône and Rome depends." (Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre, Angelus Press, vol. 1, p. 207)

http://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/Archbishop-Lefebvre/Apologia/Vol_one/Chapter_11.htm


5) Msgr Lefebvre refused to celebrate the New Mass, and hence he was "suspended".

6) In 1975, a year earlier, the Archbishop gave a sermon on the shocking similarities of Luther's Mass and the New Mass:

http://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/Archbishop-Lefebvre/Luthers-Mass.htm

And that's another reason why His Excellency refused the New Mass.

7) In Summary, Msgr Lefebvre was suspended because he refused to celebrate the New Mass. He had to cling to the Tridentine Mass, which, as Pope Benedict XVI said, is never abrogated.

If the Traditional Latin Mass was not abrogated in 1969 and was thus, still the ordinary rite of the Catholic Church upto now, 2008,

and if Archbishop Lefebvre was sanctioned in 1976 for ordaining priests, and later in 1988 for consecrating bishops— if both acts were done explicitly in relation to this Traditional Mass and for refusing to accept a rite which was only a derogation to the Tridentine Mass, then, by stating that it was 'never abrogated' the Holy Father is implicitly declaring that all the grounds for the sanctions against Archbishop Lefebvre and his Society of St Pius X are non-existant…

http://www.sspxasia.com/Newsletters/2007/May-Sep/Editorial.htm

The Social Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ

What is meant by the Social Kingship of Christ?

As Our Lord Jesus Christ is both God and Man, it is His right to rule over all of creation and also to rule over all of Mankind. Furthermore, having created Man to be a social being, God is the creator of both Man and society. Hence, Our Lord has the right to rule over each individual human person and also over all human social and political institutions. Of course, this implies that Holy Mother Church, being founded by Christ Himself to perpetuate His mission on earth, should have the authority to instruct the nations of the world. Since the Pope is the Vicar of Christ and the Visible Head of the Church, he has certain powers over the princes or governments of each and every nation, in order to teach, admonish and correct them.

Where can we find the basis for this doctrine?

This doctrine is preached in both the Scriptures and Tradition. In the Scriptures, one often finds passages in the Old Testament mentioning that all the nations of the world will render praise to God and worship Him. Even before His Ascension, Our Lord instructed His Apostles to “teach ye all NATIONS; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” (Matt 28:19)

The Popes had always taught this doctrine and it was even expounded in pontifical documents. Pope Boniface VIIIth explicitly mentions it in his encyclical Unam Sanctam in the year 1302. The Doctors of the Church (St. Augustine, St. Bernard, St. Thomas Aquinas, etc) had also unanimously taught the same.

Was this ideal ever implemented in history?

Yes. In the Middle Ages, the Church converted many princes which in turn led to the conversion of their whole countries. Some prominent examples:

1) Clovis, king of the Franks, baptised in 496 A.D.
2) St. Ethelbert, king of Kent, baptised in 597 A.D.
3) Boris, king of the Bulgars, baptised in 864 A.D.
4) St. Wenceslas, duke of Bohemia, martyred in 929 A.D.
5) Mieska, duke of Poland, baptised in 966 A.D.
6) St Wladimir, grand prince of Kiev, baptised in 989 A.D.
7) St Stephen, baptised in 985 A.D. and crowned “Apostolic” king of Hungary on Christmas day 1000 A.D. by Pope Sylvester II.

This union of Church and State, which we call Christendom, reached its apex during the Carolingian Dynasty, the second Frankish Dynasty (751-987 A.D.), during the reign of the emperor Charlemagne. In fact, the Western Roman Empire was restored only when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as Roman Emperor on Christmas day of the year 800 A.D.
Unfortunately, many later emperors and kings refused to acknowledge the Pope’s teaching authority over them and sought to rule their own lands as if they had absolute power. They resented the popes’ interference when they erred and some have even tried to establish national churches. The 12th and 13th centuries witnessed a new and perhaps greater apex of the union of Church and State in Europe where political and social institutions and customs were permeated by the Faith. The Council of Trent made an attempt to restore Christendom in the 16th and 17th centuries but never really succeeded due to the partitioning of Europe into Catholic and Protestant factions.

Why should the Church intervene with secular affairs when Our Lord Himself said to “render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God”?

That statement is frequently misunderstood, especially by modern man. If the state enacts bad laws that either force or encourage its citizens to sin, how then can it claim to have rendered to God what belongs to God since every human person owes perfect obedience to God? Therefore, the laws and customs of the state must be made in harmony with the Law of God. Since the Church is the sole infallible guide to True Faith and Morals, she has the right to intervene particularly through the person of the Supreme Pontiff.

Is this doctrine therefore advocating theocracy for all nations?

No. A theocracy would be a confusion between Church and State. A good example of such regimes would be fundamentalist Islamic states where religious leaders themselves hold the reins of power. The proper Catholic view is that Church and State are distinct but not separated. An analogy would be the body and soul of a human person. The soul and the body are distinct entities but they are not separated. In fact, we all know that a separation of body and soul implies death. The state has the right to enact laws and implement policies for the acquisition of her citizens’ material needs, but these must be subordinated to the Laws of God since it is Faith and Morals that directly determine the final ends of each of her citizens. Once again, this reflects the fact that a human person can legitimately pursue material gain provided that such a pursuit does not lead to the detriment of his soul.

In such a country, what happens to people of other religious persuasions? Will it lead to persecution of the other religions?

When the state accepts the Laws of God and is obedient to the Church, it is declaring that it recognises the Catholic religion to be the One, True Religion. Surely, only Truth has rights while Falsehood does not. God, however, has given mankind the psychological freedom (not moral freedom) to choose to accept or reject Him. Therefore, the followers of false religions cannot be coerced into accepting the True Religion through violence. However, the state cannot allow the public expression of these false religions nor lend its support to them in any way. In other words, these false religions are tolerated out of charity towards their believers even though they do not have the right to exist.

How can the average layperson contribute to the establishment of the Social Kingship of Our Lord?

Besides doing his best to lead an exemplary life in accordance with the Commandments of God and the Church, a Catholic should try as far as possible to infuse good habits and customs, inspired by the Gospels and Catholic Tradition into every social institution and environment of which he belongs to. This includes his family, workplace, school, clubs or associations, etc. It is also beneficial to set up Catholic professional associations, Catholic citizens’ associations, Catholic press, formations sessions or even parents’ organisations.

It is also important that one should, in a legitimate manner, resist or act against currents within society that seek to promote bad or sinful customs and laws. Legitimate actions should also be undertaken against public expressions that blaspheme against the honour of God and the Saints.

Which kind of Mass did Christ say?

https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/page/shop:flypage/product_id/237/

Shows how the Traditional Latin Mass sums up the entire Old Testament worship from the time of Adam to the time of Christ, how even minute details of this Mass were used by Christ in the very First Mass, and how they have come down to our day with the same symbolic meaning they originally had. The author delves into the history and tradition of every aspect of Hebrew worship and shows clearly how Our Lord blended and wove them all together into the beautiful liturgy we call the Mass, the Mass of the Catholic Church for 2,000 years! Impr. 438 pgs, PB

Which kind of Mass should we pray? The Mass said by Christ, by the Son of God Himself, the Mass of All Saints, those in Heaven, or something else? The choice is ours for the salvation of our souls.