Author: Catholic Candle

A “Delicate” Conscience is Necessary for a Happy Judgment

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Your conscience is a most generous gift from God.  Without it, salvation is impossible (for those capable of committing sin).  The conscience is sometimes called the “Voice of God.”  Our conscience approves the right and condemns the wrong.  We should strive for a “delicate” or tender conscience.  That is one which impels us to avoid anything that is evil to the slightest degree.[1]

A tender conscience is the conscience of the Saints, and you must be a Saint in order to get to heaven.

Thus, within ourselves there is a recognition of a Supreme Lawgiver to Whom we are responsible,[2] Who will reward the good we do and punish the evil, at our Particular Judgment.  As soon as each soul leaves the body at death, it undergoes the Particular Judgment, at which its eternal destiny is decided.  Every one of us will render an account of ourselves to God.[3]  Jesus Christ is the judge of every thought, word, act, and omission during our life.  Our whole life will be spread before us like a great picture.  The rewards or punishment after the Particular Judgment are Heaven, Purgatory, or Hell.[4]

We should prepare for the Particular Judgment by informing and fostering a delicate conscience and living by it.  To inform your conscience, you must study the traditional Catholic Faith and lives of the Saints, and implement in your life what you have learned. 

Next, you must keep your conscience “tender” and avoid the slightest degree of evil.  Keeping a tender conscience is the biggest problem for most people.

Be vigilant to keep your conscience tender and do not allow it to gradually develop into a “hardened” conscience, that is, one willing to overlook small evils and, over time, accept increasingly greater evils.  A hardened conscience must be avoided if you seek to be rewarded at your Particular Judgment.

You should never go to sleep without being prepared for your Particular Judgment.  And how do you do that in the Catacombs?  Examine your conscience every night; make an Act of Contrition and a Spiritual Communion, both as perfectly as possible.

Continue to study the traditional Catholic Faith to keep your conscience informed, which is most necessary to help you stand up for Christ the King and fight against the evils of the conciliar church.


[1]              My Catholic Faith, Bishop Louis Morrow, My Mission House, Kenosha, WI, ©1949, p. 171.

[2]               My Catholic Faith, Bishop Louis Morrow, My Mission House, Kenosha, WI, ©1949, p.13.

[3]               Romans, 14:12.

[4]               My Catholic Faith, Bishop Louis Morrow, My Mission House, Kenosha, WI, ©1949, p.155.

The Feminist Program is the same as that of Satan and Marx – Part II

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Catholic Candle note:

Last Month, Catholic Candle began a multi-part examination of how the feminists follow the same program as Satan and Marx.  This article is entitled The Feminist Program is the same as that of Satan and Marx and can be found here: https://catholiccandle.org/2022/02/24/the-feminist-program-is-the-same-as-that-of-satan-and-marx/. 

As shown in part one of this article, Satan’s program:

1.    Is anti-God (and anti-worship of God);

2.    Promotes disobedience and opposition to the authority ordained by God;

3.    Seeks to divide people;

 

4.    Promotes discontent, envy, and discord;

 

5.    Promotes hatred;

 

6.    Is result-oriented and self-interested; Satan neither acts according to immutable principles nor encourages his followers to do so;

 

7.    Is full of lies; and

 

8.    Is against Nature and is anti-Natural Law.

In part one of this article (published last month), we examined Satan’s promotion of his eight-point program.  Then we began to examine Marx’s program and saw it was the same as Satan’s program in the first two elements (viz., Satan’s program is anti-God and promotes disobedience).  That is where last month’s article ended.

Below, in part two, we continue examining the rest of Marx’s program to see how, in points 3-8, it is the same program as Satan’s program.  Below, we begin where we left off in part one of this series, with Marx’s application of point three of Satan’s eight-point program.  After finishing all eight points of Marx’s adoption of Satan’s program, we will finish (in the final several installments of this article) by examining how the modern feminist movement follows the same eight-point program promoted by Satan and Marx.

(Continuing where we left off last month)

3.   Like Satan, Marx fundamentally sought to divide people and set one group in opposition to another.

Because Marx was fundamentally revolutionary, he sought to divide nations, peoples, groups, and classes because he knew – as Satan also knows – that “if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.”  St. Mark’s Gospel, 3:24.  Thus, Marx, like Satan, sought division in order to weaken, destroy, and foment rebellion.

Here is one way Marx explained his seeking to set the worker class against the owner class:

The immediate aim of the Communists is the same as that of all other proletarian parties: formation of the proletariat into a class, overthrow of the bourgeois supremacy, conquest of political power by the proletariat.[1]

Seeing Satan’s and Marx’s strategy of dividing people into opposing groups, we would expect that Satan and Marx would use this same strategy to divide women from men.  As we shall see, this is exactly what Satan and Marx do, using the feminist movement.

Pope Pius XI warned that the “preachers of Communism are proficient in exploiting racial antagonisms, political divisions, and oppositions.”[2]  In a different place, Pope Pius XI warns that “Communism teaches and seeks … unrelenting class warfare”.[3] 

Similarly, the communists are proficient in exploiting any antagonisms between the sexes.

This Marxist teaching (and their goal of dividing people) are exactly the opposite of what good men would do.  Pope Pius XI teaches the truth that all good men know, viz., that we should strive to lessen all conflict between the races, classes and sexes.  We should produce harmony and cooperation between all people.  This goal is directly opposed to the communist goal.[4]

Pope Pius XI adds in another place, that not only do communists seek to increase hostility between the classes of society, but they attack and seek to annihilate anyone who seeks harmony between classes.[5]

4.   Like Satan, Marx promoted discontent, envy, and discord.

Marx sought to stir up dissatisfaction with everything, by promoting (as he put it) a “ruthless criticism of all that exists”.[6]  His aim was criticism and discontent.  Marx did not seek the truth.

As Marx sought to mobilize workers to battle against the rich, he declared: “Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains.”[7]  Marx told the workers that they are mistreated and enslaved.  He told them that they must fight and rebel. 

Among the other groups into which Marxists sow discontent, are women.  The Marxists continually tell women they are mistreated and that the solution is so-called “women’s liberation”.  In other words, Marxists strive to enlist women into their revolution.

Marx told workers that they are enslaved and he told women that, too.  Here is one way that the Marxists phrase their message to women:

Additional forms of oppression women experience are attacks on their reproductive rights and domestic and sexual harassment and violence. These forms of oppression are valid reasons for immigrant women to request amnesty.  The extreme right has launched an ideological attack on women’s roles in society and the family.  The extreme right is trying to force women to carry unwanted pregnancies to term and to revert back to a submissive role.[8]

In the Marxist call to discontent, Fredrick Engels (Marx’s close associate) called the “rise” of the nuclear family (i.e., father, mother and children) “the world historic defeat of the female sex.”[9]

In this way, we see that the Marxists seek to make women discontented.  Engels and other Marxists tell women that they have been defeated by the existence of the family.  We will see more examples of this sowing of discontent during our subsequent treatment of modern feminist leaders. 

5.   Like Satan, Marx promoted hatred.

Marx wanted to be well-known for something and, since (as he explained) he could not be the Creator, he chose to be a destroyer and to “destroy worlds”.[10]

Love is contrary to hatred.  A person seeks union with what he loves and he seeks separation from, or destruction of, what he hates.[11]  Marx was full of hate and sought to “destroy worlds”.

Further, Marx hated the rich and sought to overthrow them.[12]  Marx despised various ethnic groups.[13]

Marx not only hated and sought the destruction of those groups he opposed, but he also urged others to hate and destroy those groups, too.[14]  Like Satan’s program, Marx’s teaching and methods were built on hatred.[15]

Pope Pius XI warned that Marxism fundamentally involves “violent hate and destruction”.[16]

Thus, because feminism is (in a way), founded by Satan and is inextricably tied to Marxism, we would expect that Satan and Marx would indelibly imprint their character on the feminist movement and that we would see feminism destroy love and harmony in the home and in society.  We would expect that feminism would foster hatred, disunity, and disharmony.  As we will see, that is exactly what feminism does.

Of course, this does not mean that every feminist hates her husband (if she is even married, which is increasingly less likely, thanks in large part to feminism).  Humans are inconsistent and take incoherent positions which contradict other principles they also hold.  In this way, many women (and men) adopt evil principles to a “moderate” extent, because of pressure, emotion, the desire to be “socially acceptable”, or due to their failure to think clearly and to examine the principles on which a particular position is based.

In our modern society, there are motivations to adopt feminism, as well as to adopt a “moderate” version of many other errors.  For example, many Catholics support the principle of religious liberty for some false religions but not for others, e.g., for the public religious display of a “respectable” group like the Lutherans or even the Mormons, but not a disfavored group such as the Satanists.  (However, with the continued deterioration of our society, even the Satanists are becoming more “respectable” or mainstream.)[17]  This human tendency to compromise with error – to “go along to get along” – is common but is evil, unreasonable, and incoherent. 

6.   Like Satan, Marx was result-oriented and unprincipled because Marx neither acted according to immutable principles nor encouraged his followers to do so.

Marx declared that he was not bound by objective, eternal morality.  Marx did not simply claim to establish new principles of morality but declared that he abolished all morality.  Here is one way Marx explained his teaching:

“There are, besides, eternal truths, such as Freedom, Justice, etc., that are common to all states of society.  But Communism abolishes eternal truths,[18] it abolishes all religion, and all morality, instead of constituting them on a new basis; it therefore acts in contradiction to all past historical experience.”[19]

Instead of moral principles, Marx taught that anything that advanced the class struggle was good and anything that impeded the class struggle was bad.[20]

Recognizing that Satan and Marx act in an unprincipled manner and encourage others to do so likewise, we would expect that the feminist leaders would act and teach this way, too, since they are disciples of Satan and Marx.  As we will see, this is what they do and teach.

7.   Like Satan, Marx used lies and promoted lies and deception.

Just as Satan is the Father of Lies and he lies whenever expedient, Marx also rejected the moral principle that lying is wrong and he lied to achieve his goals.  Marx declared that “Communism abolishes eternal truths”.[21]

Marx not only approved of lying to achieve his political goals, but he also lied in his family life.  For example, Marx had a deceitful affair with the family’s housekeeper and lied about it.[22]  To cover up his infidelity, Marx persuaded Engels (co-author of the Communist Manifesto) and others to lie and to help him cover up the affair.  Id.

With Marx (and Satan) lying and teaching that lies are acceptable, since there are (supposedly) no eternal truths, we would expect that their disciples, the feminist leaders, would also be liars.  As we will see, feminist leaders do teach and act this way.

 

8.   Like Satan, Marx was anti-Natural Law.

With Marx in league with Satan and seeking to “destroy worlds” and to defy God (see the earlier quotes), Marx also sought to destroy the Natural Law,[23] which is a key aspect of God’s creation.  For example:

 

v  Following Satan, Marx sought to abolish marriage[24] and the family[25] even though those institutions are necessary for the human race and are part of the Natural Law[26].  Thus, it is no surprise that Satan and Marx trivialize the crucial role of women – as being the necessary heart of the home and the center of raising young children to be saints and good citizens.  Nor is it a surprise that Satan and Marx promote taking women out of their loving role in the home (and with their children) and “outsourcing” this work to strangers as a mere job, e.g., at a day care center.[27]

v  Marx spread the lie of an unnatural equality between men and women.[28]  This evil (supposed) equality destroys women’s own unique and essential role, thereby destroying the family.  For when women are simply “men” with the same role, state in life, and careers as men, then they have no separate, complementary[29] role.  (Equal things are not complementary, since “complementary” roles involve diverse subjects in which they are precisely not equal, but where one makes up for the deficiency of the other.)

Because Satan and Marx are key sources of feminism, we would expect that modern feminist leaders would promote the idea that women have no role of their own and that their place is to compete with men and as much as possible act like a man and live a man’s life.  For example, the Marxists urge women to “fight for equality on the job”.[30] As we will see, that is exactly what the modern feminist leaders teach.

v  Following Satan, Marx sought to abolish virtue and morality[31], even though they are part of the Natural Law.  Because modern feminist leaders are disciples of Satan and Marx, we would expect these leaders to also promote vice and immorality.  As we shall see, that is exactly how these feminist leaders act.

 

v  Marx sought to abolish countries, patriotism, and love of one’s own country even though patriotism is a virtue and is part of the Natural Law.[32]  Marx declared that “The working men have no country.”[33]

 

Abolishing patriotism fits with being anti-family, since a properly constituted country has hierarchy, authority, mutual care, and bonds of citizens, with the leaders being like the fathers of their countries.  Because modern feminist leaders are disciples of Marx, we would expect that they would follow Marx in being anti-patriotic.  As we will see, this is how they are.


Before examining the teachings of modern feminist leaders, let us recall the predictions of Our Lady of Fatima regarding Marxist Russia spreading her errors.

Up to this point, we have seen that Marx has the same program as Satan and they both push feminism.  We will next examine modern feminism, which is a tool of Satan and Marx.  However, before we begin this examination, let us recall what we know of the message of Our Lady of Fatima.  

We know that Marxist Russia is currently spreading its errors, since Russia has not been consecrated to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart, as God commanded.  In 1917, Our Lady of Fatima warned that, when she came in the future (viz., in 1929) to ask for this consecration, if the pope delayed the consecration, his delay would cause great harm throughout the world.  Here are Our Lady’s words:

I shall come [viz., in 1929] to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, by the Holy Father and all the bishops of the world.  If my request is heeded, Russia will be converted and there will be peace.  If not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, provoking wars and persecution against the Church.[34]

We know that, since Our Lady’s request, no pope has consecrated Russia to the Immaculate Heart.  Thus, before even looking at our present situation, we would know that Russia is indeed spreading its errors.

When we look around us, we see powerful proof that Russia is spreading its Marxist errors everywhere.  At present, we are focusing on the Marxists’ promoting one of those main errors: feminism.

Below, we will briefly examine well-known modern feminists who also were affiliated with Marxism or the Communist Party.


Modern feminist leaders with Marxist connections

There is an extremely close connection between Marxism and feminism.  Here, for example, is one way that one of the communist leaders expressed that connection; Inessa Armand, the first leader of the Women’s Department of the 1917 Russian Revolution, made the following observation:

If women’s liberation is unthinkable without communism, then communism is unthinkable without women’s liberation.[35]

Inessa Armand’s remark agrees with the Catholic Church’s consistent teaching about the close connection between Marxism/Communism and feminism.  Here is one way Pope Pius XI warned about the Communists promotion of feminism:

 

Communism is particularly characterized by the rejection of any link that binds woman to the family and the home, and her emancipation is proclaimed as a basic principle.  She is withdrawn from the family and the care of her children, to be thrust instead into public life and collective production under the same conditions as man.  The care of home and children then devolves upon the collectivity.

 

Divini Redemptoris – On Atheistic Communism, Pope Pius XI, §11.


Betty Friedan

Betty Friedan, (maiden name, Betty Goldstein), was a Stalinist Marxist, often described as “America’s premier feminist”.[36]  She wrote a very influential book called The Feminist Mystique, which launched the modern women’s movement.[37]   She was one of the national leaders of the feminist movement and one of the founding members of the feminist organization called the National Women’s Political Caucus.[38]  She was a political activist and professional propagandist for the Communists for a quarter of a century before the publication of her book.[39]


Bella Abzug

Bella Abzug was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York City from 1970 to 1976.  She had a long history of pro-communist activities.[40]  Even in college she was notable for opposing America’s entry into World War II during the Hitler-Stalin pact, when Communists in the U.S. were denouncing the war against Hitler.  As soon as Hitler invaded the Soviet Union and the Communist Party USA made an abrupt shift in policy to support the war, Bella Abzug, also flip-flopped to support it.[41]

She was one of the national leaders of the feminist movement and one of the founding members of the feminist organization called the National Women’s Political Caucus.[42]


Jane Fonda

She is a self-described feminist and “women’s rights activist”.[43]  During the Vietnam War, she traveled to Hanoi and made radio broadcasts on behalf of the communists, inciting American troops to defect from the U.S. military.[44]  She was photographed sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun on a 1972 visit to Hanoi, during which she gained the nickname "Hanoi Jane".[45]


Shirley Chisholm

Shirley Chisholm was the first black woman to enter Congress.  She had a long history of Communist Party USA front affiliation.[46]  She was one of the national leaders of the feminist movement and one of the founding members of the feminist organization called the National Women’s Political Caucus.[47]

There are so many other prominent feminist leaders who support Communist and Marxist causes.  But these suffice for now to get a glimpse into the Marxist-feminist connection.  In the next part of this article, we will examine how modern feminist leaders support the same Eight-point program as Satan and Marx.

Part III: to be continued next month


[1]           Communist Manifesto, Chapter II.

[2]           Divini Redemptoris – On Atheistic Communism, by Pope Pius XI, 1937, paragraph 15.  Note, in the quote given here, we remove the word “also” before the word “proficient”, because the other exploitations to which the pope refers are not part of the quote we give here.

[3]           Here is the longer quote from the pope:

One section of Socialism has undergone almost the same change that the capitalistic economic system, as We have explained above, has undergone.  It has sunk into Communism.  Communism teaches and seeks two objectives: unrelenting class warfare and absolute extermination of private ownership.

Quadragesimo Anno, by Pope Pius XI, 1931, paragraph 112.

[4]           Here is one way that Pope Pius XI teaches this truth:

First and foremost, the State and every good citizen ought to look to and strive toward this end: that the conflict between the hostile classes be abolished and harmonious cooperation of the Industries and Professions be encouraged and promoted.

Quadragesimo Anno, by Pope Pius XI, 1931, paragraph 81.

Obviously, what Pope Pius XI teaches about other classes in society applies to the two sexes. 

[5]           Here is the pope’s longer teaching:

Insisting on the dialectical aspect of their materialism, the Communists claim that the conflict which carries the world towards its final synthesis can be accelerated by man.  Hence, they endeavor to sharpen the antagonisms which arise between the various classes of society.  Thus, the class struggle with its consequent violent hate and destruction takes on the aspects of a crusade for the progress of humanity.  On the other hand, all other forces whatever, as long as they resist such systematic violence, must be annihilated as hostile to the human race.

Divini Redemptoris – On Atheistic Communism, by Pope Pius XI, 1937, paragraph 9 (emphasis added).

[6]           Here is the longer quote from Marx:

Now philosophy has become mundane, and the most striking proof of this is that philosophical consciousness itself has been drawn into the torment of the struggle, not only externally but also internally.  But, if constructing the future and settling everything for all times are not our affair, it is all the more clear what we have to accomplish at present: I am referring to ruthless criticism of all that exists, ruthless both in the sense of not being afraid of the results it arrives at and in the sense of being just as little afraid of conflict with the powers that be.

Letter of Marx to Arnold Ruge, Kreuznach, September 1843, found here: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1843/letters/43_09.htm

[7]           Quote from Karl Marx which is found here: https://www.azquotes.com/author/9564-Karl_Marx?p=2  The end of the Communist Manifesto contains these words: “Working Men of All Countries, Unite!”  In an editor’s footnote, the web site, Marxist.org, explains that the more popularized version of the motto is the longer one quoted in the body of this article.

[8]           Quoted from Program of the Communist Party USA, under the heading: Problems of Inequality, Exploitation, and Oppression, found here: https://www.cpusa.org/party_info/party-program/

[10]         Here is a poem written by Marx, in which he expresses this desire and his rage:

I am caught in endless strife,
Endless ferment, endless dream;
I cannot conform to life,
Will not travel with the stream.

Heaven I would comprehend,
I would draw the world to me;
Loving, hating, I intend
That my star shine brilliantly. […]

Worlds I would destroy forever,
Since I can create no world,
Since my call they notice never,
Coursing dumb in magic whirl. […]

So the spirits go their way
Till they are consumed outright,
Till their lords and masters they
Totally annihilate.  

Poem by Marx, from pp. 525–26 of Volume one of Marx’s collected works, as quoted here: https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/a-little-known-side-of-karl-marx-his-poetry-and-his-diabolism

[11]         Summa, Ia IIae, Q.29, a.2, ad 2.

[12]         Communist Manifesto, Chapter II.

[14]         Communist Manifesto, Chapter II.

[15]         Karl Marx called himself “the greatest hater of the so-called positive.”  https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/56204 (emphasis added).

Lenin, who was a disciple of Marx, declared: “We must teach our children to hate.  Hatred is the basis of Communism.”.  Lenin admitted that hatred was “the basis of every socialist and Communist movement.”  Quoted from Lenin’s speech to the Soviet Commissars of Education and his tract, Left-Wing Communism, as quoted here: https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/56204

[16]         Here is the pope’s longer teaching:

Insisting on the dialectical aspect of their materialism, the Communists claim that the conflict which carries the world towards its final synthesis can be accelerated by man.  Hence, they endeavor to sharpen the antagonisms which arise between the various classes of society.  Thus, the class struggle with its consequent violent hate and destruction takes on the aspects of a crusade for the progress of humanity.  On the other hand, all other forces whatever, as long as they resist such systematic violence, must be annihilated as hostile to the human race.

Divini Redemptoris – On Atheistic Communism, by Pope Pius XI, 1937, paragraph 9.

[17]         For example, here is a news report about the Satanists’ display in the Illinois State Capitol: https://nypost.com/2021/12/19/satanic-temples-holiday-display-coming-back-to-illinois-capitol-rotunda/

[18]         Of course, on one level, Marx is contradicting himself because he is setting down the “eternal truth” that he is abolishing all eternal truths. 

 

Likewise, it is inconsistent for him to abolish “all morality” (as he says he does) yet he sets down the principle that anything is good (i.e., moral) which advances the revolution and anything is bad (i.e., immoral) which impedes the revolution.

[19]         Communist Manifesto, Chapter II (emphasis added).

[20]         Vladimir Lenin, one of the best know students of Marxist thought, explained this moral expediency this way, in a speech he gave to the Young Communist League:

But is there such a thing as Communist ethics? Is there such a thing as Communist morality?  Of course, there is. It is often suggested that we have no ethics of our own; very often the bourgeoisie accuse us Communists of rejecting all morality.  This is a method of confusing the issue, of throwing dust in the eyes of the workers and peasants.

In what sense do we reject ethics, reject morality?

In the sense given to it by the bourgeoisie, who based ethics on God’s commandments.  On this point we, of course, say that we do not believe in God, and that we know perfectly well that the clergy, the landowners and the bourgeoisie invoked the name of God so as to further their own interests as exploiters.  Or, instead of basing ethics on the commandments of morality, on the commandments of God, they based it on idealist or semi-idealist phrases, which always amounted to something very similar to God’s commandments.

We reject any morality based on extra-human and extra-class concepts. We say that this is deception, dupery, stultification of the workers and peasants in the interests of the landowners and capitalists.

We say that our morality is entirely subordinated to the interests of the proletariat’s class struggle.  Our morality stems from the interests of the class struggle of the proletariat.

Vladimir Lenin’s Speech Delivered October 2, 1920, at the Third All-Russia Congress of The Russian Young Communist League, available at this link: https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1920/oct/02.htm

[21]         Communist Manifesto, Chapter II (emphasis added).

[23]         The Natural Law is what we know we must do by the light of the natural reason God gave us.  One example of the Natural Law is that we must never tell a lie.  We naturally know this because we know that the purpose of speech is to convey the truth and so we naturally know that telling a lie is abusing the purpose of speech. 

Here is how St. Thomas explains what the Natural Law is:

[L]aw, being a rule and measure, can be in a person in two ways: in one way, as in him that rules and measures; in another way, as in that which is ruled and measured, since a thing is ruled and measured, in so far as it partakes of the rule or measure.  Wherefore, since all things subject to Divine providence are ruled and measured by the eternal law, as was stated above [in Summa, Ia IIae, Q.91, a.1]; it is evident that all things partake somewhat of the eternal law, in so far as, namely, from its being imprinted on them, they derive their respective inclinations to their proper acts and ends.  Now among all others, the rational creature is subject to Divine providence in the most excellent way, in so far as it partakes of a share of providence, by being provident both for itself and for others.  Wherefore it has a share of the Eternal Reason, whereby it has a natural inclination to its proper act and end: and this participation of the eternal law in the rational creature is called the natural law.  Hence the Psalmist after saying (Psalm 4:6): "Offer up the sacrifice of justice," as though someone asked what the works of justice are, adds: "Many say, Who showeth us good things?" in answer to which question he says: "The light of Thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us": thus implying that the light of natural reason, whereby we discern what is good and what is evil, which is the function of the natural law, is nothing else than an imprint on us of the Divine light. It is therefore evident that the natural law is nothing else than the rational creature’s participation of the eternal law.

Summa, Ia IIae, Q.91, a.2, respondeo.

[24]         Marx’s closest collaborator, Fredrick Engels, wrote that “the first condition for the liberation of the wife is to bring the whole female sex back into public industry, and … this in turn demands the abolition of the monogamous family as the economic unity of society.”  Quoted from Fredrick Engels, The Origin of Family Private Property and the State, Ch. 2, section 4, available at Marxist.org/marx/works/1884/origin-family/ch02d.htm (emphasis added).

[25]         Communist Manifesto, Chapter II.

[26]         Summa Supp., Q.41, a.1.

[27]         Luring mothers to leave their homes and children to join the workforce of businesses is one of the chief tools of Communism and is one of the main ways Russia has spread its errors.  Here is how Pope Pius XI explained this truth:

Communism is particularly characterized by the rejection of any link that binds woman to the family and the home, and her emancipation is proclaimed as a basic principle.  She is withdrawn from the family and the care of her children, to be thrust instead into public life and collective production under the same conditions as man.  The care of home and children then devolves upon the collectivity.

 

Divini Redemptoris – On Atheistic Communism, Pope Pius XI, §11.

[28]         Here is one way in which the Marxists phrase their claim of an equality – which is unnatural – between the sexes:

Working-class men must realize that childcare, domestic work, and equal wages are not just women’s issues; they are issues that affect everyone. They have an important role to play in leading other men to combat gender discrimination and inequality. They should speak out when they see gender discrimination and advocate in a way that wins other men to the fight for gender equality. They should take an initiating role in combating all instances of sexism and male supremacy in the labor and people’s movements as well as in the family. Women need and deserve an equal place as elected officials, and in the ranks and in the leadership of the labor movement, the people’s mass democratic movements, and in the Communist Party.

Quoted from Program of the Communist Party USA, subsection: Problems of Inequality, Exploitation, and Oppression, found here: https://www.cpusa.org/party_info/party-program/

Pius XI condemns married women working outside the home, in the following words:

Neither this emancipation of the woman is real, nor is it the reasonable and worthy liberty convenient to the Christian and noble mission of the woman and wife.  It is the corruption of the feminine nature and maternal dignity, as well as the perversion of all the family, since the husband lacks his wife, the children their mother, and the entire family her vigilant guard.

 

On the contrary, this false liberty and unnatural equality with man is harmful for the woman herself, because at the moment that she steps down from the royal domestic throne to which she was raised by the Gospel, quickly she will fall into the ancient slavery of Paganism, becoming a mere instrument of man.

 

Pope Pius XI, Casti connubii, #75 (emphasis added).

[29]         It is plain that God made the both sexes necessary and complementary but for different work, unlike the lies promoted by Satan, Marx, and the feminists that the sexes are equal and have, basically, the same work and role. 

 

Here is how Pope Pius XI presented this important Catholic teaching that the sexes are different and complementary:

 

[T]he two [sexes are] quite different in organism, in temperament, [and] in abilities ….  These [viz., men and women], in keeping with the wonderful designs of the Creator, are destined to complement each other in the family and in society, precisely because of their differences ….

 

Divini Illius Magistri, (On Christian Education), Pope Pius XI, §68 (emphasis added; bracketed words added for clarity).

 

[30]         Here is the larger quote from the Marxists:

Every movement for change and progress challenges the power of the corporations. Workers confront corporate power daily in their workplace and in every contract negotiation. African Americans, Mexican Americans and other Latinos/Latinas, Native Americans, Asian Americans, the LGBTQ community, and women all confront corporate power when they fight for equality on the job and in their communities. Youth confront corporate power when they fight for free quality education and relief from the student debt crisis. Environmental organizations confront corporate power when they try to stop global warming, pollution, the dumping of industrial waste, or the ravaging of the remaining wilderness areas for profit.

Quoted from the Program of the Communist Party USA, subsection entitled: Problems of Inequality, Exploitation, and Oppression, found at this link: https://www.cpusa.org/party_info/party-program/

[31]         Marx’s collaborator, Friedrich Engels, stated that he ultimately hoped for widespread unconstrained impurity with the aim of dissolving traditional marriage and ultimately eliminating the family institution.  Friedrich Engels, Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State, trans. Alick West, (1884), chap. 2, part 4, accessed via Marxists Internet Archive on April 17, 2020, https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1884/origin-family/ch02d.htm.

In seeking to destroy countries, Vladimir Lenin knew the importance of destroying the family.  He declared: “Destroy the family, you destroy the country.”  Quoted here: quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quotes_by/Vladimir+Ilyich+lenin

[32]         Summa, IIa IIae, Q.101, a.1.

[33]         Here is one way Marx declared his position:

The Communists are further reproached with desiring to abolish countries and nationality.  The working men have no country.

Communist Manifesto, Chapter II.

[34]         This is a portion of Our Lady’s message during the Third Apparition of Fatima, July 13, 1917 (emphasis added; bracketed words added to clarify the timeline), quoted from The Whole Truth About Fatima, Frére Michel de la Sainte Trinité, translator John Collorafi, vol. II, Immaculate Heart Publications, Buffalo, NY, © 1989 for English translation, pp.281-282.

[36]         Betty Friedan’s secret Communist past, by David Horowitz, Salon Magazine, January 18, 1999, found here: https://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/friedan-per-horowitz.html

[37]         Betty Friedan’s secret Communist past, by David Horowitz, Salon Magazine, January 18, 1999, found here: https://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/friedan-per-horowitz.html

[39]         Betty Friedan’s secret Communist past, by David Horowitz, Salon Magazine, January 18, 1999, found here: https://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/friedan-per-horowitz.html

[44]         Betty Friedan’s secret Communist past, by David Horowitz, Salon Magazine, January 18, 1999, found here: https://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/friedan-per-horowitz.html

Lesson #7 — Explanation of the First Week Rules for the Discernment of Spirits

Posted on by Catholic Candle

In our last lesson in Mary’s School we discussed the Rules for the Discernment of the Spirits through Rule # 8. We discussed what St. Ignatius calls consolation and desolation and how to act when in desolation. In this lesson we will look at Rules #9 through #14.

St. Ignatius’s Rule #9. There are three principal reasons why we are in desolation:

➢  The first is because we are tepid, slothful, or negligent in our spiritual exercises, and so through our own fault spiritual consolation is withdrawn from us.

 

➢  The second is that God may try us to test our worth, and the progress we make in His service and praise when we are without such generous rewards of consolation and special graces.

➢  The third is that He may wish to give us a true knowledge and understanding of ourselves, so that we may truly perceive that it is not within our power to acquire or retain great devotion, ardent love, tears, or any other spiritual consolation, but that all of this is a gift and grace of God Our Lord.  Nor does God wish us to claim as our own what belongs to another, allowing our intellect to rise up in a spirit of pride or vainglory, attributing to ourselves the devotion or other aspects of spiritual consolation.

We saw in our last lesson how to react in desolation. First, we saw how it is so crucial to humble ourselves always, but especially, in the time of desolation. Likewise, we saw how Rules #7 and #8 expressly tell us how God does not abandon us when we are in desolation. Thus, by explaining our weakness to us, these Rules help us to be humble and to see the absolute need we have to simply trust in God. Yet, we need to remember that even to obtain the ability to trust God as we ought; we must beg for this gift like little children ask their parents for help.

At this point, when we are considering Rule #9, we can see clearly that desolation is a time of great merit and benefit to the soul.  Although desolation is difficult to endure, we can learn many things about ourselves when we are in desolation.  St. Ignatius explains in Rule #9 that we should examine our desolation and try to discover its cause.  This examination is, in itself, humbling.  If we discover that our desolation came from a failure of our own, then we need to tell Our Dear Lord that we are sorry and, of course, beg Him to help us improve.

Whether the desolation came from our own failing or not, it is a good idea to thank God for allowing us to have the desolation.  Gratitude is something we owe to God on all occasions.  St. Paul reminds us to “give thanks to God for all things.” Further, showing gratitude makes things easier to bear and lightens the cross.

St. Ignatius’s Rule #10. A person who is in consolation ought to think of how he will conduct himself during the desolation that will follow, and thus build up a new strength for that time.

St. Ignatius’s Rule #11. A person who is in consolation should take care to humble and abase himself as much as possible.   He should recall how little he is worth in time of desolation without such grace or consolation.  On the other hand, a person who is in desolation should recall that he can do much to withstand all of his enemies by using the sufficient grace that he has, and taking strength in his Creator and Lord.

In Rules #10 and #11, St. Ignatius tells how to act when we are in consolation and desolation. Again, St. Ignatius reminds us to abase ourselves. When we strive with all of our might to be humble, then we will be safe.[1]

The following are Three Powerful Rules to conquer the evil one:

St. Ignatius’s Rule #12.  The enemy acts like a woman in that he is weak in the presence of strength, but strong if he has his will. It is in the nature of a woman in a quarrel with a man to lose courage and take to flight when the man makes a show of strength and determination. However, if the man loses courage and begins to flee, the anger, vindictiveness, and rage of the woman become great beyond all bounds.  In the same manner, it is the nature of our enemy to become powerless, lose courage, and take to flight as soon as a person who is leading a spiritual life stands courageously against his temptations and DOES EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT THE ENEMY SUGGESTS.  On the contrary, if a person begins to take flight and lose courage while fighting temptation, no wild beast on earth is more fierce than the enemy of our human nature as he pursues his evil intention with ever increasing malice.

This Rule is often called the Agere Contra Rule.  Literally, this means to act against.  These Rules are really foolproof.  They always work!  If one actually recognizes a temptation correctly and does the exact opposite, the devil will leave him alone. This does not mean that the devil will not try again at some other point; however, just remember to use the same counter-defense.  One example of how to apply this Rule is given by St. Ignatius himself in his Spiritual Exercises.  He explains that when one is tempted to shorten his prayers, he should do the opposite and extend the length of his prayer. How wonderful to know that by simply doing the opposite of what the devil proposes, we can foil his plans and attempts to drag us down to hell! 

St. Ignatius’s Rule #13. Our enemy also behaves like a false lover who wishes to remain hidden and does not want to be revealed.  For when this deceitful man pays court, with evil intent, to the daughter of some good father or the wife of a good husband, he wants his words and suggestions to be kept secret.  He is greatly displeased if the girl reveals to her father or the wife reveals to her husband his deceitful words and depraved intentions, because he clearly sees that his plans cannot succeed.  In like manner, when the enemy of our human nature tempts a just soul with his wiles and deceits, he wishes and desires that they be received and kept in secret. When they are revealed to a confessor or to some other spiritual person who understands his deceits and evil designs, the enemy is greatly displeased for he knows that he cannot succeed in his evil design once his obvious deceits have been revealed.

In Rule #13, St. Ignatius is fostering communication and opening up one’s heart to an appropriate person who can help us when we are being tempted.  Prudence must be used when choosing the person to whom one will tell the temptation.   Once the temptation is told, it loses its attraction and goes away.  There are really several logical reasons for this.  First of all, since sin is inherently irrational, then it follows that temptations are not reasonable.  When one articulates his temptation to someone, then the irrational aspects of the temptation stand out and become more evident to the one being tempted.  The person told the temptation can see even more flaws in the temptation and then can explain these additional flaws to the poor person being tempted. A good little saying to remember for this Rule is things hidden, that are forbidden, are from the devil.

There are countless examples from human history of hidden plots and intrigues that were inspired by the evil one.  In our own times and surroundings as well, we can find many examples of things that were kept secret, which were diabolical, and the Good Lord allowed them to leak out and foil the plan of the evil-doers.

God does not intend for us to fight our battles alone.  Prayer is essential, yet, God intends us to use other reasonable means as well. If we keep our temptations to ourselves, then the devil will trick us into some kind of false reasoning and we will undoubtedly fall into sin.

Another aspect of the revealing of our temptations is that doing so is an act of humility.  We see our weakness and our need of help.  We see that we cannot “go it alone” and this is good to curb our fallen human nature and the pride of life.  For one to think he is an island and doesn’t need any help is clearly a form of pride. “God helps those who help themselves” is certainly applicable here.

St. Ignatius’s Rule #14. The enemy’s behavior is also like that of a military leader who wishes to conquer and plunder the object of his desires.  Just as the commander of an army pitches his camp, studies the strengths and defenses of a fortress, and then attacks it on its weakest side, in like manner, the enemy of our human nature  studies from all sides our theological, cardinal, and moral virtues.  Wherever he finds us weakest and most in need regarding our eternal salvation, he attacks and tries to take us by storm.

This Rule is a very practical one and fits with St. Ignatius’s military background.  This makes perfect sense that the devil studies us.  Lucifer was the highest angel and did not lose his nature when he fell, although he is blinded by his pride.  The devil knows human nature very well.  Of course he will see our weakest spot and attempt to catch us in a snare when we least expect it.  This Rule shows how important it is for us to know ourselves well.  The Spiritual Exercises themselves are a powerful way to get to know ourselves.  They are very humbling and foster in us a desire to see ourselves more and more how God sees us.  They foster in us the desire to please God, namely, they foster in us an eternal perspective.[2]

Later on, St. Ignatius will talk about the Particular Examine which is meant to help us find our particular fault, namely, what Rule 14 calls our weak spot.  It is a great blessing from God to find one’s particular fault. We have many weak spots but usually one particular biggest weak spot which we must try to find. We ought to beg God to help us find it if we have not found it yet.  Once we find it, then we concentrate on fixing this fault.

The devil will be at his tricks again to find the next weakest spot but we can pray and take the appropriate means to find that one too.  How good God is to give these Rules to help us fight the evil one and his helpers!  These are all of the Rules for the first Week of the Spiritual Exercises, although they apply for our whole life.

In our next lesson we will begin to look at the Rules for the Discernment of Spirits for the second week of the Spiritual Exercises (Which also are applicable to our whole lives).  The Rules for the Second Week are more about consolation; its causes; and the subtle tricks that the devil uses then.  We really cannot thank God enough for the countless blessings that He has given us, one of which is the work of St. Ignatius in giving us the Spiritual Exercises!

 


[1]           St. Vincent de Paul said, “The most powerful weapon with which to overcome the devil is humility; because, not knowing how to use it [humility], he does not even know how to defend himself from it [humility].”  Taken from Spiritual Diary, 1962 ed. Page 37; Daughters of St. Paul, Boston, Mass.

[2]      For a further examination of the importance of having an eternal perspective see Catholic Candle Reflection #18 in the Objective Truth Series, available here: https://catholiccandle.org/2021/01/01/having-an-eternal-perspective/

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Words to Live by – from Catholic Tradition

 

In these apostate times, we need words such as the following to encourage us and remind us that God intends that the crosses He sends us will make us better:

 

Let us not revenge ourselves for these things which we suffer.  But esteeming these very punishments to be less than our sins deserve, let us believe that these scourges of the Lord, with which, like servants, we are chastised, have happened for our amendment, and not for our destruction.

 

Book of Judith, 8:26,27

 

 

The Feminist Program is the same as that of Satan and Marx

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Catholic Candle note: In past issues, Catholic Candle has examined some of the evils of feminism.  In those articles, we saw how feminism is anarchy in the family.[1]  We saw how feminism contrasts to the magnificent work of a wife and mother that is the vocation and great work for which God created women.[2]  We saw some first-hand accounts of the evils of “women’s empowerment” activities.[3]  Lastly, we saw the gentility and virtuous chivalry that men should show toward women.  Id. 

In the article below, Catholic Candle begins a multi-part examination of how the feminists follow the same program as Satan and Marx.  Readers might remember how Catholic Candle previously examined how Black Lives Matter (“BLM”) and the so-called “racial justice” movement also follow the program of Satan and Marx.[4]  Although the feminists and BLM both follow this same program, Satan and the leaders of these modern movements apply the principles of this program a little differently, in different circumstances, in order to appeal to different groups.

 

The modern feminist movement has its origin in Satan, especially as Karl Marx interprets and applies Satan’s program.  In this article we examine the connection between the programs of Satan, Marx, and modern feminism.

We start by examining key features of Satan’s program.


Satan’s Program

What are the elements of Satan’s program (war) against God?  It:

 

1.    Is anti-God (and anti-worship of God);

2.    Emphasizes disobedience and opposition to the authority ordained by God;

3.    Seeks to divide people;

 

4.    Promotes discontent, envy, and discord;

 

5.    Promotes hatred;

 

6.    Is result-oriented and self-interested; Satan neither acts according to immutable principles nor encourages his followers to do so;

 

7.    Is full of lies; and

 

8.    Is against Nature and is anti-Natural Law.

Below, we examine each of these elements of Satan’s program promoting feminism. 


Examining the key features of Satan’s program to promote feminism

1. Satan’s program is anti-God (and anti-worship of God).

A key characteristic of Satan’s program is that it is explicitly against God and the worship of God.  We consider this aspect of Satan’s plan obvious. 

As we see in society around us and also later in this article, the feminists are among Satan’s dupes and/or his willing servants.  Feminists are not all equally “hard core” in their adherence to (or devotion to) feminism.  The most extreme feminists are the most extremely anti-God. 

Those who are “in between” – i.e., more or less feminist – are also correspondingly more or less anti-God.  But no feminists are devoted to and docile to God and to the life He wants them to live. 

Because we are on earth to know, love, and serve God, we see that the satanic strategy of promoting feminism is directly opposed to our Final End and to the reason we are alive.  


2.  Satan’s program emphasizes disobedience and opposition to the authority ordained by God.

All authority comes from God.[5]  Satan’s first act was to declare disobedience against God.  Satan’s motto was – and continues to be – “Non serviam!”

Satan is the original rebel and is the father of all rebels.  Satan’s purpose in his first encounter with a human, Eve, was to foment disobedience in her.  Satan tempted Eve to “go rogue” by disobeying God and by acting in this eternally-serious matter without seeking the guidance of her husband.

As St. Paul teaches:

Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.

Ephesians, 6:12.

In other words, St. Paul knew that Satan is the chief enemy of the human race.  St. Paul labored to fight Satan’s attacks on wives when Satan spurs them to disobey their husbands.  Here are the words of St. Paul’s “counterattack” against Satan:

Wives, be subject to your husbands, as it behoveth in the Lord.

Colossians, 3:18.  

Also, St. Paul instructs wives in obedience in this way:

As the church is subject to Christ, so also let the wives be to their husbands in all things.

Ephesians, 5:24.

By marking St. Paul’s infallible teaching that wives must obey their husbands, we can see that Satan’s teaching is the opposite, promotes women’s disobedience and rebellion. 


3. Satan’s program seeks to foment division between persons, classes, and groups.

Satan knows that a house divided against itself will not stand.  St. Mark’s Gospel, 3:25.  Thus, Satan seeks division in order to weaken and to destroy human society, as he divided the angels of heaven by leading the rebellious angels in opposing God and His good angels.

Satan’s first attack on the human race was not only to foment Eve’s disobedience (see above) but at the same time to destroy the social cohesiveness of the human race. 

Satan is the founder of feminism.  He tempted Eve to reject the order God created, which included her submission to Adam, her husband.  Eve’s disobedience unmoored her from the benefit she would have received from her husband, by his directing her in avoiding sin.  In this way, by Satan being a cause of Eve committing the first human sin, he succeeded in his attempt to get her to reject both the natural and the supernatural order.

Satan attacked Eve first and used her subsequently to conquer Adam.  Without Eve as his tool, Satan would not have succeeded (or at least not as easily) in obtaining victory over Adam and the fall of the whole human race through the fall of its head. 

After Satan’s first victory over the human race, Satan continues to use the same successful strategy (among others) of attacking all women in order to thereby prevail against men too.  We see this in countless ways, e.g., by getting women to dress immodestly, Satan achieves their downfall and also defeats the men, bringing more people to hell by sins of impurity than by any other sin (as Our Lady declared at Fatima).

Satan seeks to destroy the natural and supernatural order God created for the human race including a wife being united with her husband and being taught and directed by him.  To counter these satanic attacks upon women, we see St. Paul warn his flock using these words:

Let women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted them to speak, but to be subject, as also the law saith.  But if they would learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home.  For it is a shame for a woman to speak in the church.

1 Corinthians, 14:34-35.

Here we see Satan’s program through seeing the opposite program of St. Paul.  In fomenting division in the human race, Satan especially seeks to divide those who should be most united: viz., spouses united in the bond of holy matrimony.  Division between a man and his wife is division among those whom God intended to be most united in a lifelong best-friendship. 

Seeking this division between spouses, Satan especially promotes divorce.  Our Lord teaches against Satan’s program of division in these words:

[Spouses] are not two, but one flesh.  What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.

St. Matthew’s Gospel, 19:6.

Similarly, St. Paul fought Satan’s demonic program of divorce in these words:

For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh.

Ephesians, 5:31.

4. Satan promotes discontent, envy, and discord.

God promotes contentment and harmony.[6]  He teaches us to bear our crosses joyfully out of love for Him.  Satan is the opposite: he promotes discontent wherever he can.[7] 

Satan stirred up discontent in Eve when he told Eve that God does not want her to eat of the forbidden tree because God does not want her to be like God.  Satan told her: “God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof … you shall be as Gods”.  Genesis, 3:5.

In light of Satan’s program, we should expect that he would promote discontent, envy, and discord among his disciples, including the feminists.  So, for example, we should expect him to teach feminists to seek out reasons to be discontented and to ever be on the lookout for how they have been victimized and mistreated by men. 


5. Satan promotes hatred.

As St. John the Evangelist writes, God is love.[8]  Also, God has perfect unity.  He created mankind so that love would be a great source of unity with Him and among men. 

God created mankind so that a woman would be a great source of unity in her home, flowing from her womanliness.  God calls a wife and mother to be the heart of her home and to fill her home with love.

Satan strives to be the contrary of God, as hatred is the contrary of love.[9]  Satan is full of hatred and he promotes hatred through all of his works.  We should expect that Satan would promote hatred in feminists. 

Seeing Satan’s program, we should expect that Satan would teach feminists to hate men.  As part of this hatred, we should expect him to ingrain feminism with unnatural vice – having sinful relationships with other women instead of natural and loving relationships with men (their husbands).  This feminist hatred of men is incompatible with fulfilling their God-given role as lifelong companions – each to her own husband of whom she is (supposed to be) the best friend according to God’s all-wise plan.[10]


6. Satan’s program is result-oriented and appeals to self-interest.

Satan does not act according to immutable principles of the Good and the Reasonable, nor does he encourage others to do so.  Satan’s program is founded upon selfishness.  He does whatever helps him gain an advantage and also encourages his followers to act likewise.

Thus, we should expect that Satan would encourage unprincipled conduct in feminists, e.g., their attacking whoever is against them.  We would expect feminists not to be “pro” woman but “pro” whatever gives them an advantage.  For example, we would expect that, as Satan’s disciples, feminists would viciously attack good women who oppose feminism.

Similarly, with feminists being Satan’s students, we should expect that they would not be “pro” woman and show this by cherishing innocent baby girls and protecting them from abortion and infanticide.  Nor should we expect that feminists would want to protect older women or sick women from euthanasia.  Such protection of the weak and innocent women and girls is incompatible with the program of unprincipled self-interest that they learned from their founder, Satan.

 

7. Satan’s program is full of lies.  Lies are one of his main tools.

Our Lord is the Truth and His disciples abide in the truth.  Satan is the father of lies.  Like any liar, Satan says whatever he thinks will be to his advantage, lying whenever it suits him.  Here are Our Lord’s words about Satan the liar:

You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and he stood not in the truth; because truth is not in him.  When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own:  for he is a liar, and the father thereof. 

St. John ‘s Gospel, 8:44 (emphasis added).

Satan wants to do whatever he can to disrupt God’s creation and Providential plan.  Thus, Satan wants to deceive parents into thinking that children should get their own way, doing whatever they want.  Satan would want to deceive parents into thinking that children should be allowed to be the “heads” of the family or that family decisions should be made by a democratic vote (one vote per family member).  This satanic lie would destroy the natural hierarchy in the family. 

 

Satan would want to destroy the natural harmony God intended to exist between the sexes and deceive them into believing that a woman’s role and abilities are the same as man’s – whereas the truth is that God made women admirably suited for the role He gave them in life – just as He made men admirably suited for their own role.[11]  It is very anti-woman (as well as anti-Nature, anti-God, and anti-family) to lie to women, as Satan does, that their role is to simply try to act like men and be as much like a man as they can be. 

 

The truth is that the roles and work of men and women are complementary, not a competition.  God intends the difference and inequality in the creatures He made, as part of the orderliness of creation.[12]  Here is one way that St. Thomas Aquinas teaches this complementariness between the sexes:

 

[I]n other animals, there is communication between male and female only insofar as what was said above, namely only for the procreation of offspring; but in humans, male and female cohabitate not only for the sake of the procreation of children, but also on account of those things that are necessary for human life.  It is immediately apparent that human works that are necessary for life are divided between male and female; such that some are appropriate for the man, such as are to be done outside, and others for the wife, such as sewing and other things that are to be done at home.  Therefore, they are sufficient for one another as far as each brings in his own works for the common good.[13]

 

In Satan’s promotion of lies, the bigger the lie is, the better he likes it.  Thus, we would expect that Satan would promote huge lies (wherever he can) such as “transgender” delusions, i.e., that a man becomes a woman when he “decides” he is one.[14]  Because Satan is a destroyer and an oppressor, he promotes such “transgender” delusions, in order to harm real women (as well as the deluded men), e.g., when those men intrude on women by using the women’s public bathrooms, etc. 

 

Because feminists are Satan’s disciples, we would expect that the most radical feminists would promote these same “transgender” delusions (when they can), even when this would harm and disadvantage real women, e.g., by allowing these supposed “women” to stay overnight in women’s homeless shelters, allowing these “women” to win all of the trophies and records in women’s sports, etc.

 


8. Satan’s program is against Nature and is anti-Natural Law.

The Natural Law comes from God.  So, Satan has a particular desire to promote conduct against Nature and also the breaking of the Natural Law whenever possible.  Thus, Satan especially seeks people to commit sins which are unnatural.

Satan promotes the murder of innocent babies.  Further, Satan would especially want women to promote abortion because it is more unnatural for them (as compared to men) because God put into women a special maternal instinct to help them in their roles as mothers.

Thus, we would expect those who follow Satan’s program to promote abortion and infanticide.  Although those horrific crimes kill baby girls (as well as baby boys), we would expect that feminist leaders would not want to save those girls because the leader of these feminists is Satan, who wants those baby girls dead.

Among the ways that Satan promotes contention and disharmony, he especially likes divorce not only because God made the relationship of spouses to be the most harmonious of all, but also because divorce is against the indissolubility of marriage even under the Natural Law[15] (as well, of course, as under the Catholic Church’s law).

In Satan’s war against Nature and the Natural Law, he strongly promotes the vice of unnatural impurity.[16]  We would expect that feminist leaders – and a great many of their followers – would also be steeped in unnatural vice themselves as well as promoting this unnatural vice in others.  This is in keeping with their discipleship to Satan.

Satan’s program opposes and blurs the natural distinctions between the sexes.  Here is one way that St. Paul labored to fight Satan’s attacks on Nature’s distinctions between the sexes:

For if a woman be not covered, let her be shorn.  But if it be a shame to a woman to be shorn or made bald, let her cover her head.  The man indeed ought not to cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of the man. 

1 Corinthians, 11:6-9.

God gave Moses the following law to combat Satan’s program of blurring Nature’s distinctions between the sexes, with this command:

A woman shall not be clothed with man’s apparel, neither shall a man use woman’s apparel: for he that doth these things is abominable before God.

Deuteronomy, 22:5.

God gave man the Natural Law “Increase and multiply and fill the earth”.  Genesis, 1:28. 

Because raising her children well is the Great Work of a woman’s life[17], Sacred Scripture infallibly connects that work directly to a woman’s own salvation.  For example, here is one way St. Paul makes that connection:

 

She [viz., a woman] shall be saved through childbearing; if she continues in faith, and love, and sanctification, with sobriety.”[18]

Because motherhood is the Great Work of a woman’s life, St. Paul teaches that “younger [women] should marry, bear children, be mistresses of families”.[19]

By contrast, Satan promotes whatever is against Nature and the Natural Law.  Thus, he promotes voluntary sterility in women.  He promotes women rejecting God’s role for them to be wives and mothers.  Instead, Satan promotes the evil feminist “ideal” of careers outside the home. 

In these careers, Satan promotes the world, materialism, power and pride, in causing mothers to leave their God-given full-time homemaking roles to seek careers in the world.[20]


Karl Marx’s Program

Karl Marx adopted the key features of Satan’s program.  Let us examine how Marx promoted and applied Satan’s program.

1.   Like Satan, Marx was fundamentally anti-God and anti-worship of God.

Karl Marx was anti-God.  Marx made a pact with Satan, declaring “with Satan I have struck my deal.”[21]

Not only did Marx choose Satan instead of God, but Marx also opposed and had contempt for religion.  He declared that:

➢  “Religion … is the opium of the people”.[22]

➢  “Communism abolishes … all religion.”[23]

➢  Religion is merely a class tool which the rich use to oppress other people.[24]

Because Marx was so fundamentally anti-God and pro-Satan, it is fitting that Marx used (and Marxists continue to use) the clenched-fist salute – which is clenching their fists and lifting them high.  When a person displays a clenched fist at another person, it is an act indicating defiance.  Thus, Marxists raise their clenched fists heavenward.[25]

Seeing Satan’s and Marx’s rejection of God and the worship of God, we would expect to find this same rejection of God and the worship of God among the feminist leaders because they are disciples of Satan and Marx.  Later in this article, we will see that expectation is fulfilled.


2. Like Satan, Marx was fundamentally rebellious and anti-authority.

Like Satan, Marx was fundamentally a rebel and disobedient.  Like Satan, Marx was filled with revolutionary defiance against God.  In one poetic way in which Marx phrased his own “non serviam” (in imitation of Satan), he declared that if God should bring down Marx’s own throne and bring Marx’s “walls and towers down”, he will nonetheless continue forever his defiant struggle against God, to raise them up again.[26]

Marx strongly promoted not only rebellion against God but also against all civil governments and all authority.  Here is one way Marx declared support for every revolution.

Communists everywhere support every revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order of things. …  The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims.  They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions.[27]

As we see, Satan and Marx foment rebellion wherever they can.  Satan – and Marx after him – are founders of the (so-called) “women’s liberation” movement because this is a type of rebellion against the order God created.  We see them enlist women to further their evil, revolutionary goals.  Thus, Satan enlisted Eve into his rebellion in order to more easily succeed in getting Adam to likewise rebel.  Genesis, 3:5.

Similarly, Marx used Satan’s strategy of corrupting the women so they would rebel and thus Marx could more easily enlist the larger number of men to thereby also rebel.  Marx saw the importance of a “feminine ferment” (as he phrased it), i.e., women being in a state of agitation and disorder (as Webster’s Dictionary defines it)[28], in order to succeed in his plan of “forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions”[29] (as Marx described his own goal).  Here are Marx’s words about the importance of stirring up women:

“[G]reat progress was evident in the last Congress of the American ‘Labour Union’ in that among other things, it treated working women with complete equality.  While in this respect the English, and still more the gallant French, are burdened with a spirit of narrow-mindedness.  Anybody who knows anything of history knows that great social changes are impossible without the feminine ferment. Social progress can be measured exactly by the social position of the fair sex (the ugly ones included) [sic].”[30]

Notice Marx is saying that the communists need to stir up women otherwise the Marxist revolution will fail.  Marx is saying that overthrow of all of society is his goal and that stirring up women is one of the tools he is using.  Thus, it is clear that it is not the promotion of women but rather the promotion of revolution, that motivates Marx.

That is why the communists and socialists consider the (so-called) “feminist cause” to be crucial to fomenting revolution in society.  Here is one way that the Marxists connect feminism to their broader goal of revolution:

Women’s issues have never been viewed theoretically as only the concern of women, but were a concern of all revolutionary leaders, male and female.[31]

The Catholic Church (and sound reasoning, as well as common sense) recognize how crucial virtuous women are for a stable, virtuous society.  Thus, the Church and civil society must safeguard women from feminism and other corruption not only for women’s sake but also because this safeguards society. 

In 1917, Pope Benedict XV emphasized this truth, viz., that women do tremendous good or evil for civilization.  Here are his words:

It is in fact amazing what the woman can do for the good of the human race, or for its ruin; if she should leave the common – [i.e., traditional] – road, both the civil and domestic orders are easily upset.

 

With the decline in religion, cultured women have lost their piety, also their sense of shame; many, in order to take up occupations ill-befitting their sex, took to imitating men; others abandoned the duties of the house-wife, for which they were fashioned, to cast themselves recklessly into the current of life.[32]

So, it is revealing that Satan, Marx, and the Catholic Church all recognize feminism for what it is: a crucial element of Satan’s (and Marx’s) plan to destroy society and cause a rebellion against God, although Satan and the Marxists desire this destruction and the Church (and good men) oppose it.

Part II: to be continued next month


[5]           Romans, ch.13, vv. 1-2 & 4-5; Pope Pius IX, Qui Pluribus, November 9, 1846, §22.

[6]           Here, e.g., is one way in which Sacred Scripture praises and promotes harmony and unity among people:

 

With three things my spirit is pleased, which are approved before God and men: The concord of brethren, and the love of neighbors, and man and wife that agree well together.

 

Ecclesiasticus, 25:1-2.

When soldiers came to St. John the Baptist seeking to learn what God wanted them to do, St. John did not sow discontent but rather told them to “be content with your pay”.  Here are St. John’s words:

And the soldiers also asked him [viz., St. John the Baptist], saying:  And what shall we do?  And he said to them:  Do violence to no man; neither calumniate any man; and be content with your pay.

St. Luke’s Gospel, 3:14 (emphasis added; bracketed words added to show the context).

[7]           Although Satan promotes all discontent, he especially promotes discontent between persons by the deadly sin of envy.  For example, Satan fomented Cain’s envy of (and murder of) his brother, Abel.  Genesis, 4:1-9.

[8]           1 St. John, 4:8.

[9]           Summa, Ia IIae, Q.29, a.2, ad 2.


[10]         Here is one way St. Thomas explains this truth:

 

The greater the friendship, the firmer and the more lasting it is.  Now, between husband and wife there seems to be the greatest friendship; for they join … for the sharing of all of home life; hence a sign of this is that man leaves even his father and mother for the sake of his wife.

 

Summa Contra Gentiles, St. Thomas Aquinas, ch.123, §6 (emphasis added).

 

God intends the friendship of a husband and wife to be the closest and greatest of all friendships.  Summa Supp., Q.44, a.2, ad 3.  This friendship between man and wife is the closest friendship because it is the only one complementary under the natural law (i.e., between different sexes) and which is a union in the bond of a Sacrament, resulting in the Great Life Work of women/mothers.

[11]         Read more evidence of this truth here: https://catholiccandle.org/2019/12/02/the-role-and-work-that-god-gave-to-woman/

 

[13]         St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Aristotle’s Ethics, Bk VIII, lect. 12, n.20 [#1271] (emphasis added).

[14]         For a further examination of the “transgender” delusion, read this article: https://catholiccandle.org/2019/12/01/the-direct-road-from-apostasy-to-gender-confusion/

 

[15]         Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas, Suppl., Q.67, a.1.

[16]         Combatting Satan’s attack on the Natural Law, St. Paul “counterattacks” by teaching this natural complementariness of man and woman which the devil mocks with the unnatural pairing of two men or two women.  A woman is not made for a woman but for a man, as St. Paul teaches:

For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man.  For the man was not created for the woman, but the woman for the man.

1 Corinthians, 11:6-9.

[18]         1 Timothy, 2:15.

[19]         1 Timothy, 5:14.

[20]         Our focus should be spiritual.  Our material wants should be few and simple.  Our Lord teaches us:

 

Be not solicitous therefore, saying, What shall we eat:  or what shall we

drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed?  For after all these things do the heathens seek.  For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things.  Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.

 

St. Matthew’s Gospel, 6:31-33.

 

St. Paul instructs us in the simplicity we need: “But, having food and wherewith to be covered, with these we are content”.  1 Timothy, 6:8.

 

[21]         Here is the longer quote from Marx’s poem, The Fiddler:

 

How so!  I plunge, plunge without fail
My blood-black sabre into your soul.
That art God neither wants nor wists,
It leaps to the brain from Hell’s black mists.

 

Till heart’s bewitched, till senses reel:
With Satan I have struck my deal.
He chalks the signs, beats time for me,
I play the death march fast and free.

 

Emphasis added.  Quoted from Volume I of Marx’s collected works, p. 23 as quoted here: https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/a-little-known-side-of-karl-marx-his-poetry-and-his-diabolism

 

[22]         Here is the longer quote from Marx:

 

Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering.  Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions.  It is the opium of the people.

 

The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness.  To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions.  The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo.

 

Quoted from A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, by Karl Marx (emphasis added).

 

[23]         Here is the longer quote from Marx:

 

“There are, besides, eternal truths, such as Freedom, Justice, etc., that are common to all states of society.  But Communism abolishes eternal truths, it abolishes all religion, and all morality, instead of constituting them on a new basis; it therefore acts in contradiction to all past historical experience.”

 

Communist Manifesto, Chapter II (emphasis added).

 

[24]         Here is one way Marx taught this doctrine:

 

In the condition of the proletariat, those of old society at large are already virtually swamped.  The proletarian is without property; his relation to his wife and children has no longer anything in common with the bourgeois family relations; modern industry labour, modern subjection to capital, the same in England as in France, in America as in Germany, has stripped him of every trace of national character.  Law, morality, religion, are to him so many bourgeois prejudices, behind which lurk in ambush just as many bourgeois interests.

 

Communist Manifesto, Chapter I (emphasis added).

 

[25]         There are some photos of the Marxist clenched fist salute here:   https://abcnews.go.com/News/history-clenched-fist/story?id=39006994

[26]         Here is the longer quote from Marx:

So, a god has snatched from me my all
In the curse and rack of destiny.
All his worlds are gone beyond recall!
Nothing but revenge is left to me! […]

I shall build my throne high overhead,
Cold, tremendous shall its summit be.
For its bulwark—superstitious dread,
For its Marshall—blackest agony. […]

And the Almighty’s lightning shall rebound
From that massive iron giant.
If he bring my walls and towers down,
Eternity shall raise them up, defiant.  

Volume one of Marx’s collected works, pp. 563–64, as quoted here: https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/a-little-known-side-of-karl-marx-his-poetry-and-his-diabolism (emphasis added).

Karl Marx also declared: “I wish to avenge myself against the One who rules above.”  Quoted here: https://www.azquotes.com/author/9564-Karl_Marx?p=2

[27]         The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, published in 1848 (emphasis added).

[28]         Ferment – n.  “A state of unrest : agitation” : “a process of active, often disorderly, development”.  Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary.

[29]         The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, published in 1848 (emphasis added).

[30]         Karl Marx, Selected Letters: The Personal Correspondence 1844-1877 as quoted https://feminists-against-feminism.tumblr.com/feminism_is_marxian (emphasis added; parenthetical words in the original).


[32]         Pope Benedict XV, Encyclical Natalis trecentesimi, (Woman in the Modern World), December, 27 1917 (bracketed word added to show the context).

VC II Set Up a Distinction of Compromises Without a Difference

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Catholic Candle note:  The article below refers to Rome’s betrayal of the Catholic Faith.  However, a reader would be mistaken if he assumed that Pope Francis’ betrayal somehow means that he is not the pope.

Sedevacantism is wrong and is (material or formal) schism.  Catholic Candle is not sedevacantist.  On the contrary, we published a series of articles showing that sedevacantism is false (and also showing that former Pope Benedict is not still the pope). 

We recommend a small book explaining the errors of sedevacantism.  It is available:

➢  Here, for free: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/against-sedevacantism.html  

or

➢  Here, at cost ($4): https://www.amazon.com/Sedevacantism-Material-Quanta-Cura-Press/dp/B08FP5NQR6/ref=sr_1_1

Here is what St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Doctor of the Church, teaches concerning the need to recognize and respect the authority of a superior – such as the pope – even when he is bad:

Even should the life of any superior be so notoriously wicked as to admit of no excuse or dissimulation, nevertheless, for God’s sake, Who is the source of all power, we are bound to honor such a one, not on account of his personal merits, which are non-existent, but because of the divine ordination and the dignity of his office.[1]

However, even while recognizing the pope’s authority and our duty to obey him when we are able, we know we must resist the evil he says and does.  Read more about this principle here: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/against-sedevacantism.html#section-7

 

VC II Set Up a Distinction of Compromises

Without a Difference


Starting in 1965, most Catholics compromised their Faith and followed liberal leaders into what became the conciliar church.

In 2015, most Traditional Catholics compromised their Faith by following liberal leaders into a changed SSPX which accepted increasing liberalness.

After the Second Vatican Council, when the conciliar church of the ‘60s and ‘70s set out to destroy the traditional Catholic Church, they depended on the love and trust of most Catholics for their cardinals, bishops, and priests, plus the average layman’s love for his Church, plus their assumption that Church leaders neither would nor ever could do anything contrary to the welfare of Christ’s Church.  After all, the bishops confirmed them, and the priests baptized, instructed, and confessed them with a father-like affection. Why wouldn’t they accept and believe their pastor of many years?  And besides, everyone else went along (i.e., to get along). 

In addition to that, they were told repeatedly that the Catholic Church is old and slow and needs to keep up with the ever-changing world.  Their pastor said change is good and necessary to improve church attendance (and revenue), and that it was also necessary to be “open to the world”.  Moreover, (the pastor added) the Church has to be more like the world, more accepting of humanism, and more open to compromise, in order to be with the world.

So, what did nearly all low-information “Sunday” Catholics do?  They accepted wholeheartedly the conciliar church because their Faith became more fun with clown masses, no more confession “box”, etc.  There was group reconciliation with our fellow man, etc.  And besides, everyone goes to heaven now.

A billion or so Catholics went along with the changes, placing their salvation in ever-greater danger.  They went along to get along.  They tried to avoid losing friends or family by not objecting to what was happening to their Church and by not fighting against the changes listed below.

➢  The “elimination” of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and its replacement with a non-Catholic service designed with the help of six Protestant ministers under the direction of a notorious Mason.

➢  The “elimination” of the Holy Sacrament of Penance and its replacement with “reconciliation” with your fellow man.

➢  The “elimination” of the truth that there is No-Salvation-Outside-the-Catholic-Church, and promotion of Religious Liberty for error.

➢  The “elimination” of the need for the Sacrament of Extreme Unction by promoting Universal Salvation (i.e., everyone goes to heaven)

➢  The “elimination” of the Sacrament of Confirmation (no need now with universal salvation).   There is no need in the conciliar church to fight for Christ the King.  There is only the “entrance into the [so-called] adult christian community.”

➢  The “elimination” of the primacy of the pope in favor of a democracy of bishops and cardinals, as well as the parish and diocesan councils.

➢  The rejection of the one true Church founded by Christ, in favor of a pan-religious aggregate of hundreds of protestant and other “churches” with “various degrees of communion” (as VCII and the conciliar church likes to say).

➢  The acceptance of easy (so-called) annulments which function as divorce on demand.

Archbishop Lefebvre fought hard against the errors of Vatican II and set up an uncompromising Traditional Catholic Society (i.e., SSPX) to help followers to fight against the evils of VC II that have deprived most Catholics of the usual sources of sanctifying grace which are so essential for salvation. 

The Society remained an uncompromising traditional Catholic haven throughout the world until the death of the Archbishop.  The new leaders of the Society were not opposed to compromise.  They were most interested in being in a “partnership” with the anti-Catholic conciliar church.  They wanted to be accepted by them and wield some influence in Rome, with the false dream of converting them.

In reality, Rome won’t convert until the pope and the bishops of the world consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

With the increasing liberalism in the SSPX, there is less and less difference between the positions of that group and the liberalism which has been promoted by the conciliar church for decades.

The following is a list of conciliar liberalism, showing that the distinction between the mainstream conciliar church and the “new” SSPX increasingly is a “distinction without a difference”.  The now-liberal SSPX and its compromised followers must now accept/condone: 

❖  That the religious liberty taught by Vatican II is “a very, very limited one, very limited”.[2]  The truth is that the scope of religious liberty which Vatican II teaches is unlimited as long as public order is not breached.[3]

❖  That there are no errors in the important Vatican II document, Lumen Gentium.  The SSPX now teaches that this document is free from errors/liberalism.[4]  The truth is that there are hundreds of liberal and false statements in Lumen Gentium.[5] 

 

❖  That Vatican II does good, because the “Second Vatican Council … illuminates – i.e., deepens and further makes explicit – some aspects of the life and of the doctrine of the Church”.[6]  The truth is that Vatican II does not do good.

 

❖  That there are degrees of being in communion with the Catholic Church.[7]  The “new” SSPX indicates it accepts this conciliar theory by now using the term of “full communion”, as if there were any other kind.  Id.

 

❖  That Pope Francis’s exhortation on marriage “contains many things that are correct and beautiful”.[8]  The truth is that this is a vile, thoroughly-conciliar document.

❖  That Vatican II’s Optatam Totius is free from errors/liberalism.  The truth is that there are many liberal and false statements in it.[9] 

 

❖  That the Jews did not commit Deicide.  The truth is that, because Jesus Christ is God, the Jews committed Deicide because they killed a Person Who is God.  The “new” SSPX[10] joins Vatican II contradicting the traditional teaching from the time of the apostles, that the Jews committed Deicide.[11] 

 

❖  That by making a practical agreement with Rome, the “new” SSPX “will return to the Church”.[12]  The truth is that Traditional Catholics are in the Church and have no need to “return”.

The SSPX wants you to believe there can be necessary and good compromises to be made. That can never happen.  All compromises are bad when they are about the traditional Catholic Faith or morals.  The first compromise leads to the next one and a person becomes willing to accept progressively larger compromises. 

The distinction between 1960 and 2015 is merely a difference in time.  Both groups – not only the then-soon-to-be Novus Ordo Catholics of the 1960s but also the increasingly liberal SSPX followers of 2015 – had (have) to accept the evil changes of VC II.  But between the two groups, there is little actual difference.  Through these compromises, both groups increasingly jeopardize their salvation.


[1]           Quoted from St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Third Sermon for Advent, entitled: On the Three Advents of the Lord and the Seven Pillars which we ought to Erect within us.

 

[2]           Listen to then-superior general Bp. Fellay’s exact words at the following link – listen at minute 1:25 of 6:00 at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdnJigNzTuY&feature=topics

 

[3]           Read the quote from Vatican II here: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/religious-liberty-vatican-ii.html

[6]           Quoted from Bishop Fellay’s April 15, 2012 Doctrinal Declaration (dashes are in the original).


[7]           Quotation, citation, and analysis here: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/priests/schmidberger-conciliar-ideas-jargon.html


[8]           Quotation, citation, and analysis here: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/priests/fellay-francis-eroding-marriage.html

[10]         Quotations, citations, and analysis of the Catholic teaching and of the “new” SSPX’s denial of the Catholic teaching, are here: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/priests/2014-01-14-bp-fellay-ltr.html


[11]         Nostra Aetate, §4.

[12]         Here is the longer quote: “Anyway, the Pope said that it is only a problem of canonical discipline. An act of Rome will suffice to say it is finished and we will return to the Church. It will come. I am very optimistic!” Bp. Fellay, Interview with Les Nouvelles Caledoniennes, 12/27/10.

Lesson #6 — Explanation of the First Week Rules for the Discernment of Spirits

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Mary’s School of Sanctity

In our last lesson in Mary’s School, we discussed the Spiritual Exercises in general and began to explain the purpose of the Rules for the Discernment of Spirits. 

In this lesson we will begin our examination of the Rules for the Discernment of Spirits that pertain especially more to the first week of the Exercises, although these Rules apply to the spiritual life in general.  These Rules are invaluable for everyone engaged in the test of this life and fighting in the Church Militant.  Saints and spiritual writers highly recommend that we Catholics become familiar with these Rules as much as possible and review them often.  By doing so we can see the tactics of the evil one and cooperate with the helps God gives us through His Holy Angels.

St. Ignatius’s Rule #1. In the persons who go from mortal sin to mortal sin, the enemy is commonly used to propose to them apparent pleasures, making them imagine sensual delights and pleasures in order to hold them more and make them grow in their vices and sins. In these persons, the good spirit uses the opposite method, pricking them and biting their consciences through the process of reason.

St. Ignatius’s Rule #2. In the persons who are going on intensely cleansing themselves from their sins and rising from good to better in the service of God our Lord, each spirit uses a method contrary to the one he used in the first Rule, for then it is the way of the evil spirit to bite, sadden and put obstacles, disquieting with false reasons, that one may not go on; and it is proper to the good [spirit] to give courage and strength, consolations, tears, inspirations and quiet, easing, and putting away all obstacles, that one may go on in well doing.

These first two Rules are very crucial in seeing the general ways in which the good spirits act and the way the evil spirits act.  One basic fact to remember is that the good spirit always acts in an opposite way than the evil one.  Of course, the devil hates God and is always opposed to God’s Will and will always try to undo God’s Plan.  

Another basic difference between the good spirit and the evil spirit is the fact that the good spirit always fosters sound reasoning and the evil spirit tries to drag the soul away from sound reasoning.  St. Thomas explains in the Summa that in order for man to have moral behavior, that is, moral actions, man must act according to reason.[1]  Therefore, it makes perfect sense that the devil’s main tactic is to get men to not use their reason properly.

So, in the first Rule, the devil wants the mortal sinner to become complacent in his sin, and therefore, the devil will endeavor to keep the sinner in sin.  Whereas the good spirit will try to wake up the sinner to the gravity of his situation in order to draw him to conversion.

In the second Rule, the devil will try to get the person, who is striving to serve God, to fall into discouragement and to not use his reason.  The devil will basically try to get the faithful soul to the point of despair.  On the other hand, the good spirit will encourage the faithful soul to persevere.

St. Ignatius’s Rule # 3.  Of Spiritual Consolation. I call it consolation when some interior movement in the soul is caused, through which the soul comes to be inflamed with love of its Creator and Lord; and when it can in consequence love no created thing on the face of the earth in itself, but in the Creator of them all. Likewise, I call it consolation when the soul sheds tears that move it to love of its Lord, whether out of sorrow for one's sins, or for the Passion of Christ our Lord, or because of other things directly connected with His service and praise.   Finally, I call consolation every increase of hope, faith and charity, and all interior joy which calls and attracts to heavenly things and to the salvation of one's soul, quieting it and giving it peace in its Creator and Lord.

In the third Rule, St. Ignatius explains what he means by consolation.  He wants the soul to understand what consolation is so the soul better understands when consolation is happening and know how to recognize consolation as compared to desolation.  Because one must act well, whether in consolation or desolation, he must see the difference between these two movements in order to determine how to act.  Later, St. Ignatius will discuss how to act when one is in consolation.

St. Ignatius’s Rule # 4. Of Spiritual Desolation. I call desolation everything contrary to the consolation explained in the third rule, such as darkness of soul, disturbance in it, movement to things low and earthly, the unquiet of different agitations and temptations, moving to lack of confidence, without hope, without love, when one finds oneself all lazy, tepid, sad, and as if separated from his Creator and Lord. Because, as consolation is contrary to desolation, in the same way the thoughts which come from consolation are contrary to the thoughts which come from desolation.

In the fourth Rule, St. Ignatius explains what he means by desolation.   Again, St. Ignatius wants the reader to have a clear distinction between the two movements of the soul so one can more easily act appropriately in these two circumstances.

In the fifth and sixth Rules, St. Ignatius explains how to act during desolation.

St. Ignatius’s Rule # 5. In time of desolation never make a change; but be firm and constant in the resolutions and determination that you had on the day preceding such desolation, or in the determination which you had in the preceding consolation. Because, as in consolation it is rather the good spirit who guides and counsels us, so in desolation it is the bad [spirit], who tries to trick us into making a bad decision.[2]

In the fifth Rule, St. Ignatius clearly is giving a very strict warning to make no change when one is in desolation.  He means that one should continue carrying out the resolutions that one had made when he was in consolation.   As we have explained above, because the devil tries to drive man off the course of sound reasoning, the devil will especially pull on the soul when one is in desolation.  The devil will try to get the poor desolate soul to make a bad choice.

The devil knows when a soul is in desolation – the devil’s tactic goes something like this: he plays with the soul and tires it out.  The devil wants the soul to feel so overwhelmed that the person feels desperate. When a person feels desperate enough, he will often end up doing something without thinking of the long-term consequences.  Thus, it is very likely that the desolate soul will make a bad choice.  Then, of course, the devil will tempt the soul to think that since the decision has already been made, it is too late to change the decision or “fix” the mistake.  The devil preys on fallen human nature and the fact that we humans have a difficult time admitting that we were wrong.

In short, St. Ignatius is telling us that being in desolation is very dangerous for the soul because the soul is especially vulnerable – precisely because the devil will lure the soul into some form of pride.  Of course, the remedy that St. Ignatius gives to counteract the pride is to foster humility with additional prayer, penance, and examinations of conscience. See below: 

St. Ignatius’s Rule # 6. Although in desolation we ought not to change our first resolutions, it is very helpful to intensify our good efforts against the temptations that come during desolation, by insisting more on prayer, meditation, on much examination, and more penance.

Thus, knowing that the time of desolation is especially dangerous for souls, St. Ignatius tells us to intensify our strictness against fallen human nature in order to bolster the strength to overcome the evil one’s temptations.

In Rules seven and eight, St. Ignatius gives further considerations which show God’s Mercy and that it is God’s Will that the soul recognizes its weakness.  Not only does one need to see his weakness but also the soul needs to see clearly that one must depend on God.  

St. Ignatius’s Rule # 7. One who is in desolation should consider that our Lord, in order to try him, has left him to his own natural powers to resist the different agitation and temptations of the enemy. He can resist with Divine help, which is always available to him even though he may not clearly perceive it.  Although the Lord has withdrawn from him His great fervor, ardent love, and intense grace, He has nevertheless left him sufficient grace for eternal salvation.

St. Ignatius’s Rule # 8. One who is in desolation must strive to persevere in patience, which is contrary to the vexations that have come upon him.  He should consider, also, that consolation will soon return, and strive diligently against the desolation in the manner explained in the sixth rule.

So, in Rule eight in particular, one must practice trust in God and remind himself that God will not abandon him.  Therefore, St. Ignatius shows the necessity of a person humbling himself in order to persevere in times of desolation.

In our next lesson, we will discuss St. Ignatius’ explanation of why God allows us to be in desolation.  In addition to this, we will look into St. Ignatius’s clear instructions of how to conduct oneself in consolations as well as his three other powerful Rules which help us to know the tactics of the evil one so we can combat him forcefully and conquer.  

In conclusion, we must remember that God wants us to defeat our foes and persevere.  How loving and tender God is to give us the means to cooperate with Him in our salvation!

[1]         Summa, Ia IIae, Q.75, a.2.        

[2]  Bracketed words added for clarity.

CC in brief — What do we mean when we say that God is everywhere?

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Catholic Candle note: We should study the Catholic Faith our whole life.  Part of this duty is to understand more fully the truths of the Faith we already learned as children.  Thus, for example, concerning the question “Who is God?”, we know from our First Communion Catechism that “God is the Supreme Being Who made all things.”  During our life, we should learn more about God, as best we can, little-by-little, using the opportunities we have.

The very short article below is an aid to help us to “peer a little more deeply” into the answer to the catechism question “Where is God?”  

Q:        What do we mean when we say that God is everywhere?

  1. St. Thomas Aquinas, greatest Doctor of the Catholic Church, gives this simple, clear, and profound answer, explaining how God is everywhere, in three ways:

It is customary to say that God is in all things by His essence, presence, and power.  To understand what this means, we should know that someone is said to be by his power in all the things that are subject to his power; as a king is said to be in the entire kingdom subject to him, by his power.  He is not there [i.e., in his entire kingdom], however, by presence or essence.  

Someone is said to be by presence in all the things that are within his range of vision; as a king is said to be in his house by presence.

And someone is said to be by essence in those things in which his substance is; as a king is in one determinate place [e.g., on his throne].

Now we say that God is everywhere by His power, since all things are subject to His power: “If I ascend into heaven, you are there ….  If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the furthest part of the sea, even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me” (Ps 138:8).

He is also everywhere by His presence, because “all things are bare and open to His eyes,” as is said in Hebrews (4:13).

He is present everywhere by His essence, because His essence is innermost in all things.  For every agent, as acting, has to be immediately joined to its effect, because mover and moved must be together.  Now God is the maker and preserver of all things with respect to the esse [i.e., the being] of each. Hence, since the esse [i.e., the being] of a thing is innermost in that thing, it is plain that God, by His essence, through which He creates all things, is in all things.  [In other words, God creates all things by His Own essence and so God’s essence must be together with all creatures and so is everywhere.]

Lectures on St. John’s Gospel, St. Thomas Aquinas, ch.1, #134.


Conclusion.  God is in all things in these three ways, by His essence, His presence, and His power.

For Success in Prayer, Confidence and Faith are a Must

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Few understand or realize God’s loving-kindness toward mankind and how He wants to help.  He wills that we ask with faith and with confidence and He will hear our prayers and will answer them.  

Let’s determine what Our Lord, the Doctors of the Church, and the Saints teach about how to pray with success.

The Lord Himself has taught: “All things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.”[1]

St. Augustine, speaking of this faith, thus comments on the Lord’s words: “Without faith, prayer is useless.”[2]

This is the meaning of the exhortation of St. Ignatius to those who would approach God in prayer:

Be not of doubtful mind in prayer; blessed is he who hath not doubted.  Wherefore, to obtain from God what we ask, faith and an assured confidence, are of first importance, according to the admonition of St. James: “Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.”[3]

The Council of Trent Catechism assures us:

Unworthy, then, as we are, of obtaining our requests, yet considering and resting our claims upon the dignity of our great Mediator and Intercessor, Jesus Christ, we should hope and trust most confidently, that, through His merits, God will grant us all that we ask in the proper way.[4]

But what most ensures the accomplishment of our desires is the union of faith and hope with that conformity of all our thoughts, actions, and prayers to God’s law and pleasure.  “If”, He says, “you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you.”[5]

We must not imitate the example of those who become tired of praying, if, after having prayed once or twice, they succeed not in obtaining the object of their prayers.  We should never be weary of the duty of prayer, as we are taught by the authority of Christ the Lord and of the Apostle.  And should the will at any time fail us, we should beg of God by prayer the strength to persevere.[6]

The Son of God would also have us present our prayers to the Father in His name; for, by His merits and the influence of His mediation, our prayers acquire such weight that they are heard by our heavenly Father.  For He Himself says in St. John: “Amen, Amen, I say unto you, if you ask the Father anything in my name, He will give it to you.  Hitherto you have not asked anything in My name: ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full”; and again, “Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in My name, that will I do.”[7] 

Prayer is loving conversation with God.  The mere thought of God is not prayer: devils think of God, but they do not pray.  In prayer we concentrate all the powers of our souls and elevate them to God.  Is it not an honor to be allowed to talk to the President of our country?  But at any moment we can talk to God Almighty in prayer; He has no hours of appointment; He has no secretaries to forbid our entrance into His presence.[8]                                                                     

“And He also told them a parable – that they must always pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1).  God wants us to talk to Him at any hour of the day and night, and even of the most trifling things.  The oftener we speak to Him, the better is He pleased.  “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thess. 5:17)[9]

Even the prayer of sinners is profitable, especially when they are sorry for their sins; but the purer our heart is, the better is God disposed to hear our petitions.[10]

Who would have the temerity to enter a king's presence clad in filthy and torn garments?  Yet in praying with an impure heart a man would be doing much worse – coming into the presence of God with a stained soul.[11]

With loving trust in His goodness, we should have confidence, filled with a firm belief that God will grant our prayer if it is for our good.[12]

God knows best what is for our good, so if we do not receive what we pray for with faith and confidence, understand that a good and loving God will deny our request out of love for us.  He wants only what is good for us and for our salvation.

Let’s consider the importance of having confidence in prayer and in Christ.  St. Peter found out what happens when doubt takes over; he began to sink into the Sea of Galilee when he lost confidence in Christ, Who was standing on the water near Peter’s boat.

The prayers said by uncompromising traditional Catholics in the catacombs, with faith and confidence, will be answered.  Christ knows what we need in order to stand up and fight for Him and His Kingship.  We must especially fight the conciliar counter-church’s war against Catholic tradition.

[1]          St. Matthew’s Gospel, 21:22.

[2]          Quoted in the Catechism of the Council of Trent, Part IV, Prayer in General.

[3]          Id.

[4]          Id.

[5]         Id.

[6]         Id.

[7]         Id.

[8]          My Catholic Faith, Bishop Morrow, Part Three, Lesson 180, page 372 ©1949,

[9]         Id.

[10]         Id.

[11]         Id.

[12]         Id.

Does the end ever justify the means?

Posted on by Catholic Candle

We live in a time of great pressure and growing distress.  Here are two examples:

  1. People are pressured to accept the COVID “vaccine”[1] in order to keep their jobs (or to avoid fines, or be able to obtain food, etc.) because of “vaccine” mandates imposed by the government or by their employers.[2]
  2. People are pressured to attend the Masses[3] of (or go to Confession to)[4] a compromise group or priest in order to get the sacraments or to avoid being without a parish to which to belong.

When people yield to pressures such as these, they say they were “forced” to receive the COVID “vaccine”, or they say they “had no choice” except to attend the Masses of a compromise group or priest.  

But did they really have no choice?  Of course, they had a choice!  They merely did not like the alternative.  They could refuse the COVID “vaccine” even if they were fired from their jobs (or even if they had no way to obtain food, or whatever).  Or (in the other example), those people could sanctify the Sundays at home, rather than support a compromise group and receive its sacraments.  

When these people say they were “forced” to commit the sin, they really mean that they chose to do the evil deed rather than to accept the crosses and sufferings sent to them by God.  

The Church’s martyrs often were given a way to avoid being killed.  For example, many Roman martyrs were told they could avoid being killed if they simply burned a tiny amount of incense to a false god.  Instead of their glorious martyrdoms and eternal salvation, those people could have excused themselves by saying they were “forced” to burn incense to the false gods.  Plainly such an excuse would have been sinful.   Their duty was to avoid such sin even though their steadfastness in the Faith would result in their martyrdom.

But suppose the sin which is “forced” upon the person is “only” a small sin and the results from committing the sin are very great goods?  This outlook (viz., that a sin is “only” a venial sin), is a temptation from the devil!  It is always wrong to commit even the “smallest” sin in order that good can come from it.  

All sins are infinite offenses against God in three ways (and mortal sins are infinite offenses against God in a fourth way too).[5]  We should never “slap God in the Face” in order that good might come from it.  In other words: the end does not justify the means.  

St. Paul shows this truth when he writes that some enemies of Christ spread the lie that Catholics hold that the end justifies the means.  Here are his words:

We are slandered, and as some affirm that we say: let us do evil, that there may come good.[6]

What does the word “justify” mean?

  • to provide or be a good reason for (something): to prove or show (something) to be just, right, or reasonable;
  • to provide a good reason for the actions of (someone).[7]

Under these broad definitions, it would seem that the end can be thought to justify the means in some circumstances.  For example: an employee is late for work and he justifies his delay, i.e., provides a good reason, when he explains that a car accident shut down the road on which he was traveling to work.

However, this is not what it means for the “end to justify the means”.  When it is claimed that the end justifies the means, this means that an outcome is so desirable that even sinful conduct is acceptable to achieve it.[8] 

In this sense, the end never justifies the means.  In other words, we cannot truly justify committing a sin.  As St. Paul teaches this truth, we cannot “do evil that there may come good”.


Conclusion

We are soldiers of Christ!  We must be friends of God!  Let us never commit a sin (such as to receive the COVID vaccine or attend a compromise Mass) in order that good can come of it!  Properly understood, the end never justifies the means.

[1]          The Covid “vaccine” is not really a vaccine.  It is gene therapy.  It is called a vaccine in order to deceive people into accepting it.  Here is how the U.S. Food and Drug Administration defined “gene therapy” in 2018:

Human gene therapy seeks to modify or manipulate the expression of a gene or to alter the biological properties of living cells for therapeutic use.

Gene therapy is a technique that modifies a person’s genes to treat or cure disease. Gene therapies can work by several mechanisms:

  • Replacing a disease-causing gene with a healthy copy of the gene
  • Inactivating a disease-causing gene that is not functioning properly
  • Introducing a new or modified gene into the body to help treat a disease.

Quoted from: https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/cellular-gene-therapy-products/what-gene-therapy

This 2018 FDA definition fits the COVID Pfizer and Moderna “vaccines” perfectly.

However, that was before the leftists needed mRNA treatments to qualify as “vaccines”.  Now the leftist “fact checkers” solemnly tell you that COVID mRNA treatments are not gene therapy.  See, e.g., https://news.yahoo.com/fact-check-covid-19-vaccines-140024936.html

[2]          For an explanation of why the COVID “vaccines” (from Pfizer, Moderna, Astra Zeneca and Johnson & Johnson) are always mortally sinful to receive, read this article: https://catholiccandle.org/2021/01/01/reject-the-covid-vaccines/

[3]
        To read about the importance of completely avoiding all compromise groups and priests, read this article: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/why-do-traditional-catholics-stay-in-a-compromise-group.html

[4]
        To read about the importance of never going to confession to a compromise group or priest, read this article: https://catholiccandle.org/2020/09/01/excuses-for-compromise-confessions/

[5]          For an explanation of these truths, read this article: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/the-infinite-evil-of-sin.html

[6]
         Here is the longer quote:

For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie, unto his glory, why am I also yet judged as a sinner?  And not rather (as we are slandered, and as some affirm that we say) let us do evil, that there may come good?  whose damnation is just.  What then?  Do we excel them?  No, not so.  For we have charged both Jews, and Greeks, that they are all under sin.

Romans, 3:7-9 (emphasis added).

[8]          Webster’s definition of the end justifying the means:

used to say that a desired result is so good or important that any method, even a morally bad one, may be used to achieve it.

[Example of using the phrase in a sentence:] They believe that the end justifies the means and will do anything to get their candidate elected.

https://www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/the%20end%20justifies%20the%20means

The False Principle of “Diversity and Inclusion”

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Catholic Candle note concerning the article below: We see many examples in current society of deemphasizing merit, accomplishment, and virtue, and focusing instead on a person’s status.  For example, in many places in the Western Hemisphere, the traditional holiday dedicated to the great man, Christopher Columbus[1] (October 12th, Columbus Day) was changed to “Indigenous People’s Day”.[2]  This new holiday “honors” native Americans – not for history-changing accomplishments of daring and success, but for happening to live and breathe in the Western Hemisphere.  

One of the ways that the Marxists are weakening society is through pushing “diversity and inclusion”.  That is, instead of individual merit being the criteria for selecting personnel (e.g., in a hiring decision), the decision is made based on how “different” someone is.  This is irrational!  This false principle of “diversity and inclusion” serves two Marxist goals:

  1. to cause disharmony and discontent between groups in society[3]; and
  2. to weaken society’s institutions by causing the hiring and promotion of less-qualified persons because they belong to a favored group.

Below, we examine this evil practice.

However, please note the scope of the article below: it addresses the irrational idea that it is better for an organization to hire people because they are different, e.g., because of their differences in race, their “lifestyles” of unnatural impurity, their delusions that they are “non-binary” (belong to neither gender) or some other difference.

The article below does not address certain other, related issues, such as so-called “affirmative action”, viz., the irrational and unjust practice of showing undeserved favoritism to one member of a group (e.g., a racial group) based on real (or supposed) past mistreatment of an unrelated member of that same group.  A further evil consequence of “affirmative action” is that giving one person undeserved favoritism requires that another person is undeservedly disfavored.

Another related topic not covered in the article below, is how making personnel selection decisions based on “diversity and inclusion” (or “affirmative action”) harms the characters of the persons receiving the advantages.

The False Principle of “Diversity and Inclusion” –

A Favorite Tool of the Marxists

Modern liberal society preaches tolerance, liberty, diversity, and inclusion.  But no one is more intolerant than a liberal who is in control, e.g.:  

  • In the name of tolerance, liberals are intolerant of those who are anti-liberal.  

  • In the name of liberty, liberals are intolerant of those who want to exercise their own liberty to live according to the Traditional Moral Law and who adhere to (and promote) an anti-liberal philosophy.  

  • In the name of diversity, liberals demand uniformity in accepting immoral “lifestyles”.

  • In the name of inclusion, liberals oppress and exclude those who don’t accept perversities against nature and other liberal “dogmas”.

In summary, liberals demand intolerance toward (and exclusion of) those who adhere to the Natural Law and the Traditional Catholic Faith and Morality which built Christendom and Western Civilization.

The preachers of “diversity and inclusion” use deceptive “studies” to promote their false “gospel”.  For example, they (deceptively) purport to correlate a society’s economic resilience with whether that society is “inclusive” of persons living “lifestyles” of unnatural vice.[4]  But their “studies” carefully use selection bias.  That is, the “studies” use cities which are “inclusive” of persons who demand public acceptance of their gross unnatural vice, and compare those cities to other cities such as in Iran, Morocco, Qatar, Indonesia, and Belarus where the government attempts to suppress such wicked conduct.  The result-oriented conclusion asserted by the authors of such “studies” is that cities which are “inclusive” are more economically resilient.  

But such “studies” are deceptive and are designed to fool the intellectually lazy and the gullible.  Those studies largely contrast cities which are located within the economies of the fully-developed Western World where there is a consistent history of peace and the rule of law, with cities located in economically less-developed non-Western countries in unstable parts of the world.

Such “studies” promote gross immorality and serve to (more-fully) fulfill Communist Goals #25 & #-26 (of 45 total goals) as read into the U.S. Congressional Record in 1963:

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as normal, natural, and healthy.[5]

Diversity and Inclusion as Broader Tools of the Marxists’ War on Western Civilization

The Marxists make broader use of their evil diversity and inclusion “gospel” beyond their attempt to ruin society by promoting unnatural impurity.

Again, as Pope Pius XI warned, the “preachers of Communism are proficient in exploiting racial antagonisms, political divisions, and oppositions.”[6] 

The Marxists seek to create mutual antagonism between different groups and to deemphasize truth and the common good.[7]  Marxists use diversity and inclusion to promote “identity politics”, i.e., the group to which you belong determines the outcome you receive, rather than your personal merits and ability or your virtuous character.  Under a regime of diversity and inclusion, what matters most is that you belong to a favored group.  So, for example, a person is hired or is promoted to a business, academic, or political position because he (she) is of a “diverse” race or gender.

Of course, this emphasis on “diversity” always seems to go only in one direction: away from white men.  An organization is never attacked or criticized for having such a large number of blacks or women so that “diversity” would involve making extra efforts to hire white men.

Through diversity and inclusion initiatives, Marxists promote self-interest, social disunity, and the disintegration of society.  Such Communist initiatives and goals are exactly the opposite of what good men would do.  As Pope Pius XI teaches, good men should strive to abolish class conflict and produce harmony and cooperation between men – a goal directly opposed to communism’s goal.[8] 

Pope Pius XI adds (in another place) that not only do Communists seek to increase hostility between the groups of society, but they attack and seek to annihilate anyone who seeks harmony between those groups.[9]

Marxists have succeeded in obtaining the Western World’s acceptance of their diversity and inclusion rules.  Western society has largely accepted the credo that a person being part of a favored group is what is necessary to qualify that person for a job, academic opening, or political appointment.  

The truth is that qualification for such jobs, openings, or appointments should be based on the individual’s intellect, talent, and experience.  Qualification for such employment should not be based on diversity and inclusion – that is, based on a person being unlike others who have successfully held that particular job or position in the past.  

Instead, a person’s qualifications should be based on being similar to those who previously exhibited the qualities which have brought success in the position.  Thus, in today’s irrational society, a person is recommended for a job because of being a “diverse individual”.  The recommendation should really go to a person not because of being diverse but rather for having abilities and qualifications similar to prior successful holders of the job or office.


The strength of a family, of a business, or of a nation is in its unity of culture and morals, and in its like-mindedness.

A Family’s Strength.

A family is strong to the extent that its culture, e.g., its music and literature, is the same.  It must have the same language for ready communication with each other.  The family must have the same moral principles and hold in common the same ideas of truth and virtue, in order that their goals are the same, as well as their means of achieving these goals.

A family is strong when it has bonds of friendship and love between its members.  As the proverb states: “charity begins at home”.

A family is strong when its members have a spirit of sacrifice for one another and are willing to place the interests of the whole group and other members of the group above their own interests.

A family needs a strong, self-sacrificing head, clearly and prudently exercising authority.  He must direct his family for the glory of God and the good of the whole family, rather than for his own benefit.


The Strength of a Business (or other Organization).

Like a family, a business is stronger and more unified to the extent that its workers have the same (correct) moral principles and hold in common the same (correct) ideas of truth and virtue, so that their goals are the same as well as their means of achieving these goals.

In our pagan society, it is often stated that a business’s primary goal is to increase the value of the business for the shareholders.  That is false.  Everything we do must first of all serve God.  

The business leader’s most important goal should not be to make money, just as the family leader’s most important goal should not be to increase the financial assets of the family.  

In other words, the members of a business, like the members of a family, should realize that a business is not merely an economic relationship but is a human association with other men also created by God, for His glory and for mutual assistance.

Thus, the primary goal of a business (just like every part of our life) is to serve God.  In the case of a business, the goal is to serve God through the business.

A business’s strength is like a family’s strength.  Like a family, the workers in the business should have in common the bonds of culture, e.g., music, literature, etc.  Thus, if a group of white men are in business together and they hire a black man, it should not be because they “need” a black man to signal their “diversity and inclusion”, but rather because they think he is likeminded and shares their culture and virtue.  In other words, they should hire him because he is the same, not because he is different.  His skin color – which is irrelevant – simply happens to be black.

The members of the business should have the same language to enable them to readily communicate with each other.  Such communication is essential for a bond of friendship and charity between them.

A business is strong when its workers have a spirit of sacrifice for one another and are willing to place the interests of the whole group and other members of the group above their own interests.

A business needs a strong, self-sacrificing head, clearly and prudently exercising authority.  He must direct the business for the glory of God and the good of the whole enterprise.

A business leader should be a father to his workers and should have care for their well-being.  He should not put them in moral danger because of their responsibilities at work or because of the atmosphere of the workplace.  He has a duty to do what he can to influence his workers for their eternal good.

Just as the head of the business should be a father to his workers, a business should not necessarily cast-off workers simply because they lose the ability to contribute to the organization’s economic success.  The business and its leader should act patiently and forbearingly with the problems and difficulties of their workers, like a father with his son.

Correspondingly, like the members of a family, workers at a business should respond patiently and forbearingly with the hardships experienced by the business.  Just as a family member should not “bail out of” (i.e., leave) the family as soon as he finds a “better deal” than what he receives in his family, likewise, a worker should not readily switch jobs simply because he found a “better deal”.

A business is stronger and more unified when it has bonds between its workers of friendship and mutual charity.  As with a family, “charity begins at home”.  That is, workers should especially practice fraternal charity toward one another.

In the above analysis of how a business (or other organization) should be operated, a person might suppose that it is an impossible fantasy, just as one might suppose that such a family is likewise impossible to achieve.  However, the goals outlined above are the goals that a family and business must have, according to nature, reason, and basic morality.  Further, a business can more readily achieve these goals if it is small, with carefully chosen members/workers.


A Nation’s Strength.

Like a family or a business, a nation is stronger and more unified[10] to the extent that its citizens have the same (correct) moral principles and hold in common the same (correct) ideas of truth and virtue, so that their goals are the same as well as their means of achieving these goals.[11]  In other words, a nation’s “pluralism” and “diversity” are not goals but rather are handicaps and problems.

In our pagan society, it is often stated that the government’s primary goal should be to promote economic prosperity.  That is false.  Everything a government (and its citizens) does should first of all serve God.  

The most important goal of a nation’s leader should not be to promote economic prosperity, any more than the family leader’s most important goal should be increasing the financial assets of the family.  

In other words, the citizens and leaders of a nation, like the members of a family, should realize that a nation is not merely an economic relationship but is a human association with other men also created by God, for His glory and for mutual assistance.

Thus, the primary goal of a nation (just like every part of our life) is to serve God.  In the case of a nation, the goal is to serve God collectively, as citizens and leaders of a nation.

A nation’s strength is like a family’s strength.  Like a family, the nation’s citizens should share the bonds of culture, e.g., music, literature, etc.  The nation’s citizens should have the same language to enable them to readily communicate with each other.  Such communication is essential for a bond of friendship and charity between citizens.

A nation is strong when its citizens have a spirit of sacrifice for one another and are willing to place the interests of the nation and the other citizens above their own interests.

A nation needs a strong, self-sacrificing head, clearly and prudently exercising authority.  He must lead the nation for the glory of God and the good of the whole nation.

A nation’s leader should be a father to his people and should have care for their well-being.  He should not put them in moral danger because of their life in society.  In fact, just as is true of the father of a family, a nation’s leader must give highest priority to the spiritual good of his people.[12]

Just as the nation’s leader should be a father to his people, a nation should not necessarily cast-off citizens simply because they no-longer contribute to the nation’s economic success.  We should remember that a nation’s most important goals are spiritual.  The nation and its leader should act patiently and forbearingly with the problems and difficulties of their citizens.

Correspondingly, like the members of a family, citizens should respond patiently and forbearingly with the hardships experienced by the nation.  Just as a member of a family should not “bail out of” (i.e., leave) a family as soon as he finds a “better deal” than he receives in his family, likewise, a citizen should not readily expatriate simply because he found a “better deal”.

A nation is stronger and more unified when it has bonds between its citizens of friendship and mutual charity.  As with a family, “charity begins at home”.  That is, citizens should especially practice fraternal charity toward one another.

In the above analysis of how a nation should be operated, a person might suppose that it is an impossible fantasy, just as one might suppose that such a family is likewise impossible to achieve.  However, the goals outlined above are the goals that a family and a nation must have, according to nature, reason, and basic morality.  Further, a nation can more readily achieve these goals if it is small, with a carefully chosen, united citizenry.


Conclusion

The promotion of “diversity and inclusion” is irrational and is a Marxist tool which seeks to weaken the Western World and promote strife between groups.  Instead of “diversity and inclusion”, all good men should promote assimilation and unity in the Truth and in the Good.

[1]          For a sketch of the greatness of Christopher Columbus, read Latin America: A Sketch of its Glorious Catholic Roots and a Snapshot of its Present, by the Editors of Quanta Cura Press, pp.4-6, © 2016.

[2]          See, e.g., https://www.wwu.edu/indigenous-peoples-day

[3]          Pope Pius XI warned that:

[The] preachers of Communism are proficient in exploiting racial antagonisms, political divisions, and oppositions.  

Quoted from: Divini Redemptoris – On Atheistic Communism, by Pope Pius XI, 1937, paragraph 15.  Note, as quoted here, we remove the word “also” before the word “proficient”, because the other exploitations to which the pope refers are not part of the quote we give here.

[5]          Quoted from the Congressional Record – Appendix, pp. A34-A35, Current Communist Goals, Extension of Remarks of Hon. A. S. Herlong, Jr. of Florida in the House of Representatives, Thursday, January 10, 1963.

[6]          Divini Redemptoris – On Atheistic Communism, by Pope Pius XI, 1937, paragraph 15.  Note, as quoted here, we remove the word “also” before the word “proficient”, because the other exploitations to which the pope refers are not part of the quote we give here.

[7]          Here is one way Marx explained his teaching:

“There are, besides, eternal truths, such as Freedom, Justice, etc., that are common to all states of society.  But Communism abolishes eternal truths, it abolishes all religion, and all morality, instead of constituting them on a new basis; it therefore acts in contradiction to all past historical experience.”  

Communist Manifesto, Chapter II (emphasis added).

[8]          Here is the pope’s longer teaching:

First and foremost, the State and every good citizen ought to look to and strive toward this end: that the conflict between the hostile classes be abolished and harmonious cooperation of the Industries and Professions be encouraged and promoted.


Quadragesimo Anno, by Pope Pius XI, 1931, paragraph 81.

[9]          Here is the pope’s longer teaching:

Insisting on the dialectical aspect of their materialism, the Communists claim that the conflict which carries the world towards its final synthesis can be accelerated by man.  Hence, they endeavor to sharpen the antagonisms which arise between the various classes of society.  Thus, the class struggle with its consequent violent hate and destruction takes on the aspects of a crusade for the progress of humanity.  On the other hand, all other forces whatever, as long as they resist such systematic violence, must be annihilated as hostile to the human race.

Divini Redemptoris – On Atheistic Communism, by Pope Pius XI, 1937, paragraph 9.

[10]          Here is how St. Thomas Aquinas, greatest Doctor of the Church, teaches this truth:

The welfare and safety of a multitude formed into a society lies in the preservation of its unity, which is called peace.

On Kingship, Bk. 1, c. 3.  

[11]          Here is how the great medieval Bible commentator, Fr. Cornelius a Lapide, explained the importance of a nation’s unity:

For unity imparts holiness to the mind, health to the body, peace and concord to countries and households, in short, all the virtue and strength of a nation arises out of its oneness with itself.  But division is the cause of discord, schism, war, and countless ills.

Fr. Cornelius a Lapide, Great Commentary on St. Luke, chapter 10, verse 42.

[12]          Here is how St. Thomas teaches this truth:

It belongs to … the function of the ruler to provide the good life for the many, in terms of what will obtain for them the beatitude of heaven”.  

On Kingship, Bk. 1, c. 15.