Author: Catholic Candle

The More Things Change, The More Things Stay the Same

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Catholic Candle note:  Occasionally, we analyze the problems in the liberal SSPX.  Someone could wonder:

Why mention the SSPX any longer, since they are unimportant as merely one of very many compromise groups? 

It is true that a priest (or group) is of small importance when he (or the group) is merely one of countless compromisers.  By contrast, an uncompromising priest is of great importance, even though he is only one.

However, regarding the “new” SSPX: we sometimes mention them for at least these four reasons, motivated by charity:

➢  New Catholic Candle readers might not be sufficiently informed of the N-SSPX’s liberalism to avoid that group.  Out of charity for them we occasionally provide these warnings to help these new readers appreciate the danger of the N-SSPX.

 

➢  Some longtime Catholic Candle readers might forget the N-SSPX poison or vacillate in their resolution to stay away from the N-SSPX, if they never received a reminder warning about the danger of the N-SSPX.  This is like the fact that all it takes for many people to become conciliar is to never hear about the errors of Vatican II and the conciliar church.  Out of charity for them we occasionally provide these reminders for readers who would otherwise “forget” the danger of the N-SSPX.

 

➢  The N-SSPX serves as an important study case to examine how leaving the truth often happens.  It is a warning to us all about a very common way to depart from the truth and become unfaithful.  Out of charity for ourselves we occasionally provide these insights about becoming unfaithful by taking this common road of compromise the N-SSPX is taking.

 

➢  Over time, the N-SSPX provides us with a thorough catalogue of liberal compromises and studying those compromises and errors with the contrasting Traditional Catholic truth is a helpful means of studying our Faith and guarding ourselves from the principal errors of our time.  This helps us to fulfill our duty of continually studying the doctrines of our Faith.  Out of charity for ourselves, we use the occasional of the N-SSPX’s liberalism to study our Traditional Catholic Faith better and the corresponding the N-SSPX liberalism.

For those readers who are resolute in their resolution to completely avoid all support for the N-SSPX, they can receive just as much of the substance of those Catholic Candle articles, if they substitute the phrase “a liberal could say” anytime they read “the SSPX teaches”.

 

 
I am referring to how Catholics reacted to the very liberal faith-destroying changes brought about by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s and ‘70s, and how the current followers of the N-SSPX are reacting to the very liberal faith-destroying changes brought about by the current leadership.

In the ‘60s and ‘70s, Catholics who were not happy with the changes believed their Faith was strong enough that they could go along to get along and not lose their Faith.  They would fight for tradition when necessary, but fight from “within”.  They were wrong.  Liberalism and gradualism took over and their naiveté cost them dearly: they lost the Faith without even realizing it.  With liberalism and gradualism, you lose your Faith little by little, accepting changes you and others believe make sense and are necessary to be part of today’s world.  After all, you must stay relevant and on top of things in our fast-changing world.

This brings us to the followers of today’s liberal N-SSPX.  Perhaps their parents (or even grandparents) joined Archbishop Lefebvre in the late ‘70s, after he started the strongly-traditional Society of St. Pius X.  The SSPX did much good saving souls until the Archbishop died in 1991.  Then the popularity-seeking new leadership took over, gradually liberalizing and changing in order to be more acceptable to the (anti-Catholic) conciliar church in Rome.  They stopped fighting against it as the Archbishop had fought when he was alive.

Here again, liberalism and gradualism are taking over, and the N-SSPX followers are losing their Faith little by little, without realizing it.  They mistakenly believe that if they accept a little liberalism in order to have the sacraments, God will understand.  No, He won’t!  God does not accept compromise in the Faith under any circumstance.

I believe the followers of the liberal “new” Society of St. Pius X feel they are strong enough in their Faith that they won’t lose it.  After all, their families have been through a lot since the 1970s, fighting for tradition alongside Archbishop Lefebvre.  They think they will know when to push back or leave if the new liberal SSPX crosses their line in the sand.  They are confident that no one can take their Faith from them and that they will know when to leave.

Besides, they assume there is strength in numbers, and they are comfortable with other parishioners who think like they do.  They feel that they can look after each other and discuss any problems they detect, such as the SSPX constantly asking for money.  They are convinced that they are watchful and can act when necessary, and that gradualism can’t take their Faith away.

This approach of the N-SSPX’s followers regarding the loss of their Faith, is the same approach taken by most Catholics after the Second Vatican Council.  They are unaware that the “necessary” changes they made are gradually robbing them of their Catholic Faith.

So, it is eminently logical to fear that the final results will be the same as in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and that most of them will lose the Faith.  The problem, then as now, is that the necessity to act never actually comes, and gradualism takes their Faith before they realize it.  In fact, they never notice the point when they have lost the Faith.  Just as people in the ‘60s and ‘70s never noticed their loss of Faith, so the N-SSPX’s followers won’t notice it today.  That’s the power of the devil and gradualism.  They will never correct a problem (i.e., gradually losing the Faith) if they don’t even know they have the problem.  This is like an alcoholic never takes steps to change until he first recognizes that he has a drinking problem.

Wake up, followers of the liberal SSPX! – the same SSPX that accepts 95% of the evils of VC II.  The N-SSPX is liberal quicksand and those who are in it cannot see it.  Save your Faith and your soul!  Join the uncompromising Traditional Catholics in the Catacombs, for Faith-saving support and knowledge.

Educating your Children – Part 3

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Catholic Candle note: This is the Third Part in a series on EDUCATING YOUR CHILDREN during the crisis in the Church.  There can be no more important concern for traditional Catholic parents today than how to best educate their children since it is so intrinsically connected to helping them save their precious souls.

     Part I:  Reflects on how one traditional Catholic family approached the gargantuan responsibility of this formidable task.  Part I can be found here: https://catholiccandle.org/2020/06/01/approaching-the-responsibility-of-homeschooling/

     Part II:  Investigates what choices were available to the next generation of our family, and how they met the challenge.  Part II can be found here: https://catholiccandle.org/2020/07/01/educating-your-children-part-2/

     Part III (this present article):  Examines what is involved in Home Schooling.

     Part IV:  Looks at some of the Benefits of educating your children at home.

Years ago, we heard the principal of a good school give a fine talk on educating your children.  He titled it “Education – It Happens Only Once.”  If nobody remembered anything of what he said except the title, it’d have been worth the time they spent listening to him because it said it all in a nutshell: We only have one opportunity to see that our children receive a good (traditional Catholic) education , the inference being that we’d better do it right the first time because we won’t get a second chance.

By default, the job falls now to Home Schools.  Therefore, it is more than appropriate to ask the following question:

 

What Does It Take to Home School?

Let’s examine the idea of home-schooling.  You’ve probably thought of some of the reasons why people do it, and you maybe even have considered how they do it.  But now you might be wondering What does it really take to home school? 

The quick answer is:

A.   You must be convinced it’s necessary.

B.   You must be willing to make the Commitment (with a capital C).

C.   You must have perseverance.

D.   You must have confidence in God.

E.   You must have discipline in your home.

 

F.   You must have patience, patience, and more patience.  (Okay, so all of us run short of that sometimes, but let’s talk about that later.)

___________________________

 

A.   Convinced it’s necessary

This is arguably the easiest item on the list.  The easiest to come by.  Any traditional Catholic parent who has half an eye open as to what’s going on in the schools today ought to find this an easy decision to make.  Easy to make, but admittedly not so easy to carry out.

 

B.   Commitment

It’s one thing to attend a home-school conference and be suffused with a rosy feeling of enthusiasm for beginning the grand adventure of teaching your own children.  It’s quite another to commit to seeing the job through to the end.

As was said in Part II, it’s probably a mercy that you don’t know at the beginning just how long the “long haul” is.  But it’s important not to view it as you’ll-put-up-with-it-as-long-as-you-can.  View it as a special calling, which it is.  The good Lord is making you a partner in educating your children and preparing them to survive in a world that seeks to tear them away from their Faith and compromise any vestige of principles.

A Home School mom I know put it this way: You must be a Home School family, not just a family that home schools.

 

C.   Perseverance

Deciding to educate your children at home is not a frivolous choice made lightly.  You cannot do it grudgingly or resenting that other parents send their children off to school and have the whole day to themselves.  Every day.  You’re in it for the whole 9 yards because you’re building an exceptional team and that team needs you.  You must approach it joyfully and with a generous heart.

 

D.   Confidence in God

We know that God cannot be outdone in generosity.  Whatever you do for Him is returned a hundredfold.  By His design, parents are the prime educators of their offspring.  Therefore, your efforts on behalf of your children, your willingness to put His plan before yours, and to instill in them a love for their Creator and a greater knowledge of their Faith will be generously rewarded.

 

E.     Discipline

Discipline in the home – in the past freewheeling decades of do-your-own-thing and the child’s-spirit-must-not-be-suppressed – the idea of actually expecting self-control from children has been all but abandoned.  It was instead overshadowed by insisting that the child be “given” self-respect.  Whether earned or not.  This is one of the principal reasons for the destruction of the schools.  In the (arguably) 70 years that discipline has been withering away under the cult of the child, obedience has sadly become a bitter joke in far too many families.

If your family (hopefully) cannot be included in this category, good for you.  It will make your job less difficult.

If yours is one of the families that did not make discipline a priority, it’s not too late now.  Harder, but possible.  And there are helps to get you there.  It is important to start with a family meeting, including all who have reached the age of reason, to explain very clearly exactly what your family goal is, and what is necessary to achieve it.  (We discuss more about Family Meetings below.)

Another huge help is to “demote” your television and other electronic devices – or better yet, get rid of the TV.  If your children are addicted to texting, Facebook, etc., it will be difficult to rein in their time-wasting habits.  But there again, doable.  It “just” takes patience, firmness, and being consistent.

Some of the fruits of this new family policy will be having more time to spend on developing new interests and more wholesome pastimes.  With more hours to fill, the children will be forced to look to other diversions, such as sports, hobbies, music, photography, etc.  Also, spending time with the family will slowly increase, which will foster a beneficial closeness.  All in God’s good time.  You are building a great team, but it doesn’t happen overnight.

You probably already say a family rosary together, morning and night, and this is a must.  Saying the rosary on-the-way-somewhere is sometimes a necessity, but the family that gathers nightly (or daily) together in one place, on its knees, is accomplishing several things at once.  Among them are showing the children the importance of prayer, and also nourishing a sense of family unity.

A word might be said here about the desirability of designating one room in your home as "the school room."  This might not always be practical or feasible, but where possible, it is a help in setting up your Home School, and having the same room set aside exclusively for school work.

One of the greatest helps will be that Family Meeting (as mentioned above).  Frequent sit-down meetings will be a great aid to building family unity and family harmony.  They need not turn into dragged-out marathon encounters, dreaded by everyone.  Hopefully run by the father, the chief “business” of the meetings is to make sure the children understand why the family has chosen this course of action (homeschooling).  If they do, it will be much easier for them to accept your decision.

Also, these family meetings help parents to understand their children’s worries or concerns, which might easily be ameliorated if brought out into the light of day during a casual family discussion.

It can’t be stressed enough how important it is for your children to know WHY you’re doing what you’re doing.  It is solely for their benefit, in order to save their souls, safeguard their Faith, and not so incidentally to give them a superior education.  And even if they can’t fully comprehend the reasons now, hopefully they will have enough confidence in you, their parents, to trust your judgment.

 

F.   Patience

Easier said than practiced, right?  A Home School mother I know confided in me that there were a few times when she was overwhelmed with the enormity of the task she was undertaking.  To the point that occasionally, at the end of the day, when the family was asleep, she, exhausted, would sit at her kitchen table correcting papers, planning the next day’s schedule, and … crying.  She questioned whether she had what it takes to do the job.  To be sure, this didn’t happen often, but when it did, the saving grace was to re-focus her mind on why she was doing it:

➢   For the greater honor and glory of God,

➢   To fulfill God’s plan to help one’s children get to heaven,

➢   To give the children the essential tools they must have to survive in a pagan world.

In next month’s Catholic Candle, we will discuss The Benefits of Home Schooling, in Part IV.


Catholic Candle note: To assist parents in homeschooling, we call your attention to a new Traditional Catholic homeschool which is now accessible worldwide.  Here is some information about this homeschool:

Angelic Doctor Academy

We would like to introduce Angelic Doctor Academy, a Traditional Catholic homeschool for grades 9 – 12 (lower grades coming soon).  We think careful Catholics will appreciate our solid Traditional Catholic high school curriculum, which contains many new textbooks written across the subjects because we have had enough of problematic books.  But even more, busy Catholic parents – especially mothers! – will appreciate our unique grading system which corrects everything – even the daily / weekly coursework – for the parents, so they can concentrate on teaching, explaining, and keeping order.   Please visit  https://www.ada.school  to learn more.

Yours in St. Thomas,

The Angelic Doctor Academy Staff

 

 

Use of ordinary care even as we are Dying

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Catholic Candle note: Recently, Catholic Candle examined the permission the Church traditionally gives to a person who is in danger of death, to confess to a priest whom an uncompromising Catholic could not otherwise support (or confess to) because that priest is a compromiser, an apostate, or someone whom it is otherwise impermissible to support.  Find the article here: https://catholiccandle.org/2020/01/01/using-a-compromised-priest-when-dying/

Catholic Candle also addressed how uncompromising laymen can bury their dead in these times of great apostasy when an uncompromising priest is not available.  Find the article here: https://catholiccandle.org/2020/04/02/a-traditional-catholic-funeral-and-burial-when-there-is-no-uncompromising-priest-available/

Between this last confession (discussed in the first of those articles) and the burial (discussed in the second article), is the crucial moment of death.  We gave recommendations how to assist at a person’s death, based on the experience of some of the Catholic Candle Team, who recently assisted at the deaths of two uncompromising Traditional Catholics.  Find the article here: https://catholiccandle.org/2020/06/01/how-to-assist-a-person-in-dying-a-holy-death/

Also, in our last days of life, we must continue to give sufficient care to sustain our life – even as it is waning – and must not yield to the culture of death, which promotes euthanasia.  Below, we examine the minimum care we are obliged to provide to sustain our life even when we are dying.

We recommend that you save these articles for future reference and use.

Our Duty to Use (at least) Ordinary Care to Preserve Our Life, even as we are Dying

We are free to choose (or not choose) to make extraordinary efforts to preserve our life.  However, there is a minimum, ordinary effort we must make, in order to avoid the sin against the Fifth Commandment, of failing to protect our life.  As St. Thomas teaches:

God commands man to sustain his body.  Otherwise he would be his own killer. …  By this Commandment [viz., the Fifth Commandment], man is bound to nourish his body and do those other things without which his body cannot live.[1]

Even though we foreseeably will die in the near future, we must continue to make ordinary efforts to preserve our life.  So just as our impending death (e.g., from disease) does not allow us to jump off of a cliff (and so hasten death), likewise we cannot hasten our death in any other way, such as by starving ourselves to death.  If a person starved himself to death even one day before he would have died of disease, he has committed suicide.

Although we know we must do those things without which our body cannot live – as St. Thomas teaches (quoted above) – what are those things?  We do not need to do strange, extreme, and unreasonable things to preserve our life.[2]  However, we must preserve our life by making efforts which are reasonable, common, and ordinary under our circumstances.[3]

 

What specific ordinary efforts must we make to preserve our life?

There is no complete list of ordinary efforts required to preserve our life.  In part, the list of what is common, reasonable, and ordinary depends upon our physical condition and our access to health care. 

We do not need to do those things which, when taking into account our circumstances and medical condition at the time, would not help us preserve our life.  For example, we normally must take nutrition and hydration (food and drink) to sustain our life.  However, in the final short period of our life, if our body’s organs are shutting down and no longer functioning, and the nutrition and hydration are no longer being absorbed and no longer usable by our body, then we do not have the obligation to take nutrition and hydration since they no longer help us to preserve our life.  In other words, we do not need to do things that won’t help to preserve our life in the circumstances at the time.

 

Common, ordinary, and reasonable efforts to sustain life

We observe that, generally, the list of common, ordinary, and reasonable efforts to sustain life has grown with the safety, ease, and widespread use of those procedures.  So, e.g., in a past time, using a hypodermic needle was extraordinary.  (They did not even exist before the 17th Century.)  But now hypodermic needles are used daily by many ordinary persons, e.g., diabetic persons needing insulin injections.  Here are a few examples of procedures we consider ordinary, common, and reasonable means of preserving a person’s life, in most developed countries of the world:

❖  Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) – These have become an ordinary means of preserving a person’s life when he has a heart rhythm problem.  AEDs are routinely used by paramedics[4] and are made available to the untrained general public, for use in an emergency, e.g., on planes, trains, and in public buildings. 

❖  Injections, shots, intravenous feeding/therapy (IVs), EpiPens (Epinephrine autoinjectors) – These have become ordinary means of preserving a person’s life.  They are routinely used not only by paramedics[5] and nurses but also by the general public, e.g., for administering insulin to diabetics, for administering adrenaline where a person suffered a severe reaction to a bee sting, etc.

❖  CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation).  This is an ordinary procedure.  The public is taught to perform this common emergency procedure.  It is also routinely performed by paramedics.[6] 

Obviously, though, CPR has its reasonable limits.  We know of a dying man whose heart stopped and he was revived several times, only to have his heart stop again, each time, a short time later.  The pattern became plain and there is no obligation to interminably revive a very sick, dying person.

 

A “Do not resuscitate” (DNR) order directs that CPR not be administered.  Such DNRs must be used carefully to apply only when CPR would be beyond reasonable limits.

 

❖  Gastro-intestinal tubes.   These are routinely and ordinarily used (as necessary), and are inserted in the nose or mouth, or directly into the stomach, to administer liquids and liquified food.

 

❖  Supplemental oxygen.

 

❖  Kidney dialysis.

 

❖  Common medicines including antibiotics.

 

Conclusion of this section of the article

We have a duty to take reasonable care of our life, including using the ordinary, common, and reasonable means generally employed.

 

What can we do to ensure (at least) ordinary means are taken to preserve our life, even when we are dying and we are unable (or less able) to defend ourselves from those seeking to end our life?

We live in a “culture” of death, of murder, and of suicide.  For example, in Britain and The Netherlands, people are sometimes murdered by the medical establishment because they are inconvenient.[7]  This also happens in other countries too.

Further, we should not think that we are protected from being murdered (euthanasia) because we receive care from a “Catholic” hospital, nursing home, or hospice organization.  Even care facilities which assure you that they follow Catholic rules, are sometimes ready to murder their patients. 

The conciliar church now promotes euthanasia, even for the mere convenience of the caregivers![8]  Even the “conservative” wing of the conciliar church – e.g., the Society of St. Pius X – has now sunk so low as to promote a conciliar booklet which approves of starving people to death for the convenience of their caregivers![9]

Clearly, we need to take precautions to avoid being murdered (euthanasia).  We should make known our insistent refusal to follow the new, sinful standard of the conciliar church, as approved by the N-SSPX.  We should sign a carefully-drafted Living Will, stating our determined will for end-of-life care in the absence of our ability to make those decisions at the time. 

 

Use a Living Will

Below, we give a draft declaration regarding medical treatment a/k/a a Living Will.  This draft might need to be revised based on the laws of a particular jurisdiction.

 

DECLARATION CONCERNING MEDICAL TREATMENT

This declaration is made this         day of ____________________, 202__.  I, [name], currently residing at [address], being of sound mind, willfully and voluntarily state my desires concerning medical treatment that would postpone the moment of my death.

Except as specifically provided below, I direct my healthcare providers to use all medical treatment that would 1) preserve my life; 2) cure or improve my physical or mental condition; or 3) reduce or prevent my physical or mental deterioration.

I direct my healthcare providers to provide me with food and fluids orally, intravenously, by tube, or by other means to the full extent necessary to preserve or extend my life and to assure my optimal health.

I direct that medication be administered to me, including painkillers, provided that this medication is not used to cause or hasten my death.  I direct that cardiopulmonary resuscitation and all other necessary medical and surgical procedures be used to the full extent necessary to correct, reverse, or alleviate life threatening or health-impairing conditions, and complications arising from those conditions.

I reject any treatment that uses an organ or tissue of another person obtained in a manner that causes, contributes to, or hastens that person’s death.  I reject any treatment that uses a vital organ “donated” by any other person who is declared “dead” (usually this declaration of “death” is made shortly before the organ is removed).  I also reject any treatments that use an organ or tissue of an unborn or newborn child who has been subject to an induced abortion.

I direct that I receive all medical treatment and care to preserve my life without regard to my age, physical or mental ability, the “quality” of my life, or the “dignity” of my death.

If I should have an incurable and irreversible injury, disease, or illness judged to be a terminal condition by my attending physician who has personally examined me and who considers that even with maximum medical treatment, I have less than three months probable, foreseeable life expectancy, I direct that I not be kept alive artificially through major surgery, chemotherapy, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.  However, in no case do I wish to be deprived of food, fluids, oxygen, and common medications such as any antibiotics.

I do not want any of my organs to be donated.  I wish my bodily remains to receive a traditional Catholic burial as outlined in my letter to my executor.

In the absence of my ability to give directions regarding my medical treatment, it is my intention that this declaration shall be honored by my family and physician as the final expression of my legal and moral right to direct the medical or surgical treatment I am given.                                          

 __________________________________

                                                                                                            [name]

City, County and State of Residence: ________________________________

The declarant is personally known to me and I believe him to be of sound mind.  I did not sign the declarant’s signature above for or at the direction of the declarant.  At the date of this instrument, I am not entitled to any portion of the estate of the declarant according to the laws of intestate succession or, to the best of my knowledge and belief, under any Will of declarant or other instrument taking effect at declarant’s death.  I am not directly financially responsible for declarant’s medical care.

 

Witness:                                            Witness: _______________________                       

 

Address:                                            Address: _______________________                                 

 

What should we do with our Living Will after it is signed?

After our Living Will is completed and signed, we should not merely put it with our important papers or in a safety deposit box at a bank (although it is good to place a copy there).  We should give a copy of our Living Will to our family, friends, and caregivers – because when we have a medical emergency, they are going to be focused on our treatment, not focused on searching through our important papers.

Therefore, we should disseminate widely our Living Will to our family and friends and to all of our caregivers who have a patient file concerning our treatment, e.g., our hospital, our primary care doctor, our specialist doctors, our dentist, our assisted living facility, etc. 

Broadly disseminating our Living Will makes it more likely that it will be known and used in an emergency because more people will know about it and have access to it. 

Further, broad dissemination is an act of religious courage – standing up for the Natural Law (and God’s Law), against euthanasia.  Our Living Will provides a good example to others who might otherwise yield to the culture of death.

 

Conclusion

We have a duty to preserve our life using (at least) all common, ordinary, and reasonable means, based on our physical condition at the time.  We should prepare a Living Will, which is an important tool to ensure that happens.

 


[1]           Words of St. Thomas Aquinas, quoted from his Commentary on II Thessalonians, 3:10, ch.3, lecture 2.

 

[2]           Here is how McHugh and Callan describe this minimum effort to preserve our life:

 

A very painful and uncertain operation or mutilation is not obligatory, unless one has dependents, and the danger to life from the operation is slight.

 

Moral Theology, by John A. McHugh, O.P., and Charles J. Callan, O.P., revised and enlarged by Edward P. Farrell, O.P., published by Joseph F. Wagner, Inc., New York City, © 1958, quoted from section #1571(b).

 

Here is how Slater describes this minimum effort to preserve our life:

 

We are obliged to take ordinary means to preserve our lives, for to do otherwise would be virtually to commit suicide.  There is no obligation to take extraordinary, unusual, or very painful or expensive means to preserve our lives. And so, one in feeble health, who will probably die if he spends the winter in England, is not bound to expatriate himself and go and live in a milder climate.  Nor am I bound to undergo a painful and costly operation in order to save my life; I may if I like choose rather to die, unless my life is of great importance for the common good, for then the public good must be considered first.  Except in such a case as this, a superior could not oblige a subject to undergo a very painful operation or to submit to the amputation of a leg; obedience to human authority does not seem to extend to such matters as these.

 

A Manual of Moral Theology, Rev. Thomas Slater, SJ., Vol I., Fifth and Revised Edition, Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., London, ©1925, Part 5, The Fifth Commandment, Ch.1, On Suicide.

 

[3]           Here is how Henry Davis, S.J., describes this minimum effort to preserve our life:

 

Section 2.  Preservation of Life

 

By Natural Law, man enjoys the use, not the dominion of his life.  He neither gave it nor may he take it away.  God only is the Author of life.  Man must preserve it by the use of ordinary means; he is not bound to employ extraordinarily expensive methods, nor methods that would inflict on him almost intolerable pain or shame. 

                                                                                                                     

Quote from Moral and Pastoral Theology, by Henry Davis, S.J., Sheed and Ward, © 1959, Vol. Two, page 113.

[9]           The N-SSPX made an end-of-life presentation to parishioners which was approved by N-SSPX Bishop Bernard Tissier.  This presentation included the promotion of a conciliar booklet approving of starving a patient to death even for the mere convenience of the caregivers.  https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/priests/tissier-praises-euthanasia-booklet.html

 

Educating your Children – Part 2

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Catholic Candle note: This is the Second Part in a series on EDUCATING YOUR CHILDREN during the crisis in the Church.  There can be no more important concern for traditional Catholic parents today than how to best educate their children since it is so intrinsically connected to helping them save their precious souls.

     Part I:  Reflects on how one traditional Catholic family approached the gargantuan responsibility of this formidable task.  Part I can be found here: https://catholiccandle.org/2020/06/01/approaching-the-responsibility-of-homeschooling/

     Part II (this present article):  Investigates what choices were available to the next generation of our family, and how they met the challenge.

     Part III:  Examines what is involved in Home Schooling.

     Part IV:  Looks at some of the Benefits of educating your children at home.

What Are the Choices?

Homeschooling didn’t really enter our lives until our children began their families and were seriously looking at how they were to educate them.  It was clear to all of them that if they were to raise good Catholic children, they could not expose them to the poisons in the schools.  And by poisons is meant not only the drugs and alcohol.  Unfortunately, it includes bad companions, disrespect for authority, a left-wing agenda, no discipline, strange ideas/beliefs that you have no idea where they came from, etc.  And this doesn’t even include the knifings, brawls, assaults, etc. in the public schools that threaten their physical safety.

 

It has become a world in which you send a nice, obedient little child off to school and get back a snarly teenager who questions everything you say.  (And that can’t be conveniently attributed to “just being a teenager” as parents today are led to believe.)

 

Almost lost in the shuffle is the education factor.  Figures that have only recently been reluctantly released testify that public schools, and even many private schools, have horrendous results educating their charges.  Over 40% of public-school students cannot read at their grade level!

 

So, the next generation of our family were all independently on board with the knowledge that they could not send their children to the public schools, nor to the local Novus Ordo school, nor to any private school (like the N-SSPX) and “hope for the best”.

 

This brought them inexorably to Home Schooling.  (To parents who have fought the good fight – educating their children at home – Home Schooling deserves capital letters.)

 

Our children began the long trek of Home Schooling about 25 years ago.  Since they all have large families, they truly were in it for the long haul.  (It’s probably a mercy that you don’t know at that point how long a haul it’s going to be.)

 

I recall asking one of our daughters early on how it was going, and casually asking her if there was anything I could do to help.  When she took me up on it, I confess I was a tad surprised, naively wondering what I could actually contribute.

 

Well … time, effort, presence to begin with.  For over 20 years I went to their Home School three days a week.  (If I had it to do over again, I would have gone five.)  I helped a little one (a different little one each year) master the intricacies of reading about David and Joan helping Mother with the twins.  And how it was to live in the Little House on the Prairie.  And how a larva transforms into a pupa.  And why we need to learn about fractions and common denominators.

 

And while I was having all the fun with the little ones, their mother was in a different area of the house handling the “tough” stuff with the older students.

As it turned out, another of our children moved back into the area, and with his large family, had a lively, flourishing Home School of their own.

 

Flourishing?  Yes, but as any homeschool mom (or dad) knows, there aren’t enough hours in the day, and she can always use another pair of hands and another brain and another red pencil wielder.

 

So, I lost one day at one house and gained two more at the other.

 

Fine, but how does that help you?

 

The first question you need to consider is: “How can you as a traditional Catholic – in today’s pagan world – fulfill your responsibility to educate your children?”  You must begin by realizing that it is totally your responsibility.  There is no question of being able to pass it off to any school system or religious society.  Because Vatican II has so infected today’s world, finding a brick-and-mortar school is nigh impossible.  Nor is it possible to send your children to a Novus Ordo school nor an N-SSPX school and, as said before, “hope for the best.”

 

Let’s discuss these three non-possibilities.

 

The public schools are obviously out of the question.  The police presence in these schools attests to the almost daily violence that is commonplace, and which students are hard-pressed to avoid.  They may have the latest in audio-visual equipment, computers, perhaps, and a first-rate football field, but these can’t begin to outweigh the damage they do with their left-wing agendas of evolution, global warming, birth control, etc.  And these subjects are taught at the expense of the traditional educational building blocks of American History, Geography, Literature, etc., and even something as innocuous as Handwriting.  (They are proposing to eliminate the teaching of cursive writing; soon today’s graduates will be unable to write their own names.  And teaching of spelling, punctuation, and grammar is ignored, downplayed, and all but eradicated.)

 

So, that, along with the lack of discipline and order in the schools, and immodest dress, there should be enough to convince any good parent that public schools are not a viable choice.

 

These are very good reasons why NOT to send your children to a public school; so that would seem to leave Novus Ordo or N-SSPX schools.  Assuming you as a traditional Catholic would never send your children to a Novus Ordo school, you may be interested anyway in seeing this example of what some of them have devolved into.

 

In Part I of this series, I mentioned Diocesan Directives and Guidelines.  Two years ago, the Archbishop of Milwaukee, Wis., announced that the local Catholic schools would no longer be diocesan schools, but would instead be members of an “association” called Siena.  (“Poor” St. Catherine of Siena must be “fuming” at this outrageous preempting of her name.)  However, the schools would be expected to follow his “Guidelines,” which included these directives (quoted verbatim):

 

❖  Teachers will not determine grades based on the mathematical average of scores earned over time.

 

❖  Teachers will not consider behavior, effort, attendance, class participation, missing work, or credit when determining academic grades.[1]

 

This is lunacy! …  as any experienced educator or parent with common sense would recognize.  The irony of this is that several weeks previous to this announcement, the chairman of the Board of Directors for this Siena Catholic Schools received a (presumably) prestigious award from the archbishop for his “dedication to ensuring quality Catholic education.”[2]

 

Another nail in the coffin of a traditional Catholic’s hope that he might find a singularly conservative Novus Ordo school (if it existed), is the fact that they all use a bad conciliar catechism, The Catechism of the Catholic Church, put out after Vatican II.

 

It might seem tempting, then, to consider whether you could “get by with” sending them to an N-SSPX school.  The trusting traditional Catholic parent who might look at a Society school as a viable alternative to Novus Ordo and public schools ought to scrutinize more carefully what the N-SSPX is offering.

 

First of all, you need to consider that the Society has said that it accepts 95% of Vatican II.  This is much more significant than a mere troublesome statistic.  The N-SSPX claims there is no doubt that “… many of the texts are traditional,”[3] yet all 13 texts are thoroughly infested with error.[4]  The Society minimizes the evils of VC II, saying that it contains “no direct heresy and few errors”—whereas it is full of direct heresies.[5]

 

Archbishop Lefebvre taught that the whole of Vatican II contradicts what the popes have taught for centuries.  He said: “We have to choose.  Either we choose what the popes have taught for centuries and we choose the Church (i.e., Catholic tradition), or we choose what was said by the Council.  BUT WE CANNOT CHOOSE BOTH AT THE SAME TIME SINCE THEY ARE CONTRADICTORY.”[6]  (Emphasis added)

 

Pretty clear admonition.

 

Several other strictures to keep in mind:  The N-SSPX has been working toward a hybrid mass, an unholy blend of a Latin Tridentine Mass and a Novus Ordo mass.[7]  That ought to give you pause.  Plus, there are many other beyond-troublesome facts to jar you.  Such as Bishop Fellay’s statement that he is “…very happy with a lot of what Pope Francis teaches.”[8]  And that he “…hopes that Vatican II belongs to tradition.”[9] 

 

But the overwhelming reason to not entrust your children to a Society school is that you can expect them to be slowly but inexorably indoctrinated into the conciliar church.

 

So, after much soul-searching and interminable discussions, you may be considering schooling your children at home.  Gradually, you come to grips with the realization that that is the only solution to living up to your responsibility to educate your children.

 

In Part III, in next month’s Catholic Candle, we will look at the question: WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO HOME SCHOOL?

 


[1]           Quoted from the Racine Journal-Times, March 20, 2018.

 

[2]              Quoted from the Racine Journal-Times, March 21, 2018.

 

[6]           Archbishop Lefebvre, 1976 press conference quoted in Religious Liberty Questioned, page xi, Angelus Press, 2002.

[9]           6-8-12 DICI interview of Bishop Fellay at: http://www.dici.org/en/news/interview-with-bishop-bernard-fellay-on-relations-with-rome/.

St. Gregory Nazianzen and the church crisis

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St. Gregory Nazianzen explains the current disaster in the Church’s human element

More than 1600 years ago, St. Gregory Nazianzen, Doctor of the Church, warned us that the human element of the Church suffers shipwreck when She has evil bishops.  Here are his words:

The light and eye of the Church is the Bishop.  It is necessary then that as the body is rightly directed as long as the eye keeps itself pure, but goes wrong when it becomes corrupt, so also with respect to the Bishop, according to what his state may be, must the Church in like manner suffer shipwreck, or be saved.[1]

As the Catholic Church’s bishops go, so go their flocks.  With the spectacular betrayal by the Church’s bishops beginning with Vatican II, it is no wonder that their flocks suffered the shipwreck of heresy and vice, following their bishops! 

With the more recent, spectacular betrayal of the bishops consecrated through Archbishop Lefebvre – who are supposedly faithful to Catholic Tradition – it is no wonder that their flocks are suffering the shipwreck of liberalism, compromise, and laxity, following their bishops (e.g., accepting 95% of Vatican II and countless other evils[2])!


[1]           Words of St. Gregory Nazianzen quoted in the Catena Aurea on St. Luke’s Gospel, St. Thomas Aquinas, editor, explaining Our Lord’s words:

 

The light of thy body is thy eye.  If thy eye be single, thy whole body will be lightsome; but if it be evil, thy body also will be darksome.

 

St. Luke’s Gospel, Ch. 11, v. 34.

 

[2]           Here is a list of many other N-SSPX evils, cited to the N-SSPX’s own sources: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/priests/sspx-simoulin-challenge-answered.html 

 

Bishop Williamson’s group is not better but is liberal in a somewhat different way.  See, e.g., https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/priests/williamson-the-evil-of-comfortably-tolerating-heresy.html

CC in brief – July 2020

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Catholic Candle note: Catholic Candle often examines particular issues thoroughly, at length, using the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas and the other Doctors of the Church.  At the urging of one of our readers, we are going to try a new feature: CC in brief, giving an extremely short answer to a reader’s question.  We invite readers to submit their own questions.

 

Q. What is meant by calling Mary the “Ark of the Covenant” in her litany?

A. Our Faith is deep and rich and this topic deserves a much longer answer.  However, briefly, the Blessed Virgin Mary is the very fitting vessel who contained God on earth.  She was foreshadowed by the Ark of the Covenant, carried by the Israelites in the Old Testament, as the abode of God in a special way.

Gratitude as a Birth of Humility

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Objective Truth Series – Reflections article # 12

In our last Reflection we considered how God works marvelously on our souls in order to instruct us on how to avoid pride. Likewise, we saw how God, by teaching us more about ourselves, is in reality, revealing to us more of what He Himself is doing in our souls. God does so very much for us. 

In St. Basil’s sermon The First Commandment he expounds beautifully about God’s blessings upon us:

1.    “God had made man to His own image and likeness, and honored him with a knowledge of Himself, and endowed him above all living creatures of the earth with the gift of reason, and prepared for his delight the inconceivable joys of paradise”;

2.    “[He] made him the first of earthly creatures”;

3.    “Even after he [man] had been deceived by the devil and had fallen into sin and through sin into death and into things that deserved death, that even then He [viz., God] did not abandon him, but first gave him a law to help him, placed him under the protection of His angels, sent prophets to rebuke his wickedness and teach him justice”;

4.    “The goodness of the Lord has not abandoned us. Nor have we deprived ourselves of His love for us through our own folly: treating lightly the One Who has done us so much honor. We have even been recalled from death and restored again to life through Jesus Christ Our Lord Himself.  And even the way in which this great goodness was shown to us is wondrous beyond measure.”

St. Basil continues, “He has taken our infirmities upon Him; He has borne sufferings, He was wounded for us, and by His wounds we were healed [Is ch. 53, 4]. He has redeemed us from the curse (of the law), being made a curse for us (Gal. ch. 3, 13); endured for us a most shameful death, that He might bring us back to a glorious life.  It was not enough to recall the dead to life, He gave us also the dignity of His own divinity; preparing for all mankind an everlasting rest that surpasses in the greatness of its joy every thought of man.  What shall I render to the Lord for all the things He has rendered to me (Ps. 115, 12)  He is so good that He does not even look for the things He has given us, but that we love Him in return.”

St. Basil explains how we owe God gratitude in return for these blessings.

“Chief among those whom nature teaches us to love are those who do good to us. And this is a love not peculiar to man only; but is common to almost all creatures, leading them to love whoever had done good to them.  If then we have a natural love for those who are good to us, and will suffer anything for them to repay their goodness to us, what words can rightly praise the gifts that God has given us? They are so many as to be beyond number; so great, so wondrous that for one alone (creation) we should give all thanks to the Giver.”

In addition to what God has done for mankind, when we reflect, we can count so many blessings that He has showered upon us individually. God has protected us. He has enlightened us with the Holy Catholic Faith. He has shown us likewise how we can stand up for the truth. If we reflect and ponder His Mercies deeply, we find a flood of gratitude streaming from our hearts and perhaps tears running down our cheeks. How Good God is!

We cannot help but feel our littleness and unworthiness.  Surely, as St. Basil shows, we should keep the wonderful things God has done for us in our mind in order to foster a continual and ever-increasing gratitude in our souls.  Thus, humility can be born in our souls and spring forth a tender and beautiful intimate friendship with God.  Oh dear reader, if we could only give gratitude to God more and more, then a cascade of charity would surely flow from our hearts!  Further, Our Lord would be pleased to see His seeds of humility growing in our souls and that these seedlings are preparing us for Himself.  As often as we look back with 20/20 vision and count our blessings with awe and wonder, we would find that we truly would never want to forget God’s mercies and blessings that He has lavished upon us and we might desire to say the following:


Marvelous mercies, of my Lord,

These do pierce me, quite like a sword,

Bringing rivers, of grateful tears,

To see what Thou dost, through the years.

 

To ponder all, Thy creation,

Events, in every nation,

 Countless blessings, thou hast bestowed,

None of which, has ever been owed.

 

Consider only, one person’s life,

One can see it, with blessings rife,

Some are large, while others are small,

We’ve all been rescued, after all.

 

 Infinite Goodness, I now see,

So much that Thou hast, done for me,

And filled with, confusion am I,

The blessings I count, are piled high!

 

My unworthiness, I now feel so keen,

With counting blessings, I have seen,

O’erwhelming, ‘tis Thy Tender care,

My gratitude, I should not spare!

 

To count them oft, ‘tis a good thing,

To keep one e’er remembering,

To say prayers, to render one’s thanks

To let tears, overrun their banks

 

To give God thanks, could ne’r too much,

‘Cause God’s mercy, our hearts do touch,

One’s heart is swelling, with need to tell,

Our Dear Lord, that, we love Him well.

 

Thus humility, can be born,

From gratitude’s bountiful horn,

Then may God be thanked, in all ways,

So humble the heart, ever stays.

Vatican II Gave the Devil Everything He Wanted

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What a victory for the devil, sending so many people to hell!  The devil could not have planned a better Second Vatican Council to achieve his goals.  So it is reasonable to believe that he and Rome’s Masons were partners in the planning (in secret) of the Second Vatican Council.  For the past 50-plus years VC II has helped the devil ensnare souls and start their trip to hell.

It is time to understand just how much of a disaster it was for those foolish souls who cared so little for their salvation that they willingly went along with the evils of VC II.  And we must fight today against those who are willing to accept even a part of those evil results, (i.e., the liberal N-SSPX which openly accepts 95% of VC II.)

A review of just what the devil gained should concern and motivate a traditional Catholic living in the catacombs to fight against the results of VC II.  The following list will demonstrate just how much the devil achieved during and after the Council.

1.    Loss of the Tridentine Mass, the main source of grace.  Replaced by an anti-Catholic service (i.e., Novus Ordo) that does not give grace.  Without grace you cannot avoid sin and will lose the Faith.  And if you lose the Faith, you lose everything, since there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church.  And which group accepts 95% of VC II?

2.    Religious liberty is now taught and accepted – thanks to Vatican II.  That is, you can be saved no matter what faith you prefer.  Perhaps one that will overlook your sinful life.  Thus, there is no need for the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council.  And which group accepts 95% of VC II?

3.   Universal Salvation is another evil of Vatican II, (i.e., everyone goes to heaven).  Thus, there is no need for penance, religious fervor, sacrifice, prayer for yourself or others, etc.  Your somewhat-sinful lifestyle will be overlooked by a merciful God at your personal judgment.  You no longer need to consider God as all-just (i.e., people must do penance for their sins).  Universal Salvation is so anti-Catholic that only someone who has lost the Faith would believe it.  For one thing, most want to believe that they and their loved ones will be happy in heaven for all eternity.  When you think about it, if everyone goes to heaven, there is no real need for the Catholic Church.  But to keep the Novus Ordo parishes viable, they are made into entertainment destinations (e.g., clowns, folk masses, kissing, handshaking, etc.)  And which group accepts 95% of VC II?

 

4.    The Council shattered traditional grace-giving sacraments with its destructive changes to these basic building blocks of the Catholic Faith.  Demonstrating complete arrogance, it more than “tampered” with them – it altered meanings and words – as if Christ needed help in correcting His “mistakes.”  And which group accepts 95% of VC II?

5.    “Catholic divorce” – an annulment based on very doubtful reasons – was another product of VC II.  Almost anything goes, as long as you can pay what it “costs.”  With low church attendance, they have to keep the money coming in.  And which group accepts 95% of VC II?

6.   Rome stated that the Second Vatican Council was necessary and needed to update the Catholic Faith to make it more relevant in our modern age.  “Open a window and let in some fresh air.”[1]  As it turned out, even Pope Paul stated that the “smoke of Satan has entered the sanctuary,” (in lieu of fresh air).  It is obvious that if you want to change, update, modernize the Catholic religion, you have already lost the Faith.  As the Blessed Virgin warned at La Salette, “Rome will lose the Faith and become the seat of the anti-Christ.”  And which group accepts 95% of VC II?

7.    The greatest victory for the devil was to replace the Catholic Church with the anti-Catholic conciliar church, joined and accepted by most Catholics in the 1960s and ‘70s with little regard or concern for their salvation.  Archbishop Lefebvre then made it clear that this new religion of Vatican II was a new church, and warned that there was no salvation outside the Catholic Church.  And which group accepts 95% of VC II?                                    

I’m sure the above is not a complete list of the devil’s total goals, (i.e., to reduce or eliminate the need for the Catholic Church).  What it does illustrate is that most people will continue to go to hell.  With no graces coming from the Novus Ordo, it is not possible to keep the Faith and avoid sin.  Thus, the leaders in Rome will not come back to tradition (before Russia is consecrated to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart), no matter what the liberal N-SSPX claims will happen after a deal is signed. 

What are we to do?  Stand up fearlessly for the uncompromising traditional Catholic faith, and follow Christ’s instructions to Lucy at Fatima in 1943:

The sacrifice required of every person is the fulfilling of his duties in life and the observance of My laws.  Be an example of religious fervor, helping others to keep the traditional Catholic faith, love God, strive to be an ordinary saint, eternally happy.[2]


[1]           Words of Pope John XXIII.

[2]           Quoted from a pamphlet entitled Remember Our Lady of Fatima Said, published by Franciscan Marytown Press, Kenosha, WI.

Should nations be run by “experts”?

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In our “corona-crazy” time[1], our political leaders receive much advice from medical “experts”.  Some leaders are attacked in the media for not following the advice of the “experts”.  For example, radical Democrat, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, attacked President Trump for not “listening to the medical experts”.[2]  Pelosi means Trump was not making decisions which followed the opinions of the “experts”.

Even if we assumed that the medical “experts” all agree (which they do not) concerning how to respond to the current corona-craziness, who should run the country?  Should Trump (or any political leader) simply do whatever the health “experts” tell him to do?

In other words, should specialized “experts” run the government and the nation?  No!  A nation (and other political bodies) should no more be run by specialized “experts” who are focused on a particular field than an individual man should make all of his decisions based on one of his passions which is focused on a particular desire.

 

Let’s look at how an individual man should weigh competing concerns when making his decisions

A man has many desires such as food and sleep.  He has many passions such as fear and anger.  These passions and desires are good and are part of the nature God gave him.  But a man should not be ruled by those desires and passions.  For example, he should not allow his fears to rule him. 

Instead, man should be ruled by reason, while taking reasonable account of “advice” he receives from his passions.  So, e.g., a man should “consult” his fears while his reason is weighing what decision to make.  But if a man’s fear rules him then he acts wrongly because he acts as if nothing is more important than to be safe.  He lives (and wastes his life) locked up in safety, whereas there are many things more important than safety.

If a man’s desire for food ruled him, then he acts as if nothing is more important than eating.  His decisions would lack balance (and temperance) and all of his decisions and actions would serve the goal of eating.

If a man’s desire for sleep ruled him, then he would act as if nothing is more important than sleeping and his need for sleep would not be balanced with other parts of life.  The man would get a full night’s sleep every night but would lose his job because he does not come to work on time.

If a man’s desire for health (or fear of disease) is allowed to rule him, then he would stay away from all possible health risks and he would waste his life in useless fear.  Here is how billionaire Howard Hughes allowed himself to be ruled by the desire for health (or the fear of disease):

Howard Hughes – the billionaire aviator, motion-picture producer and business tycoon – spent most of his life trying to avoid germs.  Toward the end of his life, he lay naked in bed in darkened hotel rooms in what he considered a germ-free zone.  He wore tissue boxes on his feet to protect them.  And he burned his clothing if someone near him became ill.  …

He wrote a staff manual on how to open a can of peaches – including directions for removing the label, scrubbing the can down until it was bare metal, washing it again and pouring the contents into a bowl without touching the can to the bowl.[3]

This is unreasonable!  The correct course is for a man’s intellect to rule him and to make decisions which take into account all of the various desires and passions as far as they are reasonable.  A person should take risks, act reasonably, weigh the different competing concerns, the advantages and disadvantages, all in light of his Final End and the Common Good.

 

Now let’s apply this principle to see how a leader must make decisions for a nation

A nation’s leader should act like a man consulting his passions as far as they are reasonable, but making his decisions with his intellect.  A nation’s leader should be a man of reason and prudence, analogous to the intellect in that individual man (in the example above).  This nation’s leader (just like the intellect of an individual man) must balance competing concerns, advantages and disadvantages of different courses of conduct, and make decisions for the Common Good.

This leader should take into reasonable account the advice of “specialists” and “experts” but he should not necessarily follow their advice.  This is analogous to an individual man taking into account the “advice” of his other faculties (such as the desire for food which reminds him that he should maintain his strength and his health by eating when reasonable and appropriate).

So, a nation’s leader should receive advice from military experts.  But these military advisors tend to elevate the importance of military concerns – which is the focus of their careers – often downplaying other important aspects of life.  The nation’s leader should no more slavishly follow the advice of such an expert than an individual man should slavishly follow one of his passions, e.g., fear – whose single-focus is avoiding danger. 

The advice of this military expert (like the individual man’s passion of fear) should be weighed by reason and then the nation’s leader should make an independent judgment what is best for the nation. 

Likewise, other specialized “experts” (e.g., doctors), tend to focus mainly on the concerns of their own specialized field (e.g., medicine).  So, a nation’s leader should no more follow – slavishly – the advice of an expert in infectious disease prevention, than a man should slavishly follow his passion whose single-focus is food.  Instead, the advice of the experts should be weighed by the leader before he makes an independent judgment what best promotes the Common Good of the nation.

 

Conclusion

If a nation’s leader is not “listening to the infectious disease experts”, this does not tell us that he is wrong.  It might be better not to follow them in the particular circumstances.

A nation’s leader should not be singularly focused on disease prevention or any other single aspect of national life.  He must weigh competing concerns and make a prudential judgment what is best for the country, based on the Common Good.


[1]           There is evidence that the danger of the coronavirus (COVID-19) is greatly exaggerated in order to justify heavy–handed government intrusion and destruction of rightful liberty.  However, even if this virus were terrifying and not exaggerated, this virus presents the issue of whether our leaders should simply follow “the experts” in making their decisions.

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Words to Live by – from Catholic Tradition

For Love of God you should undergo all things cheerfully, all labors and sorrows, temptations and trials, anxieties, weaknesses, necessities, injuries, slanders, rebukes, humiliations, confusions, corrections, and contempt.  For these are helps to virtue.

The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas à Kempis, Book III, Chapter 35.

How to assist a person in dying a holy death

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Catholic Candle note: Recently, Catholic Candle examined the permission the Church traditionally gives to a person who is in danger of death, to confess to a priest to whom an uncompromising Catholic could not otherwise support (or confess to) because that priest is a compromiser, an apostate, or someone whom it is otherwise impermissible to support. Find the article here: https://catholiccandle.org/2020/01/01/using-a-compromised-priest-when-dying/

 

Catholic Candle also addressed how uncompromising laymen can bury their dead in these times of great apostasy when an uncompromising priest is not available. Find the article here: https://catholiccandle.org/2020/04/02/a-traditional-catholic-funeral-and-burial-when-there-is-no-uncompromising-priest-available/

 

Between this last confession (discussed in the first of those articles) and the burial (discussed in the second article), is the crucial moment of death. Below, we give recommendations how to assist at a person’s death, based on the experience of some of the Catholic Candle Team, who recently assisted at the deaths of two uncompromising Traditional Catholics.

We recommend that you save these articles for future reference and use.

How to assist a person in dying a holy death

What is death and when does it occur?

Death is the separation of body and soul. This separation occurs at an instant, not progressively, over time. However, we say a person is “dying” when his body becomes progressively less able to perform the physical functions of life. A person’s soul leaves his body sometime after his body ceases to function.

 

Cessation of breathing and of heartbeat are not death. Those two bodily functions cease before death. Likewise, so-called “brain death” occurs before death and is not real death. “Brain death” is merely the ceasing of those brain functions that can be measured by a monitoring machine.

 

Although we cannot be sure of the exact moment of death, we are sure it occurs after those bodily functions cease. We know that death has already occurred when the body undergoes a general corruption (i.e., throughout the entire body). Localized corruption of a particular part of the body is not a reliable sign of death. That localized corruption is called “gangrene” and can occur while a person is alive.

 

 

A dying person especially needs our help because temptations are often very great while a person is dying

 

We usually do not know the spiritual battles a person is waging in the last moments of his life, because he is usually too weak and frail to indicate “on the outside” the battles which are raging within him. But these battles occur!

 

The devil is a far better “doctor” than human doctors and he knows better than the human physicians when a person is about to die. In a person’s final hours, the devil knows it is his last chance to influence where the dying person will spend eternity.

 

As every faithful and informed Catholic knows, death is the most important moment of life. The devil knows that too. The devil also knows that the dying person is in a weakened state and has less strength to fight the devils and sin.

 

Although these final battles are usually hidden, occasionally God Wills that they become known to us, for our good. Here is the account of the death of one man we know of, written by his close relative, describing the man’s spiritual combat against the devils and sin during the last moments of his life:

 

My uncle was a pious and humble, bedridden traditional Catholic who was in veterans’ hospice care. On his death bed, he was under attack by the devil to such an extent that fear took over and he was able to get out of bed and run down the hall shouting, “They [viz., the devils] are trying to get me to commit mortal sin!” The attending nurse recited a psalm to him as she helped him back to bed. One hour later, his esophageal cancer pierced his aorta and he began coughing up blood. Being frightened, he leaped out of bed and ran to the door of his room, where he collapsed and died.

 

Because our loved ones especially need our help during their final struggle, we should be generous, remaining at their side and helping them to the very end.

 

 

Dying persons are often aware even when they are non-responsive and apparently unconscious

 

Because a dying person needs our help in his final spiritual battle, we should persevere helping until we are as certain as we can be, that he is dead and no longer needs our help.

 

We cannot know with certainty when this separation of soul and body (death) occurs, so we should “err” on the side of remaining longer to assist the person in dying a holy death. A person might be non-responsive to stimuli and apparently not breathing, yet fully aware and undergoing a final spiritual battle for his soul.

 

We should not stop helping a dying person even if he is non-responsive and is apparently unconscious. There are reports of persons being well aware but unable to manifest consciousness or react to stimuli. For example, in 2014, a woman suffered a stroke and slipped into a coma, becoming non-responsive. While in a coma, she was “painfully aware” of all around her. She could not move, see, or speak. She could hear and think but could not respond. She panicked but her panic did not manifest itself exteriorly. This woman later recovered and told her story.[1]

 

Even when dying persons are in a coma or in a “sleep” from which they cannot be awoken, they often can hear us, are conscious and are able to pray. The sense of hearing is the last sense to cease functioning.

 

Recently, we assisted an uncompromising Traditional Catholic during her fifteen-hour final death struggle. About six o’clock in the morning, she slipped into a non-responsive state, no longer reacting to any stimuli. She was breathing but seemed to be in a “sleep” from which she could not be awoken.

 

About six hours into her ordeal, as we were at her bedside, one of us asked her to squeeze his finger if she could hear him. She immediately gave his finger a quick and firm squeeze before again becoming entirely unresponsive to all stimuli for the remaining nine hours in which she showed signs of life.

 

 

How to assist the dying

 

Death is a frightening and lonely occasion. Death is a time of sorrow – so make sure you assist the dying person with as much moral support as you can, being ever-present and attentive, in order to encourage him in his death struggles.

 

Do your best to give the dying person strength, encouragement and human moral support. Remember that love “divides” sorrows[2] – including the sorrows of death. Human contact with a dying person is very important. Hold his hand. Reduce (divide) his sorrows of death, as much as you can. Give him frequent little caresses or movements/touches, so he knows you are still there. (Without movement, we easily lose awareness that something/someone is touching us.)

 

Let him know he is dying and that you came to help him prepare to die well. The dying person shouldn’t be given false hope that he will live. He should not be denied the truth of his situation any more than those around him should lie to themselves. It is not a loving act to ignore reality out of fear of alarming him. To do so might imperil his immortal soul.

 

The dying person needs to face his mortality, to repent of his sins, to pray, to receive Extreme Unction (if an uncompromising priest is available), to be encouraged to trust totally in Jesus and His forgiveness and love, etc. The dying person must spiritually prepare himself for judgment. To help him do this is the single greatest act of love you can show him.

 

We should not take salvation for granted, e.g., we should not tell him, “soon you will be in heaven”. This imperils the dying person’s salvation because it encourages him to merely “wait for heaven” rather than spend this precious time preparing to die as well as possible.

 

It is very valuable but taxing work, to assist a dying person hour-by-hour. It is not necessary that we get him to respond to us frequently or at all. The important thing is that he knows we are there, not that he gives us proof that he is paying attention to us.

 

Throughout the dying person’s time on his deathbed, it is good to offer him short ejaculations that encourage a focus on Christ, our Blessed Mother and St. Joseph, who is the patron of the dying and of a happy death. We should frequently ask for the prayers of the Saints, especially the dying person’s patron saints.

 

Even if the dying person is non-responsive, pray out loud (or whisper in his ear) and encourage him to pray inside himself, along with you. Also, frequently, lovingly, and calmly repeat prayerful ejaculations for him, such as:

 

❖  Into Thy hands, Oh Lord, I commend my spirit.

❖  Heart of Jesus, once in agony, have pity on Thy dying servant (handmaid).

❖  Eternal Father, I accept with a joyful and resigned heart the death it will please Thee to send me, with all its pains and sufferings.

❖  O Lord Jesus Christ, receive my spirit.

❖  My Jesus, mercy!

❖  Be merciful to me, Oh Lord, a sinner!

❖  Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

❖  Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee!

❖  Holy Mother Mary, pray for me.

❖  Holy Mary, Mother of grace, Mother of mercy, do thou defend me from the enemy, and receive my soul.

❖  St. Joseph, obtain for me grace and mercy!

 

 

Interspersed with these ejaculations, give little expressions of moral support such as:

 

❖  We [your names] are here with you.

 

❖  We love you.

 

❖  We are praying for you.

 

❖  Offer up your sufferings; this is very pleasing to Our Dear Lord.

 

❖  Place all of your trust in the Sacred Heart of our dear Lord, and in our dear Mother Mary.

 

❖  Our Lord is merciful! Offer up your sufferings to Him!

 

As you are helping with these prayerful ejaculations and words of moral support, it is not necessary that you be continually speaking. Use your best judgment mixing words and silence, so that the dying person keeps a spiritual focus and knows that he is not alone.

 

Even if the dying person appears non-responsive, pray either out loud or in his ear. Continue until you are sure he is dead. If the dying person is able to pray with you (either audibly or interiorly), coax him to do so.

 

 

What to avoid

 

We are not assisting the dying person principally in order to soothe him or make him comfortable. Our main job is to help him die well and save his soul. Therefore, don’t impede his effectively waging his spiritual warfare. For example, don’t:

 

➢  Distract the dying person from his spiritual struggles.

 

➢  Minimize his situation or “sugarcoat” the fact that he is dying.

 

➢  Hold out false hope that he will recover or distract him with thoughts of a false recovery.

 

➢  Play or sing secular songs.

 

➢  Talk to the dying person about secular things unconnected with his dying, e.g., events in the news, happenings in the family, etc.

 

➢  Excessively puff him up with praise or give him assurances that he has already finished his final job (preparing well for death).

 

 

Make use of sacramentals when assisting the dying

 

The sacramentals of the Church are very powerful at a person’s deathbed. When helping the dying, use these:

 

§  A St. Benedict medal

 

§  Holy water

 

§  Bring your rosary (and maybe one for the dying person).

 

§  Bring a blessed candle, a candlestick, and matches. Light the blessed candle unless oxygen use in the room prevents that.

 

§  Bring a crucifix for the dying person to hold. If necessary, hold the crucifix with him so that it does not leave his hand. Have the dying person kiss it often, if possible.

 

§  Confirm that the dying person is wearing a brown scapular. Bring one in case he is not wearing one. Often non-Catholic caregivers take a patient’s scapular off (for whatever reason). So, a dying person who “always wears a scapular” might not have one on while he is dying.

 

§  Bring holy water and use it to sprinkle the dying person, make Signs of the Cross on his forehead, senses, hands, and, perhaps, his feet.

 

 

Prayers to use in assisting the dying

 

·         Sing Traditional Catholic hymns, e.g., Oh Sacred Head Surrounded.

 

·         Recite the Traditional Catholic Prayers for the Dying (see below).

 

·         Frequently, invoke the help of St. Joseph, the patron of a holy death.

 

·         Recite acts of Contrition, Faith, Hope, and Charity.

 

·         Recite the Memorare (“Remember, Oh Most Gracious Virgin Mary …”).

 

·         Recite Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glory Bes.

 

·         Pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary with him.

 

 

Traditional Catholic Prayers for the Dying when death becomes close

 

As death approaches more closely, the sick person’s soul should be commended to God. Here is a good traditional formula through which to do this:

 

Go forth, O Catholic soul, out of this world, in the Name of God the Father almighty, Who created you; in the Name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, Who suffered for you; in the Name of the Holy Ghost, Who sanctified you, in the name of the holy and glorious Mary, Virgin and Mother of God; in the name of the angels, archangels, thrones and dominions, cherubim and seraphim; in the name of the patriarchs and prophets, of the holy apostles and evangelists, of the holy martyrs, confessors, monks and hermits, of the holy virgins, and of all the saints of God; may your place be this day in peace, and your abode in Holy Sion. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

O merciful and gracious God, O God, according to the multitude of Thy mercies Thou blotteth out the sins of such as repent, and graciously remit the guilt of their past offenses, mercifully regard this Thy servant (handmaid) N.____ and grant him (her) a full discharge from all his (her) sins, who with a contrite heart most earnestly begs it of Thee. Renew, O merciful Father, whatever has been vitiated in him (her) by human frailty, or by the frauds and deceits of the enemy: and associate him (her) as a member of redemption to the unity of the body of the Church. Have compassion, Lord, on his (her) sighs, have compassion on his (her) tears; and admit him (her), who has no hope but in Thy mercy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.


I commend you, dear Brother (Sister), to the almighty God, and consign you to the care of Him, whose creature you are, that, when you shall have paid the debt of all mankind by death, you may return to thy Maker, Who formed you from the dust of the earth. When, therefore, your soul shall depart from your body, may the resplendent multitude of the angels meet you: may the court of the apostles receive you: may the triumphant army of glorious martyrs come out to welcome you: may the splendid company of confessors clad in their white robes encompass you: may the choir of joyful virgins receive you: and may you meet with a blessed repose in the bosom of the patriarchs. May St. Joseph, the sweetest Patron of the dying, comfort you with a great hope. May Mary, the holy Mother of God, lovingly cast upon you her eyes of mercy. May Jesus Christ appear to you with a mild and joyful countenance, and appoint you a place among those who are to stand before Him forever. May you be a stranger to all that is punished with darkness, chastised with flames, and condemned to torments. May the most wicked enemy, with all his evil spirits, be forced to give way: may he tremble at your approach in the company of angels, and with confusion fly away into the vast chaos of eternal night. Let God arise and His enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Him fly before His Face, let them vanish like smoke; and as wax that melts before the fire, so let sinners perish in the sight of God; but may the just rejoice and be happy in His presence.

May then all the legions of Hell be confounded and put to shame; and may none of the ministers of Satan dare to stop you in your way. May Christ deliver you from torments, Who was crucified for you. May He deliver you from eternal death, Who vouchsafed to die for you. May Jesus Christ the Son of the living God place you in the ever-verdant lawns of His Paradise; and may He, the true Shepherd, acknowledge you for one of His flock. May He absolve you from all your sins, and place you at His right hand in the midst of His elect. May you see your Redeemer face to face, and standing always in His presence, behold with happy eyes the clearest Truth. And may you be placed among the company of the blessed and enjoy the sweetness of the contemplation of your God for ever. Amen.

Receive, Lord, Thy servant (handmaid) into the place of salvation, which he (she) hopes to obtain through Thy mercy. R. Amen.

 

Deliver, Lord, the soul of Thy servant (handmaid) from all danger of Hell; and from all pain and tribulation. R. Amen

 

Deliver, Lord, the soul of Thy servant (handmaid) as Thou didst deliver Enoch and Elias from the common death of the world. R. Amen.

 

Deliver, Lord, the soul of Thy servant (handmaid), as Thou didst deliver Abraham from the midst of the Chaldeans. R. Amen.

 

Deliver, Lord, the soul of Thy servant (handmaid), as Thou didst deliver Job from all his afflictions. R. Amen.

 

Deliver, Lord, the soul of Thy servant (handmaid), as Thou didst deliver Isaac from being sacrificed by his father. R. Amen.

 

Deliver, Lord, the soul of Thy servant (handmaid), as Thou didst deliver Lot from being destroyed in the flames of Sodom. R. Amen.

 

Deliver, Lord, the soul of Thy servant (handmaid), as Thou didst deliver Moses from the hands of the Pharaoh, King of Egypt. R. Amen.

 

Deliver, Lord, the soul of Thy servant, as Thou didst deliver the three children from the fiery furnace, and from the hands of an unmerciful king. R. Amen.

 

Deliver, Lord, the soul of Thy servant (handmaid), as Thou didst deliver Susanna from her false accusers. R. Amen.

 

Deliver, Lord, the soul of Thy servant (handmaid), as Thou didst deliver David from the hands of Saul and Goliath. R. Amen.

 

Deliver, Lord, the soul of Thy servant (handmaid), as Thou didst deliver Peter and Paul out of prison. R. Amen.

 

And as Thou didst deliver that blessed virgin and martyr, Saint Thecla, from three most cruel torments, so be pleased to deliver the soul of this Thy servant, and bring it to the participation of Thy Heavenly joys. R. Amen.

 

We commend to Thee, Lord, the soul of Thy servant (handmaid) N.____, and we pray Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, that as in mercy to him (her) Thou becamest man, so now Thou would be pleased to admit him (her) to the bosom of Thy patriarchs. Remember, Lord, he (she) is Thy creature, not made by strange gods, but by Thee, the only living and true God; for there is no other but Thee, and none can equal Thy work. Let his (her) soul rejoice in Thy presence, and remember not his (her) former iniquities and excesses, which he (she) has fallen into, through the violence of passion and the corruption of his (her) nature. For although he (she) has sinned, yet he (she) has always firmly believed in the Father, Son and Holy Ghost; he (she) has had a zeal for Thy honor, and faithfully adored Thee as his (her) God, and Creator of all things. Remember not, Lord, we pray Thee, the sins of his (her) youth, and his (her) ignorances; but according to Thy great mercy, be mindful of him (her) in Thy Heavenly glory. Let the heavens be opened to him (her), and the angels rejoice with him (her). Let the archangel St. Michael, whom Thou didst appoint the chief of the heavenly host, conduct him (her). Let the holy angels come out to meet him (her), and carry him (her) to the city of heavenly Jerusalem. Let blessed Peter the apostle, to whom God gave the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, receive him (her). Let St. Paul the apostle, who was a vessel of election, assist him (her). Let St. John the beloved disciple, to whom the secrets of Heaven were revealed, intercede for him (her). Let all the holy apostles, who received from Jesus Christ the power of binding and loosing, pray for him (her). Let all the saints and elect of God, who in this world have suffered torments in the name of Christ, intercede for him (her); that being freed from the prison of his (her) body, he (she) may be admitted into the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who with Thee and the Holy Ghost, lives and reigns, world without end. Amen.

 

 

Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary

 

May Mary the most merciful Virgin Mother of God, kindest comforter of them that mourn, commend to her Son the soul of this His servant (handmaid), that through her maternal intercession, he (she) may overcome the dread of death and, with her as guide, joyfully reach his (her) longed-for home in the heavenly fatherland. R. Amen.

 

 

Prayer to St. Joseph

 

To thee I have recourse, St. Joseph, Patron of the dying; and to thee, at whose blessed death watchfully assisted Jesus and Mary, by both these dearest pledges I earnestly recommend the soul of this servant (handmaid) in the sufferings of his (her) last agony, that he (she) may by your protection be delivered from the snares of the devil and from eternal death, and may merit to attain everlasting joy. Through the same Christ our Lord. R. Amen.

 

 

Prayers following Death

 

After the person has apparently died, the following prayers can be said:

 

Come to his assistance, all you Saints of God: meet him, all you Angels of God: receiving his soul, offering it in the sight of the Most High. May Christ receive you, who hath called you, and may the Angels conduct you to Abraham’s bosom. Receiving his (her) soul and offering it in the sight of the Most High.

 

Eternal rest give to him (her), Lord: and let perpetual light shine upon him (her).

 

Kyrie eléison.

 

Christe eléison.

 

Kyrie eléison.

 

[Our Father (silently)]

 

V. …and lead us not into temptation.

R. But deliver us from evil.

V. Eternal rest give to him (her), Lord.

R. And let perpetual light shine upon him (her).

V. From the gates of Hell.

R. Deliver his (her) soul, Lord.

V. May he (she) rest in peace.

R. Amen.

V. O Lord, hear my prayer.

R. And let my cry come to Thee.

V. The Lord be with you.

R. And with thy spirit.

 

Let us pray. To Thee, Lord, we commend the soul of your servant (handmaid) N.____, that being dead to this world he (she) may live to Thee: and whatever sins he (she)( has committed in this life through human frailty, do Thou in Thy most merciful goodness forgive. Through Christ our Lord. R. Amen.

 

Grant, O God, that while we lament the departure of this Thy servant (handmaid), we may always remember that we are most certainly to follow him (her). And give us grace to prepare for that last hour by a good life, that we may not be surprised by a sudden and unprovided death, but be ever watching, that, when Thou callest, we may, with the Bridegroom, enter into eternal glory: through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

 

Conclusion of the article

 

Death is the most important moment of life. Life is the preparation for this moment. Be generous helping the dying person die well.


[1] May 2, 2016 article ‘I was still in there’: A 32-year-old learns what it’s like to be trapped inside her own body, by Lindsey Bever, found here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/05/02/i-was-still-in-there-a-32-year-old-learns-what-its-like-to-be-trapped-inside-her-own-body/

 

[2] “Friendships multiply joys and divide griefs”, written by author and historian, Thomas Fuller and found here: https://www.azquotes.com/quote/353382

 

Approaching the responsibility of homeschooling

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Catholic Candle note: This is the First Part in a new series on EDUCATING YOUR CHILDREN during the crisis in the Church.  There can be no more important concern for traditional Catholic parents today than how to best educate their children since it is so intrinsically connected to helping them save their precious souls.

     Part I:  Reflects on how one traditional Catholic family approached the gargantuan responsibility of this formidable task.

     Part II:  Investigates what choices were available to the next generation, and how they met the challenge.

     Part III:  Examines what is involved in Home Schooling.

     Part IV:  Looks at some of the Benefits of educating your children at home.

How one Traditional Catholic family approached the gargantuan responsibility of homeschooling

Parents have always been recognized as the primary educators of their children (under the aegis of the Catholic Church).  But in the “old days” (before Vatican II) Catholic parents could confidently send their children off to their local parish school in the knowledge that they would learn more about their Faith and also get a decent education.  Which they did.

However, when our children were growing up in the aftermath of VC II, it was a very different situation.  We began to realize very soon that we could no longer assume that sending them to the parish school would automatically get them a good Catholic education.  It was a painful realization, and with it came the question of what other choices there might be.  However credible or doubtful, we felt constrained to check them out.

Thinking of our Blessed Mother’s promise that the flame of the Faith would always burn in Portugal, we left our children in the capable hands of a generous grandmother and flew to Lisbon to view firsthand the religious-educational situation.  We investigated all aspects, including employment for my husband.  (A job was not possible because there wasn’t even enough work for Portuguese citizens, let alone foreigners.)  All things considered, it became clear that moving to Portugal was not the answer.  Our Lady did promise that the true Faith would be kept alive, there, but that could conceivably mean in some remote corner of the country, not necessarily a guarantee that the Catholic schools would be free of the effects of Vatican II.

Our next stop was Ireland, which at first glance seemed a distinct possibility.  However, it might have been Our Lady who sent us to a restaurant where we were seated next to two young women who were teachers at a Catholic grade school.  They were almost giddy telling us how wonderful it would be teaching the new religion coming from Vatican II.  That, and other considerations, left Ireland out completely.  So we headed home satisfied that we tried, and that we would have to do our best at home to raise our family in the traditional Catholic Faith.

Now the only answer was to keep our eyes focused on finding a good school.  And finding a good school was always a top priority.

We bought our first house across town and joined our new parish.  Our oldest was making her First Communion, and we were learning to be cautious about what was being taught in parish schools.  Our new parish had a new pastor, and we invited him to dinner to hear in what direction he intended to lead his flock.

Well, it turned out he didn’t particularly plan to do much leading.  He made it clear he was “letting Sister” decide what catechisms and classroom subjects, etc., she would use.  (This was in the days when the sisters were beginning to “speak up” and wanted a greater voice in the Church.)  I recall that as Father left the house that evening, my husband turned to me and said it was clear we couldn’t leave our children in that school.  And we didn’t.

Next came several years at our “good ol’ neighborhood” (public) school, until they began the disastrous “drug education” and “sex education” programs, which under the pretense of warning children about drugs and sex, actually accomplished the opposite: piqued their curiosity.  Scratch school #2.

You know the old saying about God never closing a door on you without opening a window.  The good Lord directed us to a parish in a run-down part of town that was operated by a stubborn priest who ran the school his way.  And his obstinacy was what allowed us to send our children to his grade school.  He threw out the Diocesan directives and guidelines and hired his own good teachers, used the good Baltimore catechisms, and engaged nuns who wore the full habits.  (A word about those Diocesan guidelines in Part II.)

The school wasn’t in the best neighborhood and was located next to a large rough public school.  There were a number of issues we had to deal with, including letting the pastor know we wouldn’t allow our children to attend the daily Novus Ordo mass.  This prompted a recurring reminder from him every month when we paid for five tuitions that we wouldn’t have to pay if we were members of the parish.  (But, of course, we weren’t and couldn’t be.)  The implied “bribery” notwithstanding, the school accomplished what we needed it to: it got our children safely through the grades.

Safely, yes, but not without a small price to pay along the way, especially for our oldest daughter.  She attended five different schools in those eight years, which was not easy.  And sometimes she had to listen to catty classmates whine: “Why do you have to wear your skirts so long?”  One night, after the rosary, we were reading about St. Joan of Arc being burned at the stake, and she said in a burst of fervor, “Oh, I would be willing to do that for Our Lord!”  I recall answering her that God was not asking her to die a fiery death, but He did ask her to put up with the occasional churlish question about her dresses.

So that brought us to high school.  For several years before our oldest graduated from grade school, we had begun looking around for a good high school for them.

Both my husband and I had attended our local Catholic high school, but it was a no-brainer that we wouldn’t be able to send our children there.  Its curriculum had transformed into an unrecognizably liberal stew of modernism.  So that was a non-starter.

The choices were very limited.  There was a traditional boarding school in a nearby state, but you hate to send a 13-year-old homebody away from home (unless there is absolutely no alternative.)  There was also a correspondence school, and we listened to what their representative had to say.  (Nobody we ever heard of talked of Home Schooling in those days.)  And the purportedly “conservative” Franciscan seminary/boys’ school in the area was just for “he”s, and we were starting with a “she”.  (Which turned out to be Providential since the school proved to be only a tad behind in its swerve into modernism.)

However, we heard of another “conservative” Catholic high school in a different city fairly close by, and we looked into that.  This appeared a definite possibility, and we visited it one Sunday.  The nun-principal told us that there was a waiting list to get in, but she took us on a tour of the school nevertheless.  She gave us all the particulars about tuition costs and where our daughter could get her uniform, books, etc.  The sister looked a bit non-plussed when we said firmly that our daughter would not be attending the daily Novus Ordo mass, but she rallied to tell us that they had a protestant girl and an Egyptian boy at the school who similarly did not attend the service.  The upshot was that she decided she would allow her to by-pass the waiting list because she was a good student and would be coming from a distance.  (Since our daughter did not have a driver’s license, the commute would be two daily round trips – 120 miles a day.)

So it appeared all set.  That is, until we got a phone call from her the next day saying she was very sorry that they didn’t have room in the school for our daughter after all.

But as before, when that door closed, another window opened.  Testimony to that is our discovery of a private high school that was started up a handful of years earlier by a small group of conservative industrialists-businessmen.  They, too, had been looking for a decent school for their children, but had given up and started their own.  Long story short, it was nearly as good as we expected, even though it necessitated a 100-mile round trip daily.  (The headmaster of the school told us at the graduation of our last child that they had been figuring how many miles our family had traveled in those nine years, and they concluded it’d been over 300,000 miles.)

The next obvious challenge was going to be finding a good traditional Catholic college.  An important point to make here is that parents must realize that high schoolers do not have the intellect, wisdom, or experience to select the correct college that will determine their success in life, and more importantly, their salvation.  THAT IS THE JOB FOR THE PARENTS.

My husband investigated lead-after-lead all across the country from well-meaning people who thought they knew just what we were looking for.  Invariably, these small Catholic colleges used to be good, but every one of them proved to be liberal.  He always talked to the Dean of Students, and he got to be quite good at recognizing the signs of problems and asking the right questions, e.g., What did they do when a student used drugs?  Did they have single sex or coed dorms?  What kind of dress code did they have?  What curriculum did they use?  Etc.  He didn’t even have to discuss curriculum and textbooks with many of them because they disqualified themselves after the first three questions.

Unfortunately, it appeared there was no such thing as a solid, good Catholic college anymore.  Until …

Another window opened.  Deo gratias!  He found a gem, even if it proved to be a great distance away.  Here it must be stressed that the most important point in settling on a college is to visit it beforehand to confirm what the Dean has told you.  He did visit the campus, and again, it was nearly as good as we’d hoped.  Granted, it was thousands of miles from home, but that’s what it took to find the right school.  It was worth the numberless hours and time and effort it took to locate it.  It was well worth avoiding many of the problems of young adults.

I might mention that while my husband and I did not homeschool our family, it was only because we were able to find the last of the good schools to send them to.  And even then, it took considerable effort to research and locate the schools, pay the tuitions, and find a way to get them there.

However, if we weren’t compelled to homeschool the first time around, we got the chance to do so in Round 2, with our grandchildren.  Which will be discussed in Part II, in the next Catholic Candle.

The Human Element of the Catholic Church Has Been Trending Liberal

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Yes, it has been trending liberal to a degree that after three visits to earth by the Blessed Mother, requesting that the faithful return to religious fervor, penance, and a greater focus on the Traditional Catholic Faith, she has been almost completely ignored.

The first appearance of the Blessed Mother was in La Salette, France, on Sept. 19, 1846, 174 years ago.  Our Lady warned that Rome will lose the Faith and become the seat of the anti-Christ.  This warning was ignored, and Rome has lost the Faith, as demonstrated by the results of the evil Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.

VC II gave us the anti-Catholic Novus Ordo mass which does not give grace.  Without grace one loses the Faith and the ability to avoid sin.  The leaders in Rome (i.e., Masons and their servants) were not satisfied with the liberal Benedict XVI.  Thus, yielding to their pressure, he abdicated and they elected the more liberal Pope Francis.  This present pope has been as liberal as possible without exposing the end plan of destruction of the Church’s human element, especially in the matter of papal authority.  The Masons are not far from completely achieving their goal of solidifying their power in Rome, the seat of the Anti-Christ.[1] 

The second and third apparitions by God and His Mother – to save souls and recall Catholics from their straying path – were at Lourdes in 1858, and at Fatima in 1917.  At Fatima, she spoke of Three Secrets (or three parts to a Secret) to the three small children.  The first was a vision of hell to emphasize how many souls go to hell forever.

The second Secret was how the pope and all the bishops of the world could save souls and ensure peace in the world by a very easy and simple plan to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  Simple and easy if they all still had the Faith.  But without the Faith, that request of the Blessed Mother has yet to be fulfilled in the 103 years since Fatima.

The third part of the Message remained secret at the request of the Blessed Mother.  However, she directed it to be revealed no later than 1960.  Several popes read that Secret, as written down by Lucy at the request of her spiritual adviser.  The popes never disclosed its content because it predicted that Rome would lose the Faith.[2]  As stated above, it was to have been revealed in 1960, which appears to be an effort to stop the Second Vatican Council, which took place in the early ‘60s and which resulted in the anti-Catholic conciliar church.  All three appearances were to urge sacrifice and prayers for the salvation of souls and the return of Rome’s focus to the traditional Catholic Faith.

Her appearances were almost completely ignored, bringing on a religious crisis and the consequent loss of many, many souls.  We should have expected this because we were warned by our heavenly Mother.  I believe the worst of the great chastisement is yet to come. 

What can we do now to help save souls?  Although no longer urged by the human element of the Catholic Church, we can do what Our Lady told us to do at Fatima and at La Salette: spread her instructions and warnings, far and wide, as listed below:

At Fatima:

1.    Fashions: “Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend My Son very much!”  (Our Lady said this in 1917!) 

 

2.    Hell: “More souls go to hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason!”  (Sins against the 6th Commandment)

 

3.    Bad marriages: “Many marriages are not good; they do not please Our Lord and are not of God.”

 

4.    Punishment of the world: The Blessed Mother can no longer restrain the Hand of Her Divine Son from striking the world with just punishment for its many crimes.

 

5.    Five warnings: “If my requests are not granted, Russia will scatter her errors throughout the world, provoking wars and persecutions of the Church.  The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, and various nations will be destroyed!”  (Remember, Our Lady told us this in 1917!)

 

6.    Amend: “I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins.  They must not continue to offend Our Lord Who is already deeply offended.”

 

7.    Rosary: “Say the Rosary every day, to obtain peace for the world.  Add after each decade the following prayer: ‘Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy.’”

 

8.    Pray: “Pray, pray a great deal, and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to hell because they have no one to make sacrifices and pray for them.”

 

9.    Immaculate Heart devotion: “God wishes to establish in the world the devotion to My Immaculate Heart.  If people do what I tell you, many souls will be saved and there will be peace.”

 

10. World peace: “Tell everybody that God gives graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  Tell them to ask graces from her, and that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be venerated together with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the Lord has confided the peace of the world to her.”

 

11. War: “War is a punishment from God for sins!”

 

12. Final peace: “In the end My Immaculate Heart will triumph, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace!”

 

13. First Saturday devotion: “I promise to help at the hour of death, with graces needed for salvation, whoever, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess and receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for fifteen minutes, while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary with the intention of making reparation to My Immaculate Heart.”

 

14. Sacrifice:  Our Lord appeared to Lucy in 1943.  He complained bitterly and sorrowfully that there are so few souls fulfilling Our Lady’s requests, saying: “The sacrifice required of every person is the fulfillment of his duties in life and the observance of My Laws!  This is the penance I now seek and require!”

 

15. St. Joseph:  The only saint who appeared at Fatima besides Our Lady.  St. Joseph held the Child Jesus in his arms and blessed the 70,000 people three times.  It is he of whom it has been said: “The sound of victory will be heard when the faithful recognize the sanctity of St. Joseph.”

 

16. Brown scapular:  On October 13, 1917, at the last apparition, Our Blessed Mother appeared, dressed as Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.  Silently she held out to the world the brown scapular – the sign of personal consecration – the sign of eternal salvation.  Lucy of Fatima explained: “The scapular and the Rosary are inseparable.”

 

17. Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament: Our Lady of Fatima asked for reparation.  The Angel of Fatima showed the children how to make reparation by adoring Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.  (Making Holy Hours, or half hour, or 15-minute visits in Church (when an uncompromising one is available[3]) during the week is fulfilling the adoration request.       

 
The Causes of Mary’s Tears at La Salette; Our Resolutions to Console her:

1.    Revolt against God and His Church, sins of impiety and obstinacy.  Resolution:  Submission to God, cooperation with Divine grace.

 

2.    Profanation of the Lord’s Day.  Resolution:  Sanctification of this Holy Day through works of piety and charity.

 

3.    Taking the Lord’s name in vain, cursing and swearing.  Resolution: To honor and bless the name of the Lord, especially when it is blasphemed.

 

4.    Missing Mass on Sundays or Holy Days (when one is available).  Resolution: To assist at Mass faithfully and respectfully.

 

5.    Violation of the laws of fasting and abstinence.  Resolution: Faithful observance of these laws; spirit of mortification.

 

6.    Neglect of prayer.  Resolution:  Fidelity to morning and evening prayer; family Rosary.

 

7.    Indifference and ingratitude towards Our Heavenly Mother herself.  Resolution: Childlike confidence in Mary; zeal to spread the teachings of her merciful apparition.

Above, Our Lady spoke of bad marriages.  It is much worse now, with so many couples living together without benefit of marriage.  It has come to the point that they wear this mortal sin as a badge of dubious “honor.”  There is also no shame when the children are born, nor do people have any concept of sin and morality.

We are in a battle for souls.  The battle is against:

1.    Atheistic communism

 

2.    The efforts to destroy the Catholic Church’s human element

 

3.    International Masonry

 

4.    Modernism

 

5.    Liberalism

 

6.    Pervasive evil pop culture

 

7.    The devil’s efforts put forward through the conciliar church

We can no longer rely on the clergy of the Catholic Church.  They seem to be the first to accept the anti-Catholic changes from Vatican II.  It was said in Traditionalist circles, during the ’70s, that the Church would be destroyed from the “Top” and restored by the few good priests and laymen from the “Bottom.”  The liberal N-SSPX will not help to solve the problems of the crisis in the Church because they are part of the problem.

Because we are not listening to Our Lady, God has left us on our own, on the path to destruction.  Unquestionably, we are a long way down that path, to a point that we can almost see the future climax of the current great chastisement.  There is hope, though, with the coming supreme confrontation between the City of God and the Synagogue of Satan, (i.e., the decisive battle between the Virgin and the devil.[4]  The Virgin will crush the head of Satan and there will be peace, and the Church will triumph again.  We can help by following her Fatima 17-point Plan, and the 7-point Plan of La Salette.

 

 

 


[1]           Shortly after Pope Francis’ election, the Masons declared that he was a plan (i.e., “a design”) fulfilled.  Here are the words of Nicola Spinello, Adjunct-Vicar Grand Master of the Masons of Piazza del Gesù:

 

I believe that this pope [viz., Francis] is the realization of a design that has long wanted to be adopted.

 

Quoted in the book, Vaticano massone. Logge, denaro e poteri occulti: il lato segreto della Chiesa di papa Francesco, by Giacomo GALEAZZI – Ferruccio PINOTTI, Edizioni Piemme, Milano 2013, p.83, as quoted here: https://onepeterfive.com/freemasons-love-pope-francis/#_ftn23 (bracketed word added to show the context).

[2]           The Whole Truth About Fatima, by Frere Michel de la Sainte Trinite,

    Vol. III, Ch.3, p.676.

 

[3]           Concerning why we should never enter a compromise church in order to pray, read this article: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/evil-praying-conciliar-church.html

 

[4]           Ibid, p. 745.