On refusal to take part in false worship

Life’s Spiritual Road Without a Priest

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Catholic Candle Note: The article below is one man’s account of his fight for Catholic Tradition throughout the decades, as this fight was punctuated by periods (including the present) when he had no priest because of his refusal to compromise.

My family and I have carried the cross of having no priest on multiple occasions throughout the decades as we strive for salvation. 

We were without a priest the first time after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.  Mercifully, it didn’t last too long as we found a few uncompromising “independent” priests and then, later, the Society of St. Pius X came to America. 

Before Archbishop Lefebvre brought his fledgling Society, we had what we called family “meetings” with our children, to explain why we didn’t attend the local church but why we still dressed in our Sunday best to read the Mass prayers at home.  It was all part of training them to know and retain traditional Catholic morals and virtue. 

However, many others accepted the Liberalism and Modernism and said Our Lord will understand if they went along to get along.  (No, Our Lord will not understand!)  He expects us to cherish our Faith and do our best to keep it perfect as Our Lord intended.  He knows what we need and will always provide it.  But we have to understand and use what He provides for happiness on earth, and greater happiness in Heaven.

But sadly, after the Archbishop died, the SSPX gradually became more and more liberal and we had to leave the “new” SSPX in September of 2015.  We were still able to find uncompromised Masses for another three years, although not every Sunday.  Thus, we have been without a priest for the past five years. 

The question is how are we managing to stay on track and profit in the spiritual life for our salvation?  Well, I’ll tell you.

As you know, only saints go to heaven.  So, we must become saints to go there.  We must love God and not sin.  Plus, we must live our life preparing for our personal judgment by Christ, during which every one of our thoughts and actions will be judged.  We must develop such a great love of God that any sacrifice we must endure is a joy, and to sin is unthinkable.

To increase our love for God, we should study the life of Christ and increase our understanding of what He has done for us.  He created us.  He keeps us in existence.  He came to earth and suffered and died for us.  He now gives us both actual grace and sanctifying grace in order to make us happy on earth, and after death, happy with Him in Heaven forever.  Wow!  What a gift!

So, we must not sin – not even a venial sin.  This is not as hard as it sounds when a person loves God greatly.  We feel the responsibility for our salvation much more keenly now.  We wouldn’t even want to fall back on our previous sluggish practice of our Faith, such as misusing the old “Saturday afternoon Confessions.”  My impression living back then, is that the Saturday Confession was taken advantage of – many “Sunday Catholics” had a “good time” amidst the voluntary occasions of sin, thinking that they would just go to Confession Saturday, and that “would take care of” what they chose to do the evening before.  “No problem”, they thought.

But now we begin to understand that this newer, closer relationship with God cannot depend upon going through a priest and receiving the Sacraments.  We now understand better that our salvation hinges about us and what we do.   

This is not the first time that large numbers of souls have been without a priest and the Sacraments.  Japanese Catholics suffered through 300 years of spiritual aridity, without the sacraments. 

We are being tested to prepare for Eternity.  We must refuse to accept Liberalism and Modernism although “everyone else” accepts them. 

The longer I live, the more I realize that the “misfortune” God sends us turns out to be a “life saver” toward our goal of salvation.  He knows best. 

We must use Advent and Lent for the spiritual strength we need in the fight against evil. 

Hang a picture of Our Lord in your home and foster devotion to His Sacred Heart in order to obtain the promises of Our Lord.  (Although these Promises were published in Catholic Candle recently, they are so important that we should remind ourselves about them again now)

The Promises of Our Lord
To St. Margaret Mary for Souls Devoted to His Sacred Heart

1.    I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.

 

2.    I will establish peace in their families.

3.    I will console them in all their difficulties.

4.    I will be their secure refuge during life, and more especially at the hour of death.

5.    I will shower down abundant blessings on all their undertakings.

6.    Sinners shall find in My Heart a Source and boundless ocean of Mercy.

7.    Tepid souls shall become fervent.

8.    Fervent souls shall rise speedily to great perfection.

 

9.    I will bless every place in which the picture of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and honored.

10. I will give to priests the power of touching the most hardened hearts.

11. Persons who propagate this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, and they shall never be effaced therefrom.

 

12. I will grant the grace of final repentance to all those who shall communicate on the first Friday nine months consecutively.  They shall not die in mortal sin, nor without having received the last Sacraments, for My Divine Heart will become their secure refuge at that last moment.

What else should we do?  Start reading each night a religious book such as Lives of the Saints, or Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence, etc.  

Of course, praying the 15 decades of the Rosary daily is a great way of becoming closer to Our Lord and His Blessed Mother. 

You will learn to talk to Jesus many times during the day as you would with a good friend Who always has the wise answer to your daily problems.  You should seek uncompromising Traditional Catholic friends when possible. 

Don’t forget our Guardian Angels who are given to us by God to preserve us from the many serious dangers in life.  We should converse with our angels; ask for their help.  They want to help us to fulfill God’s plan for us. 

Finally, we can receive great strength by frequently and devoutly reciting three prayers: 1) the Our Father; 2) the Apostles Creed; and 3) the Spiritual Communion.  St. Augustine stated that praying devoutly the Our Father will gain forgiveness for venial sins.

A final word: Be Patient.  The Sacraments will be provided when God wills it.  Meanwhile, we must stay strong and fight for Christ the King!

                                                                                                                         

Recollections of the Earliest Days of the “Changes”

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Catholic Candle Note: The article below is one wife’s account of the early days of her family’s fight for Catholic Tradition after Vatican II.

When We First Began to Suspect Big Trouble Was Brewing in the Human Element of the Church (Early ‘60s)

Early in our marriage and “babies” stage, my husband and I used to take turns going to Mass every weekday.  With five children under the age of six, one of us had to stay home, of course.  We were in St. Edward’s parish on the southside of Racine, Wisconsin, and we began to find that the church was not always open when we arrived for early Mass.  Or sometimes the correct side door was still locked.  Or one of the young priests was late, not exactly conducive to encouraging Mass attendance.   Eventually, the early Mass was canceled “due to poor attendance,” they explained. 

Meanwhile, minor, and seemingly unimportant changes were creeping into the Mass, e.g., St. Joseph was now mentioned in the immemorial Canon of the Mass.  But it was said: “who could object to good St. Joseph being honored like that?”  I distinctly remember thinking, “Well, I don’t like [this or that], but if that’s the way it has to be, I’d better get used to it.”  (However, we soon learned to be more vigilant and not so ready to accept changes.)

At this time, we had a venerable monsignor for our pastor, with two young assistant priests, who were the same ones who dragged their feet providing the early Mass.  The old monsignor was to celebrate his silver jubilee, and the parish was giving him the gift of a trip to Hawaii.  The way it worked was that while he was gone on his trip, a certain cabal of parish liberals went to the bishop and convinced him to retire the monsignor.  Thus, one of the younger priests replaced him.

We invited this new pastor to dinner to get an idea in what direction he would be leading the parish, and it became very clear, he wouldn’t be. He was planning to let the newly-installed nuns run things.  And this was in the day when radical nuns were first leveraging their power in order to take control.

So, we had to leave St. Edward’s, where innovations to the Mass started increasing, and it was announced that a new mass would be coming.  It was evident that this new mass would not be Catholic but that it would be an implementation of the modernism that had been implanted at Vatican II.  Therefore, we saw that we could have nothing to do with this new mass. 

The new mass was promulgated for use beginning the First Sunday of Advent, 1969.  In late November 1969, the parish priest at St. Edward’s announced that the following Sunday, he would begin using the new mass, instead of the Traditional Latin Mass. 

That was Providence’s sign for our family to make its move.  When we returned home after this announcement, my husband called a “family meeting” and explained to our children that there was a protestantized service which was going to be used at St. Edward’s starting the following Sunday.  He explained that, for the love of God and in order to keep the true Catholic Faith, we would not be attending it nor would the family return again to St. Edward’s.

We learned somehow that a small ethnic parish near downtown Racine was still allowing the Latin Mass, so we began the next Sunday to attend St. Casimir’s regularly.  Before too long, there were a few dozen other new faces in the congregation, as word got around that this parish had the Traditional Mass.   

St. Casimir’s was a Lithuanian parish in an older part of town.  This is the church that my husband had discovered to be the place to which we could “flee”.  It was a beautiful old structure, with towering dark woodwork making up a large altar backdrop.  In this woodwork there were little niches in which were placed about a dozen statues of saints.

At St. Casimir’s, the parish priest saw that the new mass was a bad thing and he resisted its implementation.   For the moment, things were good.

Probably “too good”.  St. Casimir’s pastor was not as “strong as steel”, although for a while he made excuses for not using the new mass.  The months went by.  But it became evident that the pastor of St. Casimir’s was not strong enough to continue withstanding the pressure of the bishop to use the new mass.

The tiny parish was suddenly being visited by younger priests, to “help out”, at the bishop’s direction, one of whom sticks in my mind.  On a feast of our Blessed Mother, he gave a sermon comparing her in a worldly way to a popular actress(!), Raquel Welch, and I remember we were sitting there outraged at this insult to Our Lady, and very nearly walked out of church.  Well, that was the beginning of the end for St. Casimir’s. 

Very soon, the unwanted attention from the archbishop of our diocese spelled the end of the Latin Mass at this small Lithuanian hold-out parish.  We tried talking the little Lithuanian priest into hanging on to it, and though he surely agreed silently, he must have been pressed hard by the diocese to give it up.

Then on Passion Sunday 1970, he announced that the following Sunday the parish would start using the new mass. 

Because St. Casimir’s was apparently wavering in the weeks before that, my husband and I planned where our family would have to “flee” next.  On Palm Sunday 1970, we did not return to St. Casimir’s but drove to Milwaukee and attended St. Michael’s, which was a Byzantine (Eastern Catholic rite) Catholic church.  We, especially our children, found the Byzantine Mass surprising and strange.  Although it was Palm Sunday, there were no palms.  Instead, the Mass included the blessing of pussy willow branches, which had no leaves but only the grey fuzzy oblong “balls” at the tips. 

Also, strange to our children, the priest distributed Holy Communion under both Species.  The Blessed Sacrament which the priest took from his ciborium was leavened cube Hosts, soaked in the Precious Blood.  The priest used a little gold spoon to carefully pour the precious Species into the uplifted mouth of each communicant.

Our children trusted us, their parents, and “took it all in” as something strange but which was part of our life now.  Ever after this day – even decades later – our children refer to this Palm Sunday as “Pussy Willow Sunday”.

After Mass, we were talking with the parishioners of St. Michael’s.  My husband was discussing with the men of the parish what was going on at the Roman rite parishes.  The men from St. Michael’s seemed uninterested in the on-going conciliar revolution.  If the positions had been reversed, and if these men had come to our original parish (St. Edward’s) telling my husband about the on-going revolution coming to our parish, he would have “hung on every word” they said.  But no.  These men were as uninterested and as unalarmed as the average parishioner at St. Edward’s had been. 

In any event, one of them remarked that a few miles away there was a Roman rite parish, St. Lawrence’s, with a conservative pastor who continued to offer the Traditional Mass every Sunday.  My husband got directions and we went there beginning the following Sunday.

The good Lord had provided us with this wonderful next step.

When we were at St. Lawrence’s, we did “have it all”: the true Mass, a beautiful church, magnificent organ, wonderful choir, and strong sermons.  Sigh!  This fortuitous situation continued for some years, enough time that we were able to see all of our five children make their First Communions. 

However, at some point, my husband began to have a nagging doubt whether it was the right thing to do to attend the Mass of a priest who said the (sacrilegious) novus ordo mass once a month because the bishop insisted.  No amount of wishing could rationalize away that compromise.  And so, in 1976, we left St. Lawrence and all of our traditional friends, for the love of God and His Holy Faith. 

In the following years, we found ourselves tracking down the good Traditional Masses whenever and wherever we could find them without compromise: a hotel ballroom, a priest’s basement, an empty dancehall, a country church, a veterans’ home, a priest’s lakeside cottage, a nursing home, etc.  We reminded ourselves when we were hearing Mass in humble surroundings, that the setting wasn’t the most important consideration; the Mass itself was.  

In those periods, sometimes we had no Mass to go to, and our family read the Mass prayers at home, all of us dressed in our Sunday best to train the children to dress as traditional Catholics should.  My husband fulfilled the father’s duty of giving a short talk in lieu of a sermon.  While sanctifying the Sunday in this way seemed less satisfactory to us, it was clearly God’s Will for us.

Eventually, after having been without Mass for about 3-4 months, we heard that the priest who had been at St. Lawrence (Fr. Hugh Wish) had left that parish and was now offering exclusively the Tradition Mass, at various other venues.   This is when Fr. Wish began offering Mass in the large room of a dancehall near Oconomowoc, WI, more than an hour’s drive from our home.  But we were happy to travel so that we could again attend Mass! 

Shortly after that, we heard that Fr. Wish had become pastor of St. Pius V’s church at Mukwonago, a town west of Milwaukee.  This church had been owned by the diocese and was for sale.  The diocese refused to sell it to Catholics for fear that it would be used for the Old Mass.  So, some Traditional Catholics, guided by Fr. Wish, paid a black protestant minister to buy the church building and then transfer title to them.  It was so good to have a parish again!

But, as we were learning, earthly things are transitory, and Father Wish’s death in 1979 eventually brought the Mukwonago chapel under the auspices of the Society of St. Pius X.  Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre had begun this priestly society in Switzerland in 1970, and it eventually came to the United States.  It was a godsend, and we were so fortunate to benefit from the Archbishop’s good work. 

Under his wary eye, the SSPX fought the good fight opposing modernist Rome, which was trying to gain control of the Society.  He was a magnificent non-compromiser and kept the SSPX firmly on the right track.  That is, until he died.

Before his death, however, Archbishop Lefebvre consecrated four bishops in 1988.  They made no abrupt, jarring changes, and life went on.

It wasn’t, probably, until we were in the new century that an occasional SSPX news release or action began to raise a few eyebrows.  However, midway through the second decade we began to notice troublesome statements from the Society coming more frequently and getting harder to explain.  By 2015 we could no longer remain with the Society and were forced to leave.

We now have no Mass or priest, out of love for Our Dear Lord.  This will not change until He wills it to change.  We wait patiently, dear Lord, content with Thy Holy Will.

A “Good” Life is Possible in the Catacombs

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Catholic Candle note: We received this article from a reader. 

 

Regarding reasons why (self-described) traditional Catholics remain in a compromise group, see this article: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/why-do-traditional-catholics-stay-in-a-compromise-group.html

 

Regarding how to sanctify the Sunday when there is no uncompromising Mass available to attend, read this article: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/sanctifying-sunday-no-mass.html

 

 

 

When it is God’s Will for us, we can do without the Mass and the Sacraments But With Our Lord in a Special Way

 

We’re not alone in the catacombs.  Our Lord compensates in a special way when we stand up against compromising priests and church leaders.  How does He compensate in that special way?  Well, I’ll tell you with first-hand experience.  To summarize in a few words: I’ve been happy and confident I’m following His will.

Without the Mass we might think we would be lost, but no, not so.  It is true that at Mass, the priest does act “in the person of Christ” (as the theologians say), and Christ then acts as our Mediator with God.   But many of us somewhat took advantage of that (while we still had Mass), and we let the priest “do all the work”.   Now, without the Mass and the priest, our relationship with Our Lord has to be one-on-One. 

God sent us the current circumstances in which we need to speak directly to God without a priest who stands in place of Christ for us.  As God sent us these circumstances and Wills that we be in them for His glory and our salvation, this circumstance can make us feel so much closer to Him.  He can feel like a part of us now as never before.

Without that weekly Confession available, we can have a much greater understanding of just how evil sin is, and how it hurts Our Lord – because we can’t confess every week and “start over, no problem”.  We can now realize it is far better not to sin even in the smallest way (i.e., venial sin), and we can do this with God’s help, because we’re now much closer to Our Lord one-on-One.

Without weekly reception of Our Lord in Holy Communion, it would seem to be a real loss, but we can make up in a special way with frequent, very slow and devout Spiritual Communions at least four times per day.  Doing this, it is twenty-eight Spiritual Communions per week vs. one “Sunday Catholic” Sacramental Communion.  The many Spiritual Communions can bring us closer to Our Lord when said with devotion and love.

Also, with the Mass on Sunday, compensation comes from reading each word from our missals with greater devotion and understanding, rather than attending a Mass expecting the priest to do most of the understanding and devotion.

The above four things we can willingly do without, for the Love of God.  Of course, the Mass and the Sacraments are an infinite treasure, which we should ardently long to receive when God sends them to us.  However, it is incomparably better to be in the catacombs with Him, but without the Mass and Sacraments, than to sin by attending compromise Masses and receiving compromise Sacraments!

We know also, sadly, that there are other things – like the beautiful liturgical music at Mass and parish devotions.  Plus, social parish gatherings, etc.  However, Our Lord will more than compensate for loss of these, with many spiritual graces.  He is never outdone in generosity!

To be sure, there are, unfortunately, only a few like-minded traditional Catholics in the catacombs, but their friendship is strong and loving.  The good Lord has always provided – and will continue to provide – what is needed for those who stand up for Him.  Bet on it!

 

Does the end ever justify the means?

Posted on by Catholic Candle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What does the word “justify” mean?

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

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

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

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


Conclusion

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[6]
         Here is the longer quote:

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

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

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

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

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

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

The reckless claim that there are no good priests left

Posted on by Catholic Candle

 

Recklessness is the vice of making a decision without sufficient care about the correctness or consequences of the decision.

 

 

The sedevacantists are reckless.

 

Virtually all sedevacantists have these three reckless positions in common:

 

1.    Sedevacantists rashly judge the interior, subjective culpability of the pope and of conciliar Catholics, which leads the sedevacantists to declare that the pope and conciliar Catholics are not “real” Catholics and that we “know” that they are not part of the Catholic Church.[1]

 

2.    After having rashly judged that the pope is not a “real” Catholic, sedevacantists then recklessly conclude that he is not really the pope – based on their rash judgment of his interior, subjective culpability.[2] 

 

3.    Having recklessly concluded that we have no pope, they take upon themselves the pope’s authority to declare that the doubtful new conciliar rites of ordination and consecration are definitely invalid. 

By contrast, faithful and informed Catholics do not declare that they are certain that those rites are invalid. Instead, faithful and informed Catholics see enough doubt about those new rites that they exercise Catholic prudence and caution and simply stay away from them. They treat those rites as invalid because they are doubtful.[3]

 

 

A further recklessness of some sedevacantists:  They claim there are no good priests, Masses, or sacraments left.

 

After having recklessly concluded that we have no pope, and that the conciliar rites are definitely invalid, some sedevacantists then add a fourth reckless position: they declare that there are no good priests and no good Masses offered anywhere in the world.

 

It seems rash to say that there are no true Masses offered anywhere.  How could we be sure of that?  It seems better and more prudent to say that we know of no faithful priests who are willing and able to help us (although, of course, we know of many compromising priests).

 

We know of some priests who have not responded to our attempts to contact them.  These priests might well know why we are contacting them and they do not answer.  Plainly they are either unwilling or unable to help us. 

 

But does that mean we know with certitude they are unfaithful?  No.  We don’t know their circumstances.  Perhaps they are too sick to come to the aid of uncompromising Catholics.  God will judge that.  We should withhold judgment on their subjective, interior culpability for what they are doing and not doing.

 

Does that mean we know that they are not offering a true, uncompromising Mass?  No.  Are we sure we know all possibly-faithful priests in the world?  No.

 

Again, it seems rash to conclude we know every priest in the world (and his particular situation) so that we could conclude there are certainly no true, uncompromising Masses offered anywhere.

 

 

How should we act given that we know of no good, uncompromising priests?

 

We (at Catholic Candle) have no knowledge of (or access to) uncompromising Masses, priests and sacraments (except Baptism and Holy Matrimony).  For how long?  For as long as God Wills.  We are content with that.[4]  We place our trust in God, because He desires our salvation more than we do.[5]

 

But our lack of a faithful priest could change this month … or perhaps not for years – whatever God prefers.  We don’t know God’s plan for this.  Nor are we desperate to find out anything.  We trust in our dear Lord and with that, we are content.  Of course, however, we do our best to find an uncompromising priest whenever we hear of the “rumor” of one.  We try to follow St. Augustine’s sound advice: work as if everything depended on you and pray as if everything depended on God.

 

Meanwhile, we must pray the Mass prayers, unite ourselves to whatever uncompromising Masses there might be offered anywhere in the world, and pray for priests.  Let’s persevere!

 

It is our supposition that there will be priests and Masses until the Second Coming of our Lord.  But that will not necessarily mean that we know who those priests are and where they are offering the Mass – much less, that we can attend their Mass.  For all we know, they are in a gulag somewhere.

 

Instead, let us focus on God’s Plan for us and the means of salvation He is currently giving us.  Let us pray the rosary.  We are in the time of the greater efficacy of the Holy Rosary.  Our Lady of Fatima told us that time is now:

 

God is giving two last remedies to the world: the Holy Rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  …  Prayer and sacrifice are the two means to save the world.  As for the Holy Rosary, Father [Fuentes], in these last times in which we are living, the Blessed Virgin has given a new efficacy to the praying of the Holy Rosary.  This in such a way that there is no problem that cannot be resolved by praying the Rosary, no matter how difficult it is – be it temporal or above all spiritual ….[6]

 

Dear Readers, we are “in this” together!  Be assured that we (at Catholic Candle) are not only “looking out” for ourselves.  If/when we learn about an uncompromising priest, we will do our best to spread this information worldwide.  We will also do our best to help him make himself available worldwide, to all who need him.  Of course, we ask the same of you – should you know of any priests that do not suffer from the very problems we document on this website, please let us know.

 

Meanwhile, keep standing strong, Oh Soldiers of Christ!  May God shower you with His choicest blessings!

 

 


[1]               The unproven, negative judgment about a person’s culpability is the sin of rash judgment.  Summa, IIa IIae, Q.60, a.2, Respondeo. 

 

Sedevacantists claim that the conciliar Catholics’ actions are so self-incriminating that we have no need to know their interior state.  They wrongly say that the words of liberal Catholics make it “all too clear” that these people know that they are going against the Catholic Faith, and yet they obstinately continue.  This is the very rash judgment we are forbidden to make.

 

For a further explanation of the sedevacantists’ (objective) sin of rash judgment, read this article: http://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/against-sedevacantism.html#section-5

 

[2]           Read a fuller analysis of the errors of sedevacantism here: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/against-sedevacantism.html

 

[3]           For further information about the doubtfulness of the conciliar “ordination” rite, read these analyses:

 

❖  https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/new-ordination-doubtful.html

 

❖  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B49oPuI54eEGd2RRcTFSY29EYzg/view

 

[4]           This is a glorious time to be Catholic, adhering to Catholic tradition!  https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/it-is-a-blessing-to-live-during-this-great-apostasy.html

We should be completely content living without the Mass and sacraments as long as God Wills this for us.  https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/complete-contentment-without-the-mass-when-it-is-not-available-without-compromise.html

 

[5]           Here is how St. Anthony of Padua, Doctor of the Church, teaches this truth:

 

Cast all your care on Him, because He cares more about your salvation than

you do.

 

St. Anthony of Padua, Sermon for the Third Sunday after Pentecost (emphasis added).

[6]           Words of Sister Lucy, seer at Fatima, from her December 26, 1957 interview by Fr. Augustin Fuentes, vice-postulator of the cause of beatification for Francisco and Jacinta.  (Emphasis and bracketed word added.)  This interview can be found at: http://radtradthomist.chojnowski.me/2019/03/is-this-interview-that-caused-her.html

 

Rome Has the Churches, But Traditional Catholics Have the Faith

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Catholic Candle note:  We recommend that readers copy the following article and keep it handy, as we live “in the Catacombs” and as we and the Church follow Christ to Calvary.  We all need to keep its contents in mind and in practice until the “Resurrection” (viz., the restoration following the pope’s and bishops’ consecration of Russia to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart).

A similar statement was first expressed in 1970, after the destructive Second Vatican Council.  The only difference is that things are much worse now.  The Catholic Church is going through a Passion similar to that of Christ.  So be ready to help carry His Cross as the Cyrenean did.

Rome has had a series of bad popes who teach heresies and have taken the Faith from most Catholics.  Rome has succeeded in establishing the anti-Catholic conciliar church by making it appear that there is no longer any need for the traditional Catholic Church, when they:

1.    Eliminated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that gave grace, and replaced it by a service that does not give grace – and without grace a Catholic loses his Faith.

2.    Re-wrote all seven Sacraments to make them acceptable to non-Catholics.

3.    Taught (and teach) that everyone goes to Heaven (i.e., universal salvation).

4.    Give the impression that Mass attendance on Sunday depends on if you really want to go, and have nothing better to do.

5.    Say that there is no need for confessing your sins to please God; you must reconcile with your fellow man.

6.    Imply that all faiths are the same and that salvation is assured regardless what faith (or no faith) you choose with your complete “religious liberty”.

The above points are just a few of the many anti-Catholic actions used by Rome to establish the anti-God, humanist, conciliar church.  These actions effectively center everything on man and focus on solving his earthly problems with little thought of God and our duties to Him.

Well, what is an uncompromising traditional Catholic to do?

First, realize that Our Lord will not abandon you.  He will give you many graces to ensure a holy and happy life during this current crisis in the Church, even though we have no Mass to attend because there are no uncompromising priests, at least in most places in the world.  We do as the early Christians did: move to the Catacombs.

In the Catacombs we can live our lives without a priest, but with the fruits of the four Sacraments so necessary for a fruitful spiritual existence and salvation.

1.    Marriage

2.    Baptism

3.    Penance

4.    Holy Communion

Let’s consider how we receive the fruits of these necessary Sacraments for that spiritual existence and salvation, beginning with Marriage.  The baptized Catholic couple marry each other with words they pledge to one another and this marriage is blessed by a priest, if this is possible.

(T)he marriage contract is not a mere promise, but a transfer of right, by which the man actually yields the dominion of his body to the woman, the woman the dominion of her body to the man; it must therefore be made in words which designate the present time, the force of which words abides with undiminished efficacy from the moment of their utterance, and binds the husband and wife by a tie that cannot be broken.  …  [T]he consent of the parties, expressed in the manner already explained, is sufficient to constitute a true marriage.

See, Catechism of the Council of Trent, section: The Kind of Consent Required in Matrimony, subsection: The Essence of Marriage Constituted by the Consent.)

Next, we consider Baptism of the offspring of the above marriage. 

The matter of this sacrament is true and natural water; and it is indifferent whether it be cold or hot.  The form is: I baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.          

See, 1917 Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. II, article: Baptism.

Next, we consider the need for the fruits of the Sacrament of Penance, when there is no uncompromising priest to confess to.

Perfect Act of Contrition Without a Priest.  The prospect of dying without confession would be horrifying were it not for the knowledge that a merciful God has provided for this with a perfect Act of Contrition.  This prayer, said sincerely and with God’s help, is literally a God-send.  United with a pledge to go to confession when available, this heartfelt prayer restores the dying person to grace at once.

See, Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. IV, 1908, article: Contrition, article subsection: Perfect Contrition Without the Sacrament.

Of course, all of us should strive to make perfect acts of contrition even many times per day, just as frequent sacramental confession is important wherever God gives the opportunity to receive this sacrament without compromise.

And finally, we consider receiving the fruits of Holy Communion, in frequent Spiritual Communions, i.e., receiving the Holy Eucharist in spirit. 

A person receives the Holy Eucharist in spirit when he, “inflamed with a ‘lively faith which worketh by charity’, partake in wish and desire of that celestial bread offered to them, from which they receive, if not the entire, at least very great fruits.”[1] 

St. Thomas Aquinas teaches about the efficacy of a Spiritual Communion in these words:

The effect of the sacrament can be secured by every man if he receives it in desire, though not in reality.  …  So likewise, some eat this sacrament spiritually before they receive it sacramentally.

Summa, III Q.80, a.1, ad. 3.

If a person sincerely wants to receive Holy Communion, Our Lord will see to it that he receives the beneficial fruit of the Sacrament.  He assures us of our reward from a Spiritual Communion.  Here are the words in the Imitation of Christ:

The Voice of Christ:

When he is indeed unable to come, he will always have a good will and pious intention to communicate and thus he will not lose the fruit of the Sacrament.

 The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas `a Kempis, Book IV, ch. 10.

Another fruit of a worthy Holy Communion is the preservation from mortal sin and the remission of venial sin.[2]      

Although we should make Spiritual Communions every day, we should especially prepare well for our Sunday Spiritual Communion and make this Act at the appropriate time when reading our Sunday Mass prayers at home.  One way to add special meaning to the Sunday Spiritual Communion, we recommend that you consider fasting from midnight.

So, you can see, a spiritual, holy, and fruitful life is possible in the Catacombs without a priest during this very serious crisis.  Some say we are in the most serious crisis ever, in the Catholic Church.  God has created us to live now and He wants us to help Catholics to return to the full Traditions of the Church.

Life in the Catacombs is not easy, but with the daily help and graces from Our Lord, it can be holy, fruitful, and spiritually beneficial with our full cooperation and with much prayer.


[1]           The Catechism of the Council of Trent, Section: The Sacrament of the Eucharist, subsection, On the Three-fold Manner of Communicating.

[2]           See My Catholic Faith, Bishop Louis Morrow, My Mission House, Kenosha, WI, ©1949, p.298.

Excuses for Compromise Confessions

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Our Lord permits the current Great Apostasy in which we are living.  It is for our good: “All things work together unto the good for those who love God.”   Romans, 8:28.

Further, we must remember that Our Lord can never be outdone in generosity.  He gives extra graces to Catholics in the catacombs, who stand firm against compromise.  He does not abandon them but merely changes His methods of blessing and sanctifying them.  Our Lady of Fatima informed us about God’s approaching change of method.

For example, we don’t have Mass and Holy Communion because there are no uncompromising priests (at least in most places in the world).  Instead, Our Lord gives much greater efficacy than ever before, to the Holy Rosary, so that it fills all needs.[1]  

Similarly, the lack of uncompromising priests also means we don’t have confession (at least in most places in the world).  But again, our generous Lord knows our needs and He does not abandon us.  He only uses alternate means to sanctify us.  He gives great power to alternatives which are within our power during these apostate times.  St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church, tells us the important use we can make of good works to blot out sin during the current Great Apostasy:

There is no sin which almsgiving does not blot out.  It is the fitting remedy to heal every wound.  But almsgiving does not only mean giving money, but also refers to every other good work helping others, including a physician healing the sick or a wise man giving good counsel.[2]

There are some people who call themselves “Traditional Catholics” yet who accept compromise confessions under the appearance of good.[3]  They rationalize their compromise by excuses such as:

➢  Excuse #1: “We are sinners and so we can’t be without confession”.  This is a false humility and a lack of trust in God.

 

·         A Catholic with true humility would say: “God is in charge and I will do His Will.  When He permits me to be without the Sacraments out of love for Him and for the uncompromising Catholic Faith, I won’t presume I know what I need better than God does.”

·         A Catholic who trusts in God would say: “God will not abandon me, if I don’t abandon Him.  He will take care of me and give me the means for my salvation, if I don’t abandon (and offend) Him by compromising and going to compromise priests.”

 

➢  Excuse #2: “We need to go to the Sacraments to show our children how important the Sacraments are.”  This is a false piety.  True piety would reject compromise Sacraments because they offend Our Lord and thus are against true piety.  When parents compromise in this way, they are merely teaching their children the life-long lesson that the Faith is “negotiable” and can be compromised for the Sacraments.  Beginning in the 1960s, conciliar Catholics taught their children the same lesson when they stayed in their local parishes for the sake of the Sacraments.

Our Lord is offended and angered by such compromise confessions!  Let us remain faithful to Him and use the means of salvation which He sends us, rather than the means which we choose, thinking we know better than He does.


[1]               Sister Lucy, seer at Fatima, revealed this truth in the following words addressed to Fr. Fuentes:

 

God is giving two last remedies to the world: the Holy Rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  …  Prayer and sacrifice are the two means to save the world.  As for the Holy Rosary, Father, in these last times in which we are living, the Blessed Virgin has given a new efficacy to the praying of the Holy Rosary.  This in such a way that there is no problem that cannot be resolved by praying the Rosary, no matter how difficult it is – be it temporal or above all spiritual ….

 

Words of Sister Lucy, seer at Fatima, from her December 26, 1957 interview by Fr. Augustin Fuentes, vice-postulator of the cause of beatification for Francisco and Jacinta.  (Emphasis added.)  This interview can be found at: http://radtradthomist.chojnowski.me/2019/03/is-this-interview-that-caused-her.html

[2]           St. Thomas Aquinas quoting and following St. John Chrysostom, in the Catena Aurea on St. Luke’s Gospel, Ch. 12, section 9 (emphasis added).

[3]           St. Ignatius of Loyola received the Spiritual Exercises from Our Lady, in a cave at Manresa, Spain, in 1522.  In these Spiritual Exercises, here is how Our Lady warns us about committing sin under the appearance of good:

 

Fourth Rule: It is proper to the evil Angel, who forms himself under the appearance of an angel of light, to enter with the devout soul and go out with himself: that is to say, to bring good and holy thoughts, conformable to such just soul, and then little by little he aims at coming out drawing the soul to his covert deceits and perverse intentions.

 

Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Rule Four for the Discernment of Spirits, Second Week.

A compromise group’s Masses and sacraments do not give grace

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People should avoid the Masses (and sacraments) of a compromise group, e.g., the N-SSPX[1] or another indult group or “motu proprio”[2] group, or Bishop Williamson’s group,[3] or the sedevacantists[4].  This is true even when that group has valid Masses and sacraments.

The Mass and the sacraments are good in themselves and are themselves causes of grace.[5]  However, this does not mean that valid Masses and sacraments always cause grace.  For sometimes they involve compromises and defects which are sins and are obstacles to grace.[6]

The end does not justify the means.  So, we cannot use sin (a bad means) to obtain grace (a good end).  When it is a sin to attend a particular group’s (or priest’s) Mass or sacraments because of compromises and errors, then those Masses and sacraments cannot do us good because the end does not justify the means and God does not give us grace through our sinning.[7]

Conclusion

When a Mass or sacrament is from a compromise group or is otherwise (objectively) sinful, then no one should attend or receive the Mass/sacrament.  Let us not attend any compromise Masses or receive (or attend) any compromise sacraments, telling ourselves that we “need our sacraments”! 

God knows better than we do what we need and provides for us better than we understand.  “All things work together unto the good for those who love God.”  Romans, 8:28.


[1]           For many articles showing that the SSPX is a compromise group, read the articles in the Society of St. Pius X folder found here: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/

[2]           For twenty reasons the indult (“motu proprio”) Mass is objectively sinful, read this article: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/20-reasons-motu-proprio.html

 

[3]           For many articles showing that Bishop Williamson’s group is a compromise group, read the articles in the Bp. Williamson folder found here: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/

[4]           The sedevacantists are inherently in schism from the Catholic Church, although some of them might not know better and so might not be culpable for their grave sin.  https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/against-sedevacantism.html

 

[5]           The Sacraments are instrumental causes of grace (“ex opere operato”).  See, session VII, canon VIII.  The Council of Trent distinguishes (on the one hand) the seven Sacraments – which cause grace – from other good works and prayers (on the other hand) through which we obtain grace, which are not themselves causes of grace.  Reciting a Hail Mary is not a direct cause of grace.  Rather, it is a pious occasion which disposes us and prompts God to give grace – but not through that prayer as a cause.

 

[6]           One obvious example of this is a satanic Black Mass which, even when it is valid is still sinful and does not give grace.  For further information concerning why a person might not receive grace from a valid mass or sacrament, read this article: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/new-mass-never-grace.html

 


[7]           Here is how St. Thomas Aquinas, greatest Doctor of the Catholic Church, explains that when a (valid) Sacrament is a sin, then “in consequence” it does not give grace:

[S]ome have contended that heretics, schismatics, and the excommunicated, who are outside the pale of the Church, cannot perform this Sacrament [viz., the Holy Eucharist]. But herein they are deceived, because, as Augustine says (Contra Parmen. ii), it is one thing to lack something utterly, and another to have it improperly; and in like fashion, it is one thing not to bestow, and quite another to bestow, but not rightly. … [S]ince the consecration of the Eucharist is an act which follows the power of order, such persons as are separated from the Church by heresy, schism, or excommunication, can indeed consecrate the Eucharist, which on being consecrated by them contains Christ’s true body and blood; but they act wrongly, and sin by doing so; and in consequence they do not receive the fruit of the sacrifice [viz., grace]….

Summa, III, Q.82, a.7, Respondeo (emphasis and bracketed words and letters added).

For a further analysis of this issue, read this article: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/new-mass-never-grace.html

Why is the indult Mass accepted by the compromising “trads”?

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The answer, I believe, is that most people don’t realize the damage caused by the indult Mass, or they falsely believe the indult Mass is better than no Mass at all, (i.e., they must have a Mass).  Or it is easier to accept the indult Mass to go along to get along.  By attending the indult Mass a person implicitly shows that he accepts the new mass because the indult is only allowed under this condition.

Attending an indult Mass gives bad example, as does approval of the indult Mass by the N-SSPX, Bishop Williamson’s group, and other compromise groups.

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre stated in a letter of Mar. 18, 1989, to Father Daniel Couture, “These Masses are scams which lead the faithful to compromise their principles!  Many have already abandoned them.”

If you attend the indult, you get a Faith-destroying sermon.  Who can believe a priest trained in Modernist schools and seminary for his whole life would give a Faith-strengthening sermon?  Not a chance.  This puts your Faith in jeopardy.  It’s all a plan to liberalize the faithful to accept the conciliar church.  It is offered as a “treat” but is actually a “trick.”

Archbishop Lefebvre understood that the enemies of Christ’s Kingship occupying Rome would not blush at using this Most Sacred Gift of God, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in order to lure the resisting Catholics into the conciliar church.[1]  So, his warnings ring true for all the congregations and clergy who compromise (in any way!) with Vatican II, the new mass, the new Code of Canon Law, the new Profession of Faith and other conciliar changes!  Archbishop Lefebvre initiated a Catholic Resistance; we simply must continue resisting modernist Rome, “until we have a perfectly Catholic successor of Peter.”  (Letter of Archbishop Lefebvre to Four Bishops of SSPX, Aug. 20, 1987.)

To improve relations with Rome, the N-SSPX publicly thanked Rome for a (false) “freeing” of the Mass, (the July 2007 motu proprio), which can be used only by a priest who accepts the new mass.  Because of this and many other N-SSPX compromises, including unnecessary sacramental indults (for confession and marriage), uncompromising traditional Catholics should not attend N-SSPX Masses or support the N-SSPX.

By attending the indult Mass wherever it is offered, or by supporting the groups who approve attending it (e.g., the N-SSPX and Bishop Williamson’s group), you put your Faith in jeopardy.

Further, former Pope Benedict XVI wrote:

The faithful who ask for the celebration of the forma extraordinaria [i.e., the Latin Tridentine Mass] must not in any way support or belong to groups which show themselves to be against the validity or legitimacy of the Holy Mass [i.e., the conciliar mass] or the Sacraments celebrated in the forma ordinaria.[2]

I believe attendance at the indult Mass would be down if the priest saying the indult would start out by explaining each time that “If you are attending this Latin Mass under the Motu Proprio, you acknowledge that you accept the new mass.  If not, please leave and don’t come back.”

Not only did the N-SSPX thank Rome for the (false) "freeing" the Mass, they explicitly accept 95% of VC II.  Yet, many still overlook this, believing God will understand.  He is certainly merciful, but He is also just.

Below are other reasons for staying far away from the indult.  Would you attend the indult Mass offered by a priest who also offers a Black Mass?  If not, then why accept a priest who offers the sacrilegious new Mass?  The new mass is inherently harmful to souls and to the Catholic Faith.  Thus, it is a sacrilege because it fits the definition of sacrilege: viz., the “irreverent treatment of the sacred.”[3]

If a person attends an indult Mass in a church that is also used for the new mass, then he willingly uses for worship a place which is also set aside for the commission of sacrilege.  A place used for sacrilege is far more unfitting for Divine worship than a “neutral” place, like a rented meeting hall. 

Thus, when traditional Catholics compromise by choosing an indult Mass, they accept the conciliar hierarchy’s bait and they presume they will be strong enough and wise enough to discern and reject the accompanying conciliar poison.

 

That is the exact excuse friends of ours made to us in the late 1960s, when we left our local diocese parish in order to remain traditional Catholics.  They felt we should stay to fight on the inside and help the parish reject liberalism.  However, absolutely none who stayed on the inside remained faithful to the Catholic Faith.  None.

The question arises as to whether or not the indult Mass gives grace.  Although we know that God gives grace to whomever He pleases, whenever He pleases, He does not give grace because we offend Him (as we would offend Him by attending an indult Mass).

In conclusion, Archbishop Lefebvre called the indult Mass a scam, i.e., “a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation; to deceive and defraud.”[4]  He also stated in his Aug. 29, 1987, letter to the four new bishops of the SSPX that Rome permitted the indult Mass “in order to lure the resisting Catholics into the conciliar church!” 

So, let’s heed the faith-saving advice of Archbishop Lefebvre and stay completely away from all indult Masses and all compromise groups accepting indult Masses, like the N-SSPX.


[1]           The Vatican has clearly said that it continues on the course of post-conciliar errors and that these motu proprio (indult) Masses are designed to integrate traditional Catholics into the conciliar church. See, e.g., this article, where the Vatican calls the traditional Mass an “ecumenical bridge” and outlines the plan for using it as a step to blending the new mass and the traditional Mass.  http://www.zenit.org/article-32593?l=english – see also, http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1101922.htm.

 

Cardinal Mayer (former president of the Ecclesia Dei Commission in charge of indult groups) candidly admitted the conciliar trap: “Sometimes a temporary solution may be necessary, such as allowing them [viz., conservative Catholics] the possibility of celebrating the Holy Mass [of Pope St. Pius V].” See, Letter of Cardinal Mayer to Msgr. May, L’Homme Nouveau, March 19, 1989 (emphasis added), quoted at: http://www.sspx.org/motu_proprio/attendance_at_the_indult_vanes.htm

[2]           May 13, 2011 Instruction “Universae Ecclesiae” on the implementation of the Motu Proprio “Summorum Pontificum”, ¶19 [bracketed words added for clarity].

 

[3]           Summa, IIa IIae, Q. 99, a.1.

 

[4]           Quoted from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scam

Complete Contentment Without the Mass When it is not available without compromise

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Catholic Candle note:  In the human element of the Catholic Church, there is now a great crisis in the Faith.  The formerly traditional groups (e.g., the SSPX and the Williamson group) have compromised.  One consequence is that the Mass is usually not available to most faithful and informed Catholics because they refuse to go to a Mass offered by a priest in a compromise group.  

Many Catholics at various times in Church history have had to sanctify Sundays without the Mass, e.g., Japanese Catholics, for 300 years.  We recommend this article to help you do that: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/sanctifying-sunday-no-mass.html

However, the article below shows us that we should not be anxious or think that God has abandoned us when we do not have the Mass and sacraments because we reject compromise.  Rather, this is a glorious time to be a faithful Catholic and this crisis in the Faith is a blessing to strengthen our Faith![1]  As shown in the article below, we should be perfectly content that God placed us in the present time where the uncompromising Mass is rare.

God is our goal.  All other things – even very good things – are important only as means to attain and increase Divine friendship, which is the theological virtue of charity.[2]

The Mass and sacraments are usual (and wonderful) means through which God befriends a soul, infusing charity into the soul.  However, God sometimes chooses to use other means instead, as he has with many Catholics over the last 2000 years.[3] 

We must make ourselves indifferent to any particular means (even very good means) for arriving at our goal (viz., a continually deeper friendship with God).  We must only seek any particular means – including the Mass and sacraments – to the extent God wills us to have them.  No means are helpful to attain friendship with God unless God wants us to use those means in our circumstances.  We should not want any means – even very good means like the Mass – which God does not want us to use in our circumstances.

Here is how St. Ignatius of Loyola explains this truth in the Spiritual Exercises that he received from Our Lady, in the cave of Manresa, Spain, in 1522:

Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.  And the other things on the face of the earth are created for man that they may help him in prosecuting the end for which he is created.

From this it follows that man is to use them as much as they help him on to his end, and ought to rid himself of them so far as they hinder him as to it.  For this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things in all that is allowed to the choice of our free will and is not prohibited to it; so that, on our part, we want not health rather than sickness, riches rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, long rather than short life, and so in all the rest; desiring and choosing only what is most conducive for us to the end for which we are created.[4]

But we often fool ourselves that we are doing God’s will, when we are really seeking to do our own will.  For example, we justify attending Mass with a compromise group because “I need my sacraments to grow closer to God”.  We are discontent without the Mass because being without the Mass is not the means we choose for sanctifying our souls.

St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Doctor of the Church, calls a “childish” to worry about God-given circumstances that keep us from attending Mass or receiving the sacraments.  Here are St. Alphonsus’ words:

How childish the pretense of those who protest they wish for health not to escape suffering, but to serve our Lord better by being able to observe their Rule, to serve the community, go to church, receive Communion, do penance, study, work for souls in the confessional and pulpit!  Devout soul, tell me, why do you desire to do these things?  To please God?[5]

Let us no longer be childish or discontent that we do not have the Mass and sacraments available to us!  We should be perfectly content without them as long as God chooses that we have nowhere to attend Mass without compromise.  In the circumstances in which God has lovingly placed us, it pleases Him that we do not have the Mass and sacraments!  

As St. Alphonsus explains, it would displease God for us to attend Mass or receive the sacraments when God places us in the circumstances He has.   Here are St. Alphonsus’ words in the context of being unable to receive the sacraments because of sickness:

Why then search any further to please God when you are sure God does not wish these prayers, Communions, penances or studies, but he does wish that you suffer patiently this sickness he sends you?  Unite then your sufferings to those of our Lord.[6]

When a priest or group compromises, God does not Will the compromises as such, because they are sins.  However, God does Will the effect on us, viz., that we cannot attend Mass because of those compromises.  Here is the way St. Alphonsus explains this truth:

It is true, when one offends us unjustly, God does not will his sin, nor does he concur in the sinner’s bad will; but God does, in a general way, concur in the material action by which such a one strikes us, robs us or does us an injury, so that God certainly wills the offense we suffer and it comes to us from His hands.  Thus, the Lord told David He would be the author of those things he would suffer at the hands of Absalom: “I will raise up evils against thee out of thy own house, and I will take thy wives before thy face and give them to thy neighbor.”  Hence too, God told the Jews that in punishment for their sins, He would send the Assyrians to plunder them and spread destruction among them: “The Assyrian is the rod and staff of my anger . . . I will send him to take away the spoils.”  “Assyrian wickedness served as God’s scourge for the Hebrews”, is St. Augustine’s comment on this text.  And our Lord Himself told St. Peter that His sacred passion came not so much from man as from His Father: “The chalice which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?”[7]

Conclusion

It is easy to be glad to be healthy so that we can serve God better.  However, we should be equally glad to be sick, if God sends us sickness.  Thus, e.g., if our doctor tells us we should get a cancer screening test, we should be completely at peace while waiting for the test result.  If the test shows we have cancer, this is merely God showing us the next way He wills us to serve Him (i.e., with cancer).  Why would we want health if God shows us that He does not want it for us now?

Likewise, it is easy to rejoice to serve God through the Mass and sacraments.  However, we should be equally happy and completely content without them if God chooses this for us.  Why would we want the Mass and sacraments when God shows us that He does not want them for us now?

This is a glorious time to be Catholic!  Let us be grateful to God and perfectly content with the circumstances into which He has placed us, including being without the Mass!

Priests, as well as laymen, should have this perfect contentment

Priests also, are susceptible to fear and discontent if they feel alone because of the compromises of other priests.  Like laymen, they often rationalize that they must associate with compromise priests or bishops because they “need” a confessor, or they “need” holy oils and the sacrament of confirmation for their flock.  

This is the same childish pretense that St. Alphonsus condemns in the context of going to church and receiving Communion.  Instead, priests should give an example of a fearless and unshakeable Faith and perfect contentment without the sacraments when it is God’s Will.  That is the lesson they need to teach their flock.

[1]          Read this article about how the present crisis in the Church can help us strengthen our Faith: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/it-is-a-blessing-to-live-during-this-great-apostasy.html

[2]          Charity is inherently Friendship with God.  Here is how St. Thomas Aquinas, greatest Doctor of the Church, explains this truth:

It is written (John 15:15): “I will not now call you servants . . . but My friends.” Now this was said to them by reason of nothing else than charity. Therefore, charity is friendship. …

According to the Philosopher (Ethic. viii, 2,3) not every love has the character of friendship, but that love which is together with benevolence, when, to wit, we love someone so as to wish good to him. If, however, we do not wish good to what we love, but wish its good for ourselves, (thus we are said to love wine, or a horse, or the like), it is love not of friendship, but of a kind of concupiscence.  For it would be absurd to speak of having friendship for wine or for a horse.

Yet neither does well-wishing suffice for friendship, for a certain mutual love is requisite, since friendship is between friend and friend: and this well-wishing is founded on some kind of communication.

Accordingly, since there is a communication between man and God, inasmuch as He communicates His happiness to us, some kind of friendship must needs be based on this same communication, of which it is written (1 Corinthians 1:9): “God is faithful: by Whom you are called unto the fellowship of His Son."  The love which is based on this communication, is charity: wherefore it is evident that charity is the friendship of man for God.

Summa, IIa IIae, Q.23, a.1, sed contra and respondeo.

[3]          For example, God used means other than the Mass and confession for 300 years with the Catholics in Japan, as well as in many other places, e.g., in France during the 1789 Masonic Revolution, and in Ecuador.  Read about these periods in which God sanctified souls without the Mass and confession here: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/sanctifying-sunday-no-mass.html

[4]          Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, beginning of the First Week, Principle and Foundation (emphasis added).

[5]          St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Complete Uniformity to God’s Will, §5 (emphasis added).  This work is available for free here: https://www.ecatholic2000.com/liguori/sal.shtml

[6]          St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Complete Uniformity to God’s Will, §5 (emphasis added).  This work is available for free here: https://www.ecatholic2000.com/liguori/sal.shtml

[7]          St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Complete Uniformity to God’s Will, §2.  This work is available for free here: https://www.ecatholic2000.com/liguori/sal.shtml