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Faith, News

If you have doubts about the Synod, doubt again!

INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Here is the troubling story of how 1 Franciscan brother petitioned Cardinal Napier of South Africa, urging him to see that the final version of the Synod’s document would not contain any deviation from Christ’s teaching regarding the absolute necessity of repentance and faith as criteria of membership in the Church and directives for pastoral praxis.

I wrote this petition in response to the now infamous 3 paragraphs in the Relatio post deceptationem (the Report after received responses) which was published at the Extra-Ordinary Synod of the Family, at Rome, on Monday morning, October 13, 2014, by the drafting committee headed by Cardinal Erdo.  Which paragraphs, regarding the unspeakable vice, sodomy, where subsequently attributed in the press to Bishop Bruno Forte (famous for his book on Christ, in which he declared that if the body of Christ crucified were found, he’d still believe in the Resurrection!).

However, when it was reported in the UK press that the revised document contained something worse, the explicit affirmation of the value of a vice, namely the requirement that Catholics “value the homosexual orientation”, I was utterly shocked.

In those paragraphs, there was an obvious and intentional attempt to introduce the language of the homo-agenda and homo-heresy into the Synod’s final document.  The homo-heresy is a term coined recently to refer to the political and ideological doctrine that homosexuality is a good to be appreciated, valued, accepted in all human society, even in the Church.  It is a heretical doctrine, because it contradicts the clear teaching of Moses and St. Paul that this vice and its practice are abominations to God and contrary to nature, and because it directly contradicts the teaching of Our Lord and Master, Christ Jesus, the Eternal Son of God, the Lord of the Ages, the Creator of Man, the Author of Scripture, the Most High, Eternal, All Holy God of Israel! In that He teaches that the fundamental rule or requirement for membership in His Church and for communion with Him is that one first repent of his sins and then believe all his teaching.

These were Our Lord’s first words, when He opened His Mouth and began His own public ministry:  Repent and Believe!  The Apostles, His faithful and infallible disciples after the Pentecost Day of grace, taught clearly in all their writings, gathered now in the New Testament, that these words are to be understood as the utter repudiation of carnality, immorality, and all that is contrary to the moral precepts of the Mosaic Law and of the Evangelical Law, and of the natural, moral, and divine laws implicit in these.

For this reason, and because by my vocation as a son of St. Francis of Assisi, I deemed it necessary to speak out against the tide of grave, manifest, public scandal given to the faithful throughout this world.  Especially since as an Italian citizen, resident at Rome, I consider it a duty as a member of the Diocese of Rome, which shall never loose the Faith, to speak boldly in favor of Christ’s Magisterium against the false magisterium of the flesh being proposed in the Relatio post deceptationem.

When the Holy Father, in response to the outcry against the patently racist and very insulting remarks of Cardinal Kasper against the Synod Fathers from Africa, appointed Wilfrid Cardinal Napier, OFM, the Archbishop of Durban, South Africa, (Cardinal-Priest of San Francesco d’Assisi ad Acilia, at Rome), as member of the drafting committee, I was encouraged on account of the reports showing that he was a faithful Cardinal and fighting to protect the faith.

You see, according to the Rule of Saint Francis of Assisi, we sons of St. Francis are bound to give and receive remonstrations in the Lord, so that as brothers in one family we might assist the salvation of one another.  Seeing that Cardinal Napier was before his elevation to the episcopate on Feb. 21, 1981, was a member of the Order of Friars Minor of the Leonine Union, I saw this as an opportunity and sign from God to plead with him to fight the good fight and see to it that the final draft of the Synod Document not contain any approval of the abomination of sodomy, whether in act or in vice, directly or indirectly, or even in some sort of linguistic construction whereby the Church would seem or in fact, be bound to surrender to the homo-heresy of our age.

This is the historical background to the exchange which now follows.

 

The Petition sent to Cardinal Napier

The petition sent on Thursday, October 16, 2014, via twitter to Cardinal Napier.  His Eminence had followed me on Twitter the very night before, which enabled me to send him a private message.  First I wrote the petition, then I presented in in a series of Direct Messages.

First, the petition, which contains several tweets, in this order:

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522747781589774337

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522747939341758464

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522748132057448448

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522750346419245057

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522750862725509120

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522751235716571136

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522751639175049217

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522751823674097664

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522755466796236800

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522762879947530240

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522866935340748800

This final tweet was favorited by Cardinal Giuseppe (@vaticanvalet) who, however, unlike @CardinalNapier, seems to be someone feigning to be a cardinal.

My Presentation of the Petition to Cardinal Napier

After tweeting the petition, I presented it in a Direct Message to His Eminence, since, as I have said, he had followed me the night before, and I was already following him. On twitter those are the 2 necessaries for sending and receiving Direct Messages; these are a form of private, non-publicized communication.

After the Cardinal’s initial shocking response to the petition, I captured the DM in a jpg image, to preserve the historical record.  Here is that image:

 

Direct Message from @BrAlexisBugnolo to @CardinalNapier on Twitter, presenting the Petition re Fidelity to Christ
Direct Message from @BrAlexisBugnolo to @CardinalNapier on Twitter, presenting the Petition re Fidelity to Christ

 These direct messages make clear the intent of the Petition and my grave concerns about the dangers to the Faith and to the  Church, inherent in the revised version of the Relatio, which Relatio emanated from the drafting committee of which Cardinal Napier was the newly appointed member, “representing” the Synod Fathers who came from Africa.

 

The Stunning Replies of Cardinal Napier

Now it is obvious to anyone, who knows anything about the Catholic Church and what it means to be a member of Her, that the above cited petition is most respectful, serious, and one made fully in accord with the norms of Canon Law, which regard the rights of the faithful to petition members of the Sacred Hierarchy. By the time Cardinal Napier replied, 30 members of the faithful from Europe, Africa and North America had signed it.  Subsequently, at least 6 more signed it that night.

But to this sensible, sane, calm, fully catholic, dutiful, honest and zealous petition, Cardinal Napier chose to respond with this tweet, which I have captured in a jpg image:

Cardinal Napier's First Response to the Petition
Cardinal Napier’s First Response to the Petition

Moved by my love for Cardinal Napier in Christ, and mindful that if I were silent, I would consent to his scandalous remarks, I replied with a series of tweets:

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522838929821556736

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522840207570116608

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522842979141050368
To These tweets, the Cardinal surprised me, by replying a second time:

Cardinal Napier's second reply to the Petition, remonstrating with Br Alexis Bugnolo
Cardinal Napier’s second reply to the Petition, remonstrating with Br Alexis Bugnolo

You can see my own subsequent replies, in that image, but for ease of reading, I recite them here:

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522845783733706752

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522846362035949568

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522846853767761920

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522847921424039936

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522848070778621952

 

 If it might seem that I am being to bold in my “dialogue” with the Cardinal, remember that we are both sons of St. Francis, and are obliged to this give and take, according to the Rule of St. Francis: also, because of his membership on the drafting committee Cardinal Napier has a direct capability to have his own input and correct errors.  In addition, seeing the grave scandal going on at the Synod, I considered it morally necessary, as St. Thomas Aquinas teaches, to speak to His Eminence with boldness.

The Cardinal, however, chose to reply to me again, here is the jpg image.

 

Cardinal Napier's Third Reply to the petition of Br Alexis Bugnolo and 30 other faithful.
Cardinal Napier’s Third Reply to the petition of Br Alexis Bugnolo and 30 other faithful.

It was clear from this response, that in the Cardinal’s mind there was some confusion, so I replied with a series of tweets to explain and attempt to remove that confusion, spurred by my zeal for God and for the Cardinal’s soul.

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522851218729607168

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522852088791834625

And thus, I boldly asked:

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522852498919268354

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/522852691777581056

At that point, I shut down my computer, for it was very late, and the Cardinal seems to have done likewise; in the morning, upon waking early around 5 AM Rome time, he tweeted me 1 last time:

Cardinal Napier's 4th reply to the Petition submitted to him by Br. Alexis Bugnolo and now 36 members of the faithul
Cardinal Napier’s 4th reply to the Petition submitted to him by Br. Alexis Bugnolo and now 36 members of the faithul

As you can see, the Cardinal was taking the Petition totally out of context, and twisting scripture to oppose it.  I have seen this tactic on many a street-corner, but it is one used by non-Catholics who are insisting in their perverse or erroneous doctrines against the teaching of the Catholic Faith, so I recognized it immediately, and replied thus, on Friday Morning, when I logged on Twitter and saw it:

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/523017192838017024

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/523017351974100992

https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo/status/523019250815234049

 

Final Remarks from Br. Alexis Bugnolo

Throughout this exchange of tweets with His Eminence Cardinal Napier of Durban, South Africa, many members of the faithful tweeted, retweeted, replied, or favorited the Petition, his replies or my replies to him.  I have omitted these in the course of this report, since they had no bearing upon the exchange between the Cardinal and myself.

Let me remind the faithful of 2 great truths.  First, that we must always remain faithful to Christ Jesus and His Magisterium, as it has been recorded in the Gospels, explained by the Apostles, handed down in Tradition by the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, explained in the perennial, perduring, constant and unchangeable Magisterium of the Church, which expresses Herself in an infallible manner only when our Sacred Pastors, who have the authority, teach in harmony with Christ, the Apostles, Scripture and Tradition.

Secondly, even when our Sacred Pastors might not live up to what we expect of them in Christ, or up to what Christ expects of them, we should remain respectful in our discourses, even if we might at times have to be bold (So long as they do not become pertinacious, public heretics, because if they did we’d be obliged by faith, hope and charity to no longer regard them as members of the Church).  We are Catholics not stoics, so we do not hold it to be a sin to be passionate or emotional about our Faith, rather we repudiate all the false morals of the world, the errors of Modernism which would reduce faith to sentimentalism, to the errors of Freemasonry which want to return mankind to the slavery of the idols of Egypt and Babylon, and the false and so-called wisdom of the flesh in our own day, which would have us be so polite as to offend God, not man.

Let us pray for Cardinal Napier and all the Fathers at the Synod; resolving to reject the final document if it deviates from the Faith in any particular. And finally, I ask your prayers, that I might give a humble an zealous witness to the faith, expecting as I do to suffer for the witness I have given here today.

Faith, News

A leading Vatican journalist, on the Synod: We have a problem!

marco-tosattiWhat follows is an unofficial English translation of an article, entitled, Un Sinodo un pò tarrocato, which appeared today in La Stampa, in Italy, written by Marco Tosatti, one of the leading Catholic journalists who specialize in Vatican affairs. The bold face is not in the original.

When the speaker – a cardinal of the Holy Roman Church – more or less expressly disclaims authorship of a report that bears his signature, there is a problem.
When the cardinal himself, in reference to a passage from the text certainly very interesting and a harbinger of trouble, asked for an explanation, and the answer turns to an archbishop Deputy Secretary (rather than the Pope) at the Synod because he is the author, there is a issue.

When many bishops and cardinals from Poland to Africa to Australia, they complain because the Relatio as it has been written and presented to the press does not reflect what they said in the hall, and adds things that have never been said, there is a problem.

When the text is declared “unacceptable” by Cardinals and Bishops, “irredeemable” by another, and when the Circuli Minores it is said that “we are working to revise the text, set aside some expressions and so on, but it is a sick-text and not you know how the proposals will be accepted,” there is a problem.

When there are bishops – and more than one – who say they no longer want to come to any future Synods, if they are conducted like this, because it is turning into a farce, there is a problem. When the South African Cardinal Napier said via twitter, that is, in public, that “while it is possible that some elements are trying to adapt to the opinion of the world, the majority wants to remain firmly with the truth”; which says exactly the opposite of the thesis that some journalists for various reasons, try to credit to the Synod, there is a problem.

When among the choices of leaders for the Synod, an entire continent in which you are making the greatest growth of Christianity and Catholicism, in terms of the faithful (unlike Europe and North America, or Latin America where millions of evangelicals swallow up ex-catholics), namely Africa, is forgotten, there is a problem.

The regime governing the Synod has decided not to make public the activities of the participants, compared with a decade of practice, transparency and the right of Christians to know; and then has decided to make public a working document in which many do not recognize, and in which the phrases are the most controversial and debated with great probability the expression of a few theologians and bishops. It’s hard not to think in an attempt to drive and manipulate the course of the Synod.

When, following the publication of the document, you are forced to back down, and “Voice of the Family”, which brings together millions of Catholics around the world in fifteen different organizations defines it as open “treason”, and states that “Those who control the Synod have betrayed Catholic parents. The report is one of the worst official documents ever written in the history of the Church,” there is a problem.

The Synod of Bishops on the Family is the first official event of the Church of the reign of Pope Francis. And it is proving to be a success, under any point of view, if not that of confusion. Unfortunately, the Pope does not appear, as it might be more prudent and desirable to reassure Catholics, above and outside the party. Cardinal Kasper, one of the fiercest protagonists of the battle, merely repeats that he spoke to the Pope. The one choosing Archbishop Forte, author of the report, according to many in recent days, as Deputy Secretary, is the Pope. As well as those of additional members of the Commission will draw up the final report; all of whom are oriented in one direction, but – according to what Cardinal  Napier says, it is not only him, who does not represent the common sense and majority of the assembly.

And this is not a good thing, if you search for unity of feelings, and not what the card. Vingt-Trois, archbishop of Paris, called a “single thought in the Church.” If it is true that the Church is not a democracy, and you do not go forward with the hammer blows of a majority, you certainly cannot, however, submit all believers to a theological and doctrinal little-clique.

Like nature, the Church does not like leaps or earthquakes.

Faith, News, Uncategorized

Eminent Vatican theologian faults Kaspars Proposals

What follows is my unofficial translation of Monsignor Antonio Livi’s criticisms of the Synod on the Family, which were published in Italian on October 10th.

 

The Divorced: the ambiguous solutions of  the “pietists”

Alongside the discussions which preceded and now accompany the Extraordinary Synod on the Family (Oct 5-19), one needs to observe the continuing and growing interventions of “false teachers” and of “false prophets” who announce a new Church as already arrived, no longer in subjugation to the chains of the moral law, open to the insistence of the “base” and ready to tear down the “historical fences” which separate Catholics and Protestants and the Orthodox.

Many scholars have already highlighted the “anti-dogmatic”, or better “a-dogmatic” aspect of these discourses, received (naturally) with the enthusiasm of the secular media, from La Repubblica to il Sole24Ore and La Stampa (especially Gianni Vattimo, the philosopher of the “weak thought”, who already 25 years ago quipped aloud that “a Christianity without a pope and without dogma”).  I have already spoken in detail about this in my book on True and False Theology (2014).  But even Pope Benedict XVI wisely commented that “pastoral praxis and dogma intertwine in an indissoluble manner; it is the truth of Him who is in time  “Word” and “Shepherd”, as primitive Christian art has profoundly understood, which presents the Word as Shepherd and in the guise of the Shepherd makes flow the eternal Word which for man is the true direction for life”.

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, returned to this argument.  In a book length interview which was published simultaneously a month ago in Italy, Spain and the United States (published in Italian by Ares, and entitled La speranza della famiglia), the German cardinal clearly showed the a-dogmatic character of the proposals for change in ecclesiastical praxis in regard to marriage and the family.

In announcing the impossibility of accepting these proposals — which, according to Walter Kasper and many others, would be justified on the basis of current social changes and in the inability of many faithful to live up to Catholic morals — Cardinal Müller, has expressed himself with great theological precision:  “A simple ‘adaptation’ of the reality of marriage to the expectations of the world bears no fruit, rather, it has counterproductive results: the Church cannot respond to the challenge of today’s world with a pragmatic adaptation.  As ones opposing a facile, pragmatic adaptation, we are called to choose for ourselves the prophetic audacity of the martyr. With this, we can testify to the Gospel of holy matrimony.  A tepid prophet, with an adequation to to the spirit of the age, would seek to save himself, but not by the means of salvation which comes from God alone “.

There were many Cardinals (besides the just mentioned Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller; I recall Carlo Caffarra, Velasio de Paolis, Walter Brandmüller, Thomas Collins and Raymond L Burke) who wanted to publish their some writings to oppose, with serene and above-all pertinent argumentations, the attempt to pressure the Synod in the hope to obtain a pronouncement from the majority of the 120 fathers of the Synod, and even, from pope Francis, in favor of changing the pastoral practice of the Church.

Which, however, cannot ever possibly happen, because it would constitute a substantial change in the Church Herself, or rather the advent of a new a-dogmatic Church as so many evil masters such as Hans Kung and so many false prophets as Enzo Bianchi have announced and prepared for (preparing by announcing it), shamelessly attributing their revolutionary plans to pope Francis.  The implementation of such designs, as much as regards the pastoral practice concerning matrimony and the family, would lead to the abolition of the Encyclical Humanae Vitae (of Pope Paul VI) and of the Apostolic Exhortation, Familiaris consortio (of Pope John Paul II), besides, naturally, the cannon of the Ecumenical Council of Trent on the Sacraments of Matrimony, Eucharist and Penance.

 

Faith, News

Cardinal Burke denounces manipulation of Synod on Family

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Cardinal Burke, praying the Traditional Latin Mass.

The following is my unofficial translation of extracts from original Italian text of Alessandro Gnocci’s interview with Cardinal Burke, which will appear in full in Italian tomorrow in Il Foglio:

Q.  What do you see behind the curtain hung by the press around the Synod?

A. There is emerging a worrisome tendency, because some are sustaining the possibility of adopting a praxis which departs from the truth of the Faith.  Even if it should be evident that one cannot proceed in that directly, many are encouraging, for example, dangerous openings on the question of communion conceded to the divorced & remarried. I do not see how one can reconcile the reformable concept of the indissolubility of Matrimony with the possibility of admitting to communion those who live in an irregular situation.  Here one is puting directly in discussion what Our Lord has said when He taught that he who divorces his own wife and marries another commits adultery.

Q. According to the reformers, this teaching of Our Lord is too hard.

A. They forget that Our Lord has promised the help of grace to those who have been called to live Matrimony. This does not signify that there will not be difficulties and sufferings, but that there will always be divine help to confront them and to remain faithful even unto the end.

…

R. I do not understand how the Briefing is to be understood, but it seems to be that something is functioning well if the information is being manipulated in a manner to give support only to one thesis instead of reporting faithfully the various positions as expounded.  This is very worrisome to me because a consistent number of Bishops do not accept the idea of opening the praxis, but few know of it.  They are speaking only of the necessity of the Church opening Herself to the insistence of the world, as expressed in February by Cardinal Kasper.  In reality, his thesis on the themes of the family and on a new discipline for communion for the divorced & remarried is not new, and it has already been discussed 30 years ago.  Then, in February, it returned in force and was faultily allowed to grow.  But all this needs to stop, because it is provoking grave damage to the Faith.  Bishops and priests are telling me that there are now many remarried who are asking to be admitted to communion because Pope Francis wants it.  In reality, I take note, that, instead, up to this point he has not expressed himself on the point.

Q.  But, it seems evident that Cardinal Kasper and all those holding to his line, are speaking with the support of the Pope.

A. That is true.  The Pope has nominated Cardinal Kasper to the Synod and has left the debate progress along these lines.  But, as he has said to another Cardinal, the Pope has not yet pronounced.  I am awaiting his pronouncement, which can be only in continuity with the teaching given to the Church throughout all Her history.  A teaching which has never changed, because it cannot change.

…

D.  Admitting the divorced & remarried to communion undermines the Sacrament of Matrimony, and also that of the Eucharist.  Does it not seem to you, to also touch upon the heart of what it means to be the Church?

A. In the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, chapter 11, the Apostle teaches that he who receives the Eucharist in a state of mortal sin, eats unto his own damnation.  To approach the Eucharist signifies to be in communion with Christ, to be in conformity to Him.  Many argue contrariwise, that the Eucharist is not the Sacrament of the perfect, but this argument is a false one.  No man is perfect and the Eucharist is the Sacrament of those who are fighting to be perfect, according to what Jesus Himself said:  to be perfect even as Our Father in Heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48). Even the one who is fighting to reach perfection sins, and if he is in the state of mortal sin, he cannot take communion.  To be able to do so, he needs to confess his sin with repentance and with the proposal of not committing it again: this is true for all, even the divorced and remarried…

Faith, News

Homily of His Eminence Cardinal Burke, Oct. 4, 2014 A. D. at tomb of St. Peter

images

Original Italian Text, in blue, which will be followed by my own unofficial English translation in black.  — To the right, Cardinal Burke, on another occasion, in the company of some of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate.

Sia lodato Gesù Cristo!

Il Venerabile Papa Pio XII è stato il Papa della mia infanzia. La memoria della venerazione che i miei genitori avevano verso la sua persona e il suo magistero è ancora viva. Nonostante che la mia famiglia abitava in una parte rurale e remota dello Stato del Wisconsin negli Stati Uniti, sentivamo la vicinanza del Papa Pio XII quale Pastore della Chiesa universale. Ricordo anche i racconti di soldati americani ricevuti in udienza dal Santo Padre dopo la liberazione di Roma e di un medico che ebbe il privilegio di partecipare all’udienza concessa ad un gruppo di chirurgi statunitensi, il 24 maggio 1956. Raccontando la loro esperienza tutti si commuovevano per il senso della premura personale per ciascuno di loro da parte del Sommo Pontefice, che irradiava la sua intensa comunione con Colui del quale egli era Vicario sulla terra. Il medico ricordava come il Pontefice parlava dell’ospedale quale “Hotel de Dieu” per ricevere, con fede e amore, tutti gli ammalati, e dimostrava con la sua grande presenza e tenerezza le stesse qualità che stava raccomandando ai medici.
 

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Venerable Pope Pius XII was the Pope of my infancy.  My memory the veneration which my parents had for his person and for his teaching is still fresh.  Notwithstanding that my family lived in a rural and remote part of the state of Wisconsin in the United States, we felt as if Pope Pius XII was closeby as Pastor of the universal Church.  I also remember the reminisces of the American soldiers who received an audience with the Holy Father after the liberation of Rome and of a doctor who had the privilege to participate in an audience granted to a group of surgeons from the United States, on May 24, 1956.  In recounting their own experience, they were greatly moved by the sense of personal care the Supreme Pontiff expressed for each of them and which irradiated from his own intense communion with Him Whose Vicar he was on Earth.  The doctor recalled how the Pontiff spoke of hospitals as the “House of God” for receiving, with faith and love, all the sick, and showed with his own great presence and tenderness the same qualities which he recommended to the doctors.

In questo giorno, nel quale anticipiamo il cinquantaseiesimo anniversario della morte del Venerabile Pontefice, avvenuta il 9 ottobre 1958, ricordiamo le parole di Papa Paolo VI, in occasione del 25º anniversario dell’inizio del pontificato del Venerabile: “Dovremo ricordare una vita sacerdotale pura, pia, austera, laboriosa, spesso sofferente…. Fu eminentemente il Papa della pace, dei diritti della persona umana, dell’organizzazione ordinata e fraterna dei popoli e delle classi sociali…. E fu un amico del nostro tempo; il dialogo con tutte le forme della vita moderna, mediante il criterio risolutivo nella bontà e nella verità del Vangelo dei problemi presenti, fu da lui sistematicamente aperto ed iniziato” (Cf. Paolo VI, “La eletta figura e l’opera immortale del venerato Pontefice”, Insegnamenti di Paolo VI (Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana), vol. 2 (1964), pp. 174-175).

Today, on the day in which we anticipate the 50th anniversary of the death of the Venerable Pontiff, which occurred on October 9, 1958, we recall the words of Pope Paul VI, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the inauguration of the pontificate of his predecessor: “We should remember this pure, pious, austere, industrious, and often suffering life of priest … He was eminently the Pope of peace, of the rights of the human person, of the orderly and fraternal organization of peoples and social classes … He was a friend of our age; dialogue with all the forms of modern life, by means of a resolute conviction for their goodness and in the truth of the Gospel for present times, was systematically initiated and undertaken by him” (Cf. Paolo VI, “La eletta figura e l’opera immortale del venerato Pontefice”, Insegnamenti di Paolo VI (Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana), vol. 2 (1964), pp. 174-175).

Ispirati dalla santità della sua vita, continuiamo a pregare per la sua beatificazione e canonizzazione, implorando specialmente il Signore di dare il segno della sua volontà, concedendo un miracolo per l’intercessione del Venerabile Papa.

 
L’odierna celebrazione in memoria del Venerabile Papa Pio XII felicemente coincide con la Festa di San Francesco d’Assisi, Patrono d’Italia. Qualche giorno prima della sua morte il 3 ottobre 1226, San Francesco dettava quello che egli chiedeva ai frati di ricevere come “un ricordo, un’ammonizione, un’esortazione e il mio testamento”. Con poche parole egli descrive l’opera meravigliosa della grazia nella sua vita, che lo aveva convertito da una vita di peccato alla vita in Cristo. Egli racconta come Dio l’ha ispirato, portandolo in mezzo ai lebbrosi, che prima egli trovava tanto ributtanti, dando a lui la grazia di riconoscere il volto di Cristo nel volto dei lebbrosi.

Inspired by the holiness of his life, we continue to pray for his beatification and canonization, imploring the Lord in particular to give a sign of His will, by conceding a miracle through the intercession of the venerable Pope.

Today’s celebration in memory of Venerable Pope Pius XII happily coincides with the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Patron of Italy.  A few days before his own death on Oct. 3, 1226, Saint Francis dictated to his confreres what he asked of them to receive as a “memory, an admonition, an exortation and my testasment”.  With a few words he described the wonderful work of grace in his own life, which converted him from a life of sin to a life in Christ.  He recounted how God had inspired him, by leading him into the midst of lepers, whom he at first found to be so repulsive, by giving him the grace to recognize the visage of Christ in the faces of the lepers.

Dal momento della sua conversione è stata sua prassi visitare Cristo nei tabernacoli delle chiese, offrendo la preghiera, che in forma abbreviata è diventata una delle nostre preghiere quotidiane: “Ti adoriamo, Signore Gesù Cristo, e in tutte le Tue chiese che sono nel mondo, e Ti benediciamo, perché per la Tua santa croce hai redento il mondo”. Con l’umiltà del cuore e con l’illimitata fiducia di chi è spiritualmente innocente, San Francesco è stato sempre più attratto a Cristo. Cristo ha rivelato Dio Padre a San Francesco e gli ha concesso il “riposo”, la pace dell’anima e del cuore con la quale egli ha assunto la croce con Cristo, il “giogo” che, per grazia dei Dio, diventa “dolce”, il “peso” che il Signore rende leggero.

From the moment of his own conversion it was his practice to visit Christ in the tabernacles of churches, by offering a prayer, which in its abbreviated form has become one of our own daily prayers:  “We adore Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, and in all Thy churches which are in the world, and we bless Thee, because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world!”  With humility of heart and with the unlimited trust of one who was spiritually innocent, Saint Francis was always the more attracted by Christ. Christ had revealed God the Father to Saint Francis and had granted him the “rest”, the peace of soul and of heart with which he took up the Cross with Christ, the “yoke” which, by the grace of God, became “sweet”, the “weight” which the Lord made light.

San Francesco scriveva della riverenza che deve essere accordata a Cristo nei testi che contengono la Sua parola, nei luoghi, le chiese e le cappelle dove egli dimora per noi, nei calici e nei lini utilizzati per la celebrazione della Santissima Eucaristia, e infine nel Santissimo Sacramento stesso: “Vorrei sopra ogni altra cosa – scrive San Francesco – che questo santo Sacramento sia onorato e venerato e riservato in posti preziosi riservati. Ogni volta che trovo il Suo santissimo nome o scritti contenenti le Sue parole in un posto inappropriato, mi sforzo di prenderli, ed io chiedo che siano presi e messi in un posto degno”. San Francesco descrive un modo di comportarsi che deve essere naturale per noi che crediamo in Cristo e nella Sua Presenza Reale.

Saint Francis wrote of the reverence which ought to be shown Christ in the writings which contained His words, in the places, the chuches and the chapels where He dwels for us, in the chalices and in the linens used for the celebration of the Most Holy Eucharist, and finally, in the Most Holy Sacrament itself:  “I want above all other things,” writes Saint Francis, “that this holy Sacrament be honored and venerated and reserved in the most precious, secure places.  Every time I find His Most Holy Name or the writings containing His words in an inappropriate place, I strive to taken them, and I ask that they be taken and placed in a worthy place”.  Saint Francis was describing a manner of comportment which should be natural for us who believein Christ and in His Real Presence.

San Francesco si è così avvicinato a Cristo che gli fu concesso il privilegio di portare nel suo proprio corpo “le stigmate di Cristo”, i segni della Presenza di Cristo in mezzo a noi, le ferite gloriose della Sua Passione e Morte. Contemplando le stigmate di San Francesco, siamo riempiti dal desiderio di conoscere e amare di più Cristo nella nostra vita, riconoscendo il volto di Cristo in quelli che sono per noi i lebbrosi, visitando Cristo nel Santissimo Sacramento, e curando tutte le cose associate alla Sua Presenza Eucaristica. Non abbiamo ricevuto la grazia di portare nel nostro corpo le stigmate di Cristo, ma preghiamo che Dio Padre, vedendo il nostro volto, voglia riconoscere il volto del Suo Figlio, il Signore Nostro Gesù Cristo.

Saint Francis drew so close to Christ that there was conceded to him the privilege of bearing in his own body “the stigmata of Christ”, the signs of Christ’s Presence in our midst, the glorious wounds of His own Passion and Death.  Contemplating the stigmata of Saint Francis, we are filled with the desire to know and love Christ better in our own life, by recognizing the visage of Christ in those who are lepers to us, by ivsiting Chirst in the Most Holy Sacrament, and by caring for all the things associated with His Eucharistic Presence.  We ourselves have not received the grace to bear in our own bodies the wounds of Christ, but we pray that God the Father, when He sees our faces, might deign to recognize the face of His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

È questa totale identificazione di se stesso con Cristo vivo per noi nella Chiesa che contempliamo nella vita e nel ministero apostolico di Papa Pio XII. Era così palpabile nella vita del Venerabile Papa che è stato chiamato con tanta stima ed affetto Pastor Angelicus.

Leviamo adesso i nostri cuori al Cuore glorioso trafitto di Gesù, cosicché l’amore divino che profluisce dalle Sue gloriose ferite e soprattutto dal Suo Cuore riempia i nostri cuori, e dai nostri cuori possano emanare, come sono emanati dal cuore di San Francesco d’Assisi e dal cuore del Venerabile Papa Pio XII, “fiumi di acqua viva” per la salvezza di molti. Preghiamo insieme con San Francesco d’Assisi: “Ti adoriamo, Signore Gesù Cristo, e in tutte le Tue chiese che sono nel mondo, e Ti benediciamo, perché per la Tua santa croce hai redento il mondo”.

This is the total identification of self with Christ who lives for us in the Church which we contemplate in the life and apostolic ministry of Pope Pius XII.  This was so apparent in the life of the Venerable Pope that he was called with much esteem and affection, the Pastor Angelicus (the Angelic Shepherd).

Let us raise, now, our own hearts to Jesus’ glorious pierced Heart, so that the Divine Love which flows forth form His glorious wounds and above all from His Heart might fill our own hearts, and from our hearts flow forth, like it flowed forth from the heart of Saint Francis of Assisi and from the heart of the Venerable Pope Pius XII, “rivers of living water” for the salvation of many.  Let us pray together with Saint Francis: “We adore Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, and in all Thy churches which are in the world, and we bless Thee, because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world!”
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Note: There is no equivalent of the Thee and Thou in Italian, but as it is customary in traditional Catholic English, I have rendered the 2nd person singular thus, in the words of my Seraphic Father, since this is what I do, out of respect for his profound faith, in my translation of his entire works, published by The Franciscan Archive.
Faith

Blessed are the Faithful !

Our Lord went up to the Mount and preached the Sermon which is considered the fundamental norm of Christian life.  It was on the 7 beatitudes.  Each beatitude can be summed up in one:  Blessed are those who are faithful to Me and My doctrine!

We live in a world where these words do not ring true in the ears of so many of our contemporaries.

Alas, they do not even ring true in the ears of many of our fellow Catholics.

And it is, dare say, not unexceptional to find that they do not even ring true in the ears of those who should be studying the words and teachings of the Lord.

Yet, it is a wonderful truth, and one worthy of every belief, that you are only blessed and will only be blessed if you be and remain faithful to Jesus Christ.

Let us thank God, therefore, for His Grace, which have made so many faithful.

Faithful to their Baptismal promises, in that they have not set their heart or devoted their career to the pursuit of the world, the flesh or the devil.

Faithful to their devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament, in that they never omit to attend Sunday or, more so, daily Mass, where Alone they can enjoy the physical and spiritual embrace of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Faithful to the grace they received in being Confirmed, in that they have followed His light and not contravened a properly Catholic conscience, seeking always to be more faithful to the Lord of Grace, day after day.

Faithful to the grace they received in their priestly Ordination, in that they have never compromised and have remained true to the Magisterium of the Church, the rubrics of the mass, the morals taught by Our Lord, to their duty to preach in season and out etc..

Faithful to the grace of a religious vocation, in which they have put God before and above all else, even to the cost of everything else.

Faithful to a true Catholic Hope, which seeks first the Kingdom of God, not the friendship of this world, keeping thus, their eyes on the Prize, Life on High with Christ Jesus.

Such fidelity is the opposite of pragmatism.

And in the name of pragmatism so many lose their immortal souls.  Because they say that it is easier

To be unfaithful to their Baptismal promises, easier to follow after the world, the flesh and/or the devil.

To be unfaithful to the pact they made with Christ at their first communion, and to forget that He descends from Heaven just to meet with them and be their daily sustenance.

To be unfaithful to the grace of their Confirmation, and live like their pagan contemporaries do, refusing nothing even if it offends God.

To be unfaithful to their vocation, whether to the priesthood or religious life, because they wanted to get ahead, get a promotion, be friends with everyone, and not take Religion too seriously.

To be unfaithful to Hope itself, and to despair, so as to sustain the excuse to wallow in their love of this world.

And you know, they are right!

It is always easier to be unfaithful.

And fidelity always costs… it in fact leads to the Cross!

But let us remember that the God who created us, who redeemed us, and who calls us to eternal life is  not merely the God of Love, the God who is Love.

He is the God of faithful love.

In fact that is His proper name.  The reason why the Apostle St. John does not call God “Faithful love” is because in Greek the adjective would give the phrase another sense, something like “opinionated love”.  Yet in Hebrew, what St. John is saying is , “God is faithful love”…

That does not mean He is always there to excuse…as so many false prophets of our day say…rather He is there always to accuse us of our sins, to recall us to fidelity, and to strengthen us when we turn to that path.

For this He has given us not only a conscience, a guardian Angel, but the opportunity to know and accept the One and Only True Faith; and the good example of so many Saints throughout history.

If we could sum up the spirit of the faithful catholic we could say it in one pean, one profound, joyful and heart shaking song:

O God, o Faithful Love, how I have loved Thee!

The decades I have traveled, the continents I have passed, the towns, nations, friends, family, career, inheritance, opportunities I have forsaken for Thee!  all these are nothing,

All that I have forsaken is but dust in comparison to Thee; nothing have I in fact lost, but in forsaking all, I have gained Thee, who even without Thy many gifts and blessings are infinitely worthy of my love.

Thou are my great Reward:  O God of faithful love! 

Thou art sufficient enough for me!

Be mine forever!

Faith

I have prayed for you Simon, that your faith may not fail…

In the Gospel of St. Luke 22:31-32, it is written:  And the Lord said: Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren.

Xp-PeterOur Lord and Master’s words are transgressed in many ways: often bloggers forget the ones about fraternal correction; there is a way Our Lord wants us to follow, and it is often a mortal sin to act differently because it harms or destroys the chances of our fallen brother’s conversion and repentance. Egging a man on, who is prone to let his mouth run, by correcting and insulting him in public, is not going to achieve his conversion. It is more likely to only make matters worse, to the great displeasure of Our Lord and God, who prefers the salvation of all, especially the more outstanding sinners.

Even the great saints who had to correct their highest earthly superior, did it with discretion, followed our Lord’s rules (first in private, then in private with another, then with the Church). St. Bernard and a council of Burgundian Bishops went to far as to threaten the Pope of their day with excommunication if he did not change his pastoral policy on the injustice of lay investiture … imagine, and that was not even primarily a question of heresy, just the Church’s liberty…

I think that many a blogger’s manner of contentiously pushing the issues from the get go of the present Papacy, helped the blossoming of the present crisis. [Proof:   The use by main stream news outlets of quotes found on Bloggers pages attacking Pope Francis. — For charity sake, I won’t name the blogs here.] It is easy to say things that ought not be said in public, when one uses a moniker, but that won’t excuse us before the Throne of Judgement.

A lot of Catholics at Rome are saying, in private and on the phone the same things, but the Italians have a great sensibility to the kind of proper discretion to be used in cases like this…

Comunque, as we say in Italian, let us pray doubly for the Pope, amend our own failings, and even do some fasting, joining ourselves with Christ in His own prayer, “I have prayed for you Simon, that your faith may not fail….”!