My dear Roman Catholic brethren in Christ,

    Since last I wrote to you worldwide events in general, and those here in the United States have hopefully caused a few more people to wake up, to see with the eyes of their soul that the beginning of the Great Chastisement has begun. I have prayed for hearts to melt, for Divine Wisdom to descend upon minds, awakening them from their comatose state of indifference.

    One question some may be asking is: Why: Why chastisements? Things have never looked better. Through "ecumenism" "dialogue" "tolerance" "the new springtime of the church". God surely must be pleased!

    Sacred Scripture as well as approved apparitions of the Blessed Mother categorically deny such a "rosy" outlook. Simply put, we are living in the most tenebrous time since Jesus Christ founded the One True Church on St. Peter, His rock. Even those who, by God's mercy, have never known the Novus Ordo, or who have found their way back to the True Faith, bicker and fight, finger-pointing at others who are preserving the True Faith with the most appalling lack of charity. This type of sniping at one another, this dissension within the small remnant of Traditionalists must cease! We, who by God's mercy alone, have been chosen to preserve the One True Faith, do not have the time to quarrel, like a bunch of kindergarten bullies taunting one another on the playground at recess. More to the point, such quarreling comes from satan, who recognizes the great threat all who preserve the True Faith pose, and the father of lies conquers best by dividing.

    We are not Catholic if we continue this most unChrist-like assault upon one another. For the love of our dear Lord and His Holy Mother Mary, STOP!!! The Mother of God is most unhappy, weeping for her children who are so hard-hearted, who think they know all the answers. Because today is the feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we should reflect on why she sheds so many tears, and listen to our Heavenly Mother.

    Yes, these are confusing times. Very critical times for immortal souls are at stake. In truth, there is a fear within many Novus Ordo adherents that if they don't stand with the conciliar church, they may be forever lost; within the Traditional movement fear lurks as well and for the same reason - fear of being deceived and thus lost for all eternity. Yet, God has already provided everything we need to know and how to remain faithful to the One True Faith until the end. God explains all things to us very simply. It is our finite intellect, often accompanied by a certain degree of pride that gets us into spiritual trouble, battling one another, rather than the real foe: Lucifer and his minions.

    Sacred Scripture bears witness to these times and I will share that with you in a moment. First I want to remind you of Heavenly warnings. At LaSalette, Our Blessed Mother, weeping, told Melanie that "Rome will lose the faith and become the seat of the Antichrist." (Please note: Our Blessed Mother said, "will" not "could", or "perhaps become." She used "will" - in other words: it must happen. Why? Sacred Scripture foretells this, and all Scripture must be fulfilled.

    Our Lady said it again at Fatima, but the conciliar church has tried to bury Fatima and the Third Secret. Why? Why would God's true priests, shepherds, and His Vicar work so insidiously for well over forty years to bury Fatima: Truly, a Roman Catholic would reveal the "Secret" as Our Lady requested be done in 1960. Any Roman Catholic of good will wants to listen and obey Heaven's warnings, lest we be deceived and go astray. God, in His Infinite Goodness, knew His adversary would attempt to thwart His Most Holy Mother's message, so He revealed this great heresy and apostasy to Venerable Mother Marianna de Jesus Torres, who received over 40 apparitions from the Queen of Heaven and earth under the loving invocation of Our Lady of Good Success.

    Now, I would like to tell you some of the major points of the Great Prophecy revealed by Our Lady of Good Success to her chosen daughter, Mother Marianna de Jesus, a Conceptionist Religious who lived in the latter part of the 16th Century until January, 1635. This contemplative religious, whose life is just now becoming known - for this also was God's plan to keep this hidden until the end of the 20th century - was a willing expiatory victim for our times, and thus she is very close to all of us, particularly those who are struggling with every ounce of their strength to preserve the One True Faith, to persevere in this Faith, and to work together for the complete restoration of the Faith, as a golden era awaits beyond this present unprecedented crisis. In order for Our Lady's words to bear greater meaning for you, penetrating not only your mind, but the intellect of your soul, I will diverge for a moment to demonstrate just how diabolical are the times in which we have been chosen by God to live. So, bear with me for a moment, please.

    As some of you may or may not know, there is currently a very ugly "smear" campaign going on in the Traditionalist movement aimed exclusively against those among this small remnant who are called "sedevacantists." While some label this a 'bad word' others consider it a necessary word to preserve the Faith. One group of faithful souls believe, by the grace of the Holy Ghost and the study of the Roman Catholic Faith from it roots straight through to the Pontificate of Pope Pius XII, that from the Vatican Council II until the present time there has not been a valid pope. The other group of faithful souls say there has been, but while accusing the former group of establishing their own Magisterium, they do the very same thing by judging everything the conciliar popes and bishops do and castigating them freely, and accuse others of criticizing and judging. Both groups have the right to judge anyone who proclaims to be a true Roman Catholic yet by word or deed contradicts the Divinely revealed Sacred Deposit of Faith, which includes judging whether the "popes" of Vatican Council II and beyond, those who have created a synthetic, man-made religion that dare use the name "Catholic", when in reality it is anything but…and is, in fact, the Devil's clever parallel church to lead countless souls to perdition.

    Now both groups have studied their faith, from its beginning, down through the centuries with all legitimate Councils, the writings of the Doctors, Fathers, Popes, and countless saints, all of whom have taught that if a person denies even ONE iota of the Divinely revealed Truth of the Roman Catholic Church, he denies all. And in this denial of even one article of the Faith, the person is no longer a member of the Mystical Body of Christ, no longer a Roman Catholic, and should that person happen to be a religious, a cleric, bishop, Archbishop, Cardinal…or even the Vicar of Christ, that person has no authority whatsoever, for he is not even a member of the True Church. Our Lord says in Matthew 5: 18, For amen, I say to you, till Heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall not pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."

   The above quote is from the Douay-Rheims version and in the Haydock commentary on this verse this is likened to an oath,

"It is used by our Lord as a strong asseveration, and affirmation of the truth. Ch - Not one jot (or not one iota), nor one tittle, i.e. not the least letter, nor stroke of a letter: that is, not the least moral precept. Besides every type and figure of the former law, now by My coming shall be fulfilled. Wi - 'Aunv', is retained in the Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, and Armenian languages, as well as in all vulgar idioms. It is a term ofasserveration, and equivalent to an oath: and in many places, to make the asserveration still stronger, it is repeated."

    Asserveration means to strongly affirm and we know from documents, decrees, commissions and omissions that the Faith has not been strongly affirmed over the past 40 plus years. We also know only too well how oaths are broken in the conciliar church such as the vows of chastity and obedience, even poverty. Then there is the Solemn Pontifical Oath that has been totally discarded along with the traditional coronation. So what are we to think? Now, we cannot know the mind or the heart of those we must judge by their words and actions, for that we must and do leave to Almighty God. But God doesn't want us to just sit back and do nothing when the True Faith has been eclipsed right before our eyes, and a substitute mockery called the 'conciliar' church has swept the world in just a few decades.

    To not veer one iota from the Faith is simple, straight forward Catholic Teaching, and we are required to know our Faith as thoroughly as possible, with the grace of God and our God-given abilities. None of us are required to have a string of letters behind our name proclaiming to the world of academia that we have a greater grasp of the Truth - that is God - than anyone else. It does not take a rocket scientist to see what is right before our eyes to see and recognize heresy and apostasy and schism when it's displayed for us from news and pictures of the conciliar church in action.

    I will repeat once again: God reveals Himself to His children, and in particular to those to whom He has given the One True Faith, in simplicity. The Father of lies, the great deceiver, is the spirit of darkness, confusion, and complexity.

    It is sad, therefore, that a certain person who has, for years, fought to preserve the Faith, has launched this diabolical attack upon all sedevacantists, and the very tabloids this person writes for, have presented in these same issues which contain the written attacks on sedevacantists, other articles by their personal cadre of "expert" writers, and lo and behold: One article contradicts the other, causing more confusion and division, and consequently nullifying their own position and credibility, which roughly boils down to "We can have our Pope and can beat him, too" - which, I am sorry, dear reader, but is the height of hypocrisy.

    Remember five years ago Fatima and the "Third Secret" which the Vatican released in June of 2000? It left a stunned world with jaws gaping, even hitting the ground. From all other approved apparitions of Our Lord and His Most Holy Mother, Heaven's warnings are clear and precise. The "interpretation" of the Third Secret, put forth by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now proclaimed Benedict XVI), was, to say the least, an affront to all true Roman Catholics, and even more damaging, a sacrilege to Our Blessed Lord and His Most Holy Mother. By trying to bury Fatima, these wolves in sheep's clothing have abused the power of the Mother of God as Advocate, Mediatrix, and Co-Redemptrix. And God will not be mocked! He will most certainly not permit his very own "ministers" of whatever rank, to mock His Mother!

    This pathetic attempt to bury Fatima's "Third Secret" is just one of the telltale signs of a false church, complete with heresy, apostasy, and schism. Now, let me just tell you of an astounding revelation Fr. Paul Kramer made in a recemt issue of "The Fatima Crusader", Summer 2005 issue (no. 80), pg. 36 which Mario Derksen has brought to everyone's attention. Why Fr. Kramer waited until now in the year 2005, who knows. But he tells his readers that when the Vatican version of the "Third Secret" was disseminated, a former seminary-professor of Fr. Kramer, and a personal friend of John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger, made haste to the Vatican for a show-down with Cardinal Ratzinger. Mincing no words, this "friend" (please note Fr. Kramer does not reveal the name of this "friend"), demanded of Cardinal Ratzinger to tell him the truth. Was the "Third Secret" put forth by the conciliar church the real thing? He demanded to know if what had been put forth was the entire Third Secret. This "friend" of Fr. Kramer was irate, and apparently was able to back Cardinal Ratzinger into a corner he could not get out of. This is what Fr. Kramer reports Ratzinger said to his friend:

"Truly, that was not all of it"…The friend continued to demand the truth. "What is the Secret? If that's not all of it, well, what is there?" In reply Ratzinger said that in the Third Secret, Our Lady warns that there will be an evil council. And she warned against the changes: She warned against making changes in the liturgy, changes in the Mass. This is explicitly set forth in the Third Secret."

    Are you amazed? Shocked? Disgusted? More confused than ever? Mad that we have been lied to by the very ones we should be able to trust? Deep down in our Roman Catholic souls, nearly every one of us believed that the "Third Secret of Fatima" was a warning of a grave danger to the Faith, and to the faithful. And when the Vatican tried to worm its way out of the truth of the Third Secret, they had to lie, deceive, and worse…they jeopardized the eternal salvation of millions of souls in the Mystical Body of Christ, not to mention the salvation of innumerable souls throughout the world - especially Russia - which country and its people have suffered terrible persecution because not one Pope had the courage to demand that his Bishops around the world join him in consecrating Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. If by now you are not righteously angry, I do not know what it will take to wake you up.

    Now, in His Infinite Love for all souls, and those souls who, through baptism into the Roman Catholic Faith, is so great, that God trumped the devil even before Lucifer could blink, and sent His Most Holy Mother to a cloistered nun in Quito, Ecuador. To this saintly nun, Venerable Mother Marianna de Jesus Torres, Our Heavenly Mother showed Mother Marianna these very times in which we live, and asked her to be an expiatory victim for all who would live in these times. Mother Marianna readily accepted the Queen of Heaven's request, and suffered her entire life in expiation and reparation for us, and for the shortening of this time which would have no human solution, but a divine one: The miraculous intervention of the Mother of God! While the conciliar church has lied and deceived and caused the loss of so many souls, burying the Third Secret long before anyone realized it, Our Lady spoke at great length to the Father's chosen daughter, Mother Marianna de Jesus Torres about these times.

    Of over forty apparitions of the Mother of God under the tender and loving invocation of "Our Lady of Good Success" to Mother Marianna, the main apparition is so significant for us in these times. This apparition occurred on February 2, 1634. Mother Marianna de Jesus was praying before the Blessed Sacrament. Suddenly she saw the sanctuary light extinguish itself, leaving the altar place completely dark. The Mother of God, The Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Good Success appeared to Mother Marianna and explained to her the five meanings for the extinguishing of the Sanctuary Lamp. Again, I want to reiterate how grateful I am and every single true Catholic should be to Dr. Marian Therese Horvat for bringing this all to light by translating for our times the wonderful books Tradition In Action has published on the prophesies of Our Lady of Good Success and Mother Marianna. I can't recommend enough that every one should make these books a permanent possession of your spiritual library.

    Today, I will list the five reasons provided, and then together we will examine these five reasons, and how they relate to the grave crisis in the Church and in the world today.

• The first reason for the Sanctuary light being extinguished was due to the number of heresies that would be propagated at the end of the 19th, and particularly the 20th century.

• The second reason spoke of the loss of religious vocations, due to infiltration of the Masonic sects having taken over control of all governments, and particularly education of youth. Vocations begin in one's youth, are nourished in homes, and by living the One True Faith. Masonic sects would insidiously work to extinguish the flame of vocations.

• The third reason is that the spirit of impurity would permeate the atmosphere, like a filthy ocean this impurity would all but snuff out virginity, causing a further calamity.

• The fourth reason for the Sanctuary light being extinguished was due to the Masonic sects feeding on the youth, particularly in the schools, where childhood innocence would be invaded, and this would in turn cause a loss of many vocations to the priesthood, resulting in a true calamity for the One True Church.

      Our Lady of Good Success told Mother Marianna there would still be a few true priests who would labor for the sanctification of souls, and these just priests would be persecuted by those "priests" who would lose their way, lose their vocation. She described to Mother Marianna that during these times in which we are living, the secular priesthood would "leave much to be desired", thus fueling the enemies of God and of the church to complete their nefarious plan. "How the Church will suffer during this dark night!" Lacking a prelate and father to guide them with paternal gentleness, strength, wisdom and prudence, many priests will lose their spirit, placing their souls in great danger."

      Our Lady of Good Success begged Mother Marianna, her sisters and all who would follow her in their divine vocation to beg God to shorten this period by sending to His Church an unmistakenly true Prelate and Father to guide the priests back onto the straight path.

• The fifth reason for the Sanctuary Light being extinguished would be due to the indifference of the wealthy, who would not use their temporal goods to defend the True Faith, not even to help the few just souls who, chosen by God to work for the restoration of the Faith, would labor night and day, while the wealthy hoarded their wealth and did nothing for Her Divine Son and His Church. The apathy of the majority of souls would also lead the devil and his minions to complete their task, to destroy the Roman Catholic Church. Virtue would be destroyed; the complete decadence of customs and manners would reach its apex, sending countless souls to perdition.

    Now, let's look closer at the meaning of her words and the reasons for the extinguishing of the Sanctuary lamp. Does Our Lady of Good Success not desire all of us to pray constantly, and to grow in virtue? Definitely, particularly the virtue of humility, patience, valor, fortitude, silence, resignation, tolerance, and every other virtue, crowned by that of the practice of Seraphic Charity, as shown to us through the life of St. Francis of Assisi.

    Does she not ask that within the small remnant we cease to quarrel and condemn? She asks us to be united in the fight for the One True Faith, and to call upon her under the tender invocation of Our Lady of Good Success, when, in our struggle to preserve and restore the True Faith, all seems paralyzed and lost. Remember, it is darkest before the dawn.

    Right now, there is much confusion being sown by both those who call themselves sedevacantists and those who could be termed anti-sedevacantist. The fact remains that both have one very important common thread that binds them: they strive to live as Authentic Roman Catholics. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is no different in a SSPX chapel as it is in a CMRI chapel; the Catechism taught in the Society school is no different than that taught by SSPV; the Sacraments administered in 1957 are the very same ones administered today in every SSPX, CMRI, SSPV and Independent parish. By and large Traditional Catholics do not come from academia or the scholarly set, but in grass roots Catholicism where they realize what the True Faith consists of. Traditional Catholics believe in the Primacy of Peter and ALL the truths and traditions handed down from Christ and His Apostles. They are sincere of heart and have one goal in mind: Heaven and the best application to achieve this. They realize that attending services and following men who are preaching a gospel other than that which was received (cf. Galatians 1: 7-9) is most harmful to souls and especially their own. The Apostle Paul's words "let him be anathema" repeated twice in those two verses are pretty strong. Rather, I would say dear reader, the strongest words one could use to deter one from believing anyone or anything that "would pervert the Gospel of Christ."

    Therefore, should someone be condemned for disobeying man and obeying God? I doubt it very much. The last anyone with a sincere heart checked, Divine Revelation trumps Church Law whether it be canonical or precepts, hierarchical jurisdiction, etc. Jesus Himself foretold these times. First of all, remember the Sanctuary lamp? What is the significance of that being extinguished? Where would one find a lit Sanctuary lamp and why? In the Sanctuary,of course, where the Tabernacle resides, and in that Tabernacle rests the Holy of holies - Christ present Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity - in the reserved Sacred Hosts confected during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass when the Transubstantiation takes place at the Consecration of the Bread and Wine in the Canon of the Mass. It is a fact that Bread alone cannot be consecrated, just as the Wine alone cannot be consecrated. They both must be consecrated for Transubstantiation to take place. Now if we are to believe all that we have been taught and handed down from the Apostles on regarding Catholic truth, we can see that the Divine Rite of the Mass of Saints Peter and Paul cannot be altered, especially in the Canon. In fact a very holy Roman Pontiff assured this in his Papal Bull Quo Primum which guaranteed that it could never be changed and for anyone to do so would "incur the wrath of Almighty God and the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul." Considering someone dared to overturn this saintly Pope and draw up a parallel rite that was not only man-made through and through, but contradicted Catholic truth in order to placate non-Catholics we again see in Divine Revelation what Paul says in Galatians 1: 11, "For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? If I did yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ." So in realizing the truths of our faith being not only compromised but altered, are we then to follow those who are not the servants of Christ per Paul's definition or are we to cling and be obedient to the Word of God no matter the persecution the faithful would face which Christ promised would surely come?

    Our Lord also promised He would be with us for all time (Matthew 28: 20) with the proviso that His Church follow His commands "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" and Matthew 16: 18, "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." So why then does it seem like those very gates are prevailing today? Could it be because Christ has kept His promise and the gates are not closing in on His Church, but rather on a false church established by man that embodies the principles of the French Revolution and the Masonic-Communist revolution to overthrow the only obstacle standing in the way of the prince of the world - the Holy Catholic Church?

    Matthew 24 holds the key here. We read Our Lord's words in verse 4-6: "Take heed that no man seduce you: For many will come in My name, saying, I am Christ: and they will seduce many. And you shall hear wars, and rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled. For these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."

    So we are not yet, therefore, in what could be called the definitive "End Times." But we know we are in the latter times; whether that is of an era or of the world, only God knows. But the signs are everywhere, but more on that in a little bit. For now, if I may, allow me to divert to another passage from Second Thessalonians 2: 3-10, "Let no man deceive you by any means: for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition who opposeth, and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God. Remember you not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now you know what withholdeth, that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity already worketh: only that he who now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out of the way. And then that wicked one shall be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: him whose coming is according to the working of Satan, in all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and in all seduction of iniquity to them that perish: because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. Therefore God shall send them the operation of error, to believe a lie. That all may be judged, who have not believed the truth, but have consented to iniquity."

    Did you catch that? "God shall send them the operation of error, to believe a lie." What better description of the Vatican II revolution than this? It also very much applies to the Protestant Reformation, the Masonic roots of the French Revolution, and before that the demonic Islamic religion formed by Mohammed in which he picked and chose that which he wanted to believe and discarded, even degradaded the rest. So also the Protestants. Now compare that to Traditional Catholics who would rather obey God than man, especially man who has bought into the very lie the Apostle foretells, just as Our Lady foretold in Equador in the 16th and early 17th century and again in the 19th century at La Salette. Was it not the Blessed Mother who told the visionary Melanie "Rome will lose the Faith and become the Seat of the Antichrist"? Did Our Lady not use the words that "the Church would seem to be in eclipse"?

    Since we have the Word of God and His Mother's words on these very times, why should we be surprised? Why should we doubt those who endeavor to stand firm? Isn't that what St. Paul encourages?

    "But we ought to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of God, for that God hath chosen you first-fruits unto salvation, in sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth: whereunto also He hath called you by our gospel, unto the purchasing the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand firm; and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word, or by our epistle" (2 Thessalonians 2: 11-14).

    Now, returning to Matthew 24, we see further how Jesus foretold these very times just as His Blessed Mother reminded Mother Marianna and little Melanie two centuries later and again to the visionaries at Fatima in pinpointing not only the time, but the offenses.

    "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in places"     Is there any doubt how this applies to the last century and today? Consider the terrible wars of the 20th century, the plagues that have visited civilization and the forces of nature that have erupted. All these are signs - "the beginnings of sorrows" - as Jesus says: "Now all these are the beginnings of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall put you to death: and you shall be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then shall many be scandalized, and shall betray one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall seduce many. And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold" (Matthew 24: 8-12).

    Can we not see how the persecutions have increased. Of course the early Christians were put to death for Christ and many in the Crusades and then the Protestant Revolt, but this last century millions were killed, many betrayed behind the Iron Curtain by those very shepherds who they had trusted. Was it not those very shepherds who scandalized so many and betrayed the Church at Vatican II? Was it not these same bishops and periti who manipulated and betrayed the martyrs who died for the Faith with the Pact of Metz, the Balamand Agreement, the Lutheran Concord, the total concession to the Jews, the needless apologies of John Paul II? So many have been betrayed that we term the trials and tribulations of today's Catholic striving to preserve the true Faith and the constituted evangelic traditions as "dry martyrdom." There are many who fall into that category. And yet, sadly, there are also many of us Traditional Catholics who also fall into, because iniquity has multiplied, that void where the love of Jesus has not been as productive as it should be. Thus, our charity has grown cold. Is this right? Why do we lash out at our fellow Catholics who believe the very same things we do? So some do not have the same 'opinion' but it has nothing to do with the dogmas. Just as there are many religious orders who do things differently, they are still united in the Faith. Why do we attack each other? Aren't there enough souls to convert rather than turning against our own? I would hope and pray so. Besides the pagan, the Jew, the Moslem, the Buddhist, the Hindu and, of course, the Protestant, not to mention New Agers, Gnostics and Atheists, there is another group who badly need to know the truth - those who continue to be deceived by the synthetic rite of Paul VI.

    That is why we must take seriously, very seriously Our Lord's words in Matthew 24: 13-15: "But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations, and then shall the consummation come. When therefore, you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel, the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that readeth let him understand"

    There have been many interpretations, but the Church's discernment has always been of the "abomination of desolation" is not in the temple of Jerusalem as evangelicals misread, but as an unholy sacrifice replacing the 'holy sacrifice' in the New Jerusalem which is Christ's Church. So what could that 'unholy sacrifice' be but the new order rite that gutted the True Mass of its sacrificial nature and turned it into a 'meal' or, as the late John Paul II exclusively called it, an "Eucharistic Celebration."

    Let us presume that a devout group of Catholics fell into a coma in 1957 and awoke in 2005. Yes, it is a stretch to be in a coma for so long, but let us presume they did. What would be their reaction to the changes? Do you think they would recognize it as Catholic? Hardly. Do you think, when hearing the new pope speaking and compromising with the Jews and other false religions that they would not be scandalized? Do you think that scandal would turn into outrage when they learned of the sexual abuse and cover-ups? Do you think they would be shocked when they saw the new Catechism, or attended a Novus Ordo or saw the mode of dress, mood and nonchalant manner of behavior? Definitely they would be. So do you think they would be schismatic if they chose not to accept this new religion, but rather stand firm and hold fast to the traditions they had learned? Do you think they would not seek out with all fervor a semblance of the old Faith they had been weaned on and loved? Once they found it, would they be placing their eternal souls in jeopardy by resuming the pious practice of worshipping God, giving Him thanks, begging forgiveness for their sins, and petitioning Him for blessings by assisting in the Latin Mass they remember without any alterations? Hardly, they would be doing what Christ and St. Paul advised. But because many have been seduced, and have believed the lie, they would accuse those who were sincere and simple Catholics, yearning to be obedient to their heart governed by Our Lord and Savior, and guided by their Heavenly Mother, and would proclaim those standing firm as 'schismatic' or 'excommunicated'.

    From this little exercise we can see the folly of calling these good Catholics who awoke in 2005 being called 'schismatics' or 'excommunicants' for, in truth, they are faithful Catholics who are like little children, trusting in the Triune Divinity. They are only striving to do what is necessary for their salvation. They don't have an agenda, they don't have ulterior motives, only to save their own souls and their neighbor's soul. Isn't that what Christ asks? Then why the furor of trying to divide those who believe the Chair of Peter has been vacant from those who believe it is not vacant - only occupied by bad, albeit possibly evil popes? Do you think those Catholics who were in a coma for 48 years would say we must obey these men who are called pope even though they contradict Sacred Scripture, not to mention Tradition? No, they would run the other way and have nothing to do with them, and take refuge where Christ was truly present and His Church - even if it were only a remnant - truly resided.

    I think it is important to realize why Our Lady has not publicly appeared to the hierarchy of the Church but rather to an insignificant, humble nun in Quito, to an Aztec peasant two and a half centuries before, to another insignificant, humble nun at Rue du Bac in the early 19th century, to simple shepherd children in 1848 in the steep climes of the French Alps in a place called La Salette, to a simple peasant girl who was highly doubted - even by her own parents - in the Pyranees in Lourdes a decade later, and to three very innocent, naive children in Portugal in 1917. Many ask that if it was so important to convert millions, why didn't Mary appear to the Bishop himself? Or why did she appear to a nun who was cloistered and couldn't get the word out? Or why choose two children who weren't even that pious in La Salette when Our Lady could have appeared to the cardinal or Pope Pius IX? Or why a young girl suspected of not being mentally stable at Lourdes instead of the local mayor, pastor, bishop or even the Pope? And why would the Blessed Mother choose three young children, who knew very little about their faith at the Cova, to spread such a vital message as the conversion of Russia? Why wouldn't she have appeared to His Holiness Benedict XV in 1917 or to someone who could get the word out faster?

    The answer lies in Christ's words in Mark 10: 15 and Luke 18: 17, "Amen, I say to you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall not enter into it."

    And that brings us, as we read ahead in Matthew 24, to verse 24, "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if it were possible) even the elect."