Our fourth session with the saints is just about to begin from the Heavenly regions where good Saint Joseph has assembled a reputable trio of holy ones who wish to share with us their concerns and counsel. Let us join them.
Saint Joseph: Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I welcome you to this fourth charitable discussion. I am grateful that you have come here out of the Fulcrum of Love which is the Beatific Vision. Joining me today are our guest:
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Saint Jerome, the venerated Doctor of the Church from the 4th Century who laboriously and, with all resoluteness to Truth and proper Latin, translated the Holy Scriptures into the Vulgate edition of the Holy Bible.
- Also Saint Joan of Arc, the second patron of France. This faithful Maid of Orleans, who, despite the cruel treatment by a political clergy, remained fiathful and stood for truth even though she was accused of heresy and burned at the stake in 1431. Good Pope Callistus III rejected all claims by self-serving prelates and absolved her in 1456.
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And the beloved Saint Isaac the Great. His father was the Patriarch Catholicos Saint Nerses I. He himself became the Catholicos of Armenia in 389 and who is credited with the advance of Armenian liturature, translating the Holy Scriptures and other Church documents into Armenian. It was he who helped Saint Mesrop create the Armenian alphabet.
The topic of our discussion today also touch on the document Dominus Jesu, how it differs from all others in the history of the True Faith of which the Roman Catholic Church is sole guardian.
Saint Jerome: My dear beloved brothers and sister in Christ, I wrote against many heresies in my day. It is very clear to me that this document is less than perfect, even at times being ambiguous, confusing, and contradictory.
Saint Joan of Arc: Did I not die in burning flames, condemned by wicked men who would not believe that God spoke to me, and I did His bidding before all others? I, too, find this document to be nothing more than double-speak, at a time when Holy Mother Church needs to raise up her battlements once again.
Saint Isaac the Great: Thus it was for me, too. It was through Constantine that I secured the right for the Armenian Church to stand on its own. Through this document that we are discussing it appears to me that the one who wrote it is trying to please everybody, in particular those who are deliberately separated from the One True Faith. It troubles me greatly, this document.
St. Joseph: I fear, dear Isaac, you are right. Perhaps we can compare Dominus Jesu with the writings of others who have written in defense of the One True Faith.
St. Jerome: Yes, I agree that we should lead the faithful to other writings of previous Popes in order to show the confusion, ambiguity, and double-speak. In that way, we may help the faithful to realize that the optimistic face conciliar Rome puts on is a facade. The shadow of heresy is spread about, waiting to overtake the entire Roman Curia at any moment. Now, I myself wrote quite extensively about the One Truth Faith, and defended this Faith against several heresies. However, I think it better to hold this 'new' church which began with Vatican Council II, against a more recent Pontiff's writings.
St. Isaac the Great: Our was a very troubled time indeed, Jerome. I think that one of the best writings belongs to Pope Pius XI. He clearly defined the One True Faith which resides in the Roman Catholic Church alone.
St. Joseph: Dear Jerome and Joan of Arc, do you feel the same way? That is, do you wish to present to the faithful a more recent writing defending the faith, that of Pius XI.
St. Jerome and St. Joan of Arc: We agree with all our soul!
St. Joseph: Would you be so kind, Jerome, to bring forth that particular reference of Pius XI to all the faithful who read of our discussions?
St. Jerome: Gladly, Joseph. Pope Pius XI wrote: "In this sole Church of Christ, no one is found nor does anyone remain unless he recognizes and accepts the obedience, the authority and power of Peter and of his legitimate successors…Unfortunately there have been children who deserted the paternal home…Let them hear the voice of Lactancius exclaiming: 'Only…the Catholic Church preserves the true worship. It is the source of truth the swelling place of faith, the temple of God. He who does not enter it, or he who leaves it, loses all the dwelling place of faith, the temple of God. He who does not enter it, or he who leaves it, loses all hope of life and salvation. Let no one allow himself to be carried away by recalcitrant contestations. This is a matter of life and salvation. If one is not attentively and prudently vigilant, it is perdition and death'."
St. Joan of Arc: My soul resounds with the beauty of these words. How greatly they pleased Our Lord, God, and Savior, and appeared to remove the crown of Thorns from His Most Sacred Heart. Yet, today this is not the case. He is being scourged daily by the deconstruction of Holy Mother Church. These words, as beautiful as they are, can only instill in souls a righteous anger for the forty years of deliberate protestantism of the Church. This righteous anger must awaken the many faithful from their long and lukewarm sleep, and once again rise up to fight for the One True Faith.
St. Isaac the Great: How much we all lived for the Triune Divinity, and for the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ! We did battle with the evil one; we did battle with the men of our time. Yet, we did not stray from the Truth, for we always sought that infallible Truth which is found only in the Roman Catholic Church.
St. Joseph: As Universal Patron of the Roman Catholic Church, I am appalled that now in this so-called 'enlightenment', the Truth is ever more cleverly concealed, for the sake of a one-world global society. Why, my dear friends do you think this global society seems so pleasing to the faithful, and even to the Magisterium of the Church?
St. Jerome: When one has been brainwashed for forty years, dear Joseph, anything can happen. Please note that the Council occurred at that time in salvation history when she should have held her banner high and marched into the battle of modernism with no compromise.
St. Joan of Arc: Yes, that was the battlefront in the Church. The Council was, in and of itself, a real battlefield upon which the solid doctrine, dogma, tradition, and teaching of the perennial Magisterium was challenged and overthrown by theologians who should have been silenced for their heresy.
St. Jerome: I might remind all that those very theologians had been condemned and exiled first by Pope Pius IX and then Pope Pius XII.
St. Joan of Arc: Sadly Pius' successor undid the good by unleashing these men bent on destruction. I dare say many of the Council Fathers were good men who were overwhelmed by the rhetoric of those who came ready to do battle with tradition in favor of a liberal, scaled-down Church that would gradually reduce itself to merely another Christian church among many.
St. Isaac the Great: All of us in Heaven wept when we saw the wrong spirit overtake the council. We knew the hidden agenda behind the Council, called by a man who had already believed the lie of Marxism. How saddened we were when the Council gained momentum under the liberal plans of John XXIII.
St. Joseph: So sad. That was the phase the modernists had waited for. Now they seek to complete the demolition I fear. Recently the conciliar Magisterium has promulgated Dominus Jesu as the definitive understanding of the Church's position regarding Our Lord Jesus Christ, and in this light to the common Catholic it would seem to uphold the missionary nature of the Church Militant.
St. Jerome: Oh, it does not come close to being a definitive understanding. All this document does is throw seeds of ecumenism into the winds of turmoil around which all other Christian churches revolve, feeding into the pagan religions as well such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and many more, even, I daresay, New Ageism and Freemasonry.
St. Joan of Arc: Do you see as clearly as I do that the present Magisterium cannot make any definitive declarations for to do so would fly in the face of the Council?
St. Isaac the Great: How deeply satan has penetrated into Holy Mother Church! The hierarchy is in disobedience to the Pontiff, and the Pontiff works for a global society built on the ideals of the French Revolution. Lucifer has put to shame the work of all the men and women that comprise the Mystical Body of Christ. There are men called theologians who refute the existence of hell and of Purgatory. I dare say even cardinals.
St. Joseph: While there have always been renegades who profess to better the One True Faith, it would seem then that never have such self-excommunicated heretics, schismatics, and apostates had freer reign over the fullness of Truth which resides in the Roman Catholic Church today.
St. Joan of Arc: That is because, dear Joseph, from the moment the Council was announced, and the politics of the age, the thought of 'modern' man was bent to the left, to the liberal, Marxist side. Those whom Pius XII censored and exiled for their heretical, apostate, schismatic views were the very ones who came to a leadership role in the Church. How favored were these very men to John XXIII.
St. Jerome: I was most shocked when Pope John Paul II replaced the Vulgate Bible with the 'New Vulgate" in 1970. My translation of the Bible from its original texts was the work of the Holy Spirit. Now, it appears, that any one of the faithful may use any translation of the Bible he or she wishes, for all are good. I can tell you that they are not all good.
St. Isaac the Great: What then are we to do in order to help the Church Militant?
St. Joseph: First of all to remind the faithful that they do not walk alone. They must realize there are those who have held fast to the One True Faith since the Council, and have not budged an inch toward compromise. Yet they have incurred the wrath and ridicule of the conciliar Church.
St. Jerome: Ah, the beloved, loyal traditional Catholics. Without them I fear so much more would have been lost.
St. Joan of Arc: I would venture to add to that group those million plus faithful who refused to follow the Novus Ordo, who heeded the infallible words of past holy pontiffs such as Pope Pius V who declared that the Latin Mass would be said for all time without change. They were led by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre - a countryman who, like me, has been much maligned by those whose agenda is finite. He, too, was burned at the stake - the stake of his heart - by the unmitigated gall of the Pope excommunicating one who sought to be loyal to the absolutes of the Faith. Even today his followers refuse to compromise the Faith, no matter what conciliar Rome promises. Like I was, Archbishop Lefebvre will someday be exonerated and exalted for his resistance to change the True Faith. While so many chose the wide road strewn with roses, he chose the narrow way that leads to salvation.
St. Isaac the Great: Yes, they who united under the banner of Society of St. Pius X, and the traditional ones who remain in the Church, but refuse to compromise their Faith - they are truly the remnant that seeks to keep the Faith alive in a sea of indifference and insurrection. Even in my own beloved Armenian Church there was schism. There is still consternation about the reuniting with Rome.
St. Joseph: We must somehow make the faithful aware that many of the conciliar bishops and priests are leading their flocks astray. Many may well be in heresy, apostasy, even schism. You speak of the narrow way, Joan. My beloved foster Son attested to this, which the faithful St. Matthew recorded, "Enter by the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who enter that way. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you shall know them."
St. Jerome: Ah, yes, Joseph, I know it well, "Do men gather grapes off thorns, or figs off thistles? Even so every good tree brings forth bad fruit. A good tree cannot yield bad fruit, neither can a bad tree yield good fruit. Every tree that yields not good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them."
St. Isaac the Great: As much as the conciliar Church seeks to manufacture fruits, there are none from Vatican II. None. Why do the faithful not realize this, Joseph?
St. Joseph: A good question, Isaac. Quite possibly of what Jesus said in John's gospel, "For judgment have I come into this world, that they who do not see may see, and they who see may become blind....If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, 'We see' your sin remains." Just as the Pharisees were, so also so many today are blind to the truth. We must let them know that the One True Faith still exists.
St. Joan of Arc: Yes, the Traditionalists, as they are called by the Magisterium, have held the Faith, and retained all doctrine, dogma, tradition and teaching firmly in their souls through a very dark period indeed for Holy Mother Church. We must assist more of the faithful in making the move from the exploited Novus Ordo "worship space" and back toward the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
St. Jerome: I agree with you, Joan. The One True Faith is not dead. It exists in the Latin Rite, and there alone it is safe…
St. Joseph: Excuse me, but I believe we are nearly out of time for this discussion. If I may I offer a suggestion: Let us call the faithful to intense prayer and the worthy reception of the sacraments. Let us call them to read, study, and research the very fundamentals of the One True Faith. If only they will open their hearts to Him, then they will very quickly desert that which has besmirched the One True Faith from the Vatican Council II onward.
St. Isaac the Great: Amen, Joseph.
St. Jerome: We will work overtime here among the Church Triumphant for the sake of the full Mystical Body of Christ.
St. Joan of Arc: Were that I were still a member of the Church Militant I would myself be willing to lead the faithful on the battleline, all for my beloved Church, for my beloved France that has so lost the way. I implore the faithful to arm themselves for spiritual warfare and follow St. Paul's wisdom to put on the armor of God.
St. Joseph: My dear friends, Our Lord will never desert His Church. Now is the time of her greatest trial. We will meet again later to discuss other issues that swirl in today's Church; please come to any discussion that takes place, since we hold these for you - the Church Militant. Your participation is much needed. To all faithful readers, we send you Heavenly greetings and blessings from the Almighty. Continue on the path to the full Truth, and do not let your conscience become dulled by the fallacies that have befallen Holy Mother Church. Until next time, go with God!