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The Heavenly broadcast clues us in that we can anticipate the Renovation

      In today's editorial we commemorate the 81st anniversary of the final Fatima apparition in stressing what the Blessed Virgin Mary imparted to the visionaries that rainy day which climaxed with the sun dancing and strobing wildly in a phenomena referred to as the "Miracle of the sun." Many believe it will take a miracle to save civilization today, but we point to the fact that we doubt it is not a thrashing or elimination God has in mind for the new millennium, but rather a "Third Renovation for the Third Millennium" in which He will cleanse the earth as He has promised and as His Blessed Mother has foretold. But it is up to us to grab our weapons and stand firm in the trenches of goodness and virtue, manning our Rosaries. For today's commentary, entitled Technology-wise we had better wise up! , click on CATHOLIC PewPOINT.

Technology-wise we had better wise up!

      Today is the 81st anniversary of the final apparition at Fatima to the visionaries Jacinta, Francisco and Lucia. It is significant for many reasons, not only because of what the Blessed Mother said, not only for the miracle that ensued in which more than 70,000 saw the "Miracle of the sun" when it danced and strobed, but also because Our Lady promised her Immaculate Heart would triumph. Add to this that the visionary she conveyed this to is still alive - Sister Lucia who is a ninety-one year-old cloistered Carmelite nun in Coimbra, Portugal. She may be feeble in body, but not in spirit, heart and soul. Many suspect she has been told she would live to see the glorious Triumph of the Immaculate Heart. Considering her age, considering all Our Lady has imparted to subsequent visionaries and messengers, and considering the secrets given to Lucia, we can have great hope and prayers that the Triumph is imminent before the turn of the third millennium. But it isn't that easy as Our Lady has stressed so many times for the Triumph could very well have already happened had we merely adhered to all she said - from praying for the total consecration of Russia to praying the Rosary as if our lives depended on it. Guess what, it does!

      Yet, with all the talk of the pending third millennium and the alarm over what will happen, we keep forgetting that God the Father's timeline in His great play of life is not man's time frame and vice versa, especially in light of all the predictions from the alarmists, the gloom and doom brigade, and the fear of the Y2K computer glitch that could stop technology, setting everything back to 1900. It may be back to the horse and buggy era and that can't be all bad. Oh, the DAILY CATHOLIC will be no more since computers will be nonexistent, but that's our greatest hope for once the Triumph comes, all that we have been proselytizing at this site will come to pass and be fulfilled and all will know intuitively what God wants them to know. As we have written before, we should have no fear regarding what will happen as long as we are rooted in the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts. There are many, mostly Protestants, who disregard that and think Jesus will simply pluck them out of midair and preserve them from the chastisements that accompany the countdown to the Triumph. They call it the Rapture. They forget Our Lord's words in Matthew 16: 24-28 in which Christ reminds us there is no glory without the cross; only then can we share the glory of His Resurrection. Questions about this passage as well as many more can be raised. Is Jesus speaking about the final End Times - the end of the world? Does this refer to the Third Millennium? No one, and we repeat, no one but the Father knows for sure. From all that we can discern the coming millennium does not signal the "end" but rather a new beginning. It is a period of "renovation," a recleansing, so to speak, of the earth. Jesus is reported to have conveyed this to the mystic Blessed Luisa Piccarreta on January 19, 1919 - two years after the Fatima apparitions: "In every 2000 year period I have renewed the world. In the first period I renewed it with the Flood. In the second 2000 years, I renewed it with My coming to the earth and manifesting My humanity from which, as so many channels of light, My Divinity shone. And in this third period of 2000 years, those who are good and the saints themselves lived the fruits of My Humanity, but have enjoyed My Divinity scarcely at all. Now we are at the end of the third period and there will be a Third Renovation. This is why there is general confusion. It is due to the preparation for the Third Renovation. And if in the Second Renovation I manifested what My Humanity did and suffered, little was said about the working of My Divinity. Now in this Third Renovation, after the purging of the earth and the destruction of a large part of the present generation, I will be still more generous with creatures."

      Truth be known we are all spoiled. Ever since Alexander Graham Bell linked wire and receiver together in 1876 Americans have been hung up on communication technology, often not hanging up enough! This "progress" opened wide the highway for the evil one to infiltrate and sabotage until today he's speeding along on the superinformation highway, networking with every soul at incredible pentium speed, urging us to invest more in worldly things - to live for the now! Yes, communications has become a "necessary evil," the rationalization being "how can we live without it?" The answer is simple: Up until this century - the century in which the Almighty has given satan free reign - every generation since the beginning of time existed without the technology we have today and in the new era which is to come - when the Immaculate Heart of Mary triumphs ushering in the Reign of the Sacred Heart - the Era of the Holy Spirit - the Age of the Eucharistic Presence - the Third Renovation of the Third Fiat - the New Pentecost - we will return to the simple times of joy and peace, a glorious age when we will actually live as Adam and Eve before they fell into Original Sin. We won't need any of the modern contraptions because all we've needed all along is just a simple link with Heaven! Yes, long before the telephone, radio, TV, computers, satellites, cellulars, faxes and holographs, God gave us a form of communication that is more powerful, faster, 1000% more efficient with never a busy signal or down time. That simple connection is the Rosary which Our Lady has bestowed on her children beginning with Saint Dominic in 1208 and up to the current moment, including the glorious victory at Lepanto which Pope Saint Pius V credited chiefly to the praying of the Rosary, so much so he established a feast dedicated to that end on October 7th. It is no coincidence that the final apparition at Fatima falls within a week of the special feast of Our Lady of the Rosary for Mary told the visionaries at the Cova on that autumn day in 1917 for the last time, she stated: "I am the Lady of the Rosary. Let them continue to say the Rosary every day." We know what a powerful weapon the Rosary is but we don't comprehend it's effectiveness or we would employ it day in and day out.

      That brings us to a special event that will be held on October 31 this year, the last day in the month of Mary in which the International Journey of the Rosary will be held when people the world over will pray the Rosary specifically to ask for the Grace of God, so that it nourishes the flourishing of love among humankind, for true peace on earth, for preservation of life and family values, for the Holy Father and his intentions, and to promote priestly and religious vocations. Parishes are being asked to allow the Blessed Sacrament to be exposed during this time in church and priests make themselves available for the Sacrament of Penance. They also ask that this event be consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The main site for this will be held in Mexico City, the same site where the Holy Father will give his Synodal address in January to officially close the Synod of the Americas. The ceremonies on the day traditionally known as All Hallows Eve will be presided over by the Archbishop of Mexico City Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera beginning at 7 p.m. central time. At that time all Catholics are asked to pray the Rosary for the above intentions, but mostly for the rapid fulfillment of Mary's Immaculate Heart triumphing as she promised at Fatima. For more on this and how you can help Our Lady's efforts, you may go to International Journey of the Rosary. This campaign capping off Our Lady's month of October is just another manifestation that the Rosary is the answer to the Y2K bug and all other fears that scare so many for so few realize we are truly living in a glorious time in history and that we have nothing to fear. Nevertheless, we must understand fully that the Rosary is the answer, not the keyboard. In other words, technology-wise we had better wise up!

Michael Cain, editor

Blessed Pope Benedict XI: the last Pope of Rome before the exile to Avignon and the Babylonian Captivity in the 14th century

     Early in the fourteenth century one could see that the king of France Philip IV was not going to leave well enough alone, interferring in ecclesial matters. He had come to blows with Pope Boniface VIII as we saw last week, but in the 194th successor of Peter, Benedict XI tried his best to reconcile and appease differences, but to little avail for his pontificate was cut short by a poison fig that many believe was caused by those who refused to comply with papal authority. It was the end of the Italian power within the papacy as "Captivity in Avignon" loomed on the horizon. For the seventy-sixth installment titled Blessed Pope Benedict XI: Reconciler in the face of treason, click on THE HISTORY OF THE MASS AND HOLY MOTHER CHURCH.

INTRODUCTION
      Born in Treviso, Italy, Pope Blessed Benedict XI was asked to lead the Church out of the political mess his predecessor had thrown her into in his dealings with Philip IV, also known as Philip the Fair. There was nothing really fair about Philip for he used everyone for his own purposes despite the consequences. As we shall see in future installments his influence was such that he nearly changed the face of the Holy See forever with his persuasion to house the Popes in Avignon. Thus, Benedict would stand as the last Roman Pope until Pope Gregory XI would return to Rome seventy years later, thus ending the "Captivity of Avignon." Though Benedict settled a difficult dispute with Philip, king of France, he was bitterly persecuted by a group of conspirators and died shortly after eating a poisoned fig, a fruit of which he was particularly fond. There was one other thing he was fond of, living the gospel which included reconciling all within the Church, thus in the face of treason he still endeavored to seek reconciliation from enemies near and far as we shall see below.

Blessed Pope Benedict XI Reconciler in the face of treason

      After the troubled reign of Pope Boniface VIII, the faithful knew that anything would seem like an improvement, especially Philip IV, king of France who had waged a bitter war with the proud pontiff and had thrown Rome into turmoil. Therefore the cardinals, minus those who had openly bolted and joined Philip's court, understandingly held an anti-French sentiment and sought to elect one of their own - someone who would toe a more moderate line and appease both the Colonna cardinals and the Franciscan Spirituals who Boniface had so greatly angered for his treatment of his predecessor Pope Saint Celestine V. Therefore, less than two weeks after Boniface's death they unanimously selected on October 22nd a peace-loving, scholarly Dominican Cardinal Niccolo Boccasino, bishop of Ostia as the 194th successor of Peter. On October 27th, 1303 he was elevated to Supreme Pontiff taking the name Pope Benedict XI. Some historians say he took the name in honor of his predecessor Boniface whose name was Benedetto. Others feel it was more of a "slap in the face" at Philip stemming from Benedict XI's own feelings of contempt for the French monarch who sought ecclesiastical control and because Boniface had made Benedict XI a cardinal and who had been rescued at Anagni from the clutches of Philip's henchmen by none other than Cardinal Boccasino. Despite his resentment toward Philip, Benedict was wise in realizing there was a fine line of diplomacy that could go a long way in taming the Gallican king. Therefore he treaded carefully but, dedicated to reconciliation with all, absolved those who had been involved from Philip himself to staunch Boniface VIII supporters who were guilty of twisting Church law for their own gains. Benedict ignored the threats of excommunication and opted instead to "catch more flies with honey than vinegar." In short, he was a throwback to Pope Saint Celestine V except he was prepared to handle the responsibilities of the papacy and did not back down. He passed out pardons liberally, but even this did not deter Philip from continuing to interfere, most notably in suppressing the Cistercians in France simply because they had been loyal to Boniface because he was the Supreme Pontiff. But Benedict was helpless due to the fact he had to contend with Frederick III in Sicily, offspring of those thorns-in-the-papacy Hohenstauffen clan, and Charles II, Philip's brother in Naples. More than anything Benedict wanted peace but greed and the lust for power prevented this as the triumverate of Charles, Frederick and Philip sought their own agendas to the detriment of Rome. Even though Benedict had absolved Philip and his royal court of the excommunication leveled by Boniface, Philip continued to balk at cooperation and pressed the matter of holding a general council for the express purpose of denouncing Boniface VIII. Most, including Benedict XI saw it as purely a revenge factor on Philip's part and thus declined, angering the French monarch all the more. Philip managed to plant subversionists in Rome who were able to rile up the citizenry; so much so that Benedict XI decided it would be safer at Perugia than Rome and hastened there in April of 1304. Meanwhile Philip and his uncontrolled minister Guillaume de Nogaret persisted in taxing the people and interfering in Church matters. To appease the anti-French faction and with no other choice, Benedict, a peace seeker, was forced to denounce Nogaret and his Italian accomplices mostly for their disobedience but also in part for their involvement of Boniface's treatment at Anagni. Benedict ordered them to meet with him before June 29 at Perugia. But just prior to that Benedict fell gravely ill with a stomach ailment which would kill him on July 7, 1304. Many historians believe Nogaret's men got to Benedict's stewards and planted poison in the Pope's favorite food - figs. It was the kind of amount that took its toll slowly over two weeks but left the pontiff in extreme pain. Remember, they had no Alka Seltzer or antacids back then and no way to isolate the pain and decipher the cause and treat it. Therefore, it is widely believed that in order to avoid a face-to-face meeting with this just and holy Pope, Nogaret masterminded the poisoning.

      With Benedict's death the Church lost a good and pious Pope whose pontificate did not last long enough. In the short time he reigned Benedict did much in reversing the unfair bulls and condemnations wrought by Boniface. But the Franciscan Spirituals were still not appeased, quite possibly because of Benedict's close alignment with the Dominicans, three of which he elevated to be princes of the Church. Nevertheless, claims of his holiness came not while he sat on the throne of Peter, but rather after he was laid in the tomb at San Domenico where miraculous cures were soon attributed to his intercession which prompted Pope Clement XII, 432 years later, to beatify him and assign his feast day for July 7, the day he died. Benedict authored many works on Sacred Scripture and tried to live the Word of God as best he could despite the political climate he had inherited. In the next installment, we will examine his successor Pope Clement V and the beginning of the Babylon Exile in the "Captivity of Avignon" as Philip continues to meddle as Rome burns.

"These are the times of Revelation and Sacred Scripture shall be fulfilled."

     Those are the words from Our Lady in the 230th message and which she reinforces in the 231st to the Hidden Flower of the Immaculate Heart. The Blessed Mother points out that the world has forgotten God's warnings, forgotten to place our trust in the infinite rather than finite things and people who leave us wanting and empty. Our Lady pleads and prompts us to return to all her Divine Son asks and fear not if we are in unison with His Sacred Heart and her Immaculate Heart. For messages number 230 and 231, click on "I SOLEMNLY TELL YOU..."

Messages Two Hundred Thirty and Two Hundred Thirty-one

      Beloved Hidden Flower, be at peace. I am with you. Behold, my children remain asleep. They have not prepared and lived my messages, which are the Gospels lived.

      In this time the very way of my Divine Son has all but been effaced by those who have sought to replace Him by making all men gods.

      Let the evil one no longer lead you astray. In many places I appear to my little ones. To so many do I speak, lest my children forget my messages, forget God.

      Dear children, I am imploring you to convert your hearts. This is the time and you remain easy prey for satan.

      Therefore, I solemnly say to you that I shall come among you in a profound way. You shall know God exists. You will know how He loves You! Yes, you shall know the truth of my messages and you shall be made strong in your faith.

      O! I weep at the great apostasy. This evil will no longer hide its sinful way. The moment when my faithful little ones shall have to decide for Truth or against it is now.

      You can not be undecided any longer. You are either for God and heed His laws, or you are against Him and are rebellious.

      Be humble, obedient little children. Be at peace in God and commend all things to Him. In these days my children shall fail to see the course of the world. My children shall speak ill of many of my messengers, preferring to judge everything by means of their finite intelligence. These are the times of Revelation and Sacred Scripture shall be fulfilled. Why then do you seek your miserable earthly interests when the Love of God calls out to you?

      Again I say: Look to the sky and see the powerful sign of God's Power. Look at your world and see the presence of the evil one.

      Beloved children, come into the shelter of my Immaculate Heart. Come to my Son's Sacred Heart. Pray and fast! Pray! Pray! Pray!

      I love and bless you. I give you my Son's peace. Thank you for responding to my Call!

      Beloved Hidden Flower, how I love you. You must be strong, for love of my Divine Son requires nothing less.

      I desire for all of my children to know that life on earth is but pain. There will be pain of body, mind and heart as long as evil exists, as long as man lives by his lower human ego. Have you not yet understood that my coming amongst you is for the very purpose of helping you to rise above the lower human ego and live according to the ego of your soul. Therein lies God's peace. Therein lies the way to eternal life.

      So many of my little ones expect my words to be new, to state the future, which is known only to God. My words are God's words by His Will. God has given mankind His Only-Begotten Son, and through the Loving, Obedient, Perfect Sacrifice of my Son all of mankind was redeemed. There can be no further testimony given. All my Divine Son said and did while on earth is God's Holy Will in Perfection.

      Therefore, I solemnly tell you that the evil one has led so many astray. The lies of the evil one pervert the entire world, and far too many of my children no longer look upon my Divine Son as God, as Redeemer.

      The height of heresy is upon the world and still my children slumber.

      Pray, my little ones. I beseech you. The hour has come for all hearts to be converted. I love and bless you. Thank you for responding to my Call!

     Today is the Twenty-eighth Tuesday in Ordinary Time and tomorrow is the Twenty-eighth Wednesday in Ordinary Time, shared by the Feast of Pope Saint Callixtus I, martyr. For the readings, liturgies, meditations and vignettes of this saint, click on LITURGY FOR THE DAY.

Tuesday October 13:
Twenty-eighth Tuesday in Ordinary Time
81st Anniversary of the final Apparition at Fatima

Green vestments

First Reading: Galatians 5: 1-6
Psalms: Psalm 119: 41, 43-45, 47-48
Gospel Reading: Luke 11: 37-41

Wednesday October 14:
Twenty-eighth Monday in Ordinary TimeandFeast of Pope Saint Callixtus I, Martyr

Green or Red vestments

First Reading: Galatians 5: 18-25
Psalms: Psalm 1: 1-4, 6
Gospel Reading: Luke 11: 42-46

      Born into slavery in Rome, Saint Callistus I or Saint Calixtus was placed in charge of a bank by his owner a Roman pagan by the name of Carpophorus. Because he was not educated he lost the bank's funds through manipulation by Jewish investors who were trying to filter the money out through devious means. Fearing he would be blamed, Callistus fled. He was captured at Porto and sentenced to the salt mines but not before he was subjected to the hand mill to join hardened slaves. Finally his creditors asked for his release so they could again use him as a ruse to pilfer more funds. Once they were successful, they again pointed the finger at Callistus who was arrested in the Synagogue trying to recover the money and prove his innocence. Again he was sentenced in 186 to the Sardinian mines, but in 199 the mistress of the Emperor Commodus, the young Marcia effected his release. Pope Saint Victor intervened on Callistus' behalf and sent him to Anzio in Italy where in 217 he was baptized and ordained by the current pope Saint Zephyriunus whom Callistus would succeed. Callistus was brought back to Rome with the Holy Father and became a friend and advisor of Zephyrinus. Back in Rome the Pope appointed Callistus procreator of the cemetery on the Appian Way which would become the Catacomb of the Popes and is today St. Callistus Cemetery where 46 Popes and over 200,000 Christians are buried. In 217 his beloved friend was martyred and Callistus became the 16th chosen in the line of Peter. However, his appointment was bitterly opposed by Saint Hippolytus who had also been a candidate for the papacy. Hippolytus set himself up as the pope, thus becoming the Church's first antipope. Callistus pronounced Latin as the official language and this further angered Hippolytus who had been born into nobility and favored Greek over Latin, considered the language of the commoners. Callistus had always clung to the needs of the poor. Those like him, who had been slaves, or non-Romans or who were poor were rejected and in turn they rejected the Greek either out of lack of formal education or their despise for what pagan Rome stood for. They, in turn, adopted Latin as a means of communication and it was quickly embraced by the Christians who were, for the most part, in and among the poor as Christ had directed. Yet insurrection was inevitable from the Greek camp. Fired up by Hippolytus, those who favored Greek objected vehemently to the abandonment of their language. It's interesting to not that only a few things of Greek such as the Kyrie Leison were retained. It was an all-out victory for Callistus and for Latin, but left scars that lasted for centuries and eventually led to a split between East and West. Though his successor St. Zephyrinus is considered the "Father of Ecclesiastical Latin", it was Callistus who decreed it the official language of the Church. As time passed, more and more Latin was incorporated into the liturgy of the Mass. It also became a possessive tongue where the Christians guarded and treasured this new speech. Callistus also reasoned that if the liturgy was conducted in Latin universally, Christians could more readily identify and participate wherever they went. From 220 to 1965 this was the rule rather than the exception. Unfortunately, today it's the exception rather than the rule. He served as pontiff for five years, eventually being driven to return to his roots of a poor slave by taking shelter in the poor and populous quarters of Rome to elude the terrible persecution of the Roman Emperor Septimus Severus who eventually caught up with him in 222. On October 14 Severus had Callistus severly beaten with clubs and his remains thrown into a well where today the church Santa Maria in Trastevere now stands.

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October 13, 1998 volume 9, no. 200   DAILY CATHOLIC