THURSDAY

December 11, 1997   vol 8, no.50

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     SECTION ONE     To print out SECTION TWO, click here

      As we near the half-way point of Advent many of us are preparing feverishly for Christmas. But are we preparing the way Christ asks or the way the modern false prophets cajole us through their clever ads and glitzy come-ons. The malls are a mess this time of the year - a bustle of activity where people's priorities are a far cry from what that little Babe intended nearly 2000 years ago in Bethlehem. Meanwhile there are so few in the churches except for the faithful remnant who truly realize what Advent means. Maybe because everyone is out shopping that denotes why this is a slow news day with no word yet from the Synod to include in today's edition. But we do have plenty to keep you focused on the meaning of Advent, beginning with messages one hundred eight and one hundred nine from the Blessed Mother to the Hidden Flower of the Immaculate Heart. Click on "I SOLEMNLY TELL YOU..."

      Beloved Hidden Flower, tell all my children that my Immaculate Mantle is spread over the world. I desire them to know that I desire to gather all my children beneath my Mantle. They do not understand my love. I gather here all souls who love my Son. Yes, even the innocent babies aborted before their birth, for many of my little ones baptize these innocents so a vast number are true angels and in love do they pray for the redemption of those who committed this sin. Beneath my Mantle I draw together in perfect love the souls of the martyred angels and those who martyred them. Love, perfect love, can achieve all things.

      My dear children look deeply into yourselves and see to what depths you have fallen. By faith, prayer, penance, conversion and the sacraments you remove yourself, body and soul, from the abyss. I cannot impress upon you how love binds all together and cancels any debt.

      But the time to cancel the debt shall soon be over and you have not responded to my invitation. Upon the world I come as Loving Mother, my Mantle wide to sweep you away from satan and shelter you till my Divine Son comes again.

      Hurry! Hurry, my little ones. Your Mother calls. Leave behind the world and look only at my Son, whose Love is beyond measure. Come to Divine Mercy for I love you.

      Thank you for responding to my Call!

      Beloved Hidden Flower, I am with you. O! You feel intensely the sorrow of my Immaculate Heart because my beloved Medjugorje is threatened by all of satan's legions.

      I weep. Each tear shed is grace given to strengthen my little ones so persecuted by all the demons of hell.

      I solemnly tell you the rise of your prayers is vital to my plans for Medjugorje. But before the moment of glory must come the dreadful reign of the antichrist. Have I not warned you of these times? O! Let all voices blend in petition to God because each heart-prayer melts His most merciful Heart and sends showers of Divine Mercy upon the world.

      O! How I love my little ones who seek my Son, who desire only peace and joy--the reign of my Son.

      But I stress you must be prepared. My little angels of Medjugorje know well the grievous times which are now unfolding rapidly. So many shall suffer and die for my Son, but each death shall cause countless souls to be saved.

      Have firm, absolute faith. Do not despair no matter how it appears satan is winning. He shall not win. He shall be vanquished and driven into hell for all eternity.

      I am Queen of Peace. I am the Sorrowful Mother. Sorrowful because many suffer bitter torments for my Son; sorrowful for all who have rejected my messages, who reject my Son.

      Listen to me, my dear children, for what is happening now has been foretold for many years. Your tears mingle with my own, for I take them as cherished gems to the Triune Divinity, who bends lovingly to all.

      The time of mercy has nearly run its course. Honor my Son at all times. Pray, do Penance. Sacrifice and receive Holy Communion as frequently as possible, for only in this way shall the chains of God's love and justice bind satan forever!

NEXT WEEK: Messages One Hundred Eleven and One Hundred Twelve

     Our on-going megaseries on the Church today continues in the vein of dealing with the false prophets of the American Church, focusing today on the decade of the eighties when lukewarmness took centerstage among many of God's flock and the liberal left worked underground to lay the seeds of dissension and doubt. Chapter fifty, entitled "The Enigmatic Eighties Eat Away at the Etiquette of all that is Holy," continues the clarion Wake-up call to all Catholics. Click on WHERE IS HOLY MOTHER CHURCH HEADING AS WE NEAR THE MILLENNIUM

      The late seventies and the eighties, forged by the distrust of the Nixon years, the ineffectiveness of the Carter years, and the conservativism and prosperity of the Reagan era, fomented a "haves" and "have not" mentality that reached its zenith in the eighties. Liberals everywhere pounced on the "victim" aspect. Over three decades they had rallied to causes of liberation theology in South America and Mexico and sought to flood the media with the bleeding heart image. Rather than seeking help and solace from others, they attacked the establishments that they unfairly blamed for the malaise they conjured up, using the examples of the Nixon era and other scandals. These establishments included governments, large companies, and, of course, the most established entity in the world: the Roman Catholic Church. Two of the most established orders, rather than defending Holy Mother Church, turned against her: the Jesuits and the Maryknolls. The latter, because they were greatly influenced on the front-lines of the missions and became pawns in the story being spun; the former, who had been established to defend the Holy Father, had begun to turn against the supreme pontiff through their liberal mouth-organ America after Vatican II and as the years progressed throughout Pope Paul VI's regime and well into the papacy Pope John Paul II, they used this magazine to foster dissidence. A new breed of Jesuits had come upon the scene - the intellectuals - who began moving up in university echelons throughout their network of Catholic universities in the United States. As their psuedo-logic turned to a crescendo of acceptance among students who, by their nature and the aftermath of Vietnam, were already leaning toward the left, the domino effect among orders took effect. Other religious orders started to succumb to this new, popular philosophy and they, too, began challenging the Pope and the magisterium. professing a new philosophy. Solid orders like the Benedictines, Dominicans, and Holy Cross Fathers at the once-great Catholic University in South Bend, Indiana showed cracks which enabled such radical, heretical priests as Richard McBrien to wedge into the leadership role. His manner of attacking his own Church played well with the media and the false prophets of this age jumped on the opportunity to hear one of the Church's own bashing her. The chorus was already being bellowed forth by one Andrew Greeley, an unabashedly modernist priest who the media set up as the "official spokeman" of the Church. No matter what issue, if it involved the Roman Catholic Church, the media would seek out Greeley's opinions even before checking with the bishop of the respective diocese in question or with the Vatican on international matters that might have prompted the questions. Greeley, an accomplished author of many books that have generated millions in revenue but very little in God's eyes, became the "expert." Countless Catholics, already confused by the traumatic changes after Vatican II, might have thought he was the pope from the way the media lavished credibility on him. He became the crusader of the left, of the dissidents, and even of the lukewarm who were being fed such a pack of lies about Rome that they began believing what they heard and, like the sheep they were, just went along with the popular opinion of the day. This played right into the hands of the modernists who relished their new-found "power position." Such national Catholic publications as National Catholic Reporter and Commonweal became the clarions of this revolt, lavishing praise on those who would stand up to and disagree with the Holy See, denouncing those who staunchly defended the Magisterium and teachings of Holy Mother Church.

      Late in the decade of the eighties an orthodox Dominican priest was drummed out of his order because he dared to blow the whistle on his own order, accusing them of blatant homosexuality in the seminaries. He wasn't whistling dixie but rather telling the sad truth for the infiltration, which had begun by the Free Masons in the forties and fifties reached its apex in the eighties when many of these maladjusted "bad seeds," having climbed the ecclesial ladder, had gained powerful positions within their order such as rectors of seminaries. Their curriculum became one of permissive allowance, playing down the ravages of sin and hell, and preaching a "feel-good" theology where God would not punish anyone. This permeated down through the seminaries and, once ordained, into the parishes they were assigned to, the damage continued. Though the claims of this exiled Dominican sound preposterous, we have seen with our own eyes much proof of this and readily believe his facts. We have met young priests who have told us of the horror stories in seminaries where the orthodox were looked upon as the enemy who must be weeded out, while the abnormal gay lifestyle was encouraged and rationalized as acceptable. Had it not been for their faith, their resolve to fulfill God's Will by clandestinely meeting in the evenings as small groups to study the true teachings of the Church in their effort to "survive" the seminary in order for them to go forth as good, holy priests with the truth for their flocks, we would have even a greater priest shortage today. There are many very good young priests who have withstood the slings and arrows of seminary life in the eighties who have eluded the scrutiny of modernist rectors and exposed the damage that was done in the seminaries in the seventies and eighties by these liberal, sinful leaders who caused great scandal. And scandal was one thing the media thrived on, pouncing on any story of mispropriety by a cleric. While our judicial system espouses innocent until proven guilty, the media holds another standard: guilty until proven innocent in the court of public opinion. When the false prophets of the secular media control the judge and jury, there's little hope for acquittal. When the false prophets of the Catholic media join them, any chance of a fair trial is nonexistent. It reminds us greatly of the trial of the Sanhedrin. But Jesus patiently and lovingly withstood all the barbs and lies thrown at Him. We too must not defend ourselves, but be willing to suffer for and with Him. Yet, we also must not stand idly by when He is attacked or His Church. We must stand up and fight. That's why we are called the "Church Militant" in the Communion of Saints. The battle is a never-ending one as the persecution intensifies. Next week, we will cover the onslaughts that continue into the nineties and to the present time as we continue to sound the clarion call to all Catholics alerting them to the false prophets in the American Church.

To review all past installments of this on-going series, go to Archives beginning with the inaugural A CALL TO PEACE internet issue in January 1996. volume 7, no. 1.

     Wait a second, you say. This isn't the Easter season but rather Advent. You're right and "Alleluia" at Christmas time translates to "Hallelujah," but did you know the Pope who introduced the Hebrew term "Alleluia" into the Church's liturgy was Pope Saint Damasus I? And today we celebrate his feast day. Click on LITURGY OF THE DAY

Thursday, December 11:
Second Thursday of Advent and
Feast of Saint Damasus I, Pope

First Reading: Isaiah 41: 13-20
Psalms: Psalm 145: 1, 8-13
Gospel Reading: Matthew 11: 11-15

      Though born in Rome around 304, Saint Damasus I was of Spanish descent by his mother Laurentia. His father Lorenzowas a priest, this being before celibacy was the mandate. Under his tutelage he became a deacon. On October 1, 366 he was elected the 37th Pope; however he faced a violent resistance from those who supported the antipope Ursinus. He retaliated by storming the Julian Basilica and massacring the Ursinian followers. The violence of Rome was not reserved only for the Roman Emperor who was Valentinian at that time. He waged a constant witch-hunt against the Christians and when the Ursinians counterattacked Damasus and his followers, the Pope asked for the Roman Prefect's assistance in stemming an inevitable slaughter. Valentinian intervened, the first in Church history when the Church asked for help from the state in a fight with an adversary, and exiled Ursinus. The latter's followers plotted on how to discredit Damasus, accusing him of adultery. Again, because Damasus had gained favor with the Roman court, he was acquitted of the accusation. Though he was ruthless against those who threatened the Church, he held the torch of truth high proclaiming the true doctrines against the heresies of Arianism, Donatism, Novatianism, Macedonianism, Priscillianism, and Apollinariansim. It was Damasus who first used the term "Apostolic See" in referring to Rome and its primacy, of which evolved the phrase:"Where Peter is, there is the Church." Because he was so rigid and faithful to this Roman primacy, he did not gain favor with the Eastern Church where Saint Basil the Great was striving to keep things afloat. Rather than acquiesce to detente between the East and the West, Damasus clung stubbornly to the primacy of Rome, thus paving the way for the eventual permanent split of the Churches six centuries later. Damasus' greatest claim to fame was, as a Biblical Scholar, the chance to publish the canons of Holy Scripture which specified the authentic books of the Bible the Council had decreed in Rome in 374. He befriended and took as his protege Saint Jerome who he made his personal secretary, commissioning him to translate the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin as the Vulgate Edition. It was another strong instance of him distancing Rome from the Greek Church. Though St. Basil and St. Damasus fought vehemently amongst themselves in favor of their sides and infringed on each other's territory, both became saints in Holy Mother Church. Some of Damasus' other accomplishments were restoring the catacombs, shrines and the tombs of the early martyrs as well as encouraging pilgrims to venerate these sites. Through his influence the Emperor Theodosius I proclaimed Catholicism the state religion of pagan Rome in 379 as Constantine had promoted nearly 50 years earlier. Damasus died a peaceful death around the age of 80 in Rome on December 11, 384.

Friday, December 11:
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

First Reading: Zechariah 2: 14-17 or Rev/Apoc 11:19;12:1-6,10
Psalms: Luke 1: 46-55
Gospel Reading: Luke 1: 39-47

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe: December 12

      Considered thee feast of feasts in Mexico and much of Latin America, December 12 is a special day for all who honor the Mother of God. Of all the appearances Our Blessed Mother has made over the centuries, no apparition has been more lasting than this first one to the Americas. It was an apparition that would leave an indelible mark in both the people and culture of the new world.

      Ten years after Hernando Cortez conquered Mexico for the world, Our Lady began her conquest of Mexico and all of the Americas for her Divine Son's world when she chose a simple peasant to convey one of the greatest miracles in the history of apparitions. On a frosty December morning in 1531 Juan Diego, a 51-year-old Aztec peasant. Juan and his wife, whose name is not recorded, were recent converts to Catholicism due to the influence of the Spanish evangelization which Cortez brought with him from Spain.

     Spain had been one of the few countries in Europe who had been protected from the onslaught of "enlightenment" which ushered in the Protestant Revolt in the early 16th Century. Thanks to the safeguards taken by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella and the steady hand of the Spanish Inquisition which prevented revolt by strict vigilance, the True Faith was preserved and spread to the New World in waves of Spanish priests who accompanied the Conquistadors. These Franciscan, Dominican and Carmelite Orders, as well as the Jesuits, played a pivotal role in the conversion of Central and South America. It was Isabella who financed Christopher Columbus's historic journey to the New Indies in 1492 and oversaw the activities of Cortez throughout the early 1500's as the Spanish Conqueror overcame the forces of Montezuma, toppling the pagan Aztec and Mayan nations and subsequently their over-riding culture, as they gradually faded into the archives of history and artifacts, replaced by the strength of the Church and the inculturation of Spain from her language to her customs.

     Catholicism had taken root in Mexico, especially around Mexico City, yet the Aztecs did not go quietly. For years they had offered human sacrifice to their gods; Quetzocoetl - the bird and serpent god being the main one. This pagan practice had taken its toll in the hundreds and hundreds of thousands reaching into the millions. This was one of the main reasons Our Blessed Mother came in 1531, to stop the human sacrifice; both with the pagan Aztec traditions and the senseless slaughter of the Conquistadors who had cut a swath of blood across Mexico on Cortez' march to Mexico City from the Gulf. By exemplifying a gentler, Christ-like nature, not only would the native peoples understand what the missionaries were conveying, but also remind the Spanish soldiers of their roots and prompt them to repent of their warring ways.

     Into this atmosphere Our Lady chose Juan Diego to impart her message and give to him the on-going miracle of the miraculous tilma worn by Juan on the day of the apparition. In the nature of replacing the ridiculous with the sublime, Blessed Mary asked Juan to have a chapel or church built on the site where there had been an Aztec shrine. This site was the hill of Tepeyac. She asked him to go to the local bishop with this request. One can imagine the bishop's first reaction when he encountered this poor Indian approaching him...and then telling him why he was there. No one should be surprised at the Bishop's response. Bishop Zumarraga demanded a sign that this message Juan brought was truly Heaven-sent. Needless to say, Juan was intimidated and disheartened. He didn't even want to go back to the hill, but through the grace of the Holy Spirit there he was again the next day - December 12th, trembling on Tepeyac Hill both from the winter chill and in trepidation of what he would tell the Blessed Virgin and what, in turn, she would ask him to do. In the custom of the people of his day, Juan was dressed in simple pants and a shirt, sandals, a straw short-visored sombrero and a tilma, which was a scapular-like garment made from a versatile and strong-fibred cactus plant indigenous to this region. Shivering as he waited, he almost did not notice the light and the gentle whisp of wind as Our Lady hovered near the top of the hill. He moved closer and Our Lady sought to allay his fears, bidding him come closer and tell her the Bishop's reaction though she already knew. Juan related his encounter and the need for an outward sign. Our Lady responded with the request that he pick the roses growing out of the rough, semi-frozen tundra of Tepeyac. Juan was aghast to find rich red roses in full bloom and he quickly stooped to pick as many of these rich beauties as he could, gathering them in the full of his front tilma, then pulling it up against his chest to protect them in a pouch-like fashion; then scurrying off to present this "sign" to the Monsignor Zumarraga. Panting and nearly out of breath, he reached the Episcopo alerting the guards outside. His insistance to see the Bishop brought rebuffs from those in the outer circle who thought it odd that an Aztec peasant should be so bold, yet through the grace of God Juan was admitted to the Bishop's chambers and there excitedly exclaimed, "I have the sign, your Excellency!" Impatient, doubting and yet curious, Zumarraga beckoned Juan to approach him. Blessed Diego came near the foot of the Bishop and knelt in reverence as he unrolled his tilma. Juan's eyes were fixed on the fresh petals that tumbled to the floor and did not see the shock and amazement on the Bishop's face as his vision was transfixed on the image he beheld emblazoned on Juan's poor, fragmented tilma. To this day one can see at the Shrine an mega-sized enlargement of Our Lady's eye on the tilma. In the eye, one can see the reflection of the Bishop and his entourage as they stared in disbelief. While transfixed in this incredibility, Juan straightened up and, at once, realized the true miracle Our Lady had endowed. There on his tilma was an image of how she had appeared to him just hours before, in full color.

     She had appeared to Juan not as Our Lady of Grace, or as a European-kind of visage, but as an Aztec woman standing on the moon, dressed in a finely detailed full-flowing dress or garment that symbolized many of the Aztec traditions. It was an image that would be accepted by the native Indians of this land moreso than the European icons of the Virgin the Spanish had brought with them. As always the Mother of God has a method to her message and the message conveyed stirred the Bishop to a reconversion and a rededication to evangelizing and serving the Indians while preaching the reason for Our Lady's visit. The results, guided by God, spread faster than the December wind blowing across the Mexican terrain. Within a short time, countless native Indians had been brought into Holy Mother Church's fold. To top that, almost instantly the people realized the error of their ways in the ancient Aztec ways of human sacrifice and abandoned the practice. The population flourished and as the Church dwindled in the Old World due to the erosion of the Protestant Reformation, the pendulum of plentitude swung to the New World in graces and conversions. It was the beginning of a reverence and veneration that would be carried through every generation up through today that sometimes even borders on the extreme. This is said in light of two visits to Mexico City in December by this author when he beheld thousands of devout Mexican people making their annual pilgrimage to the shrine on their knees, no matter the weather conditions. In contrast, the cab drivers and merchants festooned their vehicles and places of business with mardi gras-like decorations honoring La Virgen de Guadalupe. Always, the reverence and love for Mary is prevalent south of the border. It is a veneration that we would hope would permeate north of the border and bring back the reverence and respect for the Mother of God's role in our Church and daily lives. In recent years Our Lady has brought her mission ever more in focus as she asks all to help her in ending the abominal human sacrifice of abortion, a sin far worse than the human sacrifice offered to the pagan gods by the ancient Aztecs. But, as in the early 1500's and that century known as the "Century of Saints" it took great sacrifice on the part of all God's faithful ones to stop the sacrifice of God's children...so also today, we need, more than ever to offer sacrifice through penance, redemptive suffering, fasting and prayer to end the horrible sin of abortion. We have the formula. We have the forces of good on our side. We just need to act and human sacrifice will end as it did in the sixteenth century.

     The on-going miracle of the tilma is a direct manifestation of supernatural intervention and for well over four centuries the image has remained ever brilliant even though it is on such a coarse cactus fiber that it would have faded within a few years had it not been from Heaven. The tilma was placed in a small church built at the top of Tepeyac Hill as Bishop Zumarraga obediently carried out Mary's wishes. This same church is still there today above the shrine at Guadalupe. In 1709 a larger basilica was built to house and venerate the image and word of this miracle spread throughout the world. Earthquakes and shifting soil caused great concern in the mid twentieth century and plans were drawn up for a newer, modern basilica which was consecrated in 1976 and today houses the famed image behind glass high above and behind the main altar. Visitors and pilgrims can see it closer by way of a conveyor belt walkway below and behind the main altar. No shrine has been more visited in the world than Guadalupe. In 1910, Pope Saint Pius X declared Our Lady of Guadalupe the patroness of Latin America and in 1945 Pope Pius XII expanded this declaration by designating her patroness of all the Americas. Our present pontiff, Pope John Paul II has endorsed this and brought with him a deep reverence for Our Lady of Guadalupe.

December 11, 1997 volume 8, no. 50         DAILY CATHOLIC