Monthly Archives: December 2016

Mailbag: A Heterosexual (aka NORMAL) Celibate Priest Weighs In

Dear Ann,

A blessed and merry Christmas to you.

Thank you for your blog posts and videos, many of which I have found very helpful in understanding the current insanity in the Church and the world. I am particularly thankful for your recent posts on clerical celibacy and continence.

In the novus ordo Church, even before Pope Frankenstein the Merciful, there is a common notion that allowing a priest to be laicized, so he can marry a woman, is a merciful concession to human weakness.

BULL-.

I am a priest, and I am strongly attracted to women. I can understand the idea that allowing a priest to continue in his ministry after he has fallen into sexual sin (and therefore also sacrilege) with a woman and repented is a merciful concession to human weakness. By the grace of God I have never fallen into such sin as a priest, but I can easily understand how it’s possible.

Laicization and marriage is completely different. Repentance, and therefore true mercy, which requires repentance to be effective, is totally absent. In its place is substituted the cleaning up of a canonically irregular situation. A priest violates his grave obligation of continence by getting it on with a woman, and possibly also violates his obligation of celibacy by invalidly attempting civil marriage with her; and the response of the ecclesiastical authorities is to dispense him from his obligations and allow him to marry her validly in the Church.

Um, no. That doesn’t help. It actually hurts. A lot.

Although it may mean his future copulation with his wife isn’t mortally sinful, it does nothing to purge him of the guilt of his previous mortal sins of fornication, sacrilege, and abandoning his priestly ministry. On the contrary, by receiving a nice signed and sealed rescript from Rome, he is encouraged to believe that he has done the right thing, and is now “right with the Church.” Of course that’s not true. As alter Christus, he was espoused to the Bride of Christ, and has now abandoned Her for some trull that he found more to his liking. His repentance now will almost require a miracle. He will very probably burn in Hell for all eternity, with the blessing of his bishop and the Pope. And how they will avoid burning in Hell for helping him get there, I don’t know.

My moral theology professor in seminary, Fr. Romanus Cessario, O.P., told us that “A priest who leaves for a woman is the scum of the earth.” I see more and more how right he was. Such priests–and they are many–simply declare that they love copulation more than they love God and His Mother. God have mercy on them.

The painful irony, so typical of the post-conciliar Church, is that Fr. Cessario, an excellent teacher of unimpeachable orthodoxy, is also a close friend of the very politically connected woman whose daughter’s scandalous marriage to a priest you recently referred to.

I wish I could draw some pithy conclusion from this, but I can’t, so I’m going to have a beer, read some P.G. Wodehouse, and go to bed. May God bless you and your work. And may He have mercy on His poor Church.

Signed,

Father

A Heartfelt Thanks and Warmest Christmas Wishes

I know that I don’t do enough, and don’t write enough here.  But, as so many people say, “reading Barnhardt generally makes me want to go hang myself.” Yes, I know. If it makes you feel that bad reading it, try to imagine how it feels to write it.  The past two years, especially, have been one staggering, soul-killing scandal and disappointment after another, seasoned liberally with natural disaster. I wish I could say that I see a turnaround coming – I know many of you believe that this Trump situation is just that.  I’m sorry that I can’t join in the sentiment.  I think ARSH 2017 is going to be a year in which God’s wrath is unleashed, and the angel’s cry of “Penence! Penance! Penance!” Will ring out over the earth.  So, please, enjoy this Christmas. Savor the little things.

One thing that I was thinking that I would like to do for my benefactors and supporters (y’all), if possible, is increase the number of Masses that are said for them.  Right now, we are at one Mass per week.  If I could find six more priests who celebrate either the Traditional Roman Rite OR the Divine Liturgy  and would be willing to commemorate my benefactors and supporters one day per week, we could have The Holy Sacrifice of Calvary offered for your intentions and the salvation of your souls EVERY DAY.  Any priests who might be interested, please drop me an email.

Please be assured of my daily prayers for you, such as they are, both in the Rosary and at Mass, specifically at the elevation of The Host, as the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ is eternally offered to The Father, with the deepest gratitude for your consistent munificence.  I will try to continue writing and posting things that help in clarifying current events, and sounding the warning on the dangers – of which there are a seemingly inexhaustible supply – bearing down on us.  The point of this website was and is, hopefully, just to help.  The fact that it keeps me fed and watered, and with a roof over my head, and a source of heat, and an internet connection, is not and was never my intention.  It just worked out that way, whether I like it or not. Be assured that in the deep recesses of my ethnically German-Protestant soul, I consider myself, at least partially, a fraud, my living at least partially dishonest, and expect that I will answer for this at my judgment.  Are these the pangs of genuine conscience, or satan trying to get me to shut up?  I doubt I will ever know the answer, firmly, in this life.  But I know I’ll find out at my Particular Judgment.

So, please, please have a Merry Christmas.  Try to help the people around you have a Merry Christmas, too.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of goodwill.

The Nativity of Christ, Matteo Rosselli, ARSH 1620, Church of Saints Michael and Cajetan, Florence, early 1600s.

The Nativity of Christ, Matteo Rosselli, early 1600s, Church of Saints Michael and Cajetan, Florence.

 

Diabolical Narcissism in Film: SCROOGE (ARSH 1951)

The best film version of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” is the version made in ARSH 1951 starring Alastair Sim as everyone’s favorite Diabolical Narcissist usurious Jew, Ebeneezer Scrooge.

The Scrooge character is a classic DN.  He is a cerebral narcissist – highly successful in his profession, a miser, caring for nothing but “his work”, sitting alone in his room every night, lovelessly single, devoid of human empathy, haughty, critical and disdainful of everyone and everything, looking down on and actively resentful of normal, loving people – embodied by his clark, whom he psychologically abuses, Bob Cratchit, and his family. Love, joy, gratitude and generosity disgust and enrage Scrooge. He hates occasions of happiness, and actively seeks to disrupt and destroy them, especially holidays.  The people around him walk on eggshells to his face – but either pity or dislike him behind his back.  In the “Ghost of Christmas Future” act, Scrooge is genuinely surprised to discover that almost everyone is glad that he is dead – the exception being Bob Cratchit himself, the most direct recipient of Scrooge’s abuse.  Bob Cratchit is thus a metaphor for Christ.

The reason why “A Christmas Carol” is so compelling is because the healing of Scrooge from Diabolical Narcissism is, basically, a miracle.  We love to watch the story unfold because it is such a beautiful and hopeful story.  And so rare.  And, you do realize that the implication at the end is that because of the Christian Cratchet family, Scrooge converts to Christianity, right? “And it was always said that he knew how to keep Christmas well….”

But, what I want to show you is the scene in which Scrooge becomes a Diabolical Narcissist.  It is very clearly depicted in the “Ghost of Christmas Past” act.  Up until that point, Scrooge has revisited his pre-DN youth, although it is revealed that Ebeneezer’s father was cruel towards him because he blamed him for the death of Ebeneezer’s mother.  Ebeneezer had a beautiful girlfriend, Alice, to whom he even gave a ring, declaring, “Oh dearest Alice! If ever I have a change of heart towards you, it will be because my heart has ceased to beat!”  Well – sort of, as it turned out.

Ebeneezer makes the conscious decision to purge all love from his heart upon the death, in childbirth, of his sister Fan.  At her death bed, after she loses consciousness, Scrooge rises and as he is walking away, Fan’s newborn son cries out from his crib.  Scrooge stops, looks at the child with rage in his heart, and in that moment – and you can see it clearly – makes the conscious decision to NEVER LOVE ANYONE OR ANYTHING EVER AGAIN.

And that’s it.

The interesting thing about Scrooge is that he chose Diabolical Narcissism when he was in his 20’s.  The older a person is when they descend, the “easier” it is to come out of Diabolical Narcissism.  But it is still a miracle.  For those poor souls who descended into DN as children, the odds against them are heavily stacked.  But even then, children who descended into DN due to abuse (usually sexual abuse), at least have the ability to recognize the damage that was done to them, and that they were a pure victim of.  The DNs that are the most deeply ingrained, and most profoundly loveless, and for whom miraculous, supernatural intervention is required, are the DNs that were not abused in the conventional sense, but rather deified as children, and thus chose to purge themselves of love in order to “live up” to the hype of their own superiority and “otherness” fed to them by their parents and/or teachers.

Sit in stillness with that.  Do you realize that our entire education system and youth culture revolves around the deification of the child, and has for decades now?  And THAT is the toughest genesis of Diabolical Narcissism to break.

Anyway, here is “Scrooge”, perfect viewing on Christmas Eve night, before heading out to Midnight Mass. The deathbed scene begins at 32:22.  The exact moment when Scrooge becomes a DN is at 33:40. In that moment he says internally, “That’s it. I will not love.” And the ensuing decades are needless tragedy and waste….

Prayers Answered: Feedback on Priestly Celibacy

My prayer today before the Blessed Sacrament was that more convert priests who are married learn about and move toward sexual continence.

Prayer answered. Read on. Bold emphases mine.

Ann,
BLUF (Bottom line up front): I am in complete agreement, and am enormously grateful for the witness given by my brother convert priest.

Coming into the Church, clerical continence was not something mentioned, even once, in our formation. The dispensation from clerical celibacy, authorized only by the hand of the Holy Father himself (Pope Benedict XVI for so many of us, including me), was all that our leadership addressed.

More than a year after my ordination to the priesthood, I ran across the very serious discussion regarding this particular question, and I have been firmly convicted about continence since that time. I do not think one can argue against it theologically with any intellectual integrity. Canonical arguments, however, abound. I have asked two vicars-general (one of whom is a professor of canon law) and a judicial vicar (also a professor) about this particular question. The two responses that I have received have been: 1) do not worry about it unless your leadership worries about it, and 2) unless a canon directly and explicitly revokes a right already held (in this case, the conjugal rights of husband and wife), then such rights are not revoked, even by entry into the clerical state. I know many who would agree whole-heartedly with these responses. I also know many, lay and cleric, who advocate for adopting the Eastern discipline. Some even go so far as to the slippery-slope that your article explicates. It’s a terrifying thought, to be honest.

The first time I mentioned becoming Catholic to my wife was months after I’d been praying, reading, thinking, and discussing it with older men whom I respected, both Catholic and non-Catholic. I did not know what her response would be, though. When I told her that, “I think God is leading us to become Catholic,” her response was, “I’m thinking the same thing.” I viewed it as a work of confirmation though the Holy Spirit. […personal information redacted…]

Corporately, I pray that our leaders will finally address it at some point, as I am not the only one who has brought it up. Because my wife and I have not come to a joint decision in this regard, I’ve received derogatory comments from some “traditional” Catholics. That, I will admit, has bothered me a bit, since I’ve also been accused by others of trying to turn back the clock on the Church, since I, like so many other adult convert priests, am very traditional in the way I approach the One True Faith. I’ve even been accused twice of mixing liturgical rites just for offering the Novus Ordo Mass ad orientem. I am required to offer the Novus Ordo, based on my current assignment. After I complete my service in this arena, though, I have already stated an intention to never offer the Novus Ordo again, but to offer the Traditional Rite and that appropriate to my own diocese. Before I had even contemplated Catholicism, a Catholic priest whom I considered a good friend referred to me as a Nicene Christian, in that I believe what Christians have historically believed since before they started to split into different groups. Christ prayed for our unity, but that unity must be based in the Truth that He brought to us. Unfortunately, since crossing the Tiber, that priest and I have not spoken much, as it turns out that he is quite theologically and liturgically liberal.

Thus, I ask for prayer for my wife and I, and for all my brother married clergy and their wives. May we all come to give this same unified witness to the faith and the reality of the priesthood.

Signed,
Fr.

Be assured of our prayers.

St. Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor, pray for us.

Starting Wednesday Off Right: Stop Doubting and Believe Edition

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

PATER NOSTER, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen.

Incredulity of St. Thomas, detail. ARSH 1602. Caravaggio

Incredulity of St. Thomas, detail. Caravaggio. ARSH 1602.

“My Lord and My God!”
John 20: 28

Antipope Bergoglio's Next Angle of Attack: Priestly Celibacy

A while back I received an email from a priest who converted to Catholicism as a Protestant clergyman, and was thus ordained a Catholic priest. This priest was married, and thus is now one of the “married priests” in The Church.

I won’t republish the email, because it is too personal, and could give away this particular priest’s identity, but I will state the gist of it in broad strokes.

After reading my essay on Why Priests Can Only Ever Be Men, and learning of the nuptial aspect of the Mass, the Eucharist and the Priesthood itself, and after showing it to his wife, the priest and his wife decided together that they should live in continence – that is, they should cease conjugal relations.  Folks, odds are that most of the Apostles were married.  We know St. John was NOT married.  We KNOW that St. Peter was either married or a widower – because the house of Peter’s mother-in-law is the scene of events recorded in the Gospels.  Common sense tells us that at least some of the other Apostles were probably married.  What I can tell you is that when these men were ordained priests and bishops by Our Lord Jesus Christ, they stopped having conjugal relations with their wives.  The espousal to Christ and His Holy Church, and the nuptial nature of the Eucharist Itself almost by definition implies this.

I bring this up because the next item on the agenda for the demonic wretch Bergoglio and his minions is the destruction of priestly celibacy.  So many look at the situation in the Church with the priesthood being so widely infected by filthy, disgusting, sacregilious sodomites and say, “Good! If priests can be married, then we’ll drive out all of the fags!”  Um, no.  I realize it is tempting to believe that, but that isn’t how it will play out.

What Antipope Bergoglio will start by doing is reinstating the priestly faculties of laicized priests who kept concubines and some fathered children, were caught in their sleazy, disgusting, sacrilegious double-lives, and were thus drummed out and laicized.  So, men who offered the Holy Sacrifice while literally committing adultery against Jesus Christ and His Church, to whom they were espoused – these sleazebags who should spend the rest of their lives begging God to have mercy on their souls, THESE will be the first in line to be reinstated.  And, let’s not sugarcoat this, many of these priests would “absolve” their concubines.  I don’t know if you remember last year when Antipope Bergoglio sent out his “minions of mercy” to absolve the sins reserved to the Holy See.  Well, one of those exceptionally grave sins is the sin of a priest fornicating with a person (male or female), and then “hearing their confession” and “absolving” their sin against the 6th Commandment, which the confessor and confessee DID TOGETHER.  Oh, no.  No, no, no.  Very, very wicked.  Like, satanic.  And, of course, any such confession is invalid.

These priests are not the sort that anyone except a Freemason hellbent on destroying the Church would want.  I am reminded of the uber-sleazy minor celebrity priest who carried on openly with his trashy, yet politically connected concubine (amongst many others) in Rome, even fathering a child with her, and always tending bar at all of her house parties.  Well, finally actual, believing Catholics had seen enough of this deplorable scandal, assembled a dossier and gave the priest an ultimatum: either come clean or we will publicly expose you, but either way, this stops.

So, the priest called all of his contacts in the media, got himself a job lined up, and then scheduled the wedding.  It was quite an event, the bride wore a designer gown – snow white, of course, because what else would a middle-aged woman who had birthed four children, all to married men, including one by a priest whom she carried on with openly for over a decade, wear?  But wait, it gets so much worse.  This priest and his concubine then joined a wedding gift website service and solicited CASH GIFTS for their wedding, posting pictures of themselves in romantic poses.  But wait, just when you thought the depths of mathematically unquantifiable trashiness had been plumbed, it gets so much worse.  The sacreligious couple ordered custom party favors for their wedding reception – corkscrews (yes, a phallic symbol) with “Love Conquers All” custom inscribed on them in Latin.  Yes, love “conquers all”, in the case of this couple the “conquered all” being Jesus Christ, His Holy Church, and vows made there to, apparently.  BUT WAIT.  I haven’t told you worst part yet.  This sacreligious couple did ALL OF THIS while the priest was still a priest – the laicization didn’t come through until a few days before the wedding – the bride/concubine’s very politically connected mother was dispatched in a frenzy to “get the papers signed” inside of one week of the wedding.  Stop and think about that.  Can these people TRULY have been sorry for what they had done, and their years of mortal sin, if they did all of the things recounted above BEFORE THE PRIEST WAS EVEN LAICIZED? The whole thing is one big F-YOU to Jesus Christ, His Church and the priesthood.  Do you see why Antipope Bergoglio is keen to get these wicked priests, and their gutter-slag wives, back on the altar?

Folks, don’t romanticize this.  These priests who took up with concubines are mostly Diabolical Narcissist sociopaths or psychopaths.  These are bad people, doing exceptionally bad things, to prove that they are an “elite” to whom the rules simply do not apply.  They are THE LAST PEOPLE that The Church needs in these dark, dark days.  Don’t think that just because they are straight, or at minimum bisexual, that they are “good priests”.  They are just as wicked, perverted and demonic as the fags.  In fact, most of these priests are “gay positive”, and will be less than zero help in the mortal combat against the sodomites.

Also, I am reminded of the old saying: “When a man marries his mistress, a vacancy opens in that position.” Won’t it be fun when Antipope Bergoglio’s crop of reinstated married sacreligious fornicator priests start getting divorced?  Hmmmm.  I wonder if they will get their annulments fast-tracked too?

Now, let’s go back to the good priest that I heard from, who has realized what exactly the priesthood is, what the Mass is, and what the Eucharist is, and has, exactly like the Apostles, chosen, along with his wife, to live in continence for the rest of his life.  THESE are the sort of men we need.  THAT is a good and holy priest, a man willing to give up something good for something infinitely better.  THAT is a priest who truly loves Our Lord and His Holy Church, who loves the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and loves Our Eucharistic Lord.  And, let us not forget his wife, also a good woman, and a good Catholic, who has chosen the better part.

Consider the chaos (hagan lio!) that will come from this, as poorly catechized priests of shallow faith see the very priests who committed adultery against Our Lord and His Church REWARDED and celebrated by the Antipope. Consider the chaos (hagan lio!) when heterosexual priests start demanding that they be released from their vows of celibacy, “in justice” given the reinstatement of priests who treated their vows of celibacy as a joke, and were “rewarded” with marriage and reinstatement.

Please, don’t fall for the fallacy that any priest that has sex with females is “a good priest”.

What a world that I have to write the previous sentence. Ugh.

Christ, have mercy.

 

Starting Ember Friday In Advent Off Right

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

PATER NOSTER, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen.

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Thou art near, O Lord, and all Thy ways are truth: I have known from the beginning concerning Thy testimonies, and Thou art forever. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.
-Psalm 118: 151,152
Introit of the Mass of Ember Friday in Advent

On Trump: The Odor of Kayfabe Remains So Very Strong

Hmmmm. As I posted the morning after the “election”, stay frosty. It’s all just too weird and “off” to be trusted.

And, sure enough, what are the headlines of the past 36 hour news cycle?

Over at Ace of Spades, which I keep an eye on to gauge the state of the deluded right, this: “Good morning, kids. Not to put too fine a point on it but the Democrats and the institutional Left, aided and abetted by the GOP-wing of their uniparty, are attempting to overthrow the election and the will of the American people.”

“Republicans say Obamacare won’t be repealed for at least three years.”
(Of course it won’t, and of course the Republicans want it to remain. How dumb do you have to be to not see this coming?)

“Republicans to block Trump tax cuts”
(Once again, duh. Of course.)

CIA declares Russians “fixed” Trump election
(And my Kayfabe meter pegs…)

“Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell back CIA over Trump”
(And my Kayfabe meter breaks the spring…)

“Trump says he will not pursue criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton”
(Knock me over with a feather…)

And what is Trump doing? Appointing Goldman Sachs execs, Mitch McConnell’s WIFE, Mitt Romney’s ex-sister-in-law, meeting with Manbearpig (Algore), and now with Kanye West, a talentless “rapper” (but I repeat myself) who is both teetering on the precipice of mental retardation and deeply mentally ill.  Because THAT’S a priority?

Folks, this all stinks to high heaven.  As you know, I thought Trump wanted nothing to do with being president of the (former) United States, and others speculated before the “election” that if Trump did, in fact, win that he would find a way to get out of it.  He’s in way, way over his head.  He isn’t a terribly smart man, and his rhetoric is extraordinarily shallow and devoid of real substance and content.  Don’t you think it is strange that Trump has not put out any substantive position papers or educational materials on the state of the economy, healthcare delivery system, banking system, or really anything?  Remember Ross Perot back in ’92?  I was 15 years old during that campaign, and I watched every one of his instructional “infomercials” with the utmost attention.  (**Yes, I fully acknowledge that Perot handed the 92 election to the Clintons, probably due to some sort of grudge against Bush 41 – such a betrayal.) In fact, I would say, looking back, that Perot’s attempt to simply educate people as to the problems in the economy inspired me to make the videos that I ended up making 20 years later.  I would speculate that this motivation is shared by people like Karl Denninger, who has spent nearly a decade desperately trying to make people understand the catastrophic nature of the healthcare monopoly and price-fixing regime, which is the single biggest financial threat to this nation – bigger even than the baking and derivatives mess.  Now ask yourself, given Trump’s bully pulpit and ability to self-finance, why hasn’t Trump done anything similar?  Why aren’t there Donald Trump videos EXPLAINING the key dynamics of the massive problems, and explaining his plans for remedying these things?  I suspect it is because Trump has little-to-no understanding of these problems himself, or if he does, doesn’t particularly care.  I suspect that if you have read Karl Deninger’s book “Leverage“, and watched my video on Economics – just those two things – you probably have a vastly superior understanding of what the hell is going on than Trump ever will.

The Republicans are clearly telling him to leave, and I can’t shake the feeling that Trump himself wants out.  I dunno.  I was wrong about the “election” itself – I thought the media was reporting the polls drawing close in order to give a Clinton “win” the odor of legitimacy in the eyes of the public.  (Aw shucks, it was close, but she squeaked it out…) We know that the puppet masters behind Obama have always despised the Clintons, and she does seem to be out of the way now.

Finally, I watched a video linked over at AmericanDigest.org of Victor Davis Hanson, who one can’t help but like, and he made several good points, but his entire premise is SO DELUSIONAL.  He keeps talking about “the Republicans” having the White House, the Congress, the Governors mansions in so many states, the state legislatures, etc., and how this all portends such wonderful things, and how we are going to be able to undo so much damage and get so many things done now.  And I just shake my head. What planet is VDH, whom I really do admire, living on?  Has he not been around for the past decade and watched the “Republicans” implement the Obama regime’s strategy without the slightest resistance?  Does VDH honestly think that after what we saw during the “election” cycle that the “Republicans” would actually cooperate with Trump’s stated agenda (making the wild assumption in the first place that Trump himself would even pursue his own stated agenda)?  I mean, COME ON.

My point is, I just have a very, very bad feeling about what is going to transpire between now and January 20th, and I would urge one and all to think long and hard about whom exactly you are casting your lot with.  It’s a horrible feeling to look out at the battle space and see no one you can trust. I know.  Satan really has set a brilliant chessboard. But, we let him do it.  Not only did we make bad moves, we sat passive and paralyzed and forfeited our moves for years.

Bottom line: I think what we are seeing now is the coming to fruition of my warning since ARSH 2008 that these people, once they have power, will never, ever just walk away.

I hope I’m wrong (again).

 

Starting Tuesday Off Right: A Long and Glorious Combat Edition

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

PATER NOSTER, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen.

Detail of a 15th Century German Altarpiece, St. Lucy.

Detail of a 15th Century German Altarpiece, St. Lucy.

(Abridged from the Acts of St. Lucy, pre-7th Century.  Source HERE.)

The glorious virgin and martyr St. Lucy, one of the brightest ornaments of the church of Sicily, was born of honourable and wealthy parents in the city of Syracusa, and educated from her cradle in the faith of Christ. She lost her father in her infancy, but Eutychia, her mother, took singular care to furnish her with tender and sublime sentiments of piety and religion. By the early impressions which Lucy received and the strong influence of divine grace, Lucy discovered no disposition but toward virtue, and she was yet very young when she offered to God the flower of her virginity. This vow, however, she kept a secret, and her mother, who was a stranger to it, pressed her to marry a young gentleman who was a pagan. The saint sought occasions to hinder this design from taking effect, and her mother was visited with a long and troublesome flux of blood, under which she laboured four years without finding any remedy by recourse to physicians. At length she was persuaded by her daughter to go to Catana and offer up her prayers to God for relief at the tomb of St. Agatha. St. Lucy accompanied her thither, and their prayers were successful.

Hereupon our saint disclosed to her mother her desire of devoting herself to God in a state of perpetual virginity, and of bestowing her fortune on the poor: and Eutychia, in gratitude, left her at full liberty to pursue her pious inclinations. The young nobleman, with whom the mother had treated about marrying her, came to understand this by the sale of her jewels and goods, and the distribution of the price among the poor, and in his rage accused her before the governor Paschasius as a Christian, the persecution of Diocletian then raging with the utmost fury. The judge commanded the holy virgin to be exposed to prostitution in a brothel house; but God rendered her immovable, so that the guards were not able to carry her thither. He also made her an over-match for the cruelty of the persecutors, in overcoming fire and other torments. After a long and glorious combat she died in prison of the wounds she had received,—about the year 304….

It is a matter of the greatest consequence what ideas are stamped upon the ductile minds of children, what sentiments are impressed on their hearts, and to what habits they are first formed. Let them be inured to little denials both in their will and senses, and learn that pleasures which gratify the senses must be guarded against, and used with great fear and moderation: for by them the taste is debauched, and the constitution of the soul broken and spoiled much more fatally than that of the body can be by means contrary to its health.

There are few Lucys nowadays among Christian ladies, because sensuality, pride, and vanity are instilled into their minds by the false maxims and pernicious example of those with whom they first converse. Alas I unless a constant watchfulness and restraint both produce and strengthen good habits, the inclinations of our souls lean of their own accord toward corruption.

–(Taken from Vol. III of “The Lives or the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints” by the Rev. Alban Butler.)

St. Lucy, pray for us.

Christ, have mercy on us.

Mailbag: When Charity Demands A Rigid, Black and White Response

Ann,

I must share a sin that I committed 16 years ago that I simply cannot forgive myself and think that I should not. I paid for an abortion for my youngest daughter after she became pregnant with a drug-infested boy along with herself consuming meth for quite some time during their “romance”. I am not making excuses for this abortion and I think about what I did every single day since. I think about what should have been and how wrong this decision was. God, how I wish I could turn back time. I am not Catholic but every Christmas Eve I drive to a local Catholic church where they have a display of crosses where each one represents one million babies being aborted. I pull over and pray for my daughter, myself and my unborn grandchild. Of course tears flow freely every year. I carry this guilt with me and I know that the day where I have to answer for this grave sin will come to pass.

I don’t really know why I share this with you but felt compelled to do so. I pray for forgiveness as well as for other people and things. Thank you for all your articles.

Sincerely,
E

___________

E,

Unless you enter the Catholic Church and confess this sin sacramentally, you will spend eternity in hell. Yes, you procured the murder of your own innocent grandchild, and because you murdered the child thus depriving it of baptism, the child will never see God, but spend eternity in the Limbo of the Innocents. Your action not only snuffed out an innocent human life, but, even worse, guaranteed that another human being will never, ever see God. This is why the sin of abortion is so exceptionally grave.

Christ will forgive you and wants to forgive you, but so long as you remain outside His Church, He simply can’t forgive you because to reject His Church, which is The Catholic Church, is to reject Him.

I have explained this to you clearly and bluntly. If you refuse to do what is outlined above, you will have no one to blame. You can no longer claim ignorance.

Be assured of my prayers.

Ann

(For further reading on the utterly critical truth of the supernatural consequences of murdering pre-born children, please see The One About… DO ABORTED BABIES GO TO HEAVEN?

Also, it might be a good idea to review “There Is No Salvation Outside the Catholic Church (Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus)”)