EIGHT DAYS. It took Him EIGHT DAYS from His birth to shed His Blood for us, and He shed His Blood in testimony to the Law, which is derivative of Himself.
And those few drops of His Blood shed at His Circumcision WERE ENOUGH. Every drop of the God-Man’s Most Precious Blood is in itself an infinity of Mercy. But He went thirty-three years further and all the way to the Pillar and to Calvary. Why? Love. Love of US. Love of YOU, specifically, personally and individually. Pure, infinite gratuitous LOVE.
Circumcision of The Lord (detail), Guido Reni, ARSH 1635, Siena
Ponder this, and then ask yourself these questions:
Would Jesus abandon His Church, EVER? No.
Is there hope, or is hope just a lie, a mere platitude for the immature and/or uneducated peasants who simply can’t come to grips with the futility and hopelessness of it all? Of course there is hope. The second of the three theological virtues, which is also the Fruit of the Second Glorious Mystery of the Rosary (the Ascension) can never be a lie, and to say that it is a lie is blasphemy of the highest order.
Is God Almighty hamstrung and defeated by a bunch of reprobate, apostate sodomites and Freemasons? If you think He is, then you don’t know Him very well, if at all.
If God Himself submitted to the Law, does it make sense to say that His Vicar could completely upend Canon Law and only “partially resign”, thus making the Law Itself a violation of the Law of Non-contradiction, that is, both an extant thing and a non-extant thing? Are Canons 188 and 332.2 both Law and NOT Law? Is the entire Code of Canon Law, the Divine Law and the Natural Law both REAL and NOT REAL? Is chaos the Divine Will? If you think that it is, might I recommend that you visit your local mosque. They worship an irrational faux-deity that they claim is pure will, mutable (changeable), capricious, contemptuous and deceitful.
Is Jesus a jerk who is Himself trying to “give us all the shake” and trick us into apostasizing and entering an Anti-church and going to hell, or is His Church and its visible head… VISIBLE? Extremely, stunningly, shockingly VISIBLE? Terribly VISIBLE, like an… eclipse.
He was VISIBLE in life, VISIBLE in death, and now in the ABSENCE, the vacancy, is so clearly VISIBLE.
Ponder these things today, on the Feast of the Circumcision.
A resignation made out of gravefearthat is inflicted unjustly or out of malice, substantial error, or simony is invalid by the law itself. -Canon 188
The Pope is bound to Canon Law insomuch as Canon Law is derived from DIVINE AND NATURAL LAW. All three provisions of Canon 188 are derived from Divine and/or Natural Law.
Canon 188: A resignation made out ofgrave fear that is inflicted unjustly or out of malice,substantial error, orsimonyis invalid by the law itself.
Okay, just off the top of my head here,Coercionwould be against the Fifth Commandment if it involved any threats of violence of death. It would also be against the Seventh Commandment as a form of stealing; stealing of the Office itself, and possibly stealing of a man’s right to his reputation if threats of detraction are involved (aka blackmail of the guilty). If the coercion is in the form of blackmailing of the innocent, this would be against the Eighth Commandment because it would be bearing false witness.
Substantial Error: Can the Pope make 2+2=5? No. Can the Pope make any number that is not 1 equal to 1? Can the Pope make 2 = 1? Of course not. This is a clear breaking of the Natural Law, of which arithmetic and logic are subsets.
Simony: To accept a bribe or payoff in exchange for attempting to resign the Papacy would be not merely the coveting of money, but is even moreso a sin of IRRELIGION, a sin against the FIRST COMMANDMENT itself because it is the buying and selling of a spiritual thing, namely, in this case, the exercise of an ecclesiastical jurisdiction – the Papacy itself.
Now here is the $64,000 question:
Do you honestly believe that the Pope has the ability to ABROGATE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS and/or THE NATURAL LAW?
If the Law is derivative of GOD HIMSELF, being perfect good, truth and justice, and Jesus Christ EXPLICITLY bound Himself to the Law when He gave Peter the Keys, saying:
And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven
Does it make any sense whatsoever that the Pope can override the very ESSENCE of God Himself, namely truth, goodness, justice and RATIONALITY? That the Pope can do that which even God Himself cannot and would not do given that God is pure goodness, truth, love and justice?
If so, then what EXACTLY is the stable base upon which EVERYTHING exists? How can Peter be The Rock if Peter is NOT anchored to The Divine and Natural Laws, which is to say to Christ Himself? If you take away the Earth (God Himself, the Rational Logos) what, exactly is the Rock (Peter) going to sit upon that The Church is then subsequently built upon? If the Divine Law is mutable and overridable, and even the Natural Law can be casually tossed aside (any positive integer greater than 1 can equal 1 if it suits the Pope’s error), then how can God be rational? Is the first verse of St. John’s Gospel, proclaimed at the conclusion of almost every Tridentine Mass, in error? Is Christ NOT the Word, theLOGOS??
Like I said, this all sounds very, very suspiciously like the islamic political system and its irrational, pure will tyrannical satanic fake deity crap. Red flag much?? Maybe worth a rethink?
The Pope is absolutely bound by Canon Law insomuch as a given point of Canon Law is simply a derivative recapitulation of Divine or Natural Law,which Canon 188 is in every particular.
To argue otherwise (if you can even call it that) is madness, and of the Enemy.
The fact that Pope Benedict has been dead for three years, or ANY amount of elapsed time, makes absolutely no difference with regards to the importance of publicly acknowledging the situation. TRUTH HAS NO EXPIRATION DATE.
The statement that could have ended the Bergoglian Antipapacy and now the Prevostian Antipapacy has not changed a single iota with the death of Pope Benedict, because his earthly presence is not required to adjudicate the validity of the juridical act of the putative resignation that he proffered in February ARSH 2013. Only his words and deeds in February ARSH 2013 are legally germane, and we have a thorough record of that. So, we keep up the good fight to have the TRUTH publicly acknowledged. Let it ALL come out.
“Significant Canonical irregularities have been identified with regards to the putative resignation proffered by Pope Benedict XVI in February of 2013. Pending further investigation, a state of emergency suspense is hereby declared.”
When a profound stillness compassed everything and the night in its swift course was half spent, Your all-powerful Word, O Lord, bounded from heaven’s royal throne.
Ps 92:1
The Lord is King, in splendor robed; robed is the Lord and girt about with strength.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
When a profound stillness compassed everything and the night in its swift course was half spent, Your all-powerful Word, O Lord, bounded from heaven’s royal throne.
(I firmly resolved to NOT have any discussion of sodomy in this space over Christmas, but now it’s time to resume the war. Let’s start with this reminder, which should fill us with great hope and consolation. Let it also remind us – and this is very important for all of us – that up until just recently, sodomy and sodomites were so rare that the very concept was rarely if ever discussed. Many people lived their entire lives never knowing that the sins of Sodom even existed. And yes, every sodomite on earth could have been smote by God without causing any upheaval because there were SO FEW. We MUST remind ourselves that this state of total cultural saturation with sodomy, transvestitism, perversion and sexual depravity is wildly anomalous and in no way normal. Civilization WILL revert to a default baseline chastity, or civilization will cease to exist. The world has cancer: sodomy. Don’t let the enemy convince you that the cancer is normal. -AB ’25)
All Sodomites Died When Our Lord Was Born
In a sermon at the Church of Saint Mary of Porciuncula, St. Bonaventure spoke about the miracles that took place at the very moment of the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
The seventh prodigy was the killing of all sodomites to rid the world of this sin against nature and make it more worthy for the One Who is Purity itself.
This action corresponds to the ire of God when he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and projects a serious perspective for modern countries that support homosexuality.
All sodomites, men and women, died all over the earth, as Saint Jerome said commenting on the verse Lux orta est iusto [The light was born for the just] (Ps 96:11). This was to make it clear that He [Jesus Christ] was born to reform nature and to promote chastity.
St. Bonaventure, Sermon 21 – In Nativitate Domini, apud Catolicismo, December 1987, p. 3
Atila S. Guimaraes. Vatican II, Homosexuality and Pedophilia. TIA 2004, pp. 27
One of the most egregious forms of arrogance by “modern man” is the notion that no one before the 1500s… or even 1962… had any idea when anything happened, what year it was, what date it was, or had any means of knowing or recording anything. This is laughable in an age when everyone, including small children, walk around with a baby television that gives them complete access to the sum of human knowledge, available to them in their mother tongue or any language they choose, and the vast majority of teenagers in post-Christian North America couldn’t name their eight great-grandparents if you put a gun to their head, and furthermore have exactly zero desire or curiosity to know who they were. Most modern teens have absolutely no idea what their grandmothers’ maiden names were, and quite a few have no idea when their own parents – not grandparents, but PARENTS – were born. Look around you. If anyone is functionally retarded to the point of not even knowing when major events happened, it is us, NOT the people of 2000 years ago, who kept and memorized meticulous genealogies and most assuredly knew when their children were born.
The Blessed Virgin Mary knew EXACTLY when Our Lord was born, and she told the story countless times, no doubt, including to all of the Apostles, most especially St. John and certainly to St. Luke who wrote the Nativity narrative in his Gospel. And yes, St. Luke tells us the date of Our Lord’s Nativity in his gospel when he opens with the narrative of the conception of St. John the Baptist.
Luke 1: Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a narration of the things that have been accomplished among us; According as they have delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word: It seemed good to me also, having diligently attained to all things from the beginning, to write to thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mayest know the verity of those words in which thou hast been instructed. There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zachary, of the course of Abia; and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elizabeth.
And they were both just before God, walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without blame. 7 And they had no son, for that Elizabeth was barren, and they both were well advanced in years. 8 And it came to pass, when he executed the priestly function in the order of his course before God, 9 According to the custom of the priestly office, it was his lot to offer incense, going into the temple of the Lord. 10 And all the multitude of the people was praying without, at the hour of incense.
(Zachary is on duty in the Temple, going into the Holy of Holies, where the Archangel Gabriel appears to him…)
11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zachary seeing him, was troubled, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him: Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
(…)
And the people were waiting for Zachary; and they wondered that he tarried so long in the temple. 22 And when he came out, he could not speak to them: and they understood that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he made signs to them, and remained dumb. 23 And it came to pass, after the days of his office were accomplished, he departed to his own house. 24 And after those days, Elizabeth his wife conceived, and hid herself five months, saying: 25 Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he hath had regard to take away my reproach among men.
Now I’ll blockquote a website with the exact details of the date of Zachary’s Temple service:
“…the priestly rotations were framed within a 24-year cycle, originally set in motion by Solomon and renewed by Ezra, which commenced the Sabbath on or next before Tishri 1 (I Kings 8:2; II Chrn. 5:3; Ezra 7:1).[5] Each course served one week twice annually, plus such additional weeks necessary to fill out the year, coming in the evening of the Sabbath (Friday) and going out the evening of the Sabbath (Friday) following.[6] Assuming each course advanced annually to the next station or week in the calendar, the cycle of priestly ministration would be completed in 24 years, at which point it would begin anew.[7]
Rabbinic tradition placing Jehoiarib on service when the temple was destroyed allows us to identify the station in the twenty-four-year cycle. From there we can find when the cycle began. Then, by reckoning backward in twenty-four-year increments to the course preceding the conception of John the Baptist in 3 B.C., we can putatively identify the week and month Zachariah was serving. The number of steps from the first station of Jehoiarib’s second ministration (for the first does not reach so far) to the week of Ab 9 is twenty-one stations. Thus, A.D. 70 was the twenty-first year in the twenty-four-year cycle. To return to the beginning of the cycle we subtract twenty years from A.D. 70, which brings us to A.D. 50. Subtracting twenty-four more years brings us to A.D. 26; this course would therefore have consisted of the years A.D. 26-49. Twenty-four more years brings us to A.D. 2; this course would have consisted of the years A.D. 2-25. 24 years more bring us to 23 B.C. (there was no year zero). This course would have consisted of the years 23 B.C. to 1 A.D.
Counting forward from 23 B.C. to 3 B.C. when John was conceived shows that the course of Abijah would have been serving at its twenty-first station when Gabriel appeared to Zachariah (23 B.C. to 3 B.C. = 21). Assuming Zachariah’s course was in its second ministration, this would mean he was on duty approximately the week of Elul 28-Tishri 5 (Sept. 8-14). We do not know how long after Zachariah’s ministration his wife conceived. Human fertility cycles run about 28 days, during which a woman is fertile only about 7. If we allow that Elizabeth conceived the second week after Zechariah returned home, this would place conception in the week of Tishri 13-19 (Sept. 22-28). Normal human gestation is 38 weeks. A 38-week gestation would place John’s birth the week of Tammuz 21-27 (June 20-26), 2 B.C. Based on statements in Luke, John was about six months older than our Lord (Lk. 1:36, 56). Six months is 26 weeks. Twenty-six weeks from John’s birth brings us to Tebet 25-Shebat 2, which answers to the week of December 22-28.“
The date of Christmas is the date of Our Lord’s birth. Today is truly the birthday of Jesus Christ. Don’t believe the satanic propaganda that Christmas is just a re-branded pagan festival. The Church has known from day one exactly when Our Lord was born, because The Blessed Virgin Mary, Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of all Graces, and Queen of Heaven and Earth is also Mother of the Church, and, the Mother of God. She knew when He was born, and she TOLD everyone when he was born, and St. Luke cited it in reference to St. Zachary’s conversation with Gabriel inside the Holy of Holies in September of 3 B.C. John the Baptist was conceived a few weeks later, and Our Lord was conceived six months later on 25 March, John the Baptist was born on the 24th of June, and Our Lord on December 25th, 15 1/2 months after Gabriel and Zachary’s talk, during his Temple Service in the Second Ministration of the Course of Abijah. Just as St. Luke said in his Gospel.
Happy Birthday, Sweet Lord Jesus, King and God and Sacrifice.
Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay,
Close by me forever, and love me, I pray.
Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care,
And take us to heaven to live with Thee there.
The Fourth Reading from the Second Nocturne of Matins of Christmas.
From the Sermons of Pope St. Leo (the Great)
Dearly beloved brethren, Unto us is born this day a Savior, Luke 2: 11.
Let us rejoice. It would be unlawful to be sad to day, for today is Life’s Birthday; the Birthday of that Life, Which, for us dying creatures, taketh away the sting of death, and bringeth the bright promise of the eternal gladness hereafter. It would be unlawful for any man to refuse to partake in our rejoicing. All men have an equal share in the great cause of our joy, for, since our Lord, Who is the destroyer of sin and of death, findeth that all are bound under the condemnation, He is come to make all free. Rejoice, O thou that art holy, thou drawest nearer to thy crown! Rejoice, O thou that art sinful, thy Saviour offereth thee pardon! Rejoice also, O thou Gentile, God calleth thee to life! For the Son of God, when the fulness of the time was come, which had been fixed by the unsearchable counsel of God, took upon Him the nature of man, that He might reconcile that nature to Him Who made it, and so the devil, the inventor of death, is met and beaten in that very flesh which hath been the field of his victory.
The phrase “God rest ye merry, gentlemen” is totally misunderstood by modern ears, due to the shift in the meaning of the word “rest”, which any student of a modern Romance language will know means “keep” or “remain”. (‘Rester’ in French, ‘restare’ in Italian, ‘restāre’ in Latin). So in this case, “rest” in English means to “keep”, “cause to remain”, or simply, “make” in the modern parlance. It does NOT mean ‘take a nap’ in this context.
“Merry” is also misheard by the modern ear as “happy”. No, no. Merry in early modern English means “mighty” or “great”. Armies were described as “merry”. As were Robin Hood’s men (saving discussion of the Robin Hood motif and its wicked socialist message for another time.)
And finally, the little comma. Punctuation saves lives, folks. I’ve said it for years. (“Let’s eat Grandma!” vs. “Let’s eat, Grandma!”)
The modern ear, having misunderstood the meaning of the verb “rest” misplaces the comma thusly:
God rest ye, merry Gentlemen.
God let you take a nap, happy men. Um… NO.
The proper placement of the comma is AFTER “merry”:
God rest ye merry, Gentlemen.
God make you great and mighty, Men!
With this in mind, let us enjoy anew this lovely Christmas Carol. Sing along!
And, again, a blessed and very MIGHTY Christ’s Mass to you all!
In addition to being the Fourth Sunday of Advent, today is the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle! This is the last Feast before Christmas.
John 20: 19-31
At that time, when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together for fear of the Jews, Jesus came, and stood in the midst and said to them: Peace be to you. And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord. He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you. When He had said this, He breathed on them, and He said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained. Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, who is called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him: We have seen the Lord. But he said to them: Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe. And after eight days, again His disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said: Peace be to you. Then He saith to Thomas: Put in thy finger hither, and see My hands, and bring hither thy hand, and put into My side; and be not faithless, but believing. Thomas answered and said to Him: my Lord and my God. Jesus saith to him: Because thou hast seen Me, Thomas, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed. Many other signs also did Jesus in the sight of His disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that, believing, you may have life in His Name.
Here’s an amazing tidbit from Fr. Z. In the original Greek, the word for “hand” actually sometimes refers to the hand plus the wrist plus the lower forearm. In Ancient Greek, when you are speaking of just the hand proper, additional words can be added to make that precision. Given this, the reality of what exactly happened to St. Thomas might be far, far more intense that what we imagine.
Our Lord has breathed upon the other ten Apostles, minus the absent Thomas, thus imparting the Holy Ghost upon them, and giving them all the power of binding and loosing, thus instituting the Sacrament of Confession.
Then, Our Lord appears to them again on the eighth day, and Thomas arrives, and puts his fingers into the finger-sized nail holes in Our Lord’s hands. Then he puts what the Greek indicates is his entire hand, wrist and lower forearm all the way into the lance wound made by Longinus in Our Lord’s thoracic cavity, at Our Lord’s command.
It is conceivably possible that Our Lord breathed the Holy Ghost upon Thomas WHILE THOMAS WAS HOLDING OUR LORD’S LUNG IN HIS HAND, and that Thomas literally touched Our Lord’s BEATING SACRED HEART, and PALPATED THE STAB WOUND in Our Lord’s Sacred Heart.
Now, consider being Thomas and doing this, but also consider being one of the other Apostles standing there watching this happen, watching Thomas stick his hand and forearm into Our Lord’s side.
And if you’re thinking to yourself, “That isn’t possible…”, well, neither is walking through walls. The resurrected body of Our Lord is in an entirely different category. It isn’t held to the laws of the physical universe that bind us as we await our resurrection that He purchased for us.
People wonder why and how the Apostles were able to do what they did, and all but John were killed for the faith, and John was miraculously prevented from being killed, despite multiple efforts. Well, I reckon if we saw one of our friends stick his hand into Our Lord’s thoracic cavity up to the forearm, hold His breathing lung, and touch His Sacred Heart, we might be… confirmed and quickened, to put it mildly.
So, Happy Feast of St. Thomas! I hope you never think of it quite the same way again.
St. Thomas, pray for us.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us, on the Petrine See, unnecessarily vacant these 1086 days and counting, and on Your One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, outside of which there is no salvation.
I’m willing to bet that you have heard the achingly gorgeous “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”. The melody that we use today is called “Picardy”, a French medieval folk melody, but the hymn is ANCIENT, from the earliest days of the Holy Catholic Church. The words are from the Cherubic Hymn (sung at the Offertory) of the ANCIENT Rite of St. James the Less, son of Alphaeus, Apostle, Bishop of Jerusalem, and cousin of Our Lord. We’re talking the first DECADES after Our Lord’s Passion, Resurrection and Ascension. St. James the Less, Bishop of Jerusalem, was martyred in ARSH 62, and this is from his Rite.
The title comes from Habakkuk 2: 20.
When is the last time you quoted Habakkuk?
But the Lord is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him. Dominus autem in templo sancto suo : sileat a facie ejus omnis terra!
Here are the Benedictine nuns of Gower, Missouri, the selfsame community founded by Mother Wilhelmina Lancaster, found incorrupt two years ago, singing this exquisite Advent hymn off their CD, which I recommend that everyone have in their collection. These nuns truly give us all a foretaste of heaven with their pure, clear voices.
Please do contemplate these heart-rending verses as the Sisters’ voices draw us nearer to heaven, and to Our Eucharistic Lord even now, during this all-too-brief season of Advent.
Mother Wilhelmina Lancaster, pray for me, pray for us.
Lord Jesus Christ, in the crib, on the Cross, and in the Most Holy Eucharist, have mercy on us.
Let all mortal flesh keep silence, And with fear and trembling stand; Ponder nothing earthly-minded, For with blessing in His hand, Christ our God to earth descendeth, Our full homage to demand.
King of kings, yet born of Mary, As of old on earth He stood, Lord of lords, in human vesture, In the Body and the Blood; He will give to all the faithful His Own Self for heav’nly food.
Rank on rank the host of heaven Spreads its vanguard on the way, As the Light of light descendeth From the realms of endless day, That the pow’rs of hell may vanish As the darkness clears away.
At His feet the six-winged seraph, Cherubim with sleepless eye, Veil their faces to the Presence, As with ceaseless voice they cry: “Alleluia, Alleluia Alleluia, Lord Most High!”
