BELLUM CONTRA HÆRÉTICOS

A Calvinist noblewoman was possessed by a demon. She exhibited many classic signs of genuine possession, including replying to questions in whatever language they were asked. The Calvinist ministers were unable to cure her, and so hesitantly approached the local Jesuits. The Jesuit rector replied to them: “Don’t you consider our ceremonies superstitious and our exorcisms meaningless? Why then do you come to us? Is it faith or necessity that brings you? Send your own ministers and your schismatic priests, and see what power they have over the Devil. Then come to us. For it’s only fair that the trial should be considered as a proof of the reality of the two religions.” The Calvinists said their ministers did not have the power to cast out the demons. So the rector agreed they would see the woman. The account continues: “After this, a visit was made by the Catholic authorities to the woman to see if she was really possessed, which they soon confirmed. As soon as the rector sprinkled her with holy water and touched her with a relic of St. Ignatius without her knowing it, she began to writhe and twist her body, saying that a bone of St. Ignatius tormented her. As the rector was even more eager to heal the souls of the Calvinists than the body of the woman, he instructed them to bring the book of Calvin’s ‘Institutes’ or some other book containing their own dogmas and give it to the woman. This was accordingly done, and the Devil began to kiss and caress it with great marks of joy. The rector then took it and hid a picture of St. Ignatius between the pages; then he presented it to her again. The demon drew back, screaming with anger, and would not even touch it. Being compelled to acknowledge what it was he feared, the unclean spirit answered, ‘The picture of St. Ignatius that you have placed there!’ The Calvinists were greatly confounded at this, and one of them said in anger, ‘You Papists have a good understanding with the Devil, so you can do whatever you want with them.’ One of the Jesuit fathers then said, ‘Since this evidence doesn’t satisfy you, let’s try this. I’ll pray to God that if yours is the true faith, the Devil may pass into my body and torment me, but if the Catholic faith is true, he may enter into you for one hour only. Will this satisfy you?’ Not one of them would consent, and all were silent. Then they earnestly begged the rector to assist the poor woman if he could. The rector promised and then went away.” Every time one of the Jesuit brothers came to the woman, “she flew into a passion. However, if a Calvinist presented himself, she called him her dear friend.” The woman was eventually exorcised after the brothers offered fasting and penance for her, the exorcist offered Holy Mass, and administered the rite of exorcism. After the demon went out of her, “right then and there, she solemnly renounced her errors and professed the Catholic faith.” It is one of the great evidences of the Catholic Faith that whenever someone needs help confronting the demonic, they often (not always) have to call a Catholic priest to do it. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, who continues to cast out demons for the conversion of souls through the instrumentality of Your priests! Source: Paul Thigpen (protestant convert), “Saints Who Battled Satan: Seventeen Holy Warriors Who Can Teach You How to Fight the Good Fight and Vanquish Your Ancient Enemy” (TAN Books, 2015), 116-19, which was quoting the words from the following book: Antonio Francesco Mariani, “The Life of St. Ignatius Loyola, Founder of the Jesuits, Vol. 2” (Thomas Richardson and Sons, 1849).

A brutally honest critique of the Novus Ordo religion

Sermon: The Novus Ordo Religion, by Rev. Michael DeSaye https://youtube.com/watch?v=AllGyUpukVo&si=Ux-gNtkSSA5u7aLg

Its history and its veneration begins in the meanders of the Christian cemeteries of the city in the III century. The Chair was later venerated in the Baptistery of St. Damasus in the Vatican. It is now preserved in the apse of the Vatican Basilica, enclosed in the great Berninian reliquary, so that not even the Pope can sit there, as the Supreme Pontiffs used to do until the XVI century. Under the name of Natale Petri de Cathedra was celebrated a feast on February 22; but, because of Lent, the churches of Gaul took the habit of celebrating it the 18th of January. The two costumes developed in a parallel way; then, finally, the primitive unity of their meaning was lost and there were two feasts of the Chair of St. Peter, the first attributed to Rome - that of January 18 -, the second attributed to another chair - ultimately to that of Antioch - on February 22. The Roman Church, until the sixteenth century, only celebrated this last feast. Since the Gentiles, doing worthy penance, had taken the place of the Jews, Antioch replaced Jerusalem and St. Peter resided there, before establishing his Chair in Rome. To St. Peter who proclaimed Jesus "the Christ, Son of the living God" (Evangelium) while all Palestine rose up against him, the divine Master entrusted the power to absolve from sins, to close the gates of hell and open those of heaven to us. (Idem). And the Head of the Holy Church teaches us in His First Epistle that "with faith in the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit sanctifies us and reconciles us with the Father". Furthermore, in this Holy Mass the commemoration of St. Paul the Apostle is made, immediately after the prayer of the feast, so that the liturgy does not separate those who were rightly called the two columns of the Holy Church. Today let us honor the Head of the Holy Church, who continues on earth the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ and let us ask him to free us from the bonds of sin.

THE CHAIR OF SAINT PETER APOSTLE IN ANTIOCH The feast of the Chair of St. Peter was established as early as 354 AD to honor the dignity of this prince of the Holy Church, to whom our Lord Jesus Christ entrusted the power of the keys, symbol of supreme authority. The “Cathedra Petri” or the “Sella gestatoria apostolicae confessionis” is the pontifical throne of St. Peter and of his successors in the Roman episcopacy, in the supreme guidance of all the flock of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the lambs, the little sheep and of the mother sheep (cp. John 19, 15-17). In her there are the unconscionable foundations of the infallible and unfailing Catholic Faith, the necessary fulcrum of the unity of Christianity, the fullness of the Priesthood and of the Kingdom.

Yes...

Sancte Valentine, ora pro nobis!

The Practice of Mortification If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.—Matt. 16-24. This is all that anyone who wishes to be a follower of Jesus Christ has to do. Do we wish to be saved? We must then conquer all to make sure of all. How miserable is the soul that allows itself to be guided by self-love! Mortification is of two kinds—internal and external: by interior mortification we have to study to conquer our passions, and especially our predominant one. A person who does not overcome his predominant passion is in great danger of being lost; whereas he who has overcome that will easily conquer all the others. Some, however, allow one vice to predominate in themselves, and think that they are good, because they do not see in themselves vices which others have. “But what does it matter?” says Saint Cyril: “one leak is sufficient to sink the ship.” Nor will it suffice to say, “I cannot abstain from this vice;” a resolute will conquers all; that is, of course, with the assistance of God, who will never fail us. External mortification has to do with conquering the sensual appetites. Worldly people call the saints cruel when they deny their bodies all satisfaction of the senses and chastise them with hair-shirts, disciplines, and other penances. “But,” says St. Bernard, “they are in reality much more cruel to themselves, who condemn themselves to burn forever in hell-fire for the sake of the short and miserable pleasures of this life.” Others say that all forbidden pleasures should be denied to the body; but they despise external mortifications, saying, that interior mortification is what is required; that is, the mortification of the will. Yes, it is principally necessary to mortify the will, but the mortification of the flesh is also necessary; because when the flesh is not mortified, it will be hard to be obedient to God. St. John of the Cross said, that any one who taught that external mortification was not necessary, ought not to be believed, even though he worked miracles. But let us come to the practice of it. In the first place, the eyes must be mortified. The first arrows that wound the soul, and often kill it, enter through the eyes. The eyes are, as it were, grappling-irons of hell, which drag souls, as if by main force, into sin. A certain Pagan philosopher voluntarily put out his eyes to free himself from impurity. It is not lawful for us to pluck out our eyes, but we ought to make them blind by means of mortification; otherwise we shall find it difficult to keep ourselves chaste. St. Francis de Sales said: “You must close the gates, if you do not wish the enemy to enter into the citadel.” We must then abstain from looking at any object that may give occasion to temptation. St. Aloysius Gonzaga did not dare to raise his eyes to even look at his own mother; and when by chance our eyes light on some dangerous object, let us take care not to fix them on it. “It is not so much the mere seeing,” says St. Francis de Sales, “but the inspecting and continuing to look, that is the cause of ruin.” Let us then be very careful in mortifying our eyes; because many are now in hell on account of sins committed with the eyes. In the second place, we must mortify our tongue, by abstaining from words of detraction, or of abuse, or of obscenity. An impure word spoken in conversation, even in jest, may prove a scandal to others, and be the cause of a thousand sins arising from it. And it should be observed, that sometimes a word of double meaning, said in a witty way, does more harm than a word openly impure. In the third place, we must mortify the taste. St. Andrew Avellini said that in order to begin to live a good Christian life, a man must begin by the mortification of his palate. And St. Francis de Sales said: “We must eat to live, not live to eat.” Many seem to live only to eat, and thus they destroy the health both of their soul and body. For the most part costiveness, diarrhoea, and other illnesses are caused by the vice of gluttony.

To this day, the Jews weep, dipping their bare feet in ashes, sitting in sacks, and so as not to lack superstition, according to the vain rite of the Pharisees, they eat lentils as their first food, thus showing by what food they lost their birthright. And rightly so, because, not believing in the Lord's resurrection, they are preparing for the coming of the Antichrist. Saint Jerome

Meanwhile, Claudius, wanting to know how Valentine's trial had gone, knowing that even Asterius with all his family had converted to Christianity for the miracle that took place on his daughter, immediately sent a handful of soldiers to jail them all: their stay in prison was short-lived, because martyrs soon died for faith in Christ. There remained the priest Valentine, who would have gladly given himself to death if he had not feared a rebellion; then, he gave it into the hands of the judges, to be judged according to the law. Before dying, the Saint had to undergo the heavy chains of a dark and fetid prison, endured many and cruel beatings, and finally was condemned to be beheaded outside the city in the Via Flaminia around the year 270. A certain matron named Savinilla (or Sabinilla) collected the body of the Saint, and buried it on the second mile of the Via Flaminia (today Viale Maresciallo Pilsudski) near the city gate, which over the years was called "the door of Saint Valentine". On his tomb, a basilica was built in his honour by Pope Julius I (336-352); it was rebuilt by Pope Honorius I (625-638), enlarged by Pope Benedict II (684-685) and had a monastery annexed at the time of Pope Nicholas II (1059-1061). In the XIII century the relics of St. Valentine, most likely, were brought to the Basilica of Santa Prassede and placed in the Oratory of St. Zenone. Here the relics of Saints Zeno and Valentine were in a marble ark from which they were removed in 1699. The Roman Diary (1926) recalls the exhibition of the relics in the adjacent chapel of the Column. In the chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas of Tolentine in the Basilica of Saints Trifone and Augustine in Campo Marzio, part of the remains of a presbyter named Valentine are visible at the altar.

At these words the prefect of the city, named Calpurnius, exclaimed: “You, oh prince, are seduced by a false doctrine! This deceiver has blown your mind. And how will we leave the religion of our ancestors, which we have received since the cradle, to embrace such a vile and unknown sect?”. The seditious reply of the prefect made Claudius fear a rebellion against him, and a foolish fear took possession of the soul that a short time before had seen the grace that stimulated him to convert; sacrificing his salvation to such vile human respect, he stifled all his feelings and handed Valentine to the prefect, telling him: "Listen to him with patience, and if you don't recognize that his doctrine is right, judge him according to the laws of the empire." Then Calpurnius handed over Valentine to Asterius, the judge, to start a trial, with the promise that if he won and managed to humiliate the priest he would be rewarded with gold and silver. Asterius, who had witnessed the truths announced by Valentine, since that opportunity presented itself to him, wanted to have the pleasure of speaking to him personally and attempting all possible tricks to make the venerable priest's faith shake. He therefore made him entertain at his house and the Saint entered it, raising his eyes and hands to heaven, knelt down and began to pray: "My Lord Jesus Christ, Creator and Redeemer of mankind, who are the true light and rest of we miserable pilgrims, with the light of Your faith enlighten the minds of those who live in this house, so that they may know you, Oh Lord, who together with the Father and the Holy Spirit live for ever and ever ”. Asterius, hearing this prayer, said: “I admire that, being you esteemed man of such good sense, you consider your Christ as true light. Oh if you only knew what compassion I feel in seeing you lying in such errors!”. “I am wrong! - the Saint exclaimed - Know, Asterius, that the more I am in error, that indeed nothing is truer than this truth, that is, that my Jesus, and Savior of the world, Who deigned to become man for us, let Him be the true light, which illuminates whoever comes into the world”. “If this is true - continued Asterius, almost laughing - I want to give it a try. I have a daughter, dearly loved, who has been blind for many years: if you arrange for your Christ to restore her lost sight, I promise you to become a Christian with my whole family”. “Come on then - answered the Saint - let her come to my presence!”. The father requested to take his daughter and Valentine, as soon as he saw her, whining and shedding tears, raised his eyes to heaven made the sign of the Cross over the eyes of the girl, and said: "My Lord Jesus Christ, True God and True Man, that you have restored sight to a man born blind, and want the salvation of all men, deign to hear the prayer of this poor sinner, and heal this poor girl. You who are the true light, and the Lord of all principles, I invoke You so that not mine but Your eternal will be fulfilled" and so saying he placed his hands over the eyes of the girl, continuing:" Lord Jesus Christ, enlighten this your creature, because You alone are the true light”. He did not even finish the prayer, which the girl immediately recovered her sight. At this miracle, Asterius threw himself at the Saint's feet, and prayed to him for Jesus Christ, who had enlightened his daughter, to order him what he should do to save his own soul. Then Valentine replied: "If you believe from the heart, you must do what I tell you: break all the idols into a thousand pieces, fast, receive Baptism and you will be saved". After three days of intense catechism and instruction in holy doctrine, Valentine baptized Asterius with his whole family on Sunday, and called Bishop Callixtus, he had them confirmed, in all 44 people. Thirty days spent all together giving praise to the Lord, and establishing themselves more and more in the embraced faith.

This great fame of his rare gifts quickly reached the court of Emperor Claudius II Gothicus: he had often heard of him as an excellent man, who stood out among all, and so he decided to invite him to court. The Emperor himself welcomed him by expressing how much esteem and respect he had for Valentine. As soon as he appeared before him, Claudius said: "Please, why don't you want to enjoy our friendship and live united with the citizens of our republic?" I have heard many things about your wisdom and virtue, but I do not understand how, being you so wise, you can follow the vain superstition of Christians”. To which the venerable priest replied: “Oh if you knew, oh lord, and if you knew the gift of God! I know well that you would rejoice, and your republic with you, and you would consider yourselves too happy to have as master Him whom I adore and serve. How soon would you be bored with the worship that you now blindly lend to the demons! I assure you that you would soon adore the true God, the One who created heaven and earth from nothing and all that is included in this vast universe, and His only Son, Jesus Christ, Redeemer of mankind, equal in everything to God the Father. From Him is the empire. He alone can make your happiness, and that of all your subjects!” The sweetness and the gentle way of speaking captured the heart of Claudius; at the side of the emperor was a certain doctor who, when he realized that the words of Valentine made a breach in the heart of the sovereign, immediately interrupted the Saint's speech and replied: "And what do you think then, what concept do you have of our great god Jupiter , and of Mercury? “. "What I think - answered the holy priest - is exactly what you yourselves should think, that is, that there were no men more impious and selfish than those you call gods: your poets have put all their study in letting you know their filth and infamous deeds. You have their stories in hand: just show me their genealogy, and the summary of their life; and I will give you a winning case, if it does not appear evident that they were unjust men, gross and wicked “. Such an unexpected and precise answer made the doctor go into a rage, and he began to shout: «This is a blasphemer! A sacrilege!”, And his cries echoed others, asking for the Saint to be sentenced to death. The Emperor, however, perhaps internally persuaded of the truth he had heard or perhaps not paying attention to the cries of the courtiers, wanted to continue talking with the saint, and after having questioned him with great affability about the many mysteries of the Christian religion, he said to him: "If Jesus Christ is God, why does he not manifest himself? Why don't you let me know such truth so interesting?”. "Hear your mercy, oh great prince," the Saint replied: and after explaining to him in the strongest and clearest way the essential points of the Christian faith, he added: "Do you, Emperor, want to be happy? Do you want the empire to flourish and all your enemies to be destroyed, and do you want to ensure yourself eternal happiness? You must cling to this party, and to this great memory: repent from the heart of the excesses committed in shedding the blood of so many innocent Christians condemned to death by you; believe in Jesus Christ, submit your empire to His holy laws, and receive Baptism. As there is no God other than the God of Christians, so there is no salvation to be hoped for outside this religion. Yes, or great prince, outside of Christianity there is no salvation”. The energy and wisdom of the conversation he had with Valentine had truly moved the heart of the Emperor, who, unable to conceal the strong impression received in his own spirit, addressed the courtiers: "It must be recognized that this man is telling us many good doctrines. You too, Roman citizens, hear the great truths that he announces to us, against which it is difficult to defend oneself: there is no argument that can reply to him”.