PURPOSE
The purpose of this document is to explain to the inquiring minds how
it has been possible for the Pristine Catholic Faith
(1) to reach us at
these very critical times in spite of what has been an atrocious string
of post Constantine Administrations
(2) of the Roman Catholic
Church.
INTRODUCTION
We have often said that even satan must serve God for God is the
Creator and Is above all
and
rules all. Of course - that is the overall
reason why the Pristine Catholic Faith has reached us at these very
critical times in
spite of what has been an atrocious string of post Constantine
Administrations of the Roman Catholic Church.
Now, let us look at some
of the details of how God's awesome power is made manifest to protect
the Faith.
The Key: All God
needs is a human being
who is willing to empty himself/herself of their self so that God can
fully act through him/her unfettered.
We have already amply covered the miraculous actions of St. John
Bosco
(3) who,
in the most anticlerical Italy of the 19th century, actually
received assistance by those who were persecuting the Vatican and its
hierarchy to establish in Italy what became the Salesian Order. Why?
He, just as Jesus did, was not interested in meddling in politics nor
clerical conspiracies - he was strictly interested in saving souls.
By giving to Caesar, what was due to Caesar (respect for the laws of
the land and its rulers), and to God, what was due to God (the souls of
abandoned and homeless children) Bosco succeeded. He produced solid
citizens for Italy who followed these very simple instructions:
Servants, obey in all things your
masters according to the flesh, not serving to the eye, as pleasing
men, but in simplicity of heart, fearing God. [Col 3:22]
Instructions
which were lived by Jesus, Who, according to Scripture, was never
bothered by the "evil" Roman
Empire while He ran into trouble with the "holy" Masters of the
Temple - the equivalent of the Roman Catholic Vatican Bureaucracy.
Times have not
changed at all.
DETAILS
The example that we will use this time
took
place during the lifetime of St. Charles Borromeo [1538 - 1584].
We are back in Italy - amazingly enough - in Milan; the same
area of work of Don Bosco - only 400 years before Bosco's time.
First, let us take a look at the state of the Roman Catholic Church in
Milan in the sixteenth century.
Rome - the seat of the Imperial Church - while only ca. 390 miles
south
of Milan - allowed the state of the Roman Catholic Church in and
around Milan to become thus
(4):
...in Milan and its environs, which had
no resident Archbishop for
eighty years, it wasn't just the religious communities..." that needed
to be reformed. "...secular priests, laity and, for that matter, the
entire populace needed to be reformed. The decline of religious
practice had resulted from slackness, ignorance and immorality.
Churches were in deplorable condition with vestments and sacred vessels
covered with dust and mld. Priests in the more remote villages
had mistresses and children, and were ignorant of the proper rubrics.
A proverb among the country folk was: 'If you want to go to hell,
become a priest'. The laity received the sacraments once in ten
or fifteen years if at all. They did not know the Our Father or Hail
Mary or how to make the sign of the Cross properly. Churches were
used as markets, for dances, banquets and theater, and in the country
as threshing floors."
Let us pause for a brief moment of recollection.... This debauchery is
taking
place just 300
years
after Francis
of Assisi, after hearing
"Francis,
Francis, go and repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into
ruins." acted upon it, achieving quasi miraculous results in
"repairing" the collapsing Catholic Church.
Assisi is ca. 235 miles south
southeast of Milan and ca. 84 miles north northeast of Rome. We are not
talking about far flung territories in Asia or the New World - we are
talking about a stone's throw from the See of the Holy (?) Roman
Catholic Church Administration.
They did not have Lenin nor the Vatican II council to blame for
that
seemingly endemic decadence in the Roman Church. A decadence which
started when the Church Administration chose to cast its lot with
Mammon [Constantine] and not God.
(5)
Now.... Back to Milan and Charles Borromeo. Borromeo was made Cardinal
at age
22, was Papal Secretary of State, Grand Penitentiary, Protector of
Portugal, Lower Germany, the Swiss Cantons, the Orders of Franciscans,
etc., etc. He received the benefices of twelve monasteries.
In Rome he had great palaces (notice the plural of "palace"), hundreds
of servants, stables of horses, art collections and huge incomes from
their many benefices.
In case that you are wondering about Borromeo's "good fortune".....
Pope Pius IV
(6),
the former Cardinal
Giovan Angelo de Medici, was Charles' uncle.... So far is "business as
usual in the Vatican"... but just "so far"... read on.
In spite of this well entrenched systemic corruption, just like John
Bosco did,
(3)
Charles Borromeo heard the voice of God and, rolling up his proverbial
sleeves, dove into the Council of Trent and
the proverbial "fur flew". He reformed the corrupt Church under his
area of influence, constructively dispensed of most of his wealth and
lived a
most austere life, thus, reforming the Church by word and deed.
He even used his influence as a Cardinal to elect Michael Ghisleri as
the next Pope - a critic
and
enemy of Charles' uncle - Pius IV. Michael Ghisleri went
on to become St. Pius V.
(6)
Borromeo did so because Ghisleri was a Dominican of penitential life,
an expert canonist and of unquestionable integrity and purity and he
knew that he would carry on the reforms called or by the Council of
Trent. It seems that Cardinal Ghisleri's black mark was
having headed the Inquisition in Italy.
CONCLUSION
As we have illustrated - it did not matter
whether John Bosco was dirt poor or that Charles Borromeo was filthy
rich plus had a real influence at the Papal level - what mattered was
that God
chose them, called them
and
gave them the Grace to say "
Yes"
to His
call.
It is because of men and women with like spirit
(7) that the Pristine
Catholic Faith has reached us
in
spite of the seemingly endless offspring of Babylon
[the Babylon of Revelations 14:8] who have resided, and still do,
at
the Vatican enclave.
It is then obvious that God, periodically, sent some "fresh salt"
[Matthew 5:13] so that the purity and incorruptibility of the Faith
would be preserved for His Elect in spite of the shenanigans of the
descendants of Babylon.
As far as the past and present "Babylonians" - Jesus judged them
(8) even before they came
into being.
EPILOGUE
Let us
continue to
pray....
God
Holy Spirit, Infinite Love of the Father and the Son,
through the pure hands of Mary, Your
Immaculate Spouse,
I place myself upon Your chosen altar, the Divine Heart of Jesus,
as a sacrifice to You,
this day and all the days of my life,
being firmly resolved now more than
ever,
to hear Your voice, and to do in all
things
Your Most Holy and Adorable Will.
Amen!
