November: Cemeteries, Holy Souls and Our Mother the Church - In Two Parts

Torch of The Faith News on Saturday 26 November 2016 - 16:45:54 | by admin

The final resting place of Msgr. James Nugent (1822 - 1905) in Ford Cemetery.

Part One

Ford Cemetery

During these grim days of November, we have been over to pray for the Holy Souls at Ford Cemetery on Merseyside.

The cemetery was established by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Liverpool back in the 1850's. Although it has since been surrounded by the sprawl of suburbia, this area remained open countryside until well into the 20th-Century.

The cemetery was originally designed with a splendid chapel of the Holy Sepulchre by Augustus Welby Pugin. Although that historical chapel has sadly been demolished, the tombs and graves of many bishops, priests, nuns and lay Catholics, dating to the earliest days of Liverpool's Roman Catholic Diocese (and now Archdiocese), remain extant.

Msgr. James Nugent and the Martyr Priests

Notable among these is the final resting place, at least on this earth, of Msgr. James Nugent (1822 - 1905); a priest whose tall statue still graces St. John's Gardens in the city of Liverpool to this day.

It was Father Nugent's special privilege to serve in his youth alongside the famous ''Martyr Priests'' of Liverpool. In 1847, a mere 18 years after Catholic Emancipation, and 3 years prior to the restoration of the Catholic Hierarchy in England, the city of Liverpool was known as the Black Spot on the Mersey. This was due to the crushing poverty and disease which was so rife in the area at that time.

In that year alone, some 300,000 fugitives landed in the city's port, hoping to escape from the famine and disease which were decimating the Irish population across the sea. Of that 300,000, between 60-80,000 remained in the city to settle or to die.

The rate of fever sent the death rate up by a distressing 2,000%. In Vauxhall ward alone, one-seventh of the population perished. Dr. W.H.Duncan, a pioneer in sanitary reform who had been appointed as a Medical Officer for the city, estimated that almost 60,000 people suffered from fever, and nearly 40,000 from diarrhoea or dysentry.

The famous ''Martyr Priests'' of Liverpool: (L-R): Fathers Dale, O.S.B., St. Mary's; Parker, St. Patrick's; Grayston, St. Patrick's; Whitaker, St. Joseph's; Gilbert, O.S.B., St. Mary's; Nightingale, St. Anthony's; Haggar, St. Patrick's; Gillow, St. Nicholas'; Appleton, D.D., O.S.B., St. Peter's; Kelly, D.D., St. Joseph's.

Thousands of immigrants kept on coming into the city, hoping to count on friends and relatives who had already arrived. It was not until they got here that they realized that these same souls were already living in shocking conditions of poverty and overcrowding.

As Canon Bennet recorded in his 1949 biography, Fr. Nugent of Liverpool: ''There were 24 priests attached to 8 Catholic chapels to cope with this ocean of misery.'' Out of those priests, at least 18 were themselves stricken down; and 10 of these sadly died.

These brave priests faced death by the hour. At night they tried to catch some rest on chairs and sofas; still clerically attired as they awaited the inevitable round of sick-calls. Sometimes, they even had to lie down next to dying individuals in order to hear their last confessions in the midst of tightly packed cellars of suffering. There were so many sick people in those places that the priests sometimes had nowhere to reverently place the pyx containing the Blessed Sacrament, except for the tops of their tall hats.

One Sunday at the historical St. Patrick's church, the Holy Mass had to be cancelled because two of the priests had died and a third was in bed battling the dreaded fever.

Canon Bennett records that these examples of priestly heroism made a deep impression on the people of Liverpool; and not only on the Catholic population.

Fifty years after these dreadful events, Msgr. Nugent preached at a solemn Mass of Requiem for the ''Martyr Priests'' at St. Patrick's church, on 16th June, 1897. His text and theme was, The Good Shepherd Gives His Life for His Sheep.

Msgr. James Nugent: Liverpool's famous and much loved priestly son. Having been blessed to work with the heroic ''Martyr priests'' in his youth, the Monsignor went on to become an important pioneer in child welfare, poverty relief and social reform. At his death the people of Liverpool lined the streets for his funeral.

Msgr. Nugent described how the ''Martyr Priests'' and their colleagues remained calm in the midst of the panic caused by the terrible scourge on the city. Day and night, those priests ministered to the sick and dying in attics, cellars, courts and alleys; places where breathing the fetid air could often mean certain death.

These priests went to such places fearlessly to save and sanctify souls with the Sacraments of Holy Church. At times, there being no-one else to perform the difficult task, these priests even lifted the festering and sore-covered bodies of the unburied dead into coffins.

The long-vandalized statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at Ford Cemetery: Behold the Heart that has so loved men and yet has received so little love in return...

On the 16th June, 1847, the day that Fr. Grayston of St. Patrick's died, there were around 43 sick-calls made by the resident priests. The young James Nugent went along with Fr. Gillow to a cellar where a young mother lay dead of the fever on a heap of shavings on the cellar-floor; a baby dead at her breast and two infants playing nearby.

Fr. Gillow himself succumbed to the scourge on 22nd August that year. In the eleven years that he had served at Copperas Hill, he had introduced a High Mass every Sunday, and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament every Sunday and Thursday. He had also established guilds for young men and women, together with the very first Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Liverpool, to bring practical aid to the suffering poor.

Fr. Robert Gillow's brother, Fr. George Gillow was also serving in the city at that tumultous time. When he died decades later, in 1894, Canon John Walmesley recounted a moving incident from the terrible days of the fever.

A messenger had hurried into the presbytery begging for someone to come and help at St. Patrick's church; where the priests were all down with the fever and corpses were beginning to fill the church. It seems that the priests looked round at each other, as if to say, ''Who will be the next victim?''

At that moment, the youthful Fr. George Gillow had quietly answered, ''I will go, if you like.'' Although he later caught the fever, Fr. George was able to fight it off and went on to live as an active priest for several more decades.

Towards the conclusion of his chapter on the ''Martyr Priests'' of Liverpool, Canon Bennett's book on Msgr. Nugent's life acknowledges the very heavy toll that sick-calls took on young priests in general during those difficult times. From a pastoral letter written by Bishop Briggs in 1840, it becomes clear that no less than 25 priests, ranging from youth to middle-age, had died in an 18-month period from diseases which they had contracted during the discharge of their sacred duties. 

Jesus may Thy Cross defend me, and Thy saving death befriend me, cherished by Thy deathless grace: when to dust my dust returneth, grant a soul that to Thee yearneth, in Thy paradise a place (from the hymn, At the Cross Her Station Keeping).

Msgr. James Nugent would himself survive and live on to become one of north-west England's most celebrated pioneers in the fields of child welfare, poverty relief and social reform. The Nugent Care organization was orginally founded on his clear ideals.

Among Msgr. Nugent's key achievements were the establishment of charitable schools for destitute children, the Catholic Reformatory Association, the Liverpool Catholic Children's Protection Society, the Northern Press and The Catholic Times, a refuge for fallen women and a Catholic chaplaincy at Walton Gaol.

During his lifetime, Msgr. Nugent gained the respect of many people of all creeds and social classes in, and far beyond, the city of Liverpool. This was no small feat when one considers that the Catholic Church in this country was only just slowly emerging from three centuries of anti-Catholic persecution and bigotry.

Part Two

Life and Death on the Edge

We adore Thee, O Christ, and We Praise Thy Holy Name; because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world!

I actually spent the first 9 years of my life growing up with my - then still Protestant - family in a small new-build home at the edge of Ford Cemetery in Litherland, near Liverpool.

I've got to be honest and say that, in those days, Ford Cemetery seemed such a spooky old place in contrast to our modern little home across the way.

When I was only a small boy, my big brother told me a scary story one night that it was never safe to look out of the windows of our house in the hours of darkness. He suggested that the wind-battered trees at the cemetery's edge were always filled with black-cloaked skeletons, which hung from the gnarled branches, from sunset to sunrise. For years as a kid, I would never dare to peer out through the curtains after dark!

Mum and Dad also used to tell us that, in the years when they were a young courting couple - remember courting couples! - they had to pass the cemetery on their walks between Dad's family home and Mum's.

One night, a large white ''thing'' flew out of the cemetery railings right in front of them and they screamed out in fright. Maybe to reassure us little ones, Mum always smiled and said that it had only been an owl, but Dad would always insist that, no, it had been something beyond explanation.

I perhaps outgrew those particular fears before we moved house in 1981, but that cemetery remained a negative place in my imagination for other reasons as I was growing up.

The cemetery was, by then, known locally as a place where glue-sniffers - ''glewies'' in Liverpool parlance - liked to hang out in the evenings. Then again, local bad lads and lasses - ''scallies'' to a Liverpudlian - would also go in there to take part in brutal fights with bricks. In my teens I was told stories of cats being tortured in there by gangs. 

To top it all, my own father had grown up in an older street of houses nearby. When I reached my late teens, Dad told me that a scary old woman, a person that nobody round there knew, would often come out of the cemetery at night and repeatedly ask the locals to go back in with her... He said that he had witnessed this himself a number of times!

Because of these accumulated fears and impressions, I had never desired to go too near Ford cemetery.

Indeed, although I have long known the story of Msgr. Nugent, I only discovered this year that he and so many other foundational clergy from the Archdiocese of Liverpool are buried there.

In the last few weeks, Angie, Mum and I have been to Ford Cemetery a couple of times to pray before Msgr. Nugent's grave. We've prayed for the Archdiocese of Liverpool and for the holy souls in purgatory.

I must say that, in sharp contrast to the legendary horrors of the place, I have found it to be a place of extraordinary peace and even holiness. This is often the case in places where Catholics from holier times rest on hallowed ground.

Although it is more than sad to see so many historical tombs - some of which have intricate carvings of pre-conciliar priests raising the Sacred Host complete with miniature altar servers clutching their stone chasubles - in various states of vandalism, Ford Cemetery is definitely one of those places which seems to be saturated with an atmosphere of grace.

Only Our Mother - After All!

This reality, as opposed to my previously imagined notions of the place, got me thinking about the tragedy of growing up in a country which has for so many centuries lived without the Catholic Faith; and of the grace-filled miracle of finding and entering that Faith.

There is a sense in which the Catholic Ford Cemetery symbolizes something much bigger in our culture.

Just as I grew up with various received impressions of the Ford Catholic Cemetery, so have many English men and women grown to adulthood outside of the Catholic Church in recent centuries.

I was one of them myself.

Our impressions of Catholicism were that it was a sinister and harsh religion, associated with unusual rituals and a violent and mysterious past.

That's pretty much what Ford Cemetery was also like in my imagination.

And yet the reality of the cemetery, as of the True Church, is that it is really a place where holy men and women rest and find a home in the peace of Christ. True, it has been battered by invaders, but it still maintains that essential spiritual calm.

What a blessing it has been to recently find Msgr. Nugent's grave and thus be able to pray there. What a wonder it was to learn, too, that Canon Michael Culhane, the good priest who received Mum, Dad and I into the Catholic Church over 20 years ago, is buried just nearby. What an unimagined gift it has been to discover the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Rock of Peter and the pillars of Sacred Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium.

And how sad that so many of us Englishmen and women might miss our annunciations by living just outside of these beautiful, saving mysteries. Just across the way in our little modern worlds we thought, like so many Miss Havershams, that our curtains were keeping out the dark, when all along they were obstructing the light.

How many Liverpool people have even heard of Msgr. Nugent today? How few, even in Catholic parishes and schools have learned that ours is the One True Church, the True Faith, which was founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation and sanctification!

Let us conclude with a fun little story, which also sheds some further light on the things we are reflecting on here.

Whilst in Ford Cemetery recently, I was so emamoured of praying near to the tombs of Msgr. Nugent and various Catholic bishops, monks, priests and nuns, from holier times than these, that I agreed for Angie and Mum to go off for a while and return to meet me later on.

I was so deep in reflection by Msgr. Nugent's tomb, that I did not hear them returning later on to pick me up. Neither did I even hear them approaching behind me through the grass and various stone tombs...

I can tell you that when my poor Mum, who lives in daily confusion after suffering a severe stroke a couple of years back, suddenly took hold of my hand from behind that I nearly jumped 1,000 feet in the air!

Who-ho-ha-ha-aagh-aaghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Mum celebrating her 70th birthday by our home altar earlier this year.

How joyful I was to turn round and see that, beyond my fears, it had only been my dear, smiling little mother all along.

And that is really the message that I would love to impart to all the poor souls who live out their lives just across the way from the Catholic Church in the post-Catholic society which has developed through the progressive turmoils of: the Protestant Revolution; the Rationalist Revolution; the Industrial Revolution; the World Wars; the Sexual Revolution; and now the Post-Modern Revolution.

There we all were, thinking the Church was something frightening, unknown and demanding, when all along She was only our Mother reaching out to greet us.

Our Lady of Walsingham - Pray for us!

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Absolute Relativists!

Torch of The Faith News on Thursday 24 November 2016 - 22:13:10 | by admin

Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna providing a visual demonstration that what is latest is not always best.

Irony of Ironies

It is one of life's strongest ironies that, for all their claims to the contrary, moral relativists often turn out to be the biggest absolutists going.

Just to give an example from my own experience, I remember arriving at a high-school about 14 years ago to give a pro-life presentation to a large gathering of students in the hall. A few minutes before I was due to begin, a woman of retirement age came over and suggested, ''you can't go around telling young people what to do!'' The fact that this was exactly what she was doing seemed to have been wasted on her...

I've already mentioned here how a Modernistic nun I worked for also ''preached'' at me that I could not go around ''preaching'' to people. And we have all heard Pope Francis' consistent proselytism of his unique message that it is somehow a sin to proselytize...

I can see pretty much where the Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft was going when he punned along the lines that we moral absolutists sometimes apply our absolutes relatively, whilst moral relativists always apply their relativism absolutely!

Meltdown in Austria

We see this general trend emerging once again with Cardinal Christoph Schonborn's little tizzy that was reported three days ago in the French Riposte catholique.

In a seeming state of agitated excitement, His Eminence exclaimed that the 4 cardinals' Dubia was an ''attack against the Pope''. He also stated that the 4 cardinals ''must be obedient to the Pope!''

An English translation of Riposte catholique's article depicts Cardinal Schonborn's position as, ''to ask to be enlightened, therefore, is to disobey now...''

And it further concludes, ''for Cardinal Schonborn, Amoris Laetitia without any Magisterial character, even of the lowest degree, becomes a super-dogma''.

This French outlet's suggestion that Amoris Laetitia has no Magisterial character echoes Cardinal Raymond Burke's recent contention that the document could not be part of the infallible Magisterium, ''because it contains serious ambiguities that confuse people and can lead them into error and grave sin.''

The real irony is that Cardinal Schonborn is demanding, in the most absolutist of terms, that the 4 cardinals - and by extension all the rest of us! - must unquestioningly and absolutely obey a document which makes it appear that nothing in the moral order can be understood or obeyed in absolute terms!

Such irony can only be compounded when it is remembered that the 4 cardinals, having politely asked for such inconsistency to be clarified, are now being ordered to obey absolutely and without question.

Dictatorship of Relativism

It seems to us that Schonborn forgets that it is the Catholic Church that we are speaking of and not some fanatical ideology run along the lines of the Third Reich!

But, as we have acknowledged above, this is the very nature of so-called moral relativism. This is why Pope Benedict XVI could speak with such clarity against the dictatorship of relativism; and by extension it is why his present conformity with just such a dictatorship makes no logical or theological sense.

And as we have said at this web-site a number of times in recent years, once the divine and natural law ceases to be the guiding principle, both for societies and individuals, then whatever ideology replaces these has always to be imposed from outside by dictatorship and tyranny.

If people will not police themselves and their own behaviours by forming their consciences and wills in accordance with objective truth, then they have to be coerced by whoever gains power in a given social situation to follow the prevailing ideology which supplants that truth.

This is the dynamic at work throughout Western civilization in these times. It has also been a driving force in the spreading hegemony of Communism.

In relation to our own country, the author Peter Hitchens has done a particularly good job of exploring this trajectory in his books, The Abolition of Britain and The Abolition of Liberty. To give just one example from his writings, Hitchens outlines how Britain's religious and moral collapse has been accompanied by a transition from decentralised government and small police forces to a culture of big-government and intensive surveillance of the populace.

Anyone with their eyes wide open can see how, in such a situation, government and policing morph from a culture which upheld the objective moral law into one which merely enforces ideology.

A state wherein everything that was not officially forbidden was permitted, is rapidly devolving into one where nothing will be permitted until it has been officially allowed.

The fact that various British town councils, police forces and fire service personnel now march in ''Gay Pride'' events in full regalia and uniform gives public expression to the kind of phenomenon we are discussing here.

History Repeating Itself...

To get back to Cardinal Schonborn's little outburst, it is remarkable to observe just how much the present attack on the 4 cardinals resembles - and indeed represents a present-day continuation of - the treatment that was meted out to Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre a few decades ago.

In his writings on ''The Problem of Obedience'' the Archbishop reflected: ''The Church is destroying herself by the path of obedience... The masterstroke of Satan is thus to spread the principles of revolution from within the Church, and under the authority of the Church itself... he has succeeded in getting those whose duty it is to defend and propagate the Church, to condemn those who are defending the Catholic Faith.''

Such treatment was applied to the 45 priests and theologians who also wrote in to seek ''clarification'' over Amoris Laetitia, when their names were passed on to their bishops and religious superiors by the Holy See; the levers of power in the latter having been so obviously subverted by the very enemies of Christ and His Holy Church.

And that sounds a lot more like Communism than anything genuinely Catholic. I mean, seriously, men are now getting reported from the very heart of the Church just for being orthodox!

Fly From This Relativism!

The catechetical lesson that we can learn from Schonborn's demand for blind obedience to a vague document, which is itself being used by so many to deny Christ's Truth and to deconstruct the entire moral and sacramental edifice of the Church, was already clearly enunciated in Fides et Ratio.

This marvellous encyclical letter recalled in its introduction that, ''Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth - in a word, to know Himself - so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may come to the fullness of truth about themselves.''

Cardinal Schonborn's demand for blind obedience from orthodox Catholics also stands in sharp contrast to his sinister suggestion that all manner of active homosexuals, adulterers and sacrilegious communicants be set free from the requirements of the moral law and obedience to it.

Given half a chance, like so many oppressors in history, Schonborn would thus have our wings clipped for us.

But our hearts desire will not accede to this; because God Himself has put that desire for His truth in us. 

May we never forget the true Catholic teaching, which is that we obey our religious superiors in all things except for sin.

Let these absolute relativists try to imprison the Church, and even our bodies if they will, but they will never lock our consciences in their little cage!

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Happy Thanksgiving to Our American Readers!

Torch of The Faith News on Thursday 24 November 2016 - 12:34:07 | by admin

We wish a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving 2016 to all our American readers!

A few years ago, we came across some splendid research by Dr. Marian T. Horvat over at the Tradition in Action website. Dr. Horvat's studies remind Catholics that the very first Thanksgivings in American history were actually Catholic affairs.

Most history books repeat the story of the New England Pilgrims celebrating a day of Thanksgiving for a good harvest at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. In so far as most contemporary British kids know anything at all about this celebration - mainly from American movies - they associate it with that particular Puritan event.

But Dr. Horvat acknowledges that many Catholics feel a little discomfort knowing that the Protestant sect which celebrated that New England Thanksgiving established a grimly Calvinist theocracy in Massachusetts and went on to mercilessly persecute Catholics.

Nevertheless, Dr. Horvat's research reassures American Catholics that in celebrating Thanksgiving today they are truly continuing an essentially Catholic tradition. And a marvellous one at that! For the documentary record proves that the very first Thanksgivings on American soil were thoroughly Catholic celebrations. This history is sadly unknown by too many of us Britons.

Angie and I ''pulling the wishbone'' during one of the two Thanksgivings that we spent at Steubenville, Ohio, a decade ago. We have many happy memories of those blessed times when American friends took us into their homes to celebrate with them. We'll always love America!

Dr. Horvat recalls that the very first Thanksgiving was actually celebrated by Catholic Spanish explorers at St. Augustine in Florida on the 8th of September, 1565.

On that day, Captain General Pedro Menendez de Aviles came ashore with his soldiers and a group of priests, amid the sounding of trumpets and canon fire, to claim the land for the expanding Spanish Catholic Empire of King Philip II.

Fr. Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales had gone ashore one day earlier to prepare to ceremonially meet the General. He advanced toward Menendez chanting the beautiful Te Deum and carrying a cross, which was reverently kissed by Menendez and all of those with him.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was then offered in honour of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In attendance were 500 soldiers, 200 sailors, 100 families and artisans, together with some Timucuan Indians from the nearby village of Seloy.

The new arrivals even had turkey in their celebrations when the local tribe offered them wild turkey; together with venison, oysters, giant clams, maize, nuts and fruits!

Dr. Horvat's studies also recall that the second Thanksgiving was yet another thoroughly Catholic affair.

On 26th January, 1598, a Spanish expedition set out from Mexico to found a new kingdom. After a dangerous three-month trek along what is now the El Camino Real -the Royal Road - this expedition crossed the Rio Grande and established a base camp just south of present day El Paso, Texas.

On 30th April, 1598 a Holy Mass of Thanksgiving was offered at the camp. The valiant leader Don Juan de Onate took formal possession of the land - called New Mexico - in the name of the Heavenly Lord, God Almighty, and of the earthly King Philip II of Spain.

After the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Franciscan missionary priests, who were with the expedition, blessed tables laden with ducks, fish, and geese. Some 600 soldiers and colonists then shared in a grand feast. After the Thanksgiving feast, a number of natives received instruction in the Faith, prior to reception of the Sacrament of Baptism.

We pray that all American readers will enjoy celebrating this essentially Catholic custom today with their families and friends.

And we thank readers from all over the world who encourage us each day by clicking on to our articles from so many nations. May God bless you all! 

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Reflecting on Cardinal Burke's Call for a Defence of Marriage that is Limpid, Heroic and Ready to Suffer

Torch of The Faith News on Tuesday 15 November 2016 - 16:30:30 | by admin

March 2015: Cardinal Raymond Burke defending Holy Matrimony in the ancient town of Chester.

On 6th March, 2015, I drove down to the ancient town of Chester, in order to attend Cardinal Raymond Burke's presentation at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel. The title of His Eminence's talk was Remaining in the Truth of Christ on Holy Matrimony.

It was a splendid presentation and a most encouraging evening. Given the gravity of these times, it was very heartening to see Shrewsbury's Bishop Mark Davies in attendance, as well as clergy from various dioceses/religious orders and many lay people from all over Britain.

The historical Falcon Pub on Chester's Lower Bridge Steet is an atmospheric place to share a pint during visits to the town: the building originated as a house around 1200 AD and underwent major reconstructions during its first century. It was extensively altered by the Grosvenor family during the English Civil War (1642-1651). It first became an inn during 1778. However, in 1879 it re-opened as a temperance house selling cocoa. A century later it lay derelict until complete restoration occurred in 1980; when it once more became a quality public house selling various fine ales! There are many such ancient buildings in and around Chester.

During the evening, Cardinal Burke acknowledged the gravity of the threats facing the Church and the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. He also gave a timely reminder of the importance of renewed commitment to the Great Commission which Our Lord gave to the Apostles to preach, baptize and teach all nations in His Name.

In consoling tones, His Eminence reminded the audience that Our Lord has promised to be with the Church until the end of time. He also reminded us all that this should call forth from us a more generous and ready obedience to the Word of Christ. As this obedience is indispensable, His Eminence invited all present to ask the Holy Spirit to purify us of any disobedience or rebellion that we might have harboured in our own hearts.

Having promised to pray for the re-conversion of Great Britain, Cardinal Burke underscored the fact that marriage is the critical locus of the Church's witness for the transformation of our society. He noted that the restoration of respect for conjugal union within marriage is essential for the very future of Western civilization. During the course of the evening, Cardinal Burke also re-affirmed the Church's true teachings on sex outside of marriage, homosexual activity and contraception. In relation to the latter, he also drew attention to the abortifacient component of many forms.

The cardinal proclaimed that there is only one kind of marriage as God created it; and as Jesus Christ redeemed it by the shedding of His Precious Blood. In light of these mysteries, the cardinal recalled that authentic fulfillment - meaning perfectio - has to do with nature and ends; rather than with merely selfish whims.

Towards the end of the evening, Cardinal Burke opened up the presentation to allow questions from the audience. I distinctly remember Laurence England, of That the Bones You Have Crushed fame, standing up and asking to what degree the cardinal thought the crisis over marriage was related to a Eucharistic crisis.

Cardinal Burke agreed that there is a definite link between the loss of belief in the Real Presence/the sacrifical nature of the Holy Mass and the call for divorced/re-''married'' people to be given Holy Communion without amendment of life.

In answer to another person's question, Cardinal Burke similarly acknowledged the link between the collapse in catechesis and the loss of the sense of the sacred that has occurred through the implementation of liturgical changes in recent decades. He recalled that many people left the Church when a ''man-centred'' approach spread and took hold. This has all contributed to the present crisis in which we find ourselves.

The thing that I was most struck by in the whole evening was Cardinal Burke's inspiring call for all present to commit to a defence of marriage that was limpid, heroic and ready to suffer. I think many of us ''signed up'' both psychologically and spiritually to that commitment during that grace-filled night.

Especially when Cardinal Burke next recommended that we call frequently on the help of those great defenders of marriage, St. John the Baptist, St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More.

He also asked us to offer up all of our sufferings in these challenging times in union with Christ for the Church.

With the making public of Cardinal Burke's joint actions with Cardinals Brandmuller, Caffarra and Meisner, one begins to feel and hope to at last have the generals needed to lead the call which many of us interiorly answered during that spring evening in 2015.

Please, Lord, that we do.

Viva Cristo Rey!   

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Many a True Word

Torch of The Faith News on Monday 14 November 2016 - 18:41:41 | by admin

Cardinals Raymond Burke, Joachim Meisner, Walter Brandmuller and Carlo Caffarra: We must pray for these faithful prelates, who surely face dangers which are at once spiritual and temporal.

Facing Doubts Full On

In the conclusion to the previous light-hearted piece, I alluded to a ''trial'' to get to the very heart of the truth of the present grave crisis facing the Church. It would seem that such a trial has already begun. I speak, of course, in relation to the incredible news of the four illustrious cardinals who have officially asked Pope Francis to ''untie the knots'' in Amoris Laetitia.

The full communication consists of requests from Cardinals Burke, Meisner, Brandmuller and Caffarra for Pope Francis to clarify no less than 5 doubts - dubia in Latin - relating to Amoris Laetitia. The original communication can be accessed at sites like Rorate Caeli. It certainly repays a close reading.

The fact that Pope Francis has reportedly failed to respond to the cardinals' original request - even though it was first made by them in private on the 19th September, 2016 - has now moved the four cardinals to inform the entire People of God of their initiative; and to provide them with access to the entire documentation of their concerns.

As Rorate Caeli has reflected, this marks the first time since the Counter Reformation that a reigning pontiff has been asked for clarification on his own teaching office in relation to a major papal document.

Since this morning, Rorate Caeli's Roman correspondent Fr. Pio Pace has added that there were more cardinals who presented this communication to Pope Francis, but these others did not wish to go public with their communication.

The Silence of Francis

Fr. Pace adds that, according to the process of the dubia, these questions must be answered, either yes or no, with modulations if necessary, but they must be answered nonetheless.

Fr. Pace concludes: ''And the Pope made known to the Cardinals that HE WOULD NOT ANSWER THEM. In all truth, it's this silence that makes the earth tremble.'' 

I think that anyone who is trying to follow Our Blessed Lord in these evil times will be able to discern how all of this might just relate to the various warnings and chastisements which have already afflicted the earth in recent times; and which will likely occur with increasing gravity should Christ's Holy Law continue to be rejected on such a serious scale. We may have more to say on this in future articles.

A Real Kind of Trial

For now, it appears to us that today's news marks the opening of a very real kind of trial for Pope Francis.

Three Possible Outcomes

Now that the four cardinals' communication is public, Francis appears to face a few serious choices.

All of which are climactic.

1. Fidelity

If, by God's grace, he were to act as a faithful son of the Church, and thus clarify the problematic parts of Amoris Laetitia in an unambiguous and orthodox manner, then he will have restored the Barque of Peter from the precipice near to which he has too long sailed her.

Such action would also mark the end of the use of ambiguity which has given so many people an illicit opportunity to collude with grave sin and its proponents in such a sophisticated manner.

Put simply: that particular show would be over.

2. Infidelity Expressed Openly

If, however, Francis were to answer in an unorthodox manner, then not only would the entire Catholic Church face an unprecedented - we may even say apocalyptic - crisis, but the entire raison d'etre of Francis' own authority would crumble, not only in the eyes of Catholics, but also before the eyes of the entire world.

For, by publicly and unambiguously contradicting Sacred Scripture and Tradition, he would be literally sawing off the branch upon which he sits. Why would it be consistent for anyone to continue listening to him then?

That would also pose orthodox Catholics with some very grave choices and courses of action. Let us state now explicitly, that these must always include keeping the True Faith and not quitting in the confusion.

3. Infidelity Expressed by Silence

Alternatively, if Francis were to continue to defiantly ignore this latest request, especially now that it has become so well known throughout the globe, then such action would appear to us to itself be an affirmation of the unorthodox response imagined above in the second ''option''.

For, although Francis has already chosen to ignore multiple requests - from cardinals, bishops, priests and laity - to affirm the true teachings of the Church, an important and measurable process, with precedent in the custom of the Church, has just been initiated in public by this latest letter from the four cardinals.

I think many readers will agree that we are now at an epochal moment.

We must pray much for Pope Francis, for the four cardinals, for all the others who originally signed up with them, and for the Church.

Let Christ Be Your Peace

That being said, I do not wish to sow despair in the hearts of any readers. Last night, I came across this following image at the Dymphna's Road blog. I am sorry, I still cannot get working links in the blog-page, but do pop over and visit Dymphna's Road.

The image was captioned with the words: Cease! The Sacred Heart is with me. When I saw that picture, and read those words, I received a peace that broke me free from some kind of spiritual storm which I had been enduring for a few days.

The basic point is this: we may be in apocalyptic times, and I would affirm that we actually are, but even this must not be allowed to remove one's focus from Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Peace which passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7). Let us each ask Our Lady for the graces needed to enter into and remain in the shelter of the peace of Jesus. And let us pray for one another to persevere in fidelity to Christ and His eternal Truth.

Keep the Faith, Go to Confession/Holy Communion, Pray the Rosary with your family.

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Each to His Own?

Torch of The Faith News on Saturday 12 November 2016 - 09:56:47 | by admin

Suum cuique

Perhaps it is no coincidence that the motto of the Faculty of Law at Lund University in Sweden is Suum cuique. Commonly rendered into English as to each his own, this Latin phrase was popularized in the 1st Century BC by none other than Cicero. Its roots are more ancient still, the principle being found expressed in the Greek world as early as Plato's Republic.

In its original context, the expression was understood more in terms of each person working, to the very best of his unique gifts or talents and without interfering in the affairs of others, towards the service of society as a whole.

However, in our own time it is understood more as an elevation of individual choice and preference. Whilst this more modern sense of ''each to their own'' may be legitimate in terms of tastes in food, clothing, furnishings and, to some degree, entertainments and political affiliations, the phrase has also morphed horribly into a kind of relativistic credo.

For example, one may encounter it being used in a very specific way among some of the more pragmatic types resident here in the north-west region of England. Attempts to talk to such folk in terms of objective moral or religious principles can soon run aground when, like the fictional old Lancashire women in Les Dawson's comedy sketches, such folk suddenly gurn their faces and announce, ''Oh well, each to their own!''

To which rapid put-down, more conciliatory types might soften the blow by condescendingly adding, ''Whatever makes you happy, dear!''

Such conversational exchanges typically precede fresh outpourings of strong tea and the proffering of extra cake.

Alas, it is perhaps the same the world over in these days of such shape-shifting relativism.

The Love Born of Faith

I used to visit a very different kind of old lady out near the town of St. Helens. Although she has since gone to her eternal reward, I always think of little Edie as one of the holiest souls that I have ever met.

Here was a Catholic who spoke of Jesus, Our Lady and some of the saints as intimate friends. Her face lit up like that of a small child whenever their names were mentioned in her presence. Edie was blessed with a rare kind of innocence that made you regret having ever offended God with a single sin in your whole life.

Any mention of the devil horrified her. With wide eyes, she would exclaim: ''Oh, he's horrible!''

Edie looked forward to her Holy Communions days in advance with both expectation and wonder. The Rosary was never far from her hand as she lay bed-bound and cut off from society by leg ulcers that were both painful and odorous.

In spite of these crosses, which led to the eventual loss of the small terraced house that she had called home since her childhood, Edie's chief hallmarks were peace, love and a gentle but authentic joy which pointed one towards Christ.

What did trouble her was atheism and sin.

When she finally ended up in a nursing home, Edie was greatly distressed to hear an old woman in a neighbouring room declare an avowed denial of the existence of God. When that woman died suddenly just a few days later, Edie was very troubled for her immortal soul.

As a young lady, Edie had made a pilgrimage to Rome. Whilst there, she had not only seen Pope Pius XII, but had even received a blessing from him with a large group of other pilgrims.

The reverence and happiness with which Edie, almost whisperingly, described His Holiness from her sick-bed, still lives powerfully in my memory, almost two decades after hearing it. Her description bespoke a time when even Popes were still in awe of the majestic dignity of their office as Christ's Vicars on earth.

Such was the mystique with which Papal blessings were once surrounded - and still are to those blessed with the Faith - that I even remember Protestants around here speculating about whether such a blessing could ''work'' through the TV during the Papal Visit to England in 1982.

Maybe some cradle Catholics tend to forget, too, the wonder which is first experienced when receiving a blessing from any of the Successors to the Apostles in the Hierarchy.

Or even, for that matter, from one's own parish priest when first grasping something of the true nature of the priest as alter Christus.

Virtual Blessing?

That awesome power to bless, in persona Christi, is the reason why refusal to bless, as the Church does, is so grave. The Catholic Dictionary of 1928 recalls: ''God is the source of all His blessing, but certain persons have special authority to bless in His name, so that this blessing is more than a mere prayer; it actually conveys God's blessing to those who are fit to receive it.''

And yet, we have all likely heard of priests, and even bishops, who seem somehow ashamed to bless in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Or else, in a seeming submission to some misguided sense of equality, prefer to ask God not to bless You as the faithful, but to bless us all, like Tiny Tim!

''Each to His Own'' Relativism Enters the Papacy?

There was nothing miniature about the assembly of famous internet Big-Wigs who met with Pope Francis earlier this week for a ''Common Values'' conference in Rome. The event was attended by leaders from the digital world representing Google, WPP, Publicis, Media-Participations and the publishers of the video game Candy Crush.

We will not dwell here on Pope Francis' use of this meeting to further his ongoing calls for a touchy-feely ''revolution of tenderness'' marked by the ''importance of a caress''.

More relevant to our discussion here is his desire to recognize the presence at the meeting of members of different religions and his concluding attempt to ''bless everyone according to their own religion''.

As a Catholic lay-man down here at the cliff-face, I can only wonder how this does not represent a series of implicit, though grave, denials which are as practical as they are public.

To my eyes, this unprecedented attempt includes: a denial of the One True God Who has revealed Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Ghost; a denial of the papal authority received from Christ to baptize and teach all nations; a denial of any desire to bless in the Holy Name of Jesus; a denial of the One True Faith which Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ founded on the Apostles for the salvation and sanctification of all peoples; a denial of the custom followed by all previous popes of blessing according to the tradition of the Church; and, finally, a denial of the opportunity to give a genuine blessing to any Catholics who were present at the meeting.

This last point bears on a related theme: it should be apparent to all observers, whether Catholic or not, that the only reason that Pope Francis has a global platform at all is because he is supposed to represent Jesus Christ, Catholic Tradition and Catholics in general.

This is the only basis that he, or any other pontiff, really has for expecting anyone to listen to anything that he says.

And yet Francis, in this and various other instances, appears to present himself not so much as the leader of Catholics, much less as the Vicar of Christ, but as some kind of leader of all religions, religious people and religious sentiments.

But who made him such?

And from whence does he derive the power, or even the right, to bless all people according to their own religion? If he does not care whether the Most Holy Trinity, the Hierarchy or any faithful Catholics approve, does he not fear to offend the Koranic doctors?

And what if the religion of some of those present had been satanism?

In any case, why should anyone listen to, much less desire a pseudo-blessing from, a man who seems to have so little respect for the religion he is meant to officially represent? Please understand, I am asking that question philosophically.

Conclusion

Decades after receiving a blessing from Pope Pius XII, little old Edie could still only speak of it, with her eyes brightly twinkling, in tones of hushed reverence.

In the days of Francis, Catholics still speak of his ''blessings'' in hushed terms. Though, sadly, for different reasons. 

Please join us in praying for Francis each day at 3pm.

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Hung, Drawn and Quartered Like the Martyrs of Old

Torch of The Faith News on Friday 11 November 2016 - 11:50:52 | by admin

Waving Goodbye to Orthodox Leadership on Marriage and Family Life.

I've got to stop checking the headlines before going to bed like I did last night. That way I would have been blissfully unaware until sunrise of the depressing headline over at LifeSiteNews.

That headline reads: Pope: Pontifical Academy for Life members no longer required to sign pro-life declaration.

As with Synods '14/'15, the confusion surrounding Amoris Laetitia and the recent depressing developments at the JP II Institutes, that LifeSiteNews report pretty much sums up the general trajectory in the days of Pope Francis, Archbishop Paglia and Cardinal-Elect Kevin Farrell.

To say nothing of the many others who have worked to subvert the beautiful clarity of the Church's moral teachings in the area of chastity and marriage.

I mean, seriously, you just couldn't write this stuff!

Still, the morning sun is shining again now and I encourage readers not to lose heart.

Those words of Sr. Lucia of Fatima ring more truly every single day: ''The final battle between the Lord and the reign of Satan will be about marriage and the family. Don't be afraid, because anyone who works for the sanctity of marriage and the family will always be fought and opposed in every way, because this is the decisive issue. However, Our Lady has already crushed its head.''

Incidentally, if you are the person/persons who sent us hardcore pornography a couple of days ago, don't forget that God knows who you are. We urge you to desist from doing such evil and to quickly repent of it for the salvation of your immortal soul.

Our Lady of Victories - Pray for us!

St. Joseph, Head of the Holy Family - Pray for us!  

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Deo Gratias - God Bless America!

Torch of The Faith News on Wednesday 09 November 2016 - 10:00:18 | by admin

Photos of Torch of The Faith during the 2006 March for Life in Washington D.C.

We join with readers from America and throughout the world in giving thanks to God for the blessed defeat of Hillary Clinton. We also pray for the future peace, prosperity and unity of the United States of America.

May the words of Pope Pius XI's Quas Primas become everyone's guiding principle in these days of fresh hope for the American Republic: ''When once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the blessings of real liberty, well ordered discipline, peace and harmony'' (QP 19).

Not forgetting, either, those timeless words of Alexis de Tocqueville in Democracy in America: ''Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.''

Enjoy this day, dear readers!

Our Lady of Fatima - Pray for us! 

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A Prayer for America - May the Best MAN Win!

Torch of The Faith News on Tuesday 08 November 2016 - 11:28:03 | by admin

An Englishman Reflects

Allow us to express our gratitude today to all our regular American readers. We are praying on this day which is so important for the future of your great nation and, indeed, for the stability of the entire world.

As the stakes are so high, please forgive us tea-sipping Brits for meddling in US politics for just a moment.

In light of Hillary's radically anti-Christian and pro-death policies, we think that it is absolutely shocking that Pope Francis appeared to pile upon his previous critique of Donald Trump's ''wall-building'' policy, just a few short days before the election, during his speech to a gathering of ''social justice activists'' in Rome. The circulation of the speech via America magazine only adds to the gravity of this problem.

It rather tends to support Elizabeth Yore's discussions at the Remnant regarding the Clinton/Soros co-option of the Vatican and the seemingly associated surrogacy of Francis.

Sure, Trump is no ideal candidate, and the limited choice between this pairing provides another significant indicator of the collapse of Western civilization, but at least he is not a clearly Alinskyite - and overtly anti-Catholic - promoter of the mass murder and dismemberment of pre-born babies!

Given all of this, the ambivalence, weakness and essentially pro-Hillary stances of various American bishops and journalists is nothing short of lamentable.

Fr. Rutler Weighs In

Fr. George Rutler's on-line photograph has all the dignity and presence of those 19th-Century portraits of the great Churchmen, which are found hanging in episcopal palaces and chancelleries the world over; it is no worse off for all of that!

Some English friends of ours were once in New York City during a Stateside vacation. They fronted up to the door of Fr. George Rutler's presbytery and announced that they were overseas fans of his regular shows on EWTN. With typical grace and civility, the good Father welcomed them in for a spot of classical hospitality.

I always think of Fr. Rutler as one of the most sensible parish priests that one could likely meet in New York City, or anywhere else for that matter, during these grim days of struggle for the very soul of the Church.

As with the good Fr. Francis Marsden in our home Archdiocese of Liverpool, Fr. Rutler is one of those intelligent and orthodox priests that all right-thinking people agree should have been made a bishop.

At the very least.

Oh, but you see he was just too orthodox for these times when mediocrity will have its triumph...

And so, the likes of Fr. Rutler - to say nothing of his holy icons - are quite literally passed from pillar to post, in order to make way for the girlish, the whirlish or the buffoon.

Orthodoxy and Backbone

One of my favourite quotes from Fr. Rutler comes from a classical appearance that he made on Mother Angelica Live! many years ago.

During that sublime episode, Fr. Rutler smoothly announced: ''Orthodoxy is not enough... What is also needed is backbone to see it through historically.''

Both Fr. Rutler and Fr. Marsden have given ample evidence of both orthodoxy and backbone during the many years of their priesthood.  

It is heartening to read, via the Pastor's Column at Rorate Caeli, that Fr. Rutler has again provided a demonstration of both orthodoxy and backbone during his recent reflections on the Presidential Election.

Here are a few essential quotes for American voters to consider on this momentous day:-

It is incorrect to say that the coming election poses a choice between two evils. For ethical and aesthetic reasons, there may be some bad in certain candidates, but badness consists in doing bad things. Evil is different: it is the deliberate destruction of truth, virtue and holiness.

While one may pragmatically vote for a flawed candidate, one may not vote for anyone who advocates and enables unmitigatedly evil acts, and that includes abortion. 

At one party's convention, the name of God was excluded from its platform and a woman who boasted of having aborted her child was applauded. It is a grave sin, requiring sacramental confession and penance, to become an accomplice in objective evil by voting for anyone who encourages it, for that imperils the nation and destroys the soul.

It is also the duty of the clergy to make this clear and not to shrink, under the pretence of charity, from explaining the Church's censures. Wolves in sheep's clothing are dangerous, but worse are wolves in shepherd's clothing.

While the evils foreseen eight years ago were realized, worse would come if those affronts to human dignity were endorsed again. In the most adverse prospect, God forbid, there might not be another free election, and soon Catholics would arrive at shuttered churches and vacant altars.

The illusion of indifference cannot long be perpetuated by lame jokes and synthetic laughter at banquets, for there is handwriting on the wall.

When thinkers as culturally and spiritually aware as Fr. George Rutler start sounding a similar note to Alex Jones, then you know it is beyond time to sit up and pay attention!

On this day, we at Torch of The Faith thank God for Fr. Rutler's courageous witness and earnestly pray: May God Bless America!  

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In Thanksgiving for Angeline's Birthday!

Torch of The Faith News on Monday 07 November 2016 - 20:52:34 | by admin

My dear wife Angeline is celebrating her 51st birthday today. I give thanks to God for her every single day of the year, but especially on her birthday.

I am very grateful to her for helping me to keep the Faith in these dark times and for all the loving care that she gives to my poor mother. Angie has truly been a ''Veronica'' to us.

We have asked the good priests of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP) to offer the Traditional Latin Mass for her intentions.

On her birthday each year, Angie always prays especially for any lonely old souls or homeless people who might share her birthday, but have nobody to celebrate it with. She also prays for any abandoned or orphaned children who might not even know that today is their birthday.

Please join us in praying for these intentions and in thanksgiving for another year which we have received together from the Lord's kindness and mercy.

Now it is time for us to celebrate with a Gingerbread Latte Cake and a glass of red wine (or two)!

God bless - and thank you for reading each day! 

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