''To Love Jesus and to Make Him Loved'' - St. Therese of Lisieux

Torch of The Faith News on Friday 20 February 2015 - 11:45:08 | by admin

There are so many attacks on Christians and such serious affronts to Catholic orthodoxy these days, that it can sometimes be hard to know where to even begin. 

This week has been darkened by the wicked beheading of 21 Coptic Christians by ISIS radicals in Libya. The barbarism of this filmed mass-murder has brought out into the public gaze the more widespread and under-reported kidnappings, murders, church-burnings and other daily sufferings that Christians in Libya have been enduring, at the hands of various other Islamist groups, since 2012. Nothwithstanding this, the response of the papacy has been rather muted - except for the executions being used as a vehicle to promote ecumenism. Meanwhile the President of the United States managed to refer to the incident without even acknowledging that the victims were Christians; and this in spite of the facts that the Islamists announced on video that the victims were being killed because of their faith, that several of the men called on Jesus seconds before they were killed and that the perpetrators announced that they are planning to conquer Rome.

This week has also been punctuated by another round of revealing papal incidents. On Sunday, Pope Francis' homily at the Conclave of Cardinals in Rome sounded another signal regarding the agenda being established for the Synod on the Family. 

Then on Ash Wednesday, one of the key days in the Church's year which traditionally highlight the call to conversion, repentance and penance, the dissenting homosexualist New Ways Ministry - banned under Pope Benedict XVI - achieved seats at the papal audience. And this seemingly through the ministrations of 'minder-emeritus' Archbishop Georg Ganswein and the normally orthodox defender of the Mass and True Marriage, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San-Francisco. Cardinal Vincent Nichols also sent a publicity-stunt message of support to the homosexualist Martin Prendergast and a group of 'LGBT Catholics' that Prendergast was leading from England to Rome for Ash Wednesday. 

Then, Rorate Caeli reports today, that Pope Francis has described the 'Reform of the Reform' as ''mistaken,'' and given a very generalistic critique of traditionalist seminarians and their approach to liturgy. 

And of course we also now have the ugly spectre of an orthodox Catholic blogger from Canada being threatened with legal action for merely stating what Vatican spokesman Fr. Tom Rosica has himself already said in the public realm.

On top of this, 10 Catholic churches in France have been attacked - with at least two of these suffering sacrilegious desecrations of the Blessed Sacrament. The problem has been so bad that Bishop Pascal Roland has ordered the Blessed Sacrament to be removed from all Tabernacles, in the Bellay-Ars Diocese, unless they are fitted with extra-strong locks. Meanwhile in Lecce, Italy, a Catholic Church has been severely vandalized with blasphemous and homosexualist graffiti as a form of protest against a local conference promoting Christian marriage and family. Also in Delemont, Switzerland, a Catholic church has been daubed with satanic symbols and blasphemously homosexualist slogans. 

And finally, whilst intellectual Catholics scoff at those who worry about Our Lady of Fatima's urgent request for the Consecration of Russia, England was 'buzzed' once again this week by another two of the gigantic Russian 'Bear' bombers flying off the coast of Cornwall; just to remind us - as MPs told David Cameron - that Mr. Putin is watching us.  

There is much we could say on each of these matters and may yet do. And yet, we sense that dwelling on these barrages of depressing news may not actually be too helpful to readers suffering from the 'shock and awe' tactics of the Modernist churchmen and the pressures from a secularized culture. We began to discern recently that our apostolate may be moving towards a 'place' of support and consolation for shell-shocked Catholics. As such, let us all frequently turn to Jesus. 

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you may recall that we did an article last summer about Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey's book 20 Holy Hours. It is a text worth getting hold of as soon as you possibly can. As we said last July, please do not be put off by the minimalist cover of our late-edition copy. Pauline Books and Media reprinted this version of the book during the 1970's to the 1990's which, though expressing the Christocentric focus of the content with its cover, clearly lacks a Corporal and Candles for the Monstrance.

Older versions with beautiful imagery are harder to obtain in the UK, but may perhaps be found more easily by readers overseas. Still, it is worth getting hold of any copy available, because the entire textual content presents a rich and orthodox expression of traditional Catholic devotion.

In Fr. Mateo's own words, the book was written: ''to be an intimate and fervent supplication, expressing our longing for a greater intimacy with Jesus, offering Him a living atonement for our sins and especially the sins of ingratitude and the easy-going ways of many formalistic friends.'' As a younger man, Fr. Mateo had met St. Pope Pius X, who wholeheartedly approved of his apostolate and 'commanded' him to devote his life to this magnificent work. Both of these men were prophetic witnesses who, within their own lifetimes, could discern the dangers of the atheistic and man-centred trajectory which the world has taken.

This book can be especially helpful during these times to Catholics who feel at once battered by the storms shaking the Church and yet also sense a deep interior call of Christ to a loving union with Him. The book provides a practical way to begin constructing and strengthening a spiritual fortress around one's soul for the times through which we are living.  

In drawing closer to the Eucharistic Jesus, the 20 Holy Hours found in this book can be especially helpful. Through them, Jesus invites the reader to enter into His Divine Love, to rest their head and heart on His, and to enter into a deep union with Him.

The present sufferings of our readers are not in vain. They can be a fertile source for reparatory love of the Saviour. We do not speak here of a retreat into a self-absorbed Quietism, but of an active entry into deeper prayer in the Lord. Union with the Lord is the foundation of any effective and fruitful apostolate. As we consider the urgency of events threatening the Church and the world at this time, it is clear how imperative it is that this call is answered by those hearing it in their hearts. 

The Most-Rev. Edwin V. Byrne, Late-Archbishop of Santa-Fe, New Mexico, wrote the foreword to Fr. Crawley-Boevey's precious book.   

His Grace reflected: 'The Holy Hour is an hour of reparation. How badly and urgently we need to make reparation! How offended and saddended must Our Lord's Heart be at the sight of so many sins and crimes committed by friends and enemies alike, by nations and by individuals! We can almost hear the lament of a Heart torn by the ingratitude of those He loves, ''Why do you persecute Me? What have I done to you?''

'Our Blessed Lady has left us the legacy of Her quiet. If we are to live as children of God, we must be careful not to substitute a great deal of ''doing'' for a great lack of ''being.'' In the quiet of the night-hour of adoration in the home we will learn the secrets of the King and gain open entrance to His Heart. And gradually, we will understand His Love and then cry out, not only that we love Him, but in simple wonder say, ''Oh, how He loves us!''

As we at Torch of The Faith said last summer, if you desire the restoration of the Social Reign of Jesus Christ the Universal King, and yet you also discern the inner call to sanctify your own heart and home as places of holy refuge and reparation in these times, then 20 Holy Hours by Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey can be a most helpful resource.

By entering into the Sacred Heart of Christ, your sufferings will find new meaning, you will derive strength to carry your crosses, and your loneliness will be transformed into aloneness with the Blessed Trinity. And the grace of Baptism, continued through habitually living in the state of grace, means one is never truly alone.

Our prayer and hope for you - and for us - today is joined to that of St. Therese of Lisieux: May we all love Jesus and make Him loved!  

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Ephesians 5:2 - ''And walk in love, even as Christ also hath loved us''

Torch of The Faith News on Wednesday 18 February 2015 - 10:28:03 | by admin

Ash Wednesday - This Day of Fasting and Abstinence begins the holy season of Lent. Readers may find these images helpful for meditating on the Passion of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ during Lent.

The Crucifix was sculpted by Professor Juan Manuel Minarro, of the University of Seville. The professor worked with a multidisciplinary team of scientists, who had been researching the Shroud of Turin. This is the only Shroud-based crucifix in the whole world and it reflects in great detail the many wounds and traumas revealed on the Shroud.

The Crown of Thorns is thus depicted as a helmet, made from ziziphus jujuba. The thorns of this plant do not bend.

The Romans used whips that were tipped with spiked metal balls. The Crucifix reflects these scourging wounds.

One of the more heart-rending aspects of the Crucifix relates to the right arm and hand. This arm is dislocated because the Lord is presented as though He has been leaning on this arm in search of air during the process of asphyxia. The thumbs on both hands have folded inwards. This is due to the reaction of the nerve when the wrist has been pierced.    

Our Lord's toes are bluish in colour to suggest heart failure. Dear readers, our sins did all this! This is what sin does. These pictures express something of the cost of Mercy.

Catholics today are worrying about many things - the salvation of their families, the agenda at the Synod, the widespread dissent and irreverence in the Church, the state of society, ISIS.

Lent gives us a unique opportunity to draw near to Our Saviour. Our Lenten observances can be fruitful if we remember first of all that He loves us and has died for us. It is His grace that has already brought us thus far. All that we can really do this Lent is to respond in humilty to this unmerited and unfathomable love.

Can anyone sincerely look upon these images and still contend that those in unrepented and unconfessed mortal sin should proceed to Holy Communion? 

Could we see these pictures and still be content to just go along with the irreverences happening at many Masses, welcoming dissenting speakers into parish halls, or tolerating explicit sex-education and teachings from false religions being given to little children in our parish schools?

This Lent, may God give us the grace to give up sin and easy compromises with the world. Let us not so much seek consolation from Christ, as offer Him our compassion and love. As we can see all around us today, He has few friends. Spending less time looking for solace in the Catholic blog-world, and more time consoling Christ in times of silent prayer, will help us to have a more fruitful Lent. 

Whilst reflecting this Lent on His Passion through images such as these, and in the accounts presented to us in the Gospels, let us recall that He has first loved us and that we are loving Him in return. That can help our little prayers, penances and almsgiving - small though they are in themselves - to become great, by being done out of compassion and love for Him.

A text which may be helpful is found in St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians (Eph 5:2): ''And walk in love, even as Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered Himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odour of sweetness.'' 

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A New and Exciting Formation Programme for Today's Catechists, Rooted in Prayer Within the Benedictine Tradition

Torch of The Faith News on Tuesday 17 February 2015 - 07:50:09 | by admin

Do you want to deepen your understanding and practice of the Faith with the mind and heart of the Church? Do you love Our Blessed Lord and desire to pass on the Faith? If so, you may be interested in the Catechist Foundation Course at the School of the Annunciation in Devon.

This 18-month course presents an exciting innovation in the field of catechesis, delivered by orthodox and experienced tutors. It is comprised of 5 study days and 2 Lectio Divina days held at Buckfast Abbey in Devon, as well as home study through distance learning, tutor support, liturgy, prayer and fellowship.

The course commences on the weekend of 28th-29th February, 2015 in the beautiful setting of Buckfast Abbey.

For more information and details about application, please contact the course co-ordinator, Mrs. Carol Harnett, at c.harnett©schooloftheannunciation.com or speak to Sr. Crucis Beards on 01364 - 645660.

Please also pray for the success of this course, for the tutors and for this year's intake of students.  

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3 Beautifully Catholic Places Worth Travelling to This Week in the North West of England

Torch of The Faith News on Monday 16 February 2015 - 15:55:34 | by admin

1). Preparation for Lent with the Forty Hours Devotion (Quarant 'ore) at the Dome of Home. The address is 7 Atherton Street, New Brighton, Wirral, CH45 9LT - (0151) - 638 6822. 

The ICKSP Shrine of Ss Peter, Paul and Philomena began the period of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament yesterday. Eucharistic Adoration is happening today between 10am - 7pm. The devotion will continue tomorrow (Shrove Tuesday) with Holy Mass at 9.00am and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament between 10am - 8pm. There will then be a Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction. A pancake social will follow in the Presbytery. 

On Ash Wednesday there will be Blessing and Reception of Ashes, followed by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, at 9am and 7pm. 

Every Friday during Lent, there will also be Stations of the Cross at 6pm. 

2). Preparation for Lent at St. Walburge's in Preston. The address is Weston Street, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 2QE - (07894) - 559284.

The ICKSP community also commenced the Forty Hours Devotion in the Preston Shrine yesterday. This continues today between 8am - 7pm. The devotion will conclude tomorrow, with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament between 8am - 7pm. At 7pm, there will be High Mass and Procession of the Blessed Sacrament. This will be followed by Shrove Tuesday pancakes in the Presbytery.

On Ash Wednesday there will be Distribution of Ashes and Holy Mass at 12 noon and 7pm.  

3). Low Mass for the Holy Face of Jesus at 7pm on Shrove Tuesday at the parish of St. Catherine Laboure. The address is Stanifield Lane, Farington, Leyland PR25 4QG. 

Also, on Ash Wednesday, there will be Distribution of Ashes and Holy Mass (OF) at 9.30 am and 7pm.

Finally: Readers in Liverpool are reminded that at 12 noon on Ash Wednesday there will be a TLM Low Mass at St. Anthony's Church, Scotland Road, Liverpool L5 5BD. 

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''He Must Return Your Caress'' - Words of Comfort from St. Therese of Lisieux

Torch of The Faith News on Sunday 15 February 2015 - 10:38:46 | by admin

One of the novices in the Carmel at Lisieux recounted this consoling event after little St. Therese went home to God. We include it today to offer some encouragement to readers on this Quinquagesima Sunday. (Naturally, the 'fault' being discussed does not refer to a sin needing sacramental confession and absolution). 

'I was grieving bitterly over a fault I had committed. ''Take your Crucifix,'' she said, ''and kiss it.'' I kissed the Feet.

''Is that how a child kisses its father? Throw your arms at once 'round His Neck and kiss His Face.''

When I had done so, she continued: ''That is not sufficient - He must return your caress.'' I had to press the Crucifix to both my cheeks, whereupon she added: ''Now, all is forgiven.'' ' 

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St. Valentine's Day

Torch of The Faith News on Saturday 14 February 2015 - 12:04:56 | by admin

Collect Prayer, Traditional Missal, St. Valentine, Priest and Martyr: 'Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we who celebrate the birthday to Heaven of thy blessed martyr Valentine, may, through his intercession, be freed from all the evils that threaten us.''

One thing the traditional calendar and secular materialism agree on is the date of St. Valentine's Day. The difference between the true meaning of this feast and the worldly celebration of romance - and more commonly in our times, of lust - could not, however, be more different.

St. Valentine was a Catholic priest and martyr. The tradition about him makes this saint an important intercessor for these troubled times in the Church and the world.

St. Valentine visited and consoled groups of Christians who had been imprisoned under the persecution by Claudius II. He was caught and sent to the prefect of Rome, who tried to get St. Valentine to renounce his faith. Valentine refused to do so and was beaten with clubs and finally beheaded. The date was 14th February, 270 A.D.

How did this feast come to be associated with romantic love? A hagiographical account in the Nuremberg Chronicle, from 1493, affirmed that Valentine was executed for helping imprisoned Christians, but also suggested that he was condemned for assisting Christian couples to marry against the orders of the state.

It is interesting to note that, in this rather late account, the early evidence of St. Valentine as a helper of persecuted Christians is merged with a presentation of him as a defender of Christian marriage.

This is all a far cry from the secular celebration of romance, in recent times, which has steadily degenerated into a carnival of lust in many places today. 

These themes certainly run counter to the cynical release of the abusive and degrading film 50 Shades of Grey on this day. A number of bishops in the USA have spoken out against this domestication of pornographic violence. Indeed, the United States Bishops' Conference has released a 50 Hues of Holiness campaign to promote the Catholic Church's true teachings on marriage and family life, in the context of self-giving and self-sacrificing love. 

With Western culture sliding so far into destructive nihilism - the 50 Shades of Grey books have sold millions of copies - this again calls to mind the fact that any pastoral treatment of marriage and family needs to be rooted solidly in the dogmas and doctrine of the Church. Had society and vast quarters of the Church not caved in to contraception and abortion, there is no way such a celebration of domestic violence against women - as that film represents - would ever have found such general and widespread acceptance. 

Only Jesus Christ and the graces He gives through the True Faith can preserve the beauty and dignity of human love, marriage and family life, from the chaos of unchastity, disunity, divorce, and selfishness which typify our era. This is because we are a fallen race in need of Jesus Christ the Saviour and the grace He bestows through the Catholic Church. These are the themes the Synod on the Family urgently needs to address. 

Let us conclude today's reflections with the clear teaching of the Council of Trent:-

The Sacrament of Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the Church. It gives spouses the grace to love each other with the love which Christ has loved His Church; the grace of the sacrament thus perfects the human love of the spouses, strengthens their indissoluble unity, and sanctifies them on the way to eternal life (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1799).

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When Pope Francis Meets Bl. Cardinal J.H. Newman?

Torch of The Faith News on Friday 13 February 2015 - 09:03:10 | by admin

It is troubling to learn that parishes in the Archdiocese of Liverpool are promoting a talk to be given by Fr. Daniel O'Leary. The talk, under the auspices of the Newman Association, is entitled When Pope Francis Meets Blessed John Henry Newman. It is even more disquieting to see that this will take place on Thursday, 19th February, in the parish centre of St. Helen's Church, in Great Crosby. We were married in that parish and have good friends there, and in surrounding parishes, who are faithful pro-family/pro-life Catholics. This news must be quite a blow to them.

We've also learned that Fr. Daniel O'Leary will speak at the nearby Sandymount Prayer Centre on the 14th March - Archbishop McMahon is also due to speak there on 28th Feb and shares advertising space on their website - and Fr. O'Leary will also speak at St. Patrick's Church in Southport on 21st February.

Why are we concerned? 

1) In 2013, Fr. Daniel O'Leary was a speaker at the 40th Anniversary of Quest. This organization was banned from the Catholic Directory by Cardinal Basil Hume because of its dissent from the Magisterium and promotion of homosexual activity. Fr. O'Leary, who appears to have abandoned his Roman-collar, shared the floor at Quest's event with his fellow Tablet-contributor Sara Maitland and Terence Weldon. On the day, Sara Maitland wore a T-Shirt bearing the improbable legend Fag Hag for Jesus. Terence Weldon is a leading member of the Soho Masses Pastoral Council (connected to the so-called 'Soho Gay-Masses') and he promotes homosexual activity and homosexual 'marriage' through his blog Queering the Church. 

2) Fr. Daniel O'Leary also gave an address at the 2013 national meeting of the dissenting organization A Call to Action (ACTA) in Leeds. This group has been involved in calls for 'same-sex marriage' and women priests. Fr. Daniel O'Leary also spoke to the Liverpool branch of ACTA in November 2014 - ironically in the Fisher-More Hall at Our Lady of the Annunciation. 

In his presentation to ACTA in Leeds, Fr. Daniel O'Leary suggested that the 'theological approach' of 'Fall/Redemption-centred theology' tends to be 'conservative, dualistic, safe, legalistic.' O'Leary described this 'theology' - which in reality is a central dogma of the Catholic Faith - as 'inadequate' and 'when presented as the only Christian story of our human condition - utterly destructive.' He even blamed this for the 'splitting of our Church.'

Aside from the fact that the Church is Christ's and not ours, it appears to be O'Leary who introduces a dualistic concept by playing off the so-called 'Fall/Redemption-centred theology' against his interpretation of Duns Scotus' 'nature and grace-centred theology.'

But as any well-catechized Catholic could tell you, there is no dichotomy between the Church's teaching on grace and nature and its doctrine on the fall and redemption.

The Credo of the Church, expresses all of these things in their harmony and proper balance. Anyone familiar with the latest Catechism of the Catholic Church will notice that it explains the mysteries of the Fall and Redemption within the overall context of the priority of God's grace. Indeed, it even expresses this through its 4-part structure; with the first two parts dealing with the mysteries of God and His redemption, and the second two parts explaining our response to God, which is always aided by grace. As (then) Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger explained on page 34 of the Introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church; 'In this way it is made clear that Christian morality exists within the ambit of grace, which precedes us and, as forgiveness, never ceases to overtake and outstrip us. While reading the separate chapters on the part on morality, one must constantly keep in mind this inner connection, without which it is impossible to understand them properly.' 

In his address to ACTA, Fr. Daniel O'Leary suggested that a 'flawed understanding of the Fall' caused the Roman Curia to be suspicious of 'listening to the hearts of the faithful' on issues such as 'general absolution.' 

This certainly appears to be a rejection of the teaching of the Magisterium. We would suggest that it also provides a clear example of, what Our Lady of Fatima called, the loss of the sense of sin.

Such dissent, especially being expressed by a Catholic priest, is a danger to faith and therefore to souls. As such it needs to be robustly refuted.

St. Helen - Pray for us!

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Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes - We Remember Today Our Lady's Maternal Care

Torch of The Faith News on Wednesday 11 February 2015 - 17:12:59 | by admin

In the fourth year after the dogmatic definition of the Immaculate Conception, on the 11th February, 1858, began the series of wonderful visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which were seen, in a grotto near the French town of Lourdes, by the humble maiden St. Bernadette Soubirous. A sanctuary was established there, pilgrims came and God worked many miracles. To commemorate these divine favours, Pope St. Pius X, in 1908, ordered the celebration of this feast throughout the Church.

Feasts like today's remind us of the superabundance of God's grace, which precedes and accompanies us on our life's journey in the Church. Like many Catholics, Our Lady of Lourdes has played a special part in our earthly pilgrimage. Looking back, I can see that She has certainly led me and taught me a lot.

Regular readers may recall that reading Fr. Gabriel Harty's simple little book Make the Wild Rose Bloom in my late-teens, around 1992, played a key part in my conversion.  

I first went to Lourdes as a seminarian, in July 1997, to serve as a brancardier with the Liverpool Archdiocesan annual pilgrimage. When we arrived, my friend Ron took me to the far side of the River Gave for my first look at the Grotto from the vantage point pictured above.

Even from that range, there was an intensity of peace and holiness radiating out from the Grotto to where we were silently standing. When I eventually turned to Ron, he just smiled and said: ''See what I mean?'' 

We recrossed the river and joined the long queue which was waiting patiently in the summer heat to enter the Grotto. When we finally entered that holy place, I laid my head against the cool Massabielle rock and looked up at the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes. The ensuing peace cannot be described. I had a profound sense that, through all the years of my life, I had been meant to come there at that time. The Motherhood of Our Lady was tangible. 

Working for the sick, and seeing the hundreds of buggies, stretchers and wheelchairs laid out in the shade of the trees for the Blessing with the Blessed Sacrament, taught me the centrality of the sick, vulnerable and weak in the Church. 

It is an indisputable fact of history that no other single institution has cared for so many poor, sick and vulnerable people, throughout so many cultures, and for such a long period of time as the Catholic Church has done. This alone is an important facet of Her Truth claims.

At that point, I was in my mid-twenties. I'd grown up in 'Thatcher's Britain,' and, prior to joining the seminary, had worked for almost 9 years in a high-street bank. Although I had been a Catholic for 4 years, and had always been pro-life, I still needed to be weaned from my attachment to status, strength and physical vitality. In Lourdes, kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament, near to the many rows of suffering people awaiting Christ's blessing, Our Lady of Lourdes helped me to see that, in Christ's Kingdom, the elderly, suffering, poor and weak have a high place and are treated like royalty.

In the summer of 1998, I returned to Lourdes to work for a whole month as a pilgrim-guide for English speaking pilgrims.

Living and working so close to the Grotto for all that time was an immense blessing. In my whole life, I have never felt myself to be so emotionally, physically and spiritually healthy as I did then. I now realize that I was being built up for subsequent crosses. The maternity of Our Lady is indeed tangible.  

That summer, Our Lady of Lourdes broadened my horizons to glimpse the universality of the Catholic Church. Four whole weeks were spent living, praying and working with priests from Ireland and South Africa, and seminarians from Cameroon, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Vietnam. The international camararderie was superb. In the English-speaking section, I was assigned to serve pilgrims from the UK, Ireland, America, Africa, the Middle East, India and the Philippines. It was great to feel oneself to be an active member of the Body of Christ in unity with Catholics from all of these disparate cultures. 

During that month, several of the English dioceses came over to Lourdes for their annual pilgrimages. I even met my own cousin in the Domain at one point! One day I spotted the late Bishop Ambrose Griffiths giving a blessing to a holy little gentleman. The humility and tenderness of this image expresses something to me of the mystery of Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Bernadette.

As pilgrim-guides we assisted people to find their way to Mass, Confession and the Baths; gave talks on the history of Lourdes; led groups on the hill-side Stations of the Cross; led pilgrims in the Blessed Sacrament and Torchlight Processions; and gave tours of the churches, museum and town. 

During that time, my own faith was nourished by meeting so many committed Catholics from across the globe. Several had amazing stories of 'little-miracles' and blessings which had surrounded their pilgrimages. I met some amazingly humble and holy families from the Middle East and from the Kerala community in India. One of the most moving memories was of an Australian 'surfer-dude' and his girlfriend who came up to our stand one day and asked me: ''Hey mate, what is this place. Me and my girlfriend are backpacking across Europe. We just came out of the mountains and we've never seen anything like it!'' It was marvellous when this wide-eyed couple joined us on the Blessed Sacrament Procession. May God bless them.

Although my faith was strengthened that summer, I also began to sense that I may, after all, actually be called to marriage. Although this was profoundly unsettling, looking back today, I can sense that Our Lady was guiding and looking after me all the time.

In the summer of 1999, I returned to Lourdes with Mum and Dad for a very different type of pilgrimage. This time I was not there to work, but to receive. I was reaching the point where I really sensed that marriage was to be my vocation. At the same time, the culture of sacrilegious irreverence and radical dissent in the seminary was badly damaging my health.

During our stay, a devout old Irish lady at breakfast noted quietly to me that she could see that my face was smiling, but my eyes were sad. She asked if I had once been training to be a priest. Amazed at her discernment, I agreed to let her pray for me and to tell me her own story. It turned out that, although now a mother and grandmother to many, she had once been a young postulant in a convent. During that time it had become clear to her that the Lord wanted her to get married. She had had to suffer for a while, but eventually met her husband and they had been married and practiced the Faith together for about 50 years. She told me to have great trust in God.   

Although it was a pilgrimage marked by inner suffering, it was very beautiful to be able to show Mum and Dad all the places and things I had shown to pilgrims the year before. This was the only time dear Dad ever travelled overseas. He was faithful to his Rosary for all the years he was a Catholic. May God rest his soul. At the very end of our pilgrimage, we went to the Grotto before heading to the airport at Tarbes. I received at the Grotto a very clear direction regarding my vocation. Truly the maternal motherhood of Our Lady is tangible! After several more weeks of pacing Crosby beach to talk it all through with Dad, I wrote to the Archbishop and that part of my pilgrim journey came to an end.

Those who know us will recall that I met Angie at a mutual friend's wedding in the late summer of 2000. By God's grace we had each found our soul-mate in Christ and we were married by Canon Albert Shaw in 2002. Six-and-a-half years after our wedding we went to Lourdes together for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, in December 2008. This would be my fourth visit. 

This was a time of special blessings for us. When the feast day was over, the town of Lourdes practically closed down for the winter. Unlike my previous visits in the summer months, we were able to return again and again to the Grotto without queuing. Apart from some French school girls singing beautiful chant by candlelight, there was hardly anyone around. Having helped us in so many ways, it now seems that Our Lady of Lourdes was helping us to see the value of withdrawing from the crowd and bustle into great silence.

Truly the maternity of Our Lady of Lourdes is tangible!

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Cardinal Reinhard Marx and the Dissolving of Catholicism

Torch of The Faith News on Tuesday 10 February 2015 - 13:42:43 | by admin

Desacralization: Cardinal Marx consecrates a new... um... altar.

One of the key players in the Bergoglio-Kasperian thrust on marriage is, of course, the German Cardinal Reinhard Marx; Archbishop of Munich, President of the German Bishops' Conference and member of Pope Francis' 9-member Council of Cardinals.

The German prelate has just given a revealing interview to the Jesuit magazine America, which the journalist Hilary White has reviewed today on LifeSiteNews.

In addition to proffering a Modernistic response to a question on homosexuality, Cardinal Marx had this to say about the re-emergence of a love for Catholic Tradition amongst young people:-

''I have no problem with tradition. But we have also the tendencies that the people want to be clear in their positions. Black and white populism is growing in Europe. And that is the beginning, perhaps, of populism, of terrorism, that's clear''... ''The atmosphere of reducing the complexity of the world, to give simple answers, to give black and white answers, is growing, and I think that is very dangerous.'' 

It is remarkable to hear one of the highest-ranking prelates in the Church coming out with such a faith-dissolving and relativistic misrepresentation of Catholic Truth. And this in a major Jesuit publication. 

His depiction of young Catholic traditionalists certainly bears no resemblance to the various young people that we have met, who - fed up with the architectural, artistic, musical, sexual, physical and theological violence which typifies our times - have turned from the world to Christ and the beauty of His Church. 

One wonders why the German cardinal's words lack any logical apologetic to explain the fact that true Catholics, who fully adhere to Christ's teachings and Church discipline, would naturally reject all forms of terrorism. One searches in vain for any reference from him to the lives of the many saints and martyrs who, in their faithfulness to Sacred Tradition, loved their enemies whilst laying down their lives to follow Christ. What of St. Maximilian Kolbe; an absolute Catholic traditionalist who, held by Cardinal Marx's own countrymen, gave his life to save a married man at Auschwitz? Indeed, one especially laments the cardinal's lack of reference to Jesus Christ. Why no discussion of the Lord's ultimate self-sacrifice to save our souls, or the manner in which this is made present, on the altars of the Church every single day, to offer new life and peace to the world. After all, it is this Mystery which the young traditionalists are most keen to preserve and promote. 

And why is there no reference to the thousands of Christians who, nourished by this Mystery and maintaining a 'black and white' acceptance of Christ's teachings, are being slaughtered in Iraq, Nigeria and Syria by Islamists who utterly reject our Catholic Tradition? It is not the acceptance of 'black and white' truth which leads to violence, but rather its rejection or replacement with ideology. 

Instead of this the cardinal paints an infantile caricature which pleases those promoting a secularized world order and those falling into step with its preliminary mores. We say preliminary, because, looking at history, the stage of widespread licentious disorder is only ever a vehicle allowed and used to pave the way - through the destruction of Church, family, morality and thus true liberty - to new forms of totalitarianism. Sort of like the drug-dealer who first entices kids with free narcotics.  

Only yesterday, we highlighted the fact that, in the emerging cultural climate, to be 'more Catholic than the Pope' could eventually be interpreted - and even punished - as a form of religious extremism.

It therefore gives us little comfort to read of Cardinal Marx's caricaturing of those who love Catholic Truth as being, ''perhaps,'' at the beginning of the road to terrorism. Words such as these, from a man such as Cardinal Marx, are what we think to be really dangerous. 

Cardinal Reinhard Marx would have us dissolve Christ's Church into something so vapid as to be almost invisible. He would substitute Christ's life-giving Altar of Sacrifice with the dictatorship of relativism and its crazy cage. In a time such as this, confused by relativism and seared by terrorist violence, young people are looking for something rather more substantial, beautiful and life-giving. Indeed, only Jesus Christ and the full Deposit of Faith will slake their thirst for meaning and give them the peace and security they cannot find in the world.

As they say in Germany:

Gelobt sie Jesus Christ! 

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The Forces of Evil Will Not Prevail - Public Resistance to Error Grows

Torch of The Faith News on Monday 09 February 2015 - 15:59:13 | by admin

Rorate Caeli has provided a full translation of Cardinal Burke's interview, which aired on France 2 yesterday. During the interview, the American cardinal gave a very clear affirmation that he will continue to defend the true teachings of the Church on marriage and family. Key quotes include:-

On Divorce and on Homosexuality

''I cannot accept that Communion be given to a person living in an irregular union, because it is adultery. On the matter of persons of the same sex, this has nothing to do with matrimony. This is a suffering that some persons have, of being attracted - against nature, sexually - to persons of the same sex. Those people, we must help them to live chastely. But there is no relation to marriage and family, it is a separate issue.''

On the Nature of the Papacy

''The classic formulation is that, 'the Pope has the plenitude, the fullness of power.' This is true. But it is not absolute power. His power is at the service of the doctrine of the Faith. And thus, the Pope does not have the power to change teaching, doctrine.'' 

On his response if Pope Francis were to continue on the present path

''I will resist. I cannot do anything else. There is no doubt that this is a difficult time, this is clear, this is clear.'' 

Whether the Catholic Church as an institution is under threat

Having acknowledged that this is a painful and worrisome time, His Eminence replied: ''The Lord assured us, as He assured St. Peter in the Gospel, that the forces of evil will not prevail - non praevalebunt, we say in Latin. That the forces of evil will not achieve, let us say, victory over the Church.''

Another high-ranking prelate has also spoken out in defence of the Magisterium's constant teaching on marriage and family. Poland's Archbishop Henryk Hoser told Niedziela that he expects a big and important battle to take place at the next Rome Synod in October.

  

His Grace explained: ''I tell you most brutally, the Church has betrayed John Paul II''... ''Not the Church as the Bride of Christ. Not the Church of our Credo, because John Paul II was an expression, an authentic voice of the Church; but it is the pastoral practice that has betrayed John Paul II.''

We at Torch of The Faith would perhaps add that there is much more than St. John Paul II being betrayed here. As we've noted a number of times since the autumn, the events of the Synod last October were merely the symptoms of a deeper malaise; they are the bad fruits and shoots of diseased roots. The real cause of the problem is the gradual triumph of Modernism and its pervasive attempts to sideline the Blessed Trinity, the truth about Jesus Christ as fully God and fully man, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacred Priesthood called to offer It, and the constant Tradition of the Magisterium. If St. John Paul II's teaching is being rejected, this is only because the teachings of Blessed Pope Pius IX, St. Pope Pius X and Pope Leo XIII - to name a select few - were ignored first. 

These things being said, we totally agree with the thrust of Archbishop Hoser's comments. He is particularly prescient in his observation that family breakdown has been exacerbated by the failure of Church leaders to embrace and implement St. John Paul II's teachings in Familiaris Consortio and its orthodox approach to family formation in parish, school, pre-marriage preparation and support groups for married couples and families. 

We have often highlighted here - and over on the Protect the Pope website last February - the fact that widespread rejection of St. John Paul II's reaffirmation of Church teaching on marriage and sexual ethics is a key factor in the massive challenges now threatening the Church's mission for souls. Indeed, dissent has reached such power that the Church Herself is threatened (in so far as this is possible in God's permitting will).

As we write this, public resistance to the Bergoglian ideology being manipulated through the Synodal processes is growing still further. In addition to the clear words of Cardinal Burke and Archbishop Hoser, the on-line petition of the Filial Appeal to Pope Francis has reached 75,500 signatures from concerned Catholics throughout the world.

We too feel something of the pain and the worry alluded to by His Eminence, Cardinal Raymond Burke. Indeed, we have done so in increasing degrees since Kasper first announced his dark 'hypothesis' almost one year ago.

There is a real danger that the Synod of 2015 will not only break out into open confrontation. The spectre of a real schism in the Church also looms. Such an outcome would not only be confusing and spiritually dangerous to many souls. It could lead to more than the present 'soft-persecution,' which has been endured for decades by orthodox Catholics in many diocesan curial establishments, parishes, schools and seminaries. 

The powerful movers in world events, seeing a house divided - between those wanting to embrace the re-alignment of the Church with their own secularist mores and those hoping to remain faithful to Christ - may join in with more 'hard' forms of persecution against those they consider to be stubborn resisters of the new order. 

Already we see Catholics, and other Christians, being closed down, sacked, fined, suspended or sidelined on an increasingly regular basis for being supposedly 'homophobic' or 'intolerant'. Only last week some Christian bakers in Oregon were fined $150,000 for refusing to make a cake for a homosexual 'wedding'. 

When one factors in the popularity which Pope Francis has cultivated with government leaders, atheists, transgenders, homosexuals and those seeking a merger of all religions into one, then awareness of the present dangers facing orthodox Catholics becomes particularly acute. In the emerging cultural climate, to be 'more Catholic than the Pope' could be interpreted - and punished - as a form of religious extremism.

We do not say these things merely to be sensationalist or scary. But it would take some real ostrich behaviour to ignore these emerging dangers and threats. 

Cardinal Burke reminded his hearers, through the France 2 interview, that in the end Christ has promised that the forces of evil will not prevail. Let us pray then that the True Faith will again be faithfully affirmed and lived for the glory of God, the salvation of souls, the good of the Church and the well-being of human society.

Christus Vincit, Christus Regnat, Christus Imperat!   

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