The following text comes from the first Chapter of the book entitled: “The Spiritual Combat” by Dom Lorenzo Scupoli. Lorenzo Scupoli (c.1530-1610) was born in Otranto, Italy. He was admitted to the religious order of the Theatine Regular Clerks of St. Cajetan in 1571, and by his desire was called Lorenzo of Otranto. He later went to Milan, under the provost St. Andrew Avellino. After many years of active duties he retired into strict seclusion and wrote The Spiritual Combat.  It is said that he met St. Francis de Sales in Padua between 1589 and 1591 and gave him a copy[…]

According to traditional catholic resources, the “Papal Coronation Oath”, attributed to His Holiness Pope St. Agatho,  was taken by the popes of the Catholic Church, starting with Pope Saint Agatho, who was elected on 27 June 678.  Over 180 popes, down to and including Pope Paul VI, swore this oath during their papal coronations.  Pope John Paul I, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis who had no coronation ceremonies, clearly did not take the oath. As Dailycatholic.org editor has noted: This sacred oath was first taken, as recorded in Church annals  [Liber Diurnus Romanorum Pontificum, Migne’s[…]

In this day’s gospel we read, that a certain man fell into the hands of robbers, who, after having taken his money, wounded him, and left him half dead. A Samaritan who passed by, saw him, and taking pity on him, bound up his wounds, brought him to an inn, and left him to the care of the host, saying: “Take care of him.” These words I this day address to those, if there be any such among you, who, though their souls are wounded by sin, instead of attending to the care of them, continually aggravate the wounds by[…]

Pope Francis said that Catholics can learn a great deal from Lutherans, in an interview published on Vatican Radio website, as he prepared for a trip to Sweden to join in commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.  Why would a Catholic celebrate Martin Luther when his entire revolt was based on hatred of the Catholic Faith?  Let us see what exactly we can learn from the Lutherans, and from those who condemned Martin Luther’s teachings. Luther Attacks the Papacy A central focus of Luther’s 1517 revolt was a full scale attack on the papacy established by Christ. Luther did not[…]

INTRODUCTION: Le Sillon (“The Furrow”, or “The Path”) was a French political and religious movement founded by Marc Sangnier (1873 – 1950) which existed from 1894 to 1910. It aimed to bring Catholicism into a greater conformity with French Republican and socialist ideals, in order to provide an alternative to Marxism and other anticlerical labour movements. Where does the Sillon’s error come from? Pope St. Pius X  sees the root of  the Sillonist errors (and modern ecumenical movement) in a false conception of human dignity. “Our Apostolic Mandate” – The Prophetic Words of Pope St. Pius X Our Apostolic Mandate requires from Us[…]

In the present crisis of faith, which has broken out within the Catholic Church, on account of the perfidy of those to whom the preaching of the Gospel has been entrusted,  Catholics, who seek true spiritual guidance, can look to the exhortation of Pope Leo XIII, in his Encyclical Letter, Sapientiae Christianae, of January 10, 1890. In Sapientiae Christianae, Pope Leo XIII defines the duties of Christians in civil society and emphasizes that Christian need to obey God, even if that brings them into conflict with civil authority. If civil law clearly contradicts divine law, “then, truly, to resist becomes a[…]

“In 1789, the French Revolution took place and launched a host of religious, political and social errors which the Popes for over 160 years afterwards wrote and legislated against. Yet most of these errors have spread and today have filtered down to the common man…with the result that most people now take for granted many fundamental assumptions that are positively false! But almost from the beginning of these errors, the Popes spoke out as with one voice, inveighing against them. Today, as we see these errors bearing evil fruit, many thoughtful Catholics are returning to those Papal documents which condemned[…]

In 1984, just before retiring at a venerable age, the diocesan Bishop of Niigata, Bishop John Shojiro Ito, in consultation with the Holy See, wrote a pastoral letter in which he recognized as being authentically of the Mother of God, the extraordinary series of events that had taken place from 1973 to 1981 in a little lay convent within his diocese, at Akita, Japan. Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), in June 1988, approved the Akita events as “reliable and worthy of belief”. In fact the Philippine ambassador to the Vatican, in 1998 spoke to Cardinal Ratzinger about Akita and the[…]

The Syllabus of Errors (Latin: Syllabus Errorum) is a document issued by the Holy See under Pope Pius IX on December 8, 1864, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, on the same day as the Pope’s encyclical Quanta Cura. The Syllabus (or summary list) of Pope Pius IX is made up of phrases and paraphrases from earlier papal documents, along with index references to them, and presented as a list of “condemned propositions.” It condemns a total of 80 errors or heresies, and comes as an attack on liberalism, modernism, moral relativism, secularization, and the political emancipation of Europe from[…]

To His Holiness POPE JOHN PAUL II Bishop of Rome and Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of Vatican City. Ascension ThursdayMay 21, 1998 Most Holy Father, On the tenth anniversary of the consecration of the four Catholic bishops by His Grace Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre for the survival of the Catholic Faith, by the grace of God, I declare that I am Roman Catholic. My religion was founded by Jesus Christ when he[…]

Christian Modesty and Modes of Dress We are all born with a fallen nature and, consequently, we must keep our bodies covered in order to avoid the dangers of concupiscence.  This fact, a result of original sin, is deliberately ignored each time that naturalism attempts to insinuate itself into our Christian customs.  Then it is that the purpose of clothing is lost sight of, and instead of being an invitation to virtue, it becomes an incitement to sin.  The Church, like a vigilant Mother, full of tender care for the holiness and eternal salvation of Her children, has often been[…]

Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill”  Matthew 5:17 Where is the fear of God? Who in his right mind dares to go contrary to the WORD of GOD? God has said in Leviticus 18:22: “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.”  Leviticus 20:13: “If any one lie with a man as with a woman, both have committed an abomination, let them be put to death: their blood be upon them”. And in Romans 1: 18-32[…]