The Novus Ordo, The Abomination of Desolation, And The Prophet Daniel

To My Readers: This week I introduce to you a new guest poster: Mr. Dominic Caggeso. Dominic applied to be a guest poster, and he has both the orthodoxy and writing ability to make great posts! He resides here in the United States with his wife and children. They left the Vatican II sect and became Traditionalists in 2016. I can't thank Dominic enough for giving me a much needed respite. He will be posting here, once per month, if I get positive feedback from the readership this week. Please feel free to make comments or ask questions, and Dominic will answer. If you have a specific question or comment addressed to me, I will answer as always, but it will take me longer to get back to you this week.

God bless you all, my dear readers---Introibo

The Novus Ordo, the Abomination of Desolation, and the Prophet Daniel

By Dominic Caggeso

Hindsight is 20/20. The further the Second Vatican Council drifts into history, the clearer it becomes in our mind's eye.  We are separate and away from it now, having clearly articulated its errors for decades. However, imagine that instead of drifting into the past, the Second Vatican Council was approaching on the future’s horizon. Imagine what it was like for Catholics of the past who felt the evil winds blowing and sensed the powers of Hell gathering. Pious Catholic writers from the 18th and 19th centuries looked into the future and foresaw dark events, wondering how much and what kind of damage awaited the Church. Those Catholics were anticipating something horrible. 

A child who goes to the doctor, knowing he will receive a shot, turns his head away and grits his teeth, wondering if every little poke or prod was the anticipated and dreaded needle. Was that it? How about that? Then, suddenly, the shot is given, and the child no longer has any doubt. 

How many Catholics from distant centuries studied the Sacred Scriptures and wondered about the Great Apostasy foretold in 2 Thessalonians or the abomination of desolation that Our Lord foretells in the Gospel of St. Matthew? What would it have been like for them as they watched various apostasies unfold throughout history?  They would have asked themselves; “Was this particular schism the abomination?” “Was that heresy the Great Apostasy?” Then suddenly, the "shot is given," and the child knows!  After it occurs, there is no more wondering. Ah! It was the Second Vatican Council; that was it! Can more significant damage have been done to the Church? Surely, the Second Vatican Council was the Great Apostasy! But in that post-conciliar fog, what exactly constitutes the abomination of desolation? 

How many abominations have we witnessed in our holy places since the Second Vatican Council? Their numbers are uncountable, occurring daily for decades in basilicas, cathedrals, parish churches and chapels worldwide. The abominations vary by type as well. There are abominations of heresy, apostasy, liturgy, immodesty, immorality, etc. Any one of these abominations is sufficient for outrage and righteous indignance.

Collectively and over the years, sedevacantists have been subtly testing out an idea with each other. I have heard this idea in sermons, podcasts and YouTube videos. Over the decades, an idea has risen to the surface, like oil and water that separate when mixed. The idea, the assertion: the Novus Ordo is the abomination of desolation. The statement is made, and nobody blinks. I don't think there is any sedevacantist today who would object. Some might say that perhaps it is not THE abomination that Our Lord is warning us about. But at the same time, our experience as Catholics leaves us with an unspoken question: What could be worse than the Novus Ordo?

I want to convey with confidence that the Novus Ordo rite is actually THE abomination of desolation, in the fullest sense. To demonstrate this, I want to shift the perspective slightly and examine it from another angle. There is more certainty in this claim than we might initially realize! To demonstrate the solidity of this assertion, let's start with the term itself: abomination of desolation. The first hurdle is to define the abomination of desolation and see if the Novus Ordo rite meets the criteria.

Being a term from Sacred Scripture, it is deliberately chosen. The word "abomination" comes from the Latin abōminārī, meaning to detest. Thus, an abomination is a detestable thing. The word "desolation" clearly means destruction and emptiness. When these two words are joined into one term, "abomination of desolation," we are given a meaning of something repulsive that will cause destruction and emptiness.  That resonates very well with lived experience. The meaning of this term is fully compatible with the Novus Ordo rite. There is emptiness and destruction in dioceses and parishes worldwide. It is directly due to the changes from the Second Vatican Council, especially the new invalid rite of Paul VI. I doubt any sedevacantist would disagree much so far. We seem to have cleared the first hurdle.

The next logical step is to see where the term "abomination of desolation" occurs in Sacred Scripture. After all, Our Lord told us to flee when we see the abomination of desolation, as prophesied by Daniel. He directs us to return to the Old Testament and see what the Prophet Daniel wrote about it. 

When therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that readeth let him understand. (Matthew 24:15)

This seems easy enough to anyone who has not yet studied the Book of Daniel. But, for anyone who has sat down with a hot cup of tea and thoughtfully analyzed the Book of Daniel, the realization soon dawns that this task is not simple! The prophecies in the Book of Daniel are famously mysterious and seemingly incomprehensible. So, let's briefly lay the Book of Daniel to the side. We'll come back to it a bit later. There is still another place in the Old Testament where the term "abomination of desolation" occurs, which is 1 Machabees. The footnotes in the Douay-Rheims Bible for the Book of Daniel reference the Books of Machabees specifically concerning the abomination of desolation. Therefore, we are on firm ground to look for clues there.

The Books of the Machabees open with the conquest of Alexander the Great. He conquered the Persian Empire in the 300s BC, after which the Greeks dominated the ancient world. I like how the Book of 1 Machabees 1 states that “the earth was quiet before him,” such a vivid description.

1Now it came to pass, after that Alexander the son of Philip the Macedonian, who first reigned in Greece, coming out of the land of Cethim, had overthrown Darius king of the Persians and Medes:  2 He fought many battles, and took the strong holds of all, and slew the kings of the earth:  3 And he went through even to the ends of the earth, and took the spoils of many nations: and the earth was quiet before him  (1 Machabees 1: 1-3)

After Alexander’s death, his empire was split among his generals. The new Greek Seleucid kingdom took over Jerusalem, which, before Alexander’s conquest, was a city-state in the Persian Empire. If you remember, the Persian King Cyrus allowed the Jews to return from their exile, rebuild the temple, practice their religion, and live by their own laws in Jerusalem. They were still part of the Persian Empire and loyal to the Persian King, but they were self-governing in their little city-state. This small detail is relevant, so please excuse me for this brief digression. 

What happened next was horrifying for the Jews! In the Books of the Machabees, the evil Greek Seleucid King, Antiochus IV, arrogantly desecrated the temple. He dismantled the whole temple religious system from the very heart of Jerusalem. Consider this summary of events.

1. He appointed two usurper “high priests,” Jason and Menelaus. The text tells us that Jason was “no priest” (1 Machabees 4:13). Menelaus went on to dispose of or sell the holy vessels from the temple.

2. After Alexander’s conquest, the Greeks governed the ancient world and spread their culture, language, and religion far and wide. The name given for this process is Hellenization, a process in which the ancient world conformed to the Greeks. Hellenization infected Jerusalem, tempting Jews to embrace the modern ways of the Greeks. Par Rapport to the rest of the ancient world, the Jews seemed to be backward, outdated, and culturally insignificant. There was tremendous pressure on the Jews to conform. For those who valued the opinions of men, this pressure was insupportable. 

3.  In this context, Antiochus IV arrogantly entered the temple and assumed religious authority. He banned the traditional Jewish temple sacrifice. He stripped the temple of its ornaments and beauty. He placed a new second altar over and against the altar of God. He banned the practice of Jewish laws and traditions. He persecuted anyone who followed the Law of Moses. For these actions and many others, he is known as the “Changer of Times, Laws, and Seasons,” as mentioned in the Book of Daniel. As shown below, the footnotes from the Douay Rheims Bible for Daniel 7:8 confirm this.

And he shall speak words against the High One, and shall crush the saints of the most High: and he shall think himself able to change times and laws, and they shall be delivered into his hand until a time, and times, and half a time (Daniel 7:25)

[8] "Another little horn": This is commonly understood of Antichrist. It may also be applied to that great persecutor Antiochus Epiphanes, as a figure of Antichrist. 

4. The blasphemous capstone for the devilish deeds of Antiochus IV was setting up the abominable idol of desolation and sacrificing to it on the new second altar.

On the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred and forty-fifth year, king Antiochus set up the abominable idol of desolation upon the altar of God (1 Machabees 1:57)

And on the five and twentieth day of the month they sacrificed upon the altar of the idol that was over against the altar of God. (1 Machabees 1:62)

5.  To spread his “revisions” of the Jewish religion throughout the land, he built new Greek altars around Juda.

Wow! Are there any readers who don’t see the clear parallels to the Second Vatican Council in the above summary? They leap off the page, especially for those who have come out of the Novus Ordo and into Traditional Catholicism. Nonetheless, indulge me to list out the parallels. 

1. As explicitly stated in the sacred text, Jason and Menelaus were usurper high priests. They were both Jews, but were Hellenizing Jews, who wanted to update the Jewish religion to be like the Greeks. Menelaus disposed of the sacred vessels. Similarly, both John XXIII and Paul VI were usurpers. They were both Italian, like Jason and Menelaus were Jews. Paul VI disposed of the Papal Tiara in 1964 and gave the papal ring to the United Nations in 1965, just as Menelaus gave away or sold the sacred vessels.

2. Pope St. Pius X identified Modernism as the synthesis of all heresies. The world was changing in the 1950s after World War II, and there was growing pressure on Catholics to “get with the times.” The Modernists took this opportunity for “aggiornamento” to update the Church and bring it into the modern world. Compare this to the Hellenization that was occurring in the ancient world.

3. In this context, Paul VI introduced the Novus Ordo rite on April 3, 1969. He outlawed the Tridentine Mass and mandated that the Novus Ordo be exclusively used in all churches by November 28, 1971 (this date comes from an article by Fr. Cekada). Churches were stripped of their statues and other pious Catholic art. A new second “altar” was erected worldwide in every Catholic Church. All this happened in the Books of the Machabees! In 1978, John Paul II emerged from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. Unlike his predecessors, he was not Italian. By comparison, Antiochus was a foreigner, but his two predecessors, Jason and Menelaus, were Jews.  Antiochus IV changed times, laws, and seasons, as did John Paul II change cannon law, the catechism, updated the Lateran Treaty, gave new mysteries of the Rosary, gave the new “devotion” of Sister Faustina, etc.

4. The capstone evil of the Second Vatican Council is the blasphemous and invalid fake “Mass” of the Novus Ordo on the new second “altar.” Thus the Novus Ordo is directly comparable to the abomination of desolation!

5. Just as Antiochus built new Greek altars around Juda, new modern churches also sprang up designed explicitly for the Novus Ordo. These new churches often were built with Greek-style amphitheater seating. None of these new churches had a Catholic altar, only the new second “altar.”

These are some of the direct, one to one correspondences between the Books of the Machabees and the Second Vatican Council / Novus Ordo!  Given the scriptural connections between the abomination of desolation prophecies in the Book of Daniel and the Books of the Machabees, the above similarities can hardly be viewed as insignificant.  Especially because Our Lord specifically told us to look in the Book of Daniel to understand the abomination of desolation!  The conclusion emerges that the Novus Ordo rite is THE abomination of desolation. He that readeth let him understand.

To add some icing on this cake, consider the following similarities as well:

 

Before the Books of the Machabees, Jerusalem was a city-state in the Persian Empire, where the Jews could live by religious laws and self-govern. After its creation in 1929, the city-state of Vatican City could do exactly the same.

The reaction of devout Jews to the abomination of desolation was to flee to the hill country of Juda, to the town of Modin. From there, they launched the Machabean Uprising. Likewise, the reaction of devout Catholics (especially those called to the priesthood) was to flee to the Alps (the mountains) to the seminary of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. The famous nine sedevacantist priests all have history there! Does this not bring to mind the words of Christ yet again?

15When therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that readeth let him understand. 

16Then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains: (Matthew 24:15-16)

Conclusion

If you are convinced that the Novus Ordo is THE abomination of desolation, then consider taking another look at the prophecies in the Book of Daniel. What if the implementation dates of the Novus Ordo rite could be a starting place to interpret the prophecy of Daniel 9. After all, the prophecy of Daniel 9 explicitly mentions the abomination of desolation and intrinsic to the prophecy is a time-table of events. If we know that the Novus Ordo is the abomination of desolation, then it is logical that it would be revealed in Biblical prophecy. We can explore that in my next article, God willing.