Calumniating The King

I admit that controlling my anger has always been a problem for me. It's a sin for which I've gone to confession, done penance, prayed much, and have greatly improved diminishing since I was a total hot-headed teenager. Even my friends from law school compliment me on how much I've mellowed out. However, I must acknowledge that my blood was boiling this past June 27th when "Black Lives Matter"("BLM") Communists attempted to illegally destroy the statue of my Patron Saint, the great King St. Louis IX of France (1214-1270). St. Louis, Missouri is named in his honor. The city has a statue of the king in Forest Park, known as the "Apotheosis of St. Louis," the formal name of the iconic statue. About two hundred (200) people gathered, with the Black Communist thugs screaming, "Take it down," while a small band of "conservative" Vatican II sect members (lead by a couple of their clergy) prayed the Rosary in front of the statue to protect it. At least one BLM man was arrested and charged with assaulting one member of the peaceful prayer group. (See https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/man-charged-with-assault-at-protest-over-king-louis-ix-statue-in-forest-park/article_0370d4b4-868f-5bf3-b263-dd78aa0de417.html).

There were other skirmishes, including other peaceful protesters being hit and even some reports of them being spat upon by BLM. (See, e.g., https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2020/june/attack-catholics-praying-elderly-man-who-were-protecting-king-louis-ix-statue). Why the anger over the French King? Two charges: (1) antisemitism and (2) racism/"Islamophobia." In this post I will present the life and virtues of King St. Louis, expose the damnable lies leveled against him, and demonstrate the evil of his detractors. My sources on King St. Louis are:

• Louis IX: Most Christian King of France, [1968] by Margaret Wade Lebarge

• Saint Louis: Crusader King of France, [English edition; 1992] by Jean Richard

• Saint Louis, [2009] by Jacques LeGoff

King St. Louis IX: Quintessential Catholic Monarch

St. Louis IX, King of France, was born at Poissy on April 25, 1214. He often referred to himself as "Louis de Poissy" because he considered his true birth to have been in the place where he was baptized as a member of Christ's One True Church. He was one of ten children born to King Louis VIII (reigned 1223–1226) and Queen Blanche of Castile (lived from 1188–1252). He was their second son, but when his older brother Philip died in 1218 at the age of nine, Louis became Crown Prince (i.e., male heir with the right to inherit the throne) at the age of four. 

King Louis VIII died at the age of thirty-eight, when St Louis was only twelve years old. The young child received coronation as King Louis IX, but the boy-King was unable to rule under the French law, promulgated by past kings, decreeing that no one may exercise kingly authority until age 21. His extremely devout  and pious mother, Queen Blanche, became Regent of France which meant that she could rule France by making binding decisions in the name of her son until he was old enough to rule on his own. She was the de facto ruler of France from 1226-1235, making her the most powerful woman in Europe, if not the entire world at that time. She was a brilliant woman, and made many shrewd alliances and deals with other nobility, ensuring that her son would rule over an even more powerful France. 

The greatest thing Queen Blanche did, and indeed, the greatest thing any mother could do, was to impart to her royal son the knowledge and love of the Catholic Faith. St. Louis himself gave credit to his mother for instilling his love of the Church. The Queen told him, "I love you, my dear son, as much as a mother can love her child, but I would rather see you dead at my feet than that you should ever commit a mortal sin." The saint said at the end of his life he always remembered those words and lived by them.

In 1234, at the age of twenty, the saint married Margaret de Provence, a woman described as "fair of face, but fairer of faith." It was important to the King that his Queen should be as devout as he was in the practice of the Faith. He was not disappointed in his Queen. He often would say that his life was guided by the motto, "All for Christ, All for France, All for Margaret." He ascended to the Royal Throne on April 25, 1235 assuming all powers of an absolute monarch. His mother went from being Queen-Regent to Queen-Mother, a figurehead with no authority, but who continued to exert great influence over her son. 

King St. Louis IX: Seeking First the Kingdom of God

While "power corrupts" is a truism in most cases, it did not apply to St. Louis. Upon receiving full power as monarch, Louis set about achieving his personal goal of making France the foremost Catholic kingdom. It began with his prayer life and holy example. He recited the Divine Office daily, and attended the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass twice each day. Once when reproached by one the nobles that he "spent too much time with praying" and didn't give enough attention to matters of government, the justly angry King told him, "If I spent my time idly, by hunting and other pleasures of royalty, no one would object. You dare to upbraid me for seeking first the Kingdom of God?" The noble was speechless. 

The virtuous King often abandoned royal garb for a hair-shirt to do penance, and would sleep on the floor many nights. His devotion to the Most Holy Sacrifice was legendary. Saint Louis would genuflect during the Nicene Creed at Mass to show reverence to the incarnation of Christ, "the greatest event in human history" at the words,"ET INCARNATUS EST DE SPIRITU SANCTO EX MARIA VIRGINE: ET HOMO FACTUS EST." ("AND BECAME INCARNATE BY THE HOLY GHOST OF THE VIRGIN MARY: AND WAS MADE MAN."). This pious practice was quickly emulated by his subjects, and even began to be practiced outside France. Rome responded by making the practice, an incentive to piety, part of the actual rubrics. Think of King St. Louis the next time you genuflect at the Credo during Mass!

The King and Queen had eleven children from their holy marriage; six sons and five daughters. He recognized that his most solemn duty as a father was to instill in his children the same love of Christ and His One True Church that he had. He would teach them their catechism and go to Mass with them. He made praying with them a priority. It is believed he never told a lie and never broke a promise.

 The Latin emperor of Constantinople gave St. Louis the Crown of Thorns in 1238, and the saint built the magnificent Sainte Chapelle to house this relic of Christ's crucifixion. King St. Louis is often depicted holding the Crown of Thorns. He built many churches, encouraged vocations, and protected all religious orders. 

King St. Louis IX: Giving Alms to the Poor and Enforcer of Catholic Morals

The King had a great love for the poor, and would invite numerous serfs into his castle to eat with him. He would often disguise himself as a beggar and circulate among the common folks to ask what they thought of the King. He would take to heart any complaints and seek to rectify them. He abolished prostitution and made sure those women who were caught up in such sinful living were given the ability to turn from sin and make living wages doing something useful. He made blasphemy punishable by being branded on the lips. When the pope told him he thought the penalty to be too severe, the saint replied that he subjected himself to the laws he promulgated and would gladly have his own lips branded if he spoke a blasphemy, so as to rid France of that sin. Out of respect for the pope, he mitigated the penalty to several months in a dungeon.

King St. Louis abolished usury, and in 1240 had all copies of the blasphemous Talmud publicly burned in Paris. The Jews were hated for charging interest on money, and the King had them wear an identifying badge to warn the people and hope for their conversion. He gave strict orders that no Jew was to be harmed under any pretext. More than once he served as a godfather for the baptism of a converted Jew. All false religions were banned from public worship, and only the Catholic Faith, the religion of the State, could be practiced in public and proselytize. The King made two incredible legal reforms; he abolished the so-called "trial by ordeal," a judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused was determined by subjecting them to a dangerous experience and predicated on the belief God would save the innocent by a miracle. The saint rightly concluded this was a form of tempting God to "show me a miracle and prove Thou art Just." He also introduced the presumption of innocence. This was done in response to the wealthy accusing the poor of crimes and demanding they prove themselves innocent when they were uneducated and couldn't afford help. Now all were presumed innocent and the burden of proof was on the accuser to prove guilt. 

King St. Louis IX: Crusader for Christ

When he fell violently ill, the King made a vow to go on a Crusade in the Holy Land to save the Catholics from the savage Mohammedans. St. Louis’s first Crusade (The Seventh Crusade;1248–1250) was a response to the conquest of Christian-controlled Jerusalem by a Turkish and Egyptian force in 1244. After the Holy City was taken, the victors massacred the Christian inhabitants and desecrated the churches. The King's Crusade was set to punish Egypt for that attack and ultimately restore Jerusalem to its Christian king. It failed. Louis’s army was defeated, and he was thrown into prison. 

St. Louis negotiated a deal for his release in exchange for the payment of a heavy ransom. When Turan Shah received half payment from Queen Margaret, he released the King. His advisors begged him to leave Egypt and not pay the remaining half of the ransom, but the virtuous king refused because he had given his solemn promise, and remained until the full debt was paid. 

King St. Louis IX: Rooting out Corruption in the Church

It was precisely because the King loved the Church so much, that he would rebuke and stand against any cleric who stepped beyond their spiritual power and acted like they were starved for glory and temporal power. A group of bishops met with King St Louis to demand that he take their side against some nobles in a dispute because they were clerics. The saint (literally) laughed in their faces and said that he would side with those whom he believed to be morally right, which in this case was the nobles, and they should not use their position as bishops to attempt to further a cause in which they were clearly wrong.

When certain bishops were excommunicating their subjects for the slightest reason to keep them in line, St. Louis did not hesitate to publicly admonish them for devaluing the punishment to the point that it wouldn't have the medicinal effect of meaning much and causing people to amend their ways. 

King St. Louis IX: Banishing the Disease of Heresy

The King kept company with St. Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas, whose mind never stopped thinking, was dining with St. Louis, when the Angelic Doctor stood up, pounded the table and said, "That's the argument to defeat the Albigensian heretics!" The King's guards came to admonish St. Thomas, but the good King told them to immediately bring St. Thomas something to write with so he would not forget his argument. 

The King would often compare heresy to disease and would do all in his power to extirpate it. This analogy of heresy to disease was even contained in the bull of his canonization:

He [Louis] abhorred those who were infected with the macula of perversion [i.e., heresy]. So that they would not infect the adepts of the Christian faith with the rot of this contagious disease, he hunted it out with efficient efforts beyond the boarders of his kingdom, and by exercising his attentive, preventative concerns for the condition of his kingdom, he cast these ferments out of it and allowed the True Faith to shine there in its authentic state.  

King St. Louis IX: A Man of Strong Faith

It is related that in the King's private chapel, a miracle took place when he was not there. When the priest consecrated the Host, it had turned into a visible Christ Child! One of his good and faithful servants ran to the King to tell him what happened, and come and see for himself before the miracle ended. The saintly King just hung his head, deep in thought. His servant couldn't understand his reaction. "Does not your Majesty wish to come and see the Infant Jesus?" He lifted his head and replied, "No, my good man. With the eyes of Faith, I see the Infant Jesus in the Host every day at Mass. Go, and call those who do not believe to witness it. As for me, I believe He is there every day, as the Church teaches." King St. Louis IX truly lived the words of Our Lord, "Jesus saith to him: 'Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed.'" (St. John 20:29). 

King St. Louis IX: Living in Sedevacantism

Upon the death of Pope Clement IV on November 29, 1268, until the election of Pope Gregory X on September 1, 1271 was a long interregnum. The King lived approximately the last year and nine months of his life with no pope on the throne of St. Peter. This never prevented him from living and dying as a true Catholic; in a certain sense, he is a saint for our unique time of near universal apostasy. He never lost the faith, and our prayers to him will ensure his most powerful intercession that we keep the Integral Catholic faith as Traditionalists.  

King St. Louis IX: Dying as he Lived--A Devout Catholic who Loved Our Lord and Our Lady

The rise of the Mamluk general Baybars and his merciless campaign of terror against the Christians in the Holy Land prompted Louis to take the cross a second time. St. Louis was in his fifties, and it had been twenty years since he first left on his first Crusade. The Crusade was a disaster from the start and ended with St. Louis contracting a fatal disease.  He composed a letter to his son, Crown Prince Philip who would become King Philip III, aka Philip the Bold. Here is just part of what St.Louis wrote to him:

Fair son, the first thing I would teach thee is to set thine heart to love God; for unless he love God none can be saved. Keep thyself from doing aught that is displeasing to God, that is to say, from mortal sin. Contrariwise thou shouldst suffer every manner of torment rather than commit a mortal sin.

If God send thee adversity, receive it in patience and give thanks to our Saviour and bethink thee that thou hast deserved it, and that He will make it turn to thine advantage. If He send thee prosperity, then thank Him humbly, so that thou becomest not worse from pride or any other cause, when thou oughtest to be better. For we should not fight against God with his own gifts.

Confess thyself often and choose for thy confessor a right worthy man who knows how to teach thee what to do, and what not to do; and bear thyself in such sort that thy confessor and thy friends shall dare to reprove thee for thy misdoings. Listen to the services of Holy Church devoutly, and without chattering; and pray to God with thy heart and with thy lips, and especially at Mass when the consecration takes place. Let thy heart be tender and full of pity toward those who are poor, miserable, and afflicted, and comfort and help them to the utmost of thy power.

Worn out from toil and sickness, King Louis IX received the Last Rites, and while praising Jesus and Mary, gave forth his soul to God at the age of 56 on August 25, 1270. He was infallibly canonized and enrolled among the saints of the Church by Pope Boniface VIII on August 11, 1297--almost exactly 27 years after his holy death. His feast day is kept on the day he entered Heaven, August 25th. 

Exposing the Calumnies of the King's Evil Enemies

The Jews and the Mohammedans hate King St. Louis IX. That these enemies of Christ should hate one of His saints and cast aspersions upon him should come as no surprise. The Times of Israel happily reports:

Umar Lee, who started a petition for the city [St. Louis] to remove the statue and change the city’s name, organized the anti-statue rally. The petition, which had 849 signatures as of Sunday evening, says Louis IX was “a rabid anti-semite who spearheaded many persecutions against the Jewish people,” as well as “vehemently Islamophobic.” (See https://www.timesofisrael.com/st-louis-archdiocese-defends-statue-of-king-louis-ix-who-persecuted-jews/amp/). 

Southern Jewish Life reports that Lee is also planning to ask Pope (sic) Francis to decanonize (!) Louis IX. (See sjlmag.com/2020/06/missouri-activists-shine-light-on.html?m=1. And leave it to Bergoglio to do something so invalid and evil). The Vatican II sect happily joins forces with Jews and Mohammedans because the Modernists are just as wicked. The Vatican II sect's Archdiocese of St. Louis gave a lackluster defense of the saint, and there was no official effort on the part of any cleric from Bergoglio on down to denounce BLM and counter the petition. The Jesuit rag America denounces the great saint in an article written by one Eve Tushnet, entitled "Don't Hide From the Sins of St. Louis." Tushnet is a Jewish convert to the Vatican II sect and sodomite. She is the author of Gay and Catholic: Accepting My Sexuality. (I'd love to write a book, Vegetarian and Eating Meat: Accepting My Diet and Self-Contradictions). 

Tushmet denounces King St. Louis IX for his "antisemitism;" most notably burning the Talmud. She writes, If there is one thing a church (sic) facing a catastrophic sexual abuse crisis needs, it is willingness to admit the sins of our heroes. If our first instinct is to defend "the church," not to defend the truth or the victims, have we really learned the lessons of the abuse crisis? (See https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2020/07/06/dont-hide-sins-st-louis). This is sheer blasphemy and lies. That King St. Louis was imperfect, conceded; that he was antisemitic denied. Likewise, he was neither racist nor "Islamophobic" (a made up word that labels anyone who spurns that diabolic sect as "mentally ill" by having an "irrational fear" ). The lesson of the abuse crisis is that the Modernists allowed sexual perverts (like Tushmet) into the seminaries after Vatican II and Communists sent thousands of sodomites into the seminaries to infiltrate the Church. To claim that correctly declaring the truth about the heroic virtues of King St. Louis and refusing to impute to him made-up sins is somehow analogous to the Vatican II sect covering up for pederasts is just plain madness. 

Here's an examination of the charges against the saint, and proof of their falsehood. 

King St. Louis and the Jews

• It was the interest-charging Jews who were evil for imposing usury. To warn the people against borrowing money from them, they wore a badge, and this also served to protect them against violence by royal decree.

• The King wanted their conversion and was godfather to several converted Jews

• The Talmud deserved to be burned because it is a blasphemous, evil book.

Proof of the Talmud's evil:

THE TALMUD gets its name from the word LAMUD — taught, and means The Teaching. By metonymy it is taken to mean the book which contains the Teaching, which teaching is called Talmud, that is, the doctrinal book which alone fully expounds and explains all the knowledge and teaching of the Jewish people. For nearly five hundred years after the Babylonian Talmud was completed, the study of literature was greatly hampered partly due to public calamities and partly owing to dissensions among the scholars. But in the eleventh century others wrote further additions to the Talmud. Chief among these were the Tosephoth of Rabbi Ascher.

Besides these there appeared the Perusch of Rabbi Moische ben Maimon, called by the Jews Rambam for short, by the Christians Maimonides, and by Rabbi Schelomo, Iarchi or Raschi.

Thus, the Mischna, Gemarah, Tosephoth, the marginal notes of Rabbi Ascher, the Piske Tosephoth and the Perusch Hamischnaioth of Maimonides, all collected into one, constitute a vast work which is called the Talmud.

The Talmud teaches that Jesus Christ was illegitimate and was conceived during menstruation; that he had the soul of Esau; that he was a fool, a conjurer, a seducer; that he was crucified, buried in hell and set up as an idol ever since by his followers.

In the Tract Sanhedrin (103a) the words of Psalm XCI, 10: 'No plague shall come near thy dwelling,' are explained as follows:

"That thou mayest never have a son or a disciple who will salt his food so much that he destroys his taste in public, like Jesus the Nazarene."

To salt one's food too much or to destroy one's taste, is proverbially said of one who corrupts his morals or dishonors himself, or who falls into heresy and idolatry and openly preaches it to others.

In the same book Sanhedrin (107b) we read:

"Mar said: Jesus seduced, corrupted and destroyed Israel."

 it is explained why animals must not be allowed in the barns of Gentiles, and why Jews are not permitted to have sexual intercourse with them:

"Animals must not be allowed to go near the Goim, because they are suspected of having intercourse with them. Nor must women cohabit with them because they are over-sexed."

In fol. 22b of the same book the reason is given why animals especially of the feminine sex must be kept away from their women:

"...because when Gentile men come to their neighbors' houses to commit adultery with their wives and do not find them at home, they fornicate with the sheep in the barns instead. And sometimes even when their neighbors' wives are at home, they prefer to fornicate with the animals; for they love the sheep of the Israelites more than their own women." (See The Talmud Unmasked:The Secret Rabbinical Teachings Concerning Christians, by theologian Pranaitis [1892], available in full online at http://www.talmudunmasked.com/index.htm). 

King St. Louis and the Mohammedans

The Crusades of St. Louis were not done out of hatred for a person's race, but for the protection of Christians and the conversion of those "still in the darkness of idolatry or Islamism" (Prayer for the Consecration of the Human Race to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus). St. Louis' biographer LeGoff, relates that when in Egypt, the saint met the Sultan of Babylon. Through an interpreter they spoke. The King said he was sad. The Sultan asked why and St Louis responded, "It is because I have not won the thing I wanted to win the most, for which I left my sweet country of France..." "What is that?" the Sultan asked. "It is your soul," said King St. Louis. He explained how the Sultan and the Mohammedans could only be saved by Jesus Christ and His Church. The Sultan responded, "In following the law of the most blessed Mohammed we hope to one day come to enjoy the greatest pleasures in the afterlife." The King (no ecumenist!) immediately replied, "That is why I can only be thoroughly astonished that you men who are discreet and circumspect give your faith to that sorcerer Mohammed who commands  and allows so many dishonest things. I have actually looked at and examined the Koran, and I have only seen filth and impurities in it..." The sultan was so moved, he began to sob at the concern St. Louis had, as he pleaded for the conversion of the Moslems. (See LeGoff, pgs. 647-648). 

Proof that the Koran teaches wickedness:

 The Koran is an evil book written under demonic inspiration. Strong words? I own a copy. Here's what it teaches:

"O ye who believe!  Fight the unbelievers who gird you about, and let them find firmness in you; and know that Allah is with those who fear Him."  (Sura IX 123) Islam spread by means of violence. Catholicism spread by being persecuted and loving Her enemies along the way.

"They do blaspheme who say: 'Allah is Christ the son of Mary.'  But said Christ: 'O Children of Israel!  Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.'  Whoever joins other gods with Allah, Allah will forbid him the Garden, and the Fire will be his abode.  There will for the wrong-doers be no one to help."  (Sura V 75) Islam says Christians go to Hell, and Christ is not Divine; He allegedly told others to worship the false moon "god" Allah.

"O ye who believe!  Take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors:  They are but friends and protectors to each other.  And he amongst you that turns to them (For friendship) is of them.  Verily Allah guided not a people unjust."  (Sura V 54) Mohammedans are told not to have Christians or Jews as friends.

Also taught:

Women are inferior to men (Sura IV 34)

Men can, and even should, beat their wives in some circumstances (Sura IV 34)

Allah does not love the unbelievers (Sura III 32)

The Modernists' and liberals' conundrum: If you support Islam, which supports the inferiority of women and approves of them being beaten, doesn't that make you a misogynist? But if you condemn Islam for being misogynistic and not a "religion of peace," doesn't that make you "Islamophobic"? 

Conclusion

Now it can be seen why BLM, the Jews, Mohammedans, and Modernists despise and spread lies about King St. Louis IX. He is the embodiment of everything they hate. Here is a layman with a large family who puts God first. He believed there is only One True Church to which all must belong if they are to be saved. He didn't believe in ecumenism, that Moslems worship the same God as Catholics, and he did believe the Jews were the Deicide race who also need conversion because proselytism is not "solemn nonsense." He did not believe in separation of Church and State, or religious liberty, but that every State must be a Catholic State. He lived a life of heroic virtue, realizing that power and money are to be used in the service of God, and any other use is folly. He was solidly Catholic and proud of it; the model Christian ruler and knight, who with supreme valor, upheld all that was good, true, and beautiful. Where is any of this in our politicians of today? The enemies of King St. Louis IX hate the King of kings Whom he served so well. This is all the more reason to honor and emulate him!

The Collect from the Mass in honor of King St. Louis IX, Confessor: "O God, Who didst translate Blessed Louis, Thy Confessor, from an earthly throne to the glory of Thy Heavenly Kingdom, grant, we beseech Thee, through his merits and intercession, that we may have companionship with the King of kings, Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who with Thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen."

When It's Over

My spiritual father, the late, great Fr. Gommar DePauw, was the youngest of eight children born in Stekene, Belgium. His father, Mr. Desiree DePauw, was an educator and attorney, and his mother, Anna DePauw (nee Van Overloop), was a most pious Catholic homemaker. There were five girls and three boys. His eldest sister (and oldest of the eight) spent the last fifty (50) years of her life as a medical missionary nun in that part of the world formerly called the Belgian Congo and she made many converts. His older brother, Nestor, became a Franciscan priest with the religious name "Father Adhemar." Like his brother, he rejected Vatican II and maintained the Integral Catholic Faith, offering only the Traditional Mass and valid, traditional sacraments. The DePauw family was Catholic to the core and was blessed by three vocations; one of them destined to be God's instrument to preserve His Church in the Great Apostasy. 

It was just after World War II, Belgium had been liberated from Nazi tyranny, and one of  Father DePauw's older sisters was having a big celebration on the occasion of her 15th wedding anniversary. As his other siblings were all busy, and his father would be coming straight from work, Father agreed to pick up his mother at the house with the parish car and take her to the party. Upon his arrival, Father used his key to enter and announced himself. His mother called from her upstairs bedroom. She said she was all dressed up for the party, but needed help picking out her shoes. She beckoned her son to come upstairs and help her decide. She gave him a big kiss and showed him the two pairs of shoes, asking which ones he thought would make her look nicer. Father pointed to the ones he thought were better, and his mom smiled. She sat on the edge of the bed and was reaching down to put them on.

Suddenly, she sat upright and looked straight into her son's eyes. She firmly yet calmly said, "I think it's all over." She immediately laid back on the bed, took her last breath, and expired. Father called the ambulance and gave his mother the Last Rites. He went in the ambulance with her. She was pronounced dead on arrival by the attending physician in the hospital. Mrs. DePauw had been in excellent health, wasn't taking any medication, and took care of herself. "Natural causes" was listed on the death certificate. That we will all die one day is a fact. When, where, and how we die are known but to God. Every All Souls Day, Father would call to mind all the members of the Chapel who were with us the past November 2nd, but never made it to the next.

In Hebrews 2:14-15, we read, "Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."(Emphasis mine). The One True Church has always taught us to reflect on the "Four Last Things:" Death Judgement, Heaven and Hell. This isn't to be morbid, but to recognize the fact that since the Fall, humanity is propelled (for better or worse) by the fear of death. Those who have the Faith will be inspired to do great things for Christ, live a holy life, die a good death, and attain eternal happiness in Heaven. Those who have the false faith of Mohammed will murder to obtain forty virgins from "Allah." Pagan Buddhists will try to "become one" with the universe.

Today, we have those who deny God and wish to cheat death. Their ideas impact our society. Truly, there have always been those who think they can somehow "transcend death." They try to figuratively "stay alive" by leaving some kind of legacy whether that is by becoming famous, doing something to try and change the world, etc. These things can be good or bad, depending on what they do, however even if done for something worthwhile, it does nothing to make them immortal because the universe itself will eventually end by entropy. There are now those who believe that they can literally live forever.

The modern day heathens, having no faith in God, want to live forever here since they reject the soul and life after death. This post will expose the folly of those who try to achieve secular salvation via medical science, transhumanism, and cryonics.

A Healthy Diet For Eternity?

 Theologian Jone reminds us of the duty which the Fifth Commandment imposes upon us: "Since death can result from the neglect of adequate care of one's health, the preservation of life and health is also a duty." (See Moral Theology, [1961], pg. 133). We can (and should) try to live as long and healthy as possible. This includes a good diet, exercise, getting regular medical check-ups, don't smoke, don't drink to excess, etc. I do all that. However, there are those that think that if we can just live long enough, medical science will cure all our ailments and we need only worry about dying in an accident. 

Besides the myriad (and contradictory) fad diets, exercise regimens and the like, there are strange things people will do in the hope of "living long enough." One recent development is parabiosis, where the blood of 16 to 25 year olds is transfused into older people. Regarding this "treatment" molecular biologist Michael Conboy at the University of California, Berkeley, said, "It just reeks of snake oil." (See https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/young-blood-transfusions-are-on-the-menu-at-society-gala/). Nevertheless, if there's even a one in a million chance of living an extra year or two, people will try it, no matter how risky or how crazy it might be.

The odds of the medical establishment beating cancer (and every other disease) are slim to none. COVID-19 sent the world into a tailspin and it's not even that severe of a virus. Geneticists believe the ability of the human body to continue living reaches it's peak at around 120-125 years old. How does this square with Biblical accounts of people living hundreds of years? There are many factors that limit a human lifespan. Here are but ten of such major factors:

1. Murder
2. War
3. Accidents
4. Diseases
5. Stress
6. Obesity
7. Inadequate exercise
8. Environmental Stress
9. Exposure to Radiation
10. Telomerase Activity (chromosome shortening)


Early humans did not eat the processed foods of today, or lack exercise. Obesity was most likely extremely rare. There were far less pollutants and chemicals in use. This would cross off numbers six and seven above, and greatly reduce number four. However, there seem to be two factors in particular that could account for life spans dropping from about 900 to about 85 with an upward limit of approximately 125: (a) exposure to radiation, from space and within the Earth, and (b) telomerase activity.

Radiation

Coal burning, building materials, paved roads, and even granite countertops in kitchens, guarantee our exposure to igneous rocks. There is decay of radioisotopes in those igneous rocks (uranium, radium, and thorium, for example) that causes small amounts of radiation. Multiply the amount of constant exposure to that of ancient peoples and there is a huge amount of radiation as compared to way back in history. Cosmic radiation (not all of which is damaging) was thought to be constant throughout Earth's history. In 1995, Russian astronomer Dr. Anatoliy Erlykin, challenged this idea when he noted an anomaly in the very high-energy region  of the cosmic ray spectrum. (See A.D. Erlykin, "Around and Above the Knee"Nuclear Physics B--Proceedings Supplements 39 [February 1995]: 215-227).

In 1997, Sir Arnold Wolfendale, a British astronomer, joined with Erlykin and were able to show a significant increase in harmful cosmic rays showering the entire Earth arising from a single supernova in the recent past (i.e. sometime less than 100,000 years ago). (See Erlykin and Wolfendale, "A Single Source of Comic Rays in the Range 1015-1016 eV," Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics 23 [August 1997]: 979).

Telomerase Activity

Our cells can only replicate a limited number of times. For the somatic cells that make up our organs, the telomere region of the chromosomes is incompletely replicated during cell division. Eventually, the chromosomes become so short that important genes fail to get replicated leading to the inability to replace damaged cells, resulting in organ shut-down and death. There is an enzyme, telomerase, which adds nucleotide base pairs to the ends of DNA to counteract the shortening process. There is one huge drawback: If cancer should occur, the tumors would grow unchecked and virtually unstoppable no matter what kind of cancer. Too much telomerase activity will bring about an early death from cancers and tumors; too little results in earlier death from organ failure. (See, e.g., E. Blackburn, "Telomere States and Cell Fates," Nature 408 [November 2, 2000]: 53-56).

The shift from immortality to mortality after the Fall might have necessitated longer life spans at first. Shorter lives would also have a limiting effect on the evils the majority of people in their fallen state could bring upon the world, and get people thinking about the things of God sooner, having less time on Earth.

Yet, suppose scientists could cure cancer. That would only increase life spans about two to three years. (See Keyfitz, "What Difference Would it Make if Cancer were Eradicated,"Demography 14 no. 4 [1977]. The study remains relevant as it was subsequently confirmed by others such as Stephen Cave). 

It does nothing to help the cause of so-called "health and fitness gurus," claiming they have the answers to living extremely long lives, when you see that their own lives were not long for many of them. Here's just a partial list:

• Lucille Roberts, female health club empire-owner and fitness fanatic; died in 2003 at age 59 from cancer

• Euell Gibbons, nutrition book author and natural foods advocate; died in 1975 at age 64 from an aneurysm

• Jim Fixx, long-distance runner/advocate of running for health and long life; died in 1984 at age 52 from a heart attack after running

• Nathan Pritikin, author and founder of the low cholesterol Pritikan diet committed suicide by slashing his wrists in the hospital at age 69 in 1984. He was dying from leukemia.

• Robert E. Kowalski, author of many nutrition books, including The NEW 8-Week Cholesterol Cure which spent 115 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List, died at age 65 in 2007 from a pulmonary embolism 

Bottom line: Medical science will not make us immortal. God determines how many years we have on this Earth. I'm sure we all know someone who defies all medical logic. For example, I knew a woman who lived near me as a child who smoked five packs of cigarettes a day, ate greasy food, was obese, never went to the doctor, and never exercised. She died at age 82 from falling down the stairs and hitting her head on concrete. She never had cancer, heart problems, etc. On the other hand, I lost a good friend of mine who did everything right and was extremely athletic. He died suddenly from a heart attack at age 47, leaving behind a wife and two kids. This doesn't mean we shouldn't do all we can to obey the Fifth Commandment, it simply means that it is God, not humans, Who determines life spans. "Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou canst not be my steward any longer." (St. Luke 16:16).

Humanity 2.0

There is a movement known as "transhumanism." Proponents believe that it is possible not merely to replace organs with better mechanical organs and parts (for those of us whose memories go back to the 1970s, think of the TV show The Six Million Dollar Man--now 27.8 million when adjusted for inflation--who had bionic parts). They actually think it is possible to "upload your mind" into another body, a machine, or even a computer program. Those who advocate for transhumanism are atheists by necessity because they assume that the mind and the brain are identical; you are your brain. They are materialists who deny the existence of the soul which works through the brain but is a separate substance that survives physical death. 

Ian Pearson, head of a futurology unit said:

If you draw the timelines, realistically by 2050 we would expect to be able to download your mind into a machine, so when you die it's not a major career problem,' Pearson told The Observer. 'If you're rich enough then by 2050 it's feasible. If you're poor you'll probably have to wait until 2075 or 2080 when it's routine. We are very serious about it. That's how fast this technology is moving: 45 years is a h*** of a long time in IT. (See https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/may/22/theobserver.technology;Emphasis and censoring of word mine). 

In this way you could live for centuries in a robotic body, or ostensibly forever in a computer program that never ends. There are several insurmountable problems with this idea.

1. Science can't explain consciousness. How is it that matter can be aware of itself? On the atheistic/materialistic worldview, people are simply atoms and molecules no different from anything else. How does evolution produce self-awareness? This question has no answer from materialists, anymore than they can explain how the first living cells appeared from non-living matter. Even atheist philosopher of mind, Dr. David Chalmers admits, "It is true that we have no idea how a non-biological system, such as a silicon computer system, could be conscious. But the fact is that we also have no idea how a biological system, such as a neural system, could be conscious. The gap is just as wide in both cases." (See Chalmers, in Science Fiction and Philosophy from Time Travel to Superintelligence, [2016])

2. A Computerized You wouldn't be You. Suppose you had an identical twin with identical molecules. Also suppose that you had identical experiences. Your twin would be "qualitatively identical" to you, but not "numerically identical." If you get killed, you die and the twin that survives is not "you." Likewise, if your twin dies, you continue to live, and do not cease to be you. Simply by duplicating your neurons and transferring them to a machine, does not magically make it "you." Consciousness only makes sense if God and souls exist, which is a defeater for "uploading minds."

3. Science can't even duplicate a roundworm's neurons. McGill University neuro-scientist Michael Hendricks writes in MIT Technology Review:

I study a small roundworm, Caenorhabditis elegans, which is by far the best-described animal in all of biology. We know all of its genes and all of its cells (a little over 1,000). We know the identity and complete synaptic connectivity of its 302 neurons, and we have known it for 30 years. If we could "upload" or roughly simulate any brain, it should be that of C. elegans. Yet even with the full connectome in hand, a static model of this network of connections lacks most of the information necessary to simulate the mind of the worm. In short, brain activity cannot be inferred from synaptic neuroanatomy. 
(See https://www.technologyreview.com/2015/09/15/109906/the-false-science-of-cryonics/)

Hence, transhumanism cannot work because:

• science bases the concept of mind on the atheistic/metaphysical assumption that matter is all that exists

• science has no idea how consciousness works

• a mechanical "you" isn't really you at all

• science cannot even replicate the brain function of a simple worm

Cold Comfort

Baseball great Ted Williams (1918-2002) is cryonically frozen with his head and body in two different tanks of liquid nitrogen. Liquid nitrogen is very cold, -320 degrees F (-196 degrees C). Absolute zero, the temperature at which molecules cease moving is -459.67 degrees F (-273.15 C). His body and head are kept at Alcor Cryonics labs. According to their website:

Cryonics is an experimental procedure that preserves a human being using the best available technology for the purpose of saving his/her life. We believe medical technology will advance further in coming decades than it has in the past several centuries, enabling it to heal damage at the cellular and molecular levels and to restore full physical and mental health. (See https://alcor.org; Emphasis mine).

Immediately after death, the person's body will be frozen in liquid nitrogen to prevent decay. When medical science cures what killed him, he will allegedly be defrosted and "revived."  Once more, problems that cannot be overcome arise:

1. Cryonics is based on the materialistic worldview. When the soul leaves the body, it cannot be "revived"--only resurrected by the power of God. 

2. Subjects must be frozen almost immediately. Alcor admits on its own website (cited above) that a person should "preferably" be frozen within 15 minutes after death, because longer wait time will make it more difficult to "restore" the person. Unless you die at Alcor, good luck getting frozen in 15 minutes or less.

3. Will anyone want to defrost the person? If, ad arguendo, science was able to cure most diseases, there would be a great surge in the world's population. Those who approve of cryonics are the same people who see humanity as a "plague" on "Mother Earth." Even Bergoglio exalts environmentalism and hardly ever mentions abortion. Who needs another rich person, revived, and wasting natural resources?

4. Freezer burn. According to Dr. Mehmet Toner, cryo-biologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, "You can only slowly freeze and slowly warm large things. Ice is going to form inevitably during warming. The chances that you will bring a frozen head back is the same as when you go home tonight, open the freezer, get the ground beef out, and make a cow out of it." (See https://www.glitch.news/2017-01-27-the-arizona-desert-holds-145-frozen-humans-waiting-to-be-resurrected.html).  Not even a worm has been successfully frozen and restored to life. 

Cryonics is another failed "immortality project" that cannot deliver what it promises. 

Conclusion

"In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin." (Ecclesiasticus 7:40). I don't write this post to be depressing but to give real hope through our Faith. I realize that this might be my last post--- God may call me to Judgement before next Monday. Having death before your eyes will help clarify things. Whenever I'm especially upset, I'll ask myself, "If I only had two weeks to live, how important would this issue be to me?" The answer to most issues is "not very important," and I drop it. To those issues that I think would be important, I double my resolve to address it. 

How sad for the godless atheists to seek "immortality" by methods that are doomed to failure. Don't they realize that the entire universe will meet its death by entropy, making transhumanism, medicinal science, and cryonics moot even if such were possible? I don't know how I'll face my death when that time comes. I hope to be brave as one can be and in the state of grace, which is why I pray for the great grace of Final Perseverance every day. 

None of us will overcome the fear of death, or respond to it correctly, without the One True Faith. Instead of denying death, or trying not to think about it, the real solution to minimize the fear of death is to face the reality of it while striving to achieve true immortality in Heaven through Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church. Living and dying as a True Catholic is the only way to a happy immortality when this Earthly life is over. 

Tongue Twisters

It was a scenario I've encountered numerous times since I became a Traditionalist 39 years ago. Someone inquired why I attend "Mass in Latin." I had to explain that it is not about Latin, or a preference, but rather that what I attend is a valid Catholic Mass and not a "Novus Bogus" neo-Protestant bread and wine service. I further explained the state of sedevacante, and how Bergoglio cannot be pope, but is the leader of a man-made false religion; the Vatican II sect. What I said was either not understood, or purposely ignored by my interlocutor. "Why pray in Latin when you can pray in tongues and shout 'Hallelujah' to God?"  She was a member of the "Catholic (sic) Charismatic Movement."

In 2018, false pope Jorge Bergoglio announced the formation of "CHARIS," or "Catholic (sic) Charismatic Renewal International Service." This new body within the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life  replaces the two existing services known as the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Service and the Catholic Fraternity. (See http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/vatican-creates-new-office-to-serve-catholic-charismatic-renewal-movement). Not open to hearing what I had to say, we politely parted ways. The meeting did inspire this post, which will allow me to demonstrate three things: (1) the necessity of Latin, (2) the Church's teaching on extraordinary gifts, such as glossolalia or "speaking in tongues," and (3) the blatant apostasy of Jorge Bergoglio and how he cannot be (and could not even attain to being) pope.

The Language of the Church

Pope Pius XII, in his magnificent encyclical on the Liturgy, Mediator Dei, had the following to say regarding the use of Latin:

 "The use of the Latin language, customary in a considerable portion of the Church, is a manifest and beautiful sign of unity, as well as an effective antidote for any corruption of doctrinal truth." (para. #60; Emphasis mine). 

The three arguments most often advanced against Latin by Modernist apologists don't hold water.

1) Christ and the Apostles spoke the language of the "common people."
In the words of the great liturgist Fr. Gueranger, "It is completely false to claim that the Liturgy was celebrated in the vulgar or spoken tongues of the peoples to whom the Faith was initially proclaimed in the time of Christ...the Liturgy was celebrated in the three languages which were nailed to the cross of the Savior, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and for over one thousand years it was only celebrated in those three tongues or dialects of them...up to the fourth century it was only in these three languages and not even in their dialects." (See Liturgical Institutions, "The Anti-Liturgical Heresy"; Emphasis mine)

 In the True Mass we have words of Hebrew (Alleluia, Amen), Greek (Kyrie and Christe eleison), but mostly Latin. The True Mass is linked to Calvary as it is the unbloody Sacrifice of the Cross. The Novus Bogus is humanity's celebration of itself (YOU-charist), entertaining itself, and having a "happy meal" in the vernacular.

2) The Church has approved the vulgar tongue in the Eastern Rites.
Not really. The recognized liturgical languages of Slavonic, Coptic, Ge'ez, and Armenian are not "spoken" languages, just like Latin. The Church wants languages which are both objective and stable.

3) The people cannot have "full, conscious, and active participation" if they don't understand the language used at Mass. 

The following proposition of Quesnel (d. 1719) was CONDEMNED in the Apostolic Decree Unigenitus of Pope Clement XI: "To refuse to the simple folk the consolation of joining their voices to that of the whole Church [by praying in the vernacular] is a practice contrary to that of the Apostles and is against the will of God." The Council of Trent, Canon IX, "If any one saith, that the rite of the Roman Church, according to which a part of the canon and the words of consecration are pronounced in a low tone, is to be condemned; or, that the mass ought to be celebrated in the vulgar tongue only; or, that water ought not to be mixed with the wine that is to be offered in the chalice, for that it is contrary to the institution of Christ; let him be anathema." (Emphasis mine)

 A Universal Church needs a universal language, welcoming all, but belonging to none! As Fr. Gueranger said, "Hatred for the Latin language is inborn in the hearts of all the enemies of Rome."

True and False Tongues

Kenneth Copeland (b. 1936), is one of the Word-Faith Movement preachers. I wrote a post on them here: https://introiboadaltaredei2.blogspot.com/2020/04/when-strangers-come-knocking-part-8.html.

Along with so-called "Charismatic Pentecostals" and some other Protestant sects, they believe in charismata ("gifts of the Holy Ghost") such as prophecies, healings, miracles, etc. They claim to be "slain in the Spirit" and "speak in tongues." Do they really? First, the teaching of the Church, then the problems with modern day "charismata." 

1. The Apostles and extraordinary gifts. According to theologian Scheeben: The internal perfection [of the Apostles] arose from the fact of their being eye-witnesses and ear-witnesses of the whole Revelation, and of their being so filled with the Holy Ghost that each of them possessed a complete and infallible knowledge of revealed doctrine; while the external perfection was the gift of miracles, by which they were able to confirm the authenticity of their testimony...As soon as the original and fundamental promulgation of the Gospel was complete there was no longer any necessity for the extraordinary Apostolate. (See A Manual of Catholic Theology, [1890], 1:37-38; Emphasis mine). 

Theologian Van Noort teaches: Therefore, as apostles, each of them had (a) a direct divine mission to carry out both of the aforementioned tasks all over the world. Furthermore, (b) they enjoyed the charisms (1) of revelation, (2) of infallibility (in matters pertaining to their mission), and (3) of miracles. The apostolate was, to begin with, by its very nature an extraordinary gift, confided to these men alone. (See Dogmatic Theology, [1961], 1:39; First emphasis in original, second emphasis mine). In end-note #19, Van Noort references the work of heretical theologian Oscar Cullmann (d.1999). Cullmann, a member of the Lutheran sect, was an "observer" at Vatican II and a driving force behind the One World Church ecumenical movement. Cullmann advanced the heretical view that apostolic grace must perish with the Apostles or survive them in its entirety. Van Noort responds that the dilemma is resolved in Catholic theology by distinguishing between a mission of the Apostles which is an extraordinary, noncommunicable charism relating to the founding of the Church, and an ordinary communicable and non-miraculous charism relating to the preservation of the Church. It is only the latter that is carried down through the ages by the Apostolic Succession of Catholic bishops.

The charismata is therefore not in use after the founding of the Church. Yes, there have been certain saints in the Church that had various miraculous gifts, but this is not (as the Charismatics claim) true of all members of the Church. The vast majority are devoid of any miraculous deeds. 

Babbling Deceivers

The Charismatics (both Protestant and Vatican II sect) are heard "speaking in tongues" at their services. What, exactly, are they saying? In a word: Nothing. As far back as 1972, University of Toronto linguistics professor William Samarin had this to say:

There is no mystery about glossolalia. Tape recorded samples are easy to obtain and analyse. They always turn out to be the same thing: strings of syllables made up of sounds taken from among all those that the speaker knows, put together more or less haphazardly but which nevertheless emerge as word-like and sentence-like units because of realistic, language-like rhythm and melody. Glossolalia is indeed like language in some ways, but this is only because the speaker (unconsciously) wants it to be like language. Yet in spite of superficial similarities, glossolalia is fundamentally not a language. All specimens of glossolalia that have ever been studied have produced no features that would even suggest they reflect some kind of communicative system...Glossolalia is not a supernatural phenomenon...In fact, anybody can produce glossolalia if he is uninhibited and he discovers what the "trick" is... (See Tongues of Men and Angels, [1972], pgs. 227-228; Emphasis mine). 

Having been exposed as no known languages, how do Charismatics respond? They are told, "600 million Christians (sic) have received the Holy Spirit gift of their own spirit language." (See book description for 70 Reasons for Speaking in Tongues: Your Own Built-in Spiritual Dynamo [2010], by Bill Hamon; Emphasis mine). They point to 1 Corinthians 13:1, " If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal." (Emphasis mine). Charismatics will claim that this verse "proves" there are "angelic languages" and that's why it sounds like gibberish and does not conform to any earthly language. The Biblical account of true glossolalia gives the lie to that contention. 

In Acts 2:1-4 we read, "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.  Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them." The Scripture relates how Jews, gathered in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost from around the world, had grown up speaking languages other than Aramaic, yet all could understand these uneducated Galileans. They were able to speak in many (and authentic) languages. 

This is confirmed by the great St. John Chrysostom who wrote, And as in the time of the building of the tower [of Babel] the one tongue was divided into many; so then, at Pentecost, the many tongues met in one man, and the same person used to discourse both in the Persian, and the Roman, and the Indian, and many other tongues, the Spirit sounding within him: and the gift was called the gift of tongues because he could all at once speak divers languages. (See Homilies on First Corinthians, 35.1; Emphasis mine).

Bergoglio: Speaks with Forked Tongue

In 2014, Bergoglio ("Pope" Francis) asked Word-Faith charlatan Kenneth Copeland to pray for him and "unity in the Body of Christ." (See https://blog.kcm.org/watch-pope-francis-message-calling-for-unity-in-the-body-of-christ/) This is rank heresy. The Church is always One and unified--the existence of apostates, heretics, and schismatics in no way detracts from Her unity. In 1865, The Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office issued the decree Quod Vos, approved by His Holiness Pope Pius IX. It states," ...[The]  Church of Christ never lost her unity. She will never lose it, not even for the shortest space of time. In fact, she will continue everlastingly according to divine revelation. How, indeed, can one believe the Church will continue everlastingly, if generation after generation, exactly as it occurs in the changeableness of earthly things, she were to take on to her essential state a new appearance and shape, and, what is more, if the Church herself at some time or other could withdraw from the unity of faith and communion on which she was founded by Jesus Christ and by which she was spread by the Apostles? For this reason St. Ambrose says the kingdom of the Church will remain forever because the faith is indivisible, the body is one [cf. Eph 4:14]." 

Moreover, upon Bergoglio's "election" in March of 2013, Copeland published an interview with Rt. Rev. Tony Palmer, a former director of Kenneth Copeland Ministries’ South African office and co-founder of The Ark Community, an international and interdenominational community of Christians based in the United Kingdom, has been extensively involved with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR). (See https://blog.kcm.org/historic-change/) The post by Kenneth Copeland Ministries continues, It was during a mission to Argentina five years ago that Palmer met and soon became close friends with Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope [sic] Francis I.

“We had called on him to ask permission to minister in churches within his diocese for renewal,” Palmer recalled recently of that first meeting. “Immediately, Cardinal Bergoglio shared his heart and appreciation for what we were doing, and fully embraced us and the work of the Holy Spirit in and through us—not only to Catholic people, but to all Christian denominations.”

Palmer was asked, What is uniquely different and meaningful about Pope Francis and his appointment? His response:
PALMER: An important attribute that Pope Francis brings to the Papacy is his honest and sincere openness to the unity of all Christians. He is a man of God who understands the unity of the Church in its diversity. He constantly shows his public fraternal brotherhood toward all Christians. For example, when he was introduced during a large Christian meeting in Buenos Aires where over 5,000 evangelical protestant leaders were in attendance, Pope Francis (then Cardinal Bergoglio) knelt down in front of the evangelical pastors and asked them to lay hands on him and bless him! Every year, as Cardinal, he would join his evangelical brothers (pastors) for their annual week-long retreat—not as a guest speaker to teach, but as one of them. During our times together, we have spoken about our shared pain of the division of Christians, and together we have shared both tears and prayers for her healing—the one Bride of Christ. (Emphasis mine).

Joining in a false sect's services is an act of apostasy. St. Thomas Aquinas discusses how external acts relate to the sin of apostasy. In one of the objections he proceeds later to refute, he mentions as an example of apostasy not only undergoing the Jewish religious rite of circumcision but also the worshiping at the tomb of Mohammed: “…if anyone were to have himself circumcised, or to worship at the tomb of Mahomet, he would be deemed an apostate” (S.T., II-II, q. 12, a. 1, arg. 2). And again, the Angelic Doctor, "It belongs to faith not only that the heart should believe, but also that external words and deeds should bear witness to the inward faith, for confession is an act of faith. On this way too, certain external words or deeds pertain to unbelief, in so far as they are signs of unbelief…” (S.T., II-II, q. 12, a. 1, ad. 2; Emphasis mine). Theologians and canonists teach that manifest heresy consists in "signs, deeds, and the omission of deeds."
 (See Merkelbach, SummaTheologiae Moralis, 1:746.).

As an alleged "Cardinal," Bergoglio was non-Catholic. According to canonist Baldii, "Barred as incapable of being validly elected [pope] are the following: women, children who have not reached the age of reason, those suffering from habitual insanity, the unbaptized, heretics and schismatics..." (See Institutiones Iuris Canonici [1921]; Emphasis mine). It is impossible for Bergoglio to have ever obtained to the office of pope. Remember this the next time some SSPXer or Vatican II sect apologist wants to argue about "warnings" and "deposing a pope by a council." It's all irrelevant; he never could have become pope.

Finally, here is a short video with Copeland "praying in tongues"for Bergoglio. It comes with a very sarcastic (and humorous) translation in captions below. (WARNING! The video was produced by Protestant heretics and I do not endorse them. They are correct, however, that Copeland is a fraud and "speaking in tongues" is nonsense.---Introibo). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuSPxbx6IMg

Bergoglio Joins With Charismatics To Form A One World Religion

Here are the reasons Bergoglio is so enamored by the Charismatic Movement:

 1. It implicitly denies there is only One True Church. 

If these "gifts" of the Holy Ghost (allegedly speaking in tongues, "healings," etc.) are true in the "Catholic" Church and they also happen in various Protestant denominations, then it stands to reason that there are "elements of truth and sanctification" outside the True Church by which people can achieve holiness and salvation. (Sound familiar?).

2. It replaces the hierarchy with an alleged direct contact with God, and denies the Indefectibility of the Church.
Priests are seen as "one of the guys." Being able to roll on the ground "speaking in tongues" is more important than the ability to offer the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Charismatics will also say things like, "God has put it on my heart that I should..." Or, "God told me..." If you have direct contact with God, why do we need the Church and Her hierarchy as intermediaries between God and people? If the Church teaches one thing, but God has supposedly told you something different, guess which one will be obeyed. The charismatics also deny Indefectibility by claiming that an integral part of the Church (charismata) was absent for centuries, so the Church was somehow deficient. This is impossible if the Church is Indefectible.

3. It denies traditional Catholic spirituality and leads to deception (and even possession) by evil spirits.
Say goodbye to the Rosary, novenas, and The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. St. John of the Cross, one of the greatest masters of the spiritual life had this to say:

• "And I greatly fear what is happening in these times of ours: If any soul whatever after a bit of meditation has in its recollection one of these locutions, it will immediately baptize all as coming from God and with such a supposition say, 'God told me,' 'God answered me.'  Yet this is not so, but, as we pointed out, these persons themselves are more often the origin of their locution."  (See St. John of the Cross: The Ascent of Mount Carmel. Book II Ch. 29) 

• "Through the desire of accepting them [direct messages/gifts from God] one opens the door to the devil.  The devil can then deceive one by other communications expertly feigned and disguised as genuine.  In the words of the Apostle, he can transform himself into an 'angel of light' (II Cor. XI:14). (...)  Regardless of the cause of these apprehensions, it is always good for a man to reject them with closed eyes.  If he fails to do so, he will make room for those having a diabolical origin and empower the devil to impose his communications.  Not only this, but the diabolical representations will multiply while those from God will gradually cease, so that eventually all will come from the devil and none at all from God.  This has occurred with many incautious and uninstructed people."  (See St. John of the Cross: The Ascent of Mount Carmel. Book II Ch. 11)

4. It has the same goal as Modernism and Masonry: A One World Church Without Catholicism
Charismaticism is pan-denominational, with an alien and non-Catholic theological idea of "baptism in the Holy Spirit" as if you come into direct contact with God. It vitiates the need for the Mass and Sacraments. It is also rooted in the Modernist ideal of experience over reason. Charismatics cannot give a reasoned theological explanation of how (allegedly) speaking in tongues and rolling on the floor  brings one closer to God or even why God would manifest Himself in behavior usually associated with mental patients. Finally, your beliefs don't matter. As long as you profess belief in some vague form of "Christianity" (The Great Architect of the Universe, perhaps), you are all part of "the Church" and can have an "experience of God."

Conclusion

Glossolalia is no longer necessary after the Church was founded and the Apostles died. From the death of St. John, the last Apostle, in 100 AD,  the Deposit of Revelation was complete and there was no need of speaking in tongues, or the other extraordinary gifts. The so-called Charismatic Movement disdains Latin, and seeks to join with frauds and heretics like Kenneth Copeland to build a One World Ecumenical Sect led by false pope Francis. They utter nonsense, when the real gift of tongues consists of speaking true languages. Many there are who follow them, wanting to speak in "tongues of angels" but who will soon discover that nonsensical utterances used as "prayer" is inspired by fallen angels.

Bergoglio, Copeland, and all involved in the "Charismatic Movement" who don't repent, will find themselves tongue-tied when on the Last Day they hear Christ clearly speak to them:

 "Not everyone that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the Will of My Father who is in Heaven. Many will say to Me in that day: Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in Thy Name, and cast out devils in Thy Name, and done many miracles in Thy Name? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew thee: depart from Me, thou that work iniquity." (St. Matthew 7:21-23). 

When Strangers Come Knocking---Part 11

This is the next installment of my series to be published the first Monday of each month.

There are members of false sects, like Jehovah's Witnesses, that come knocking door-to-door hoping to convert you. Instead of ignoring them, it is we who should try and convert them. In 1 Peter 3:16, our first Pope writes, "But in thy hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks thee to give the reason for the hope that thou hast. But do this with gentleness and respect,..." Before the Great Apostasy, the Church would send missionaries to the ends of the Earth to make as many converts as possible.

Those in false religions don't always come (literally) knocking at your door. It may be a Hindu at work who wants you to try yoga. It could be a "Christian Scientist" who lives next door and invites you to come to their reading room. Each month, I will present a false sect. Unlike the Vatican II sect, I do not see them as a "means of salvation" or possessing "elements of truth" that lead to salvation. That is heresy. They lead to damnation, and the adherents of the various sects must be converted so they may be saved.

In each month's post, I will present one false sect and give an overview of:

• The sect's history
• Their theology
• Tips on how to share the True Faith with them

Yoga

As some of you are reading this post, you might be thinking, "Yoga isn't a false sect, why is this a topic for the 'When Strangers Come Knocking' series?" While yoga is not an organized sect, it nevertheless ensnares many into accepting the false religious ideas inextricably bound to it. Have no doubt about it; yoga is a religious practice--and a pagan one at that. Most people have been duped into thinking that yoga is just a "harmless form of exercise," and/or that any religious purpose can be divorced from the stretching, breathing, and meditation-like "mindfulness." Sadly, millions of Americans (and countless millions more worldwide) practice yoga. Vatican II sect churches promote it, and conduct classes on their property.

It can be said that there is no Hinduism without yoga and no yoga without Hinduism. Yoga influences (and has been influenced by) Buddhism and Jainism; that's three pagan religions. These facts strongly suggest that yoga is primarily spiritual in nature, which is the explicit understanding of its Eastern practitioners, and many Western devotees. In this post, the pagan roots of yoga and its inherent religious nature will be explored. My goal is that if your Vatican II sect neighbor ever asks you to accompany him/her to a yoga class at the local Vatican II sect parish hall or school, and assures you that it can't be bad because the Church (sic) allows it as harmless exercise, you'll be equipped to respond.

Pagan Origin

According to yogabasics.com: The beginnings of Yoga were developed by the Indus-Sarasvati civilization in Northern India over 5,000 years ago. The word yoga was first mentioned in the oldest sacred texts [of Hinduism], the Rig Veda. The Vedas were a collection of texts containing songs, mantras and rituals to be used by Brahmans, the Vedic priests. Yoga was slowly refined and developed by the Brahmans and Rishis (mystic seers) who documented their practices and beliefs in the upanishads, a huge work containing over 200 scriptures. The most renowned of the Yogic scriptures is the Bhagavad-Gîtâ, composed around 500 B.C.E. The Upanishads took the idea of ritual sacrifice from the Vedas and internalized it, teaching the sacrifice of the ego through self-knowledge, action (karma yoga) and wisdom (jnana yoga). 

Today, yoga has developed into five main types:

1. Bikram Yoga

This type of yoga is often practiced in a hot and humid environment, where the temperature reaches about 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). There are about 26 different poses in the Bikram Yoga and is perfect for those who are willing to lose weight: with only one class you can burn about 600 calories..

2. Hatha Yoga

Hatha Yoga's history dates back to the 15th century. Unlike other types, this yoga is practiced at a slow pace, relaxed, as it focused on meditation. Among the main purposes is to introduce beginners to the main relaxation techniques and asanas (postures or positions typical of yoga) and includes all kinds of styles of modern yoga.

3. Yinyasa Yoga

Vinyasa Yoga is also known as Ashtanga Yoga, and also for this variant, you can choose hot and humid environments as a place where to practice it. Vinyasa Yoga serves as a training to increase strength and helps to build lean muscle mass throughout the body. The advantage of using the Vinyasa Yoga as the primary method to build muscle mass is that all muscle groups receive the same attention, creating a careful balance thanks to a flowing and continuous movement. You may have heard of the Sun Salutation sequence or Surya Namaskar: it is a series of asanas performed at dawn, which incorporate and reflect all the sun's power and energy, worshiped and revered as God (sic) by ancient civilizations.

4. Kundalini Yoga

This type of yoga is also known as 'yoga of awareness'. In fact, this practice penetrates into your mind and has a strong spiritual tension. Its peculiarity is to use movement, sound, breath and meditation to relax and restore the mind and the body...

5. Anusara Yoga

Anusara Yoga is a relatively new form of yoga (1997), and it was founded by John Friend. This form of yoga is known as one of the most spiritual, and it focuses on your inner self, your mind, and soul. It can be considered one variant of Hatha yoga mixed with tantric philosophy. It's organized into three categories: attitude, action, and alignment. Anusara is a Sanskrit word that means "flowing with grace" and is based on the principle that all beings have an intrinsic goodness present in them.

(Source: See https://www.beamodels.it/news-en/5-different-types-of-yoga; Emphasis mine).

In all five forms of yoga, the following is present; postures/positions, breathing exercises, meditation,  and a "spiritual component" which is seeped in the pagan beliefs from which it came.

Yoga is synonymous with Eastern meditation and pantheism, the idea that reality is identical with Divinity, and that all-things compose an all-encompassing, immanent "god." The goal of the yoga practitioner is to unify himself/herself with the "Divine-self" or "God-Self." Through yoga meditation, the person tries to lose contact with the conscious mind for an altered state of consciousness. This disassociation is meant to allow a person to become "one" with "the Divine." Even those who do not get to such altered states, have unwittingly opened themselves up to a decidedly pagan worldview and possible demon possession. The idea of being "divine" is the opposite of Christianity which tells us we are sinners in need of Redemption by the God-Man Jesus Christ.

When yoga techniques are labeled as "relaxation techniques" or "ways to reduce stress," it is misleading. Traditionalist Catholic meditation is the conscious, focused, reflective, cognitive attention to God, such as when one meditates on the mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary. Yoga meditation results in an altered state of consciousness; really a form of self-hypnosis.

To Exercise or To Exorcise

The basic premise of yoga theory is the fundamental unity of all existence: God, man, and all of creation are ultimately one divine reality. An editorial in the Yoga Journal declares this basic premise:

We are all aware that yoga means "union" and that the practice of yoga unites body, breath, and mind, lower and higher energy centers and, ultimately self and God, or higher Self. But more broadly, yoga directs our attention to the unity or oneness that underlies our fragmented experiences and equally fragmented world. Family, friends, the Druze guerrilla in Lebanon, the great whale migrating north—all share the same essential [divine] nature. (See Yoga Journal, May/June 1984, p. 4).

This is why physical yoga and Eastern paganism are mutually interdependent. Two aspects of the  kinds of yoga (asanas: physical exercises; and pranayama: breath work) are purported to be the third and fourth step of an eight-step discipline leading a participant to Samadhi (enlightenment, God-consciousness). These eight steps are:

• Yama (self-control, restraint, devotion to the gods [e.g., Krishna] or the final impersonal "God" [e.g., Brahman])

• Niyama (religious duties, prohibitions, observances)

• Asana (proper postures for yoga practices; these represent the first stage in the isolation of consciousness and are vital components for "transcending the human condition")

• Pranayama (the control and directing of the breath and the alleged divine energy within the human body [prana] to promote health and spiritual [occult/pagan] consciousness and evolution)

• Pratyahara (sensory control or deprivation, i.e., withdrawal of the senses from attachment to external objects)

• Dharana (deeper concentration, or mind control)

• Dhyana (deep contemplation from occult or pagan meditation)

• Samadhi (occult enlightenment or "God [Brahman] realization" i.e., "union" of the practitioner with "God")

The eight steps are interdependent, the steps of "postures" and "breathing" cannot logically be separated from the others. Thus, the interdependence of all eight steps reveals why the physical exercises of yoga are designed to prepare the body for the spiritual (occult) changes that will allegedly help one realize "godhood status." (See, e.g., Swami Nikhilananda, The Yogas and Other Works, New York: Ramadrishna and Vivekananda Center, 1953, p. 592). The postures are thought to "open up the body's chakras." These chakras are alleged energy points going from the base of the spine to the head. At the bottom of the spine is your power which must be released by bringing it up to the head. The whole idea of an "energy-force" that can be awakened is based on the Hindu belief that "Ultimate Reality" is an Impersonal "life-force" that flows through the entire universe ("Brahman"). 

By the very fact you engage in this practice, you are giving credence to the pagan ideas that the "energy force" that "heals and strengthens you" also brings you to a pantheistic "godhood status" with the "ultimate reality."  Whether conscious of it or not, you have adopted pagan beliefs while claiming the title of Traditionalist Catholic. A person's ignorance does not purify yoga from its spiritual falsehood. Most people are familiar with the famous "lotus position" (sitting cross-legged like a statue of Buddha) used by yoga practitioners with an erect back, having their index fingers curled around touching the thumbs while breathing and/or meditating. Yoga instructors will tell their students its a way of keeping focused, and the position is conducive to strengthening certain muscles.

Actually, the position represents a spiritual concept called Gyan munda, which "symbolizes the union of Self with the universe, the unification of one's soul and the supreme soul. The thumb symbolizes the supreme soul, and the index finger refers to the practitioner's soul." (See https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/6444/gyan-mudra). 

The theology of yoga should be apparent. It is not separate from the exercise. 

Four Inherent Dangers in Yoga

1. Demonic possession. Those who take yoga very seriously will often desire something called shaktipat (an instructor/"master"/"guru's" power to transmit a spiritual awakening of the kundalini or "serpent power"in the student's bottom energy chakra). Yet this is a pagan attempt to allow a demon to enter the practitioner's body. It can result when the word "OM" is chanted leading to an altered state of consciousness, or by assuming various yoga postures that are dedicated to the evil Hindu "deities."

2. Apostasy.  People who get involved in the basic physical exercises often get intrigued by the deeper philosophical aspects of yoga and become lukewarm in their faith or even end up leaving the One True Church for pagan mysticism. 

3. Indifferentism. Even if a yoga class seems harmless, with no spiritual emphasis, and no outward Hindu trappings, there is still real danger. By participating in a yoga class, you are endorsing a non-Catholic belief system which is incompatible with Church teaching. You implicitly accept the heresy of Indifferentism; the false teaching that one religion is as good as another, and it matters not what you believe or do. Worse yet, are Protestants or members of the Vatican II sect who pray and/or play hymns before, during, or after yoga. This is syncretism, the attempted "blending or amalgamation" of all religions into a One World Church; it is the logical outcome of ecumenism which is at the heart of many Protestant denominations, and it fuels the Vatican II sect. Do not believe there is such a thing as "Christian yoga." Certain things can be "baptized" so to speak, and put in the service of God. For example, the use of certain true axioms and concepts employed by pagan philosopher Aristotle was put to use for the Church thanks to the great St. Thomas Aquinas. However, things that are evil per se can never be made "Christian." Can you imagine these same people saying you can have a "Christian abortion" by praying and singing hymns during the murder of the child in the abortion mill? Equally ludicrous is the idea that performing pagan rituals created in honor of false gods and heretical ideas suddenly become "Christian" if you pray to the same God Who commands "Thou shalt not have false gods before Me." 

4. Association with pagans. By going to yoga classes, you will be influenced by all the people who buy into paganism, are pagans, or who perhaps even fall victim to demonic influence. It's one thing to go somewhere with the purpose of converting people to the Faith, and its something altogether different to join in with pagan exercises and philosophy. Why expose yourself to such spiritual danger? Play with fire and you will get burned. 

Tips for Proselytizing Those Who Practice Yoga

There are three types of people who practice yoga: (1) pagans (mostly Hindus and Buddhists), (2) those who think it is simply a harmless form of exercise, and (3) those who think yoga can be made "Christian." Each will be covered below.

• Hindus and Buddhists. For the outright pagans, do not attack yoga directly. Strike at their false religion. See my post on Hinduism at https://introiboadaltaredei2.blogspot.com/2020/05/when-strangers-come-knocking-part-9_4.html, and my post on Buddhists here: https://introiboadaltaredei2.blogspot.com/2019/11/when-strangers-come-knocking-part-3.html

• Those who think yoga is harmless exercise. Gently explain to them the connection to paganism. Also remind them there are many different exercise programs that work wonders and have no religious underpinnings

• Those who believe in "Christian yoga." Once more, explain the pagan connection, and how you cannot serve two masters. Yoga is a pagan religious activity. You cannot believe in the God of Christianity and the demon-gods of the pagan pantheistic worldview. An inherently evil act, like paying homage to pagan ideals can never be Christian, any more than you can make abortion "Christian." Yoga cannot be separated from its pagan aspects and just be used as exercise. Experts in yoga agree that you cannot do so. Swami Prabhupada  states, "Yoga is full of surprises. The first surprise was that it is not simply exercise. Yoga is a moving meditation, a system for developing the mind, the body, and the spirit in unison. This holistic approach makes yoga feel different from Western sports training." (See A.C. Bhaktivendanta Swami Prabhupada, The Quest for Enlightenment, Bhaktivendanta Book Trust , Los Angeles, [1977], pg. 3)

Conclusion

Yoga, while not in itself a false religion, is bound to a pagan metaphysical worldview. It is, in many ways, more insidious than a false sect because it is presented to the unsuspecting as a "harmless way to exercise," or even a "Christian way" of exercise. Do not be fooled. Any physical benefits that may be obtained are insignificant compared to the spiritual danger it poses to your immortal soul. Yoga is neither harmless nor Christian. Anyone who says otherwise is more than "stretching the truth" to rend you from the Mystical Body of Christ.