Category Archives: Sin

Mother Angelica is as helpful and inspiring today as she was decades ago

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 I couldn’t this morning decide what to watch on TV during the time I set aside for that before ‘beginning my day.’ Old reruns of “Sliders?” How about “Farscape?” “Babylon 5?” Maybe pick up where I left off during an interrupted binging of the original “Quantum Leap?” No, no, no, and no. I was restless in my indecision. Then I felt a tiny inspiration to watch classic Mother Angelica episodes on EWTN. And so I did!

Am I ever glad! 

I am, as usual, ‘going through stuff’ and I am awaiting a decision on a job application I made yesterday. And so I binged on Mother Angelica videos on EWTN and later YouTube for about 3 hours. Several were on fear, anxiety, and inner peace. I split my time between “Mother Angelica Live Classics” and “From the Heart with Mother Angelica” an older show I don’t think I’ve seen before.

I feel I’m being prepped for failure (I won’t get the job) or success (I’ll get it and properly cope with new job anxieties.) 

Either way, whatever happens, I feel like I received a grace today to cope with stuff. If the prayer is answered in the way that I hope it will, (I get the job) then “Yay!” If it gets answered ‘the other way,’ (I don’t get the job) then I’ll assume that God has other plans for me. I hope he lets me know what they are soon!

I cannot recommend watching Mother Angelica enough. I watched her programming quite a lot way back when, and I have read all the books she’s written and the ones edited or written by her biographer (Raymond Arroyo.) If you’re down, afraid, consumed with fear and anxiety, or are depressed, if you’re confused about anything: please go to the links I posted a few paragraphs above and just scroll through the offerings. If you’re suicidal, she has kind and loving things to say to you. She is a lifeline. She will help you pull back from the abyss.

“Mother Angelica Live Classics” is also available as audio-only. EWTN also has an audio-only version of  her EWTN call-in show, “Mother Angelica Answering the Call.” It’s about:

“Father Joseph Mary Wolfe and Doug Keck mine decades of viewer phone calls answered by Mother Angelica. Mother dishes out teaching, advice, laughter and plenty of prayers as she takes calls from her “Family”. No subject is off limits and no problem too big for the wisdom and compassion of the one and only, Mother Angelica!

I  listen to clips of this program on my local Catholic radio station (which is available to you on iCatholicRadio (available for the desktop or an iOS or Android app.) I may start listening to entire episodes: I need more Mother!

Mother Angelica is a balm, a healing remedy for these strange times which have gotten much worse since her shows aired. I kept thinking to myself “Imagine what she’d be saying nowadays!” She was four years younger than my Mom, but she’s always come across as a wise (-cracking) and loving Grandma who really cares about her family (all several million of us.)

I wish those folks down in Alabama would get started on her cause for beatification and canonization. If there was ever a woman who led a life of heroic virtue and who had a major, positive impact on millions of people worldwide, it’s Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

October 13th: the Alliance of the Two Hearts of Jesus and Mary! Part 12

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Today is October 13th, the day we recall the “Miracle of the Sun” event at Fatima in 1917. This was intended to be a warning. Our Lady said at Fatima, ‘War is punishment for sin.” World War I was raging at the time and among her warnings was that a worse war would take place if her warnings went unheeded. They were and it did. What were her warnings? One was that the Pope and all the bishops in union with him would consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart. Although consecrations did take place, they were either too late or improperly done. The consecration request finally was done properly in 1984 with Pope (now Saint) John Paul II. There were other warnings, such as the increasingly offensive fashion styles (conservative and almost modest by today’s standards) and about sexual sin being the chief cause of why souls go to Hell.

Those are also being ignored. You wonder how much longer Heaven will tolerate being ignored. 

As we’ve already seen with several of these “Alliance of the Two Hearts of Jesus and Mary” posts, the Immaculate Heart of Mary is intimately united with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. On this Sacred Heart Friday, I would like to remind readers of this duality and how it can be used to at the personal level, increase your spiritual growth, and at a larger level, help combat evil in the world.

The personal level: recall the Fatima Message of prayer, penance, and especially reparation for sins. Now, combine that with the Sacred Heart devotion which essentially calls for the same thing. We return God’s love for us with prayer and acts of sacrifice in reparation for our and others’ sins. This increases the flow of grace into our souls, helps us beat back the attacks of the Devil and its minions, and sensitizes us to the sufferings of others (a natural side effect of concern for others sinning and the Hellish consequences of that.) We begin to become more aware of the humanity of other people; even those who do us harm. We see them as sick and broken. The wounded harm others when their wounds are not dressed.

The larger level: essentially an extension of the first. We become the change we wish to see in others and in reforming our own lives we can serve as examples for others. They want what we have. There is also the transformation at the spiritual level: our acts of prayer and repentance in some manner affect change in others. It calls grace down from Heaven and Mary distributes it to whom she wills.

So, I suppose one benefit of these “Alliance of the Two Hearts of Jesus and Mary” posts is the reminder to remember the Message of Fatima and the need to live it.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Crying out full-throated and unsparingly!!

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An excerpt from the First Reading of the Mass for Friday after Ash Wednesday:

Isaiah 58:1

Thus says the Lord GOD:

Cry out full-throated and unsparingly,

lift up your voice like a trumpet blast;

Tell my people their wickedness,

and the house of Jacob their sins.

OK! So I will! 

We are a culture that prides itself on paganism and creeping Satanism. We contracept and when that doesn’t work, abort our young. This is nothing more than a demonic opposition to the will of God regarding life. God is the Author of Life. Satan cannot create so he thwarts God’s will in this and too many people are only too willing to cooperate, using euphemisms like ‘population control,’ ‘economic necessity,’ ‘women’s  rights,’ and the Orwellian phrase ‘reproductive rights.’ 

And literal Satanism. Satan-worship is going mainstream. 

We objectify people. People are cogs in the economic realities. Capitalism or socialism, it doesn’t matter; both are two sides of the same coin: the concentration of economic power into the hands of a few. And the workers are screwed. “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” 

Institutions dehumanize. Technology dehumanizes. The world is increasingly devoid of humanity. I’m not talking about the species, but rather the humane treatment of others. It goes back to contraception and abortion: if we can decide who lives and dies, if we can kill babies in the womb, then there’s nothing stopping from that inhumane perspective from seeping into how we consider those living around us. We are desensitized to the humanity of the people we see every day. The are objects, not persons.

And don’t talk to me about the increasingly messianistic worship of politicians, from Obama, to Trump, with this phenomenon existing in other countries. It’s isn’t new, either. 

I’ve given you enough to go on; I’m sure you can come up with stuff I missed. 

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Ash Wednesday 2023

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Since this blog is about “Conversion, Prayer, Fasting, Repentance, and Penance,” amongst other things, Lent is a natural time to blog a lot since those ‘abouts’ correspond to the season. I have often in previous Lents blogged daily, or at least a few times a week, taking inspiration from the daily Mass readings or the Divine Office. I might try that this year, but don’t hold your breath. I know I’ve done it throughout the season several times, tried and fell short a few other times, and didn’t even make the attempt in many years. 2023? Who can say? Anyway, here goes this one for today, Ash Wednesday.

In this excerpt from the First Reading for the Mass for today, the Old Testament prophet Joel says:

(Joel 2:12-14)

Even now, says the LORD,

return to me with your whole heart,

with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;

Rend your hearts, not your garments,

and return to the LORD, your God.

For gracious and merciful is he,

slow to anger, rich in kindness,

and relenting in punishment.

Perhaps he will again relent

and leave behind him a blessing,

Offerings and libations

for the LORD, your God.

That’s the blueprint for Lent. Wherever you are, return to the Lord. Fasting, sorrow, and mourning for your sins are the method by which you do that.

Rending your hearts means true contrition and repentance. Always be mindful of the mercy of God, how gracious He is to those who come back to Him.

He is merciful, meaning He knows your weaknesses and knows the deep down reasons for your sinning. His grace flows into strengthening you for the battle.

Make this a good Lent. Go to Confession often. Maybe it’ll become a habit that you’ll keep for the rest of the year. Somewhere Pope St. John Paul II said that Catholics who wish to grow in holiness should go to Confession at least once a month. 

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

St. Mark Ji Tianxiang, patron saint of drug addicts?

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St. Mark Ji Tianxiang was born in Hebei, China on 1834 into a Catholic family where he was raised in the Faith. He was a doctor, and in his early thirties he suffered from a stomach ailment for which he treated himself with opium. This cured him, but he developed an addiction to it. In 19th Century China, this was a severe problem, just like the opiate epidemic is today. Addiction was not understood then, by anyone, anywhere in the world. His addiction was regarded as sinful; a lack of proper willpower or moral fortitude.

He tried to overcome his addiction through the sacraments: frequent reception of Communion and especially Confession. However, his confessor concluded that since Mark Ji was confessing the same sin again and again, he did not have a firm purpose of amendment, thus rendering the confession invalid. He was forbidden from going to confession again until he stopped using. This also unfortunately prevented him from receiving Holy Communion.

Before anyone complains about this, this was correct in the context of the times, as well as being in accord with the sacramental norms today. You cannot go to confession and confess your sins if you have no intention of stopping them. You do not go to confession to ‘wipe the slate clean’ so you can sin again. Although Mark Ji had every intention to stop, he couldn’t. This, however, wasn’t believed due to the poor understanding of addiction in those days. His confessor did not technically make a mistake; although by today’s understanding, he did. But those days were not today’s. Mark Ji was guilty of causing public scandal by being an addict.

Mark Ji was trapped in an addiction from which there were no ‘Steps’ to climb out of, no treatment centers, no nothing. And there was nothing he could do.

He desperately wanted to receive the sacraments but couldn’t due to the contemporary understanding of his illness. He suffered this for the remaining thirty years of his life. He wanted to quit using but couldn’t; he wanted to receive the sacraments and thus hopefully assure himself of eternal life. That was at risk due to the prohibition of him receiving.

What to do?

Saint Mark Ji Tianxiang

Mark Ji prayed for martyrdom. If you die for the Faith, your salvation is assured. Now, in Catholicism, martyrdom is when you are killed for being a Catholic. Being a Catholic was unpopular since it was regarded as a foreign religion; a Western colonial import. Nevertheless, the Faith grew.

In 1900, there was turmoil in China; the Boxer Rebellion broke out. Its goals were the total expulsion of all Western influence from China. And Christians were obvious targets.

Mark Ji and his family were arrested and in 1900, suffered beheading. Mark Ji’s prayers were answered. He refused to renounce his Catholic Faith. He reportedly requested to be executed last, after his family, so he could encourage them and that none would die alone.  This was granted. He was lead to where he’d be executed, singing the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary the entire time, including up to when the blade separated his head from his body.

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I learned about this saint last night during my weekly Knights at the Foot of the Cross virtual meeting on Google Meet. My new good friend Harold Gomes of Chariot Fire mentioned him during the discussion. I had never heard of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang and looked him up right away and was astounded by his story.

Now, it’s interesting that I heard of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang during a meeting of the Knights at the Foot of the Cross. St. Maximilian Kolbe founded the Militia of the Immaculata, of which the ‘Knights at the Foot of the Cross’ are an apostolate. (The KFC was actually established first in the USA in the early 1980s. If you are in the KFC, you are also an MI.) St. Maximilian was named the patron saint of addicts due to the manner of his execution (lethal injection.) St. Max never touched drugs or alcohol (he even banned smoking cigarettes in his friaries.) So, him being named the patron saint of addicts always seemed like a stretch to me. Granted, St. Maximilian suffered through Hell while in Auschwitz. And he brought the breath of life and humanity into that horrid place. But in light of the existence of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang, I don’t think he should be the primary patron saint for addicts. St. Mark Ji Tianxiang should be.

Please bear in mind that St. Maximilian Kolbe is my favorite saint; I’ve read 2500 pages of his writings and several bookshelves of stuff on his life and teachings. So I’m not disrespecting him. He is already the patron saint of a number of other things (notably, the pro-life movement, given that abortion ‘clinics’ are mini-Auschwitzes and while in the real one, he never subscribed to the idea that living a horrible existence justifies the termination of a life, like so many pro-choicers think. I’m referring to their argument that abortion is a viable option to keep people from being born into poverty or dysfunctional families. As if people are better off dead rather than to try to improve society and families. Killing people is easier, I guess.)

Anyway, St. Mark Ji Tianxiang is likely the best candidate to be the patron saint of addicts. Especially given that he was never able to break the addiction. He died using. Not his fault; nor should he be condemned by people in recovery for that: he had no choice given the powerful addiction as well as having absolutely no recovery resources.

Mark Ji was beatified on November 24, 1946 by Pope Pius XII and canonized on October 1, 2000 by Pope St. John Paul II. His feast day is July 7. His story is, I think, one of faithful perseverance and a fervent desire for salvation, despite being prevented from participating in the means to gain it. Most people would have turned away and left the Faith. How many people today just abandon the Faith because they’ve gotten a divorce and remarried, and thus can’t receive Communion? Or some other ‘crime’ of the Church? St. Mark Ji Tianxiang persevered. He knew that participating in the sacramental life of the Church was a key to gaining Heaven. And despite being kept from them, he didn’t despair. He remained a Catholic, raised his family in the Faith an desired salvation so much that he prayed for the only means available to him that would assure him of salvation. Martyrdom.

Regarding St. Maximilian and retaining the memory of his death, perhaps he should be the patron saint of death row inmates. Even though he committed no crime deserving of death (just like Jesus!), those on death row need all the intercessory help they can get so that they can receive the grace of conversion, repentance and final perseverance. Take a look at Kolbe Prison Ministries.

Here are several links to articles on him:

He was an opium addict who couldn’t receive the sacraments. But he’s a martyr and a saint

St. Mark Ji Tianxiang couldn’t stay sober, but he could keep showing up

The life of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang: Persevering in faith despite addiction

The Saint Who Was Addicted to Drugs for 30 Years

ST MARK JI TIANXIANG (1834-1900) – Husband, Father, Grandfather, Doctor, Martyr, Opium Addict, Intercessor For Addicts, Patron Against Despair, Patron Of The Opiate Crisis

Addict, Martyr, and Saint

This Addict Is a Saint

Mark Ji Tianxiang

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

The Miracle of the Sun at Fatima

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Note: this was originally posted in different form long ago here at Sober Catholic:

On October 13, 1917 the final Marian Apparition at Fatima, Portugal took place.

I know the anniversary was a few weeks ago, but I decided to post this today, the Feast of All Hallow’s Eve (a/k/a “Halloween”). I’ll explain at the end.

Seventy thousand people attended the event, which was supposed to have a miracle promised by the Virgin Mary so that all may believe.

Amongst those present were representatives of the Portuguese media, all socialist and all anti-clerical (theophobes who despised the Catholic Church, professed atheism, and who cooperated in what they hoped would be the eventual destruction of the Church in Portugal. The country had undergone a revolution in 1910 which deposed the Catholic monarch and imposed restrictions on the Church.)

Our Lady appeared as promised, but not alone. St. Joseph also appeared, holding the Christ Child.

Oh, yes: the sun also danced in the sky. Witnessed by all those in attendance, and by more hundreds of miles away, the sun whirled about in the sky, terrifying the witnesses.

It also appeared to hurtle towards the Earth, convincing people that the World was ending (and this part of the Apparition is why I decided to take advantage of my posting tardiness and write this today.)

One note on the sun dancing: for anyone who may be skeptical, one evidence that “something” happened lays in the fact that it had been raining heavily all day long, so much so that the ground throughout the area was drenched. Saturated with water, and combined with the foot traffic of 70,000 attendees, it was a horrific muddy mess.

Until the sun dried it. Nearly instantly. According to all those present, after the Apparition was over and the sun returned to its normal state, the ground was hardened as though it had not seen rain for weeks.

And another note for skeptics: this was all duly reported by the anti-clerical media. The reporters had gone there hoping (or rather assuming) that the whole event would be a non-happening; that the seers would be shamed,the Church embarrassed and once and for all the foolish belivers would have their religious superstitions exposed for what they are – nonsense.

But no, they couldn’t deny the event, their skepticism and non-belief didn’t prevent them from witnessing the Miracle of the Sun, nor acknowledging the effects on the physical environment.

So much for that. How the whole thing happened is a mystery; how only those in the vicinity witnessed this but for people all over the rest of the world the Sun operated normally is known only to God, who is not subject to the laws of Nature. (That’s why certain events are called ‘miracles.’ Perhaps someday, when our science progresses to a more sophisticated level, someone can postulate a theory. But until science catches up with Faith…)

Now, as to why I posted this today:

As the sun plunged to the Earth the believers were understandably freaked out. They thought the world was ending.

The liturgical calendar for the Catholic Church has tomorrow as the Solemnity of All Saints, and after that the Memorial of All Souls. All Saints is for all those in Heaven, officially canonized by the Church or not; and All Souls is for the Faithful Departed who are undergoing purification in Purgatory. These two Feast Days kick off the Month of November, dedicated by the Catholic Church to the dead. (This is why there will be an uptick in the number of posts here regarding death, Purgatory, and all that over November. (Apart from my finally finishing the migration of posts from my old death blog, “The Four Last Things.” Many of these posts are reblogs from there. See the ‘Additional NOTE’ at the end. There is no link to that blog as the posts are being unpublished as they get transferred to here or In Exile.)

These two days are there (amongst other reasons) to remind us of our ultimate end. Someday we will all die. There is no escaping that.

Maybe this is something for you to consider, before God decides to hurl the Sun at you!

Note: I have written before on the Marian Apparitions at Fatima, Portugal. Please see—> Fatima Posts Archive.

Additional NOTE: This is a “retropost,” a post from an old blog I wrote on “The Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven (& Purgatory) and Hell” that I shuttered a few years ago. Individual posts are being transferred to either In Exile or Sober Catholic, whichever seems appropriate. Some are backdated, others postdated, some edited, in case you’re confused as to why you never saw a particular post if you’re a diligent reader. The process should be completed by early 2022.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Holy Saturday and the Harrowing of Hell

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Today is Holy Saturday and I hope that your Lent has been a fine and fruitful one. I didn’t blog except for a few times (I was ‘around’ but taken up with things.) The seasons come and they go; we as Catholics learn to live with the Liturgical Year as it helps us with the rhythms of the spiritual life. Many people decide to vanish from being online during Lent; while I don’t do that I did spend it in a somewhat reflective mood. I had my daily routine: awaken and grab a cuppa coffee, do my morning prayers and devotions and then watch a Daily Latin Mass on YouTube. Then on to the days’ activities: garden prepping, or miscellaneous household duties. Sometimes exploring income opportunities (which I do have to expand upon.) See this post: Bathtub Blogging, on my other blog.

But the days passed, I pondered Lent, and took things one day at a time. And now we have all arrived at the end. Today is Holy Saturday, a day which I always viewed, even as a child, as a day to spend in meditative prayer or pondering. Despite the Easter Vigil Mass in the evening, it always seemed to be a day to ‘pause,’ sandwiched in between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the two ‘big’ liturgical days. While the Good Friday services are not obligatory (they should be) it still feels ‘odd’ to consider not attending. And the Easter Vigil Mass is also not an obligation (if you do not go, then you must attend an Easter Sunday Mass.) So, there are things one can definitely do on Friday and Sunday, but Holy Saturday? Where was Jesus, even? “He descended to the Dead” the Creed informs us.

Called the Harrowing of Hell, it is referred to in 1 Peter 4:6 “For because of this, the Gospel was also preached to the dead, so that they might be judged, certainly, just like men in the flesh, yet also, so that they might live according to God, in the Spirit.” and in Ephesians 4:9 “…what is left except for him also to descend, first to the lower parts of the earth?’

Courtesy Sacred Bible: Catholic Public Domain Version

What did he do there? He preached to all the Righteous who had died since the times of Adam and Eve. All of the Just who died before Heaven was reopened at His Ascension were gathered and received the Gospel. From Adam and Eve, to St. John the Baptist and his own foster father, St. Joseph, as well as countless others who died in God’s friendship but were banned from Heaven due to Adam’s sin.

He appeared to them, fresh from His Passion on the streets of Jerusalem and Calvary. He showed them His wounds, all the stripes He had suffered for the sins of all…. and they knew that the time of the banishment was over.

Who knows how much longer we have. We could die at any moment. Heaven is no longer barred to us, but Purgatory is a possibility for those who died in God’s graces but are not sufficiently cleansed from the impurities of sin. (NOTE: I do not wish to debate the doctrine of Purgatory. I have found that debating is quite pointless in these times and I lack the temperament required. I rarely do it and then only when I am moved to. But Purgatory is logical, and fits in with God’s mercy. The idea that a person could live a life of sinful depravity, and convert on their deathbed and go straight to Heaven just like a person who has died after living a life of heroic virtue, piety and sacrifice, is ridiculous. Both die in God’s graces, and upon death see God during their individual judgment, and yearn to be united to Him. Both burn with the desire for God and the latter (the holy person) enters into Heaven whereas the former (the sinner) still retaining the sins of their life, is prevented from admission because ‘nothing impure can enter the Kingdom  of Heaven.’ (Rev 21:27)  Their burning desire for God becomes like unto a fire of purgation, burning away the impurities  of their soul for as long as they are attached to the sins. This is an imprecise and simplistic recounting of what could occur, but it gets the idea across. Purgatory is the ‘entrance’ into Heaven. Some pass into Heaven without feeling the purgation because they offered their sufferings here in Earth; they essentially did their Purgatory already. Others need cleaning up.

So, Holy Saturday could be a day to ponder your afterlife. Where do you think you’ll be heading to? Lent was all about growing closer to the Lord by embracing His Passion and Death, by learning to accept the crosses that come into our life in hopes of becoming a better disciple. We suffered enough as alcoholics and addicts. And we caused enough suffering to others. Have you atoned and repented of these? Made amends? Get going while there’s still time. For we know not the day or the hour when the time allotted to us is over and we are summoned to our destiny.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

St. Felix of Valois

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Today is the feast day of St. Felix of Valois on the liturgical calendar for the Extraordinary Form of the Holy Mass. St. Felix was a hermit and a co-founder (with Saint John of Matha) of the Order of the Holy Trinity for the Redemption of Captives (a/k/a “The Trinitarians”). The Trinitarians were devoted to the mystery of the Holy Trinity as well as to the ransom of Christians taken captive by Moslems in their raiding along the Mediterranean coast of Europe in the 12th Century.

In the Collect (akin to the intercessory prayers of the common Mass)  we pray:

“O God, Who by heavenly inspiration graciously called forth blessed Felix, Your Confessor, from the desert to the work of ransoming captives; grant, we beseech You, that by his intercession, and liberated by Your grace from the captivity of our sins, we may be led into our heavenly fatherland.”

Source: Missale Meum.

I introduce you to this Saint particularly because the Collect prayer refers to our being “liberated by Your grace from the captivity of our sins.” Therefore I am adding St. Felix of Valois to our list of saints that can especially be called upon to assist in liberating us from our captivity to alcohol and addiction. I am aware that “captivity” in this sense is metaphorical as St.Felix had nothing to do with addictions. But nevertheless, captivity is captivity; whether we are enslaved to another human or enslaved to a drug, our dignity as human beings is degraded through the abuse we receive. It may be easier to escape from a human slave owner than an addiction; which may seem ridiculous, except to those who have been trapped in an addiction.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

On humbly submitting to Church authority on private revelations

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In a recent post, Plenary Indulgence for Cemetery Visits in November Extended, I mentioned something at the end about coping in these uncertain times (please note the bold italics:

“Hang tight, pray the Rosary daily and stick close to the Church. And by that I mean the Mass and Sacraments, your Catholic Bible, the Catechism (The ‘Roman Catechism’ of the Council of Trent and/or the 1994 Catechism of Pope St. John Paul II) and if you’re going the route of private revelations, educate yourself and please only place your faith in the approved ones. And have the humility to submit to Church authority in determining what is approved; your personal opinion on the private revelation should always be subject to the Church’s authority.“

I administer an unofficial Militia of the Immaculata Group on Facebook (there’s an interesting story about how I came to be in charge of it. Maybe I’ll tell it someday.) Recently I had to deal with a member of the Group who repeatedly posted links to a false and fraudulent private apparition that has become popular this past decade. I finally had to “get tough” and remove her from the Group because she refused to accept the Church’s decision that this particular revelation is false.

I am really getting tired of ostensibly ‘orthodox’ Catholics who think they are more knowledgeable than the Bishops and more pious than other faithful and defy the decisions of the Bishops on such matters. You are exhibiting pride and and are unaware that you are doing Satan’s work in undermining the Church. Sounds drastic? Yes, it is.

If a private revelation has not been approved, I strongly suggest that you do not invest much faith and emotion into it, lest the Church condemn it and you face a crisis of fidelity. Too many dissent or go schismatic when their favorite revelation is condemned; they regard the Church is ‘wrong’ and spare no few words of vitriol in being critical of the Church and how Her error is evidence of Satan’s influence. In doing so they basically have established their own magisterium (like anyone who thinks the Church is ‘wrong’ on matters of faith and morals) and go off and do their own thing.

Bad idea.

Our Lord and Saviour willingly submitted to the legal and authentic religious authorities of His day, and they condemned Him to death. He knew they were wrong, but did He use that as an excuse to rebel against their authority? No, and given that Jesus is God, He was the authority over them, but did He use that? No. He submitted and opened not His mouth.

The three little shepherd children of Fatima obeyed the Portuguese Church authorities when they were ordered to keep silent about what they were seeing in the Cova da Iria. Even though they knew the Bishop and priests were wrong, they obeyed.

St. Pio of Pietrelcina obeyed the Church authorities when they ordered him to stop public celebration of the Mass. He knew they were in error in telling him this, but he obeyed.

The Divine Mercy Message was suppressed for several decades, until there was evidence that Her initial decision was based on flawed translations of St. Faustina’s writings. The curators of the Divine Mercy message knew that Rome was wrong, nevertheless they obeyed.

There are probably other examples throughout Church history when she was wrong about some ongoing thing, but later rescinded the ban or prohibition when the truth comes out. And that is key: if something is True, it will eventually become known and the Church will acknowledge this.

If you honestly believe that whatever private revelation that you support is true, then there is no reason to defy the Church if she initially declares it to be false. Although I know of no private revelation where the Church reversed her decision on its veracity, nevertheless, in all humility if the Bishop or Rome itself declares it to be false, then accept that. Offer the pain up, if needed.

In light of the examples given above, do you think that you can defy the Church when Jesus Himself did not defy the Jewish authorities? Or the Fatima children? Or St. Padre Pio? Who are you to say that you can reserve such a right to yourself?

Such people need to be prayed for. I just walk away when I encounter them in social media forums; there rarely seems to be any point in arguing the Church’s decision. Their mind is made up and that’s that and any attempt to change their minds is met with stubborn, pride-filled resistance.

So ends this rant. You’re welcome!

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Emergency Fatima Novena!!!

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There seems to be numerous novenas at this time of year. That is possibly just my imagination, but nevertheless today begins another novena. This one is to Our Lady of Fatima for the commemoration of the Miracle of the Sun Apparition on October 13, 1917. I know that the typical Fatima novena  celebrates the first apparition on May 13th, but in light of “everything that is going on,” from pandemics to presidential elections and threats of war and economic depression, as well as the ever-looming threat of religious persecution in areas not used to such things, I thought that it would be a great idea to have what I am calling an “Emergency Fatima Novena.”

You can say whatever prayers you’d like; you can do an online search for “Fatima Novena” and pick one that’s preferable or just grab a Rosary and say an extra one every day for the intentions of Our Lady of Fatima. But my “Emergency Novena” will consist of these intentions, which may sound strange or unconventional, but in light of how 2020 has been, I think quite reasonable. So here goes, my intentions and the explanations or reasons for them:

  • Peace
  • Reparation
  • Conversion of Russia
  • Magnificat Option
  • End to the Pandemic

OK. The first one, PEACE. At Fatima Our Lady promised there would be peace if we heeded her warnings. There wasn’t, and WWII happened with the Cold War following right after. Now I am not requesting ‘peace’ as in the absence of war, but that a just peace be established wherein every nation sees no need for aggressive action against another; no nation sees the need to establish global domination and all of the arrogance and conceit that have plagued nation-states for centuries. One reason why I am starting this Novena today, so that it ends on October 13th, is that today (October 5th) is also the feast day of St. Faustina Kowalska, the “Apostle of Divine Mercy.” Pope Francis elevated her feast day to the General Roman Calendar earlier this year. I think it’s placement is significant. St. Faustina reported Our Lord’s words that “Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy.” (Diary, paragraph 300)  I may read too much into coincidences, but with St. Faustina dying on the day she did, with her eventual canonization elevating that day to a spot on the Church calendar, it’s significant in connecting the Divine Mercy Message to the Fatima Message. Taking coincidences one step further, we have St. Maximilian Marian Kolbe being referred to as the “Prophet of the Civilization of Love” in the approved private litany to him. He established his Militia of the Immaculata for the express purpose of ushering in an eventual “era of peace” when everyone would be consecrated to Our Lady and the world is united under the banners of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Such a world is one founded upon peace, the kind of peace that can only be found in the universal acceptance of the Gospel. And while I’m referring to coincidences, the fact that St. Maximilian founded the M.I. only three days after the Miracle of the Sun apparition is something that cannot be ignored. (I know of no source which tells us that St. Maximilian was aware of the Fatima Apparition. Not too surprising, given the state of communications of that era, that Europe was convulsed in WWI, and how slow the news of the Apparition spread. It really did not become too well known until after WWII. But that doesn’t matter. God works through us, and we may not be aware of how our apostolic work may be done in coordination with another’s.) Taking this back to the Fatima Message where Our Lady promised a period of peace, and we can see the connections between the Divine Mercy and Fatima Messages, as well as St. Maximilian’s work. Please bear in mind that this “era of peace” has nothing to do with certain periods of peace referred to by many heretical prophecies (I think they’re called “millenarian,” and are popular in Christian Evangelical circles as well as some Catholics who are not grounded in Church Tradition. This isn’t a literal 1,000 years of peace where Jesus rules until the Antichrist, or whatever. It is just ‘a period of peace’ of an undetermined length.)

So, to tie all that in, my “Peace” intentions are just for, by however Our Lord and Our Lady intends, the relaxation or elimination of all threats to the global order; that the nation-states of the world realize that their ultimate security will lie in not threatening the security of other nations. Naive? Yes, but I’ve always held that if the world was as naive as I can be at times, it would be much better off. 😉  If there is a Divine intervention of some kind (popularly referred to in Catholic prophetic circles as a “Warning,” “Illumination,” or “Chastisement,” who can say? I’ll leave the details up to Jesus and Mary.)

Next up: Reparation. This is obvious. We pray and make reparation for the sins against the Blessed Virgin Mary, for sins of impurity and blasphemies against Our Lord. There is plenty of all that going on every day and almost everywhere. From the vandalization of statues and churches, to sexualizing children, to normalizing sexual perversity and deviancy, to blaspheming Jesus in the propagating of false doctrine by “Catholic” priests and bishops; there’s more than enough sinning going on that dwarfs that which happened in the time of Noah or just before Our Lord’s Incarnation. How the Divine hand has been restrained only bespeaks of the power of prayer and reparation, but it is only a matter of time before the Father takes action.

OK, now the Conversion of Russia. Yes, I know that since the overthrow of Communism when the USSR collapsed in 1991 there has been a flowering and revival of Orthodox Christianity in that land. And yes, I know that Russia was consecrated to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart in 1984. But Orthodox Christianity is still schismatic (they do not recognize the authority of the Pope over their Churches.) I pray that “by however Our Lord and Our Lady intends,” that Eastern Orthodoxy, including especially the Russian Orthodox Church, comes into communion with Rome.

Next, the Magnificat Option. There are Options galore in today’s Catholicism. There’s the Benedict Option, the Dorothy Option, the Hobbit Option, and who  knows what else. I came up with the “Magnificat Option” in a post on my Facebook.

In the Magnificat, we hear Mary pray,

He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation. 
He has shown the strength of his arm, 
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, 
and has lifted up the lowly. 
He has filled the hungry with good things, 
and the rich he has sent away empty.

That, my readers, is the core of the Magnificat Option. That God , by however He intends,” shows His mighty strength and humbles the proud that currently govern our world, be they Presidents, Presidential candidates, Prime Ministers, globalists, banksters, and neocons, endless-war profiteers, and the elites who pervert our culture.

Last up, for the end to the pandemic. No need to explain.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)