Over the transom from a Rome resident. This is real.
The Romans hated Antipope Bergoglio’s guts. His dripping corruption and facilitation of the invasion of Italy by African and musloid “migrants” was too much for even the cynical Italians.
Behold, the “outpouring of grief”.
St. Catherine of Siena in prayer, Cristofano Allori, ARSH 1610
Won’t you join me in a Novena to St. Catherine of Siena, asking her intercession for the restoration of the Papacy?
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Heavenly Father, Thy glory is in Thy saints. We praise Thy glory in the life of the admirable St. Catherine of Siena, virgin and doctor of the Church. Her whole life was a noble sacrifice inspired by an ardent love of Jesus, Thy unblemished Lamb.
In troubled times she strenuously upheld the rights of His beloved spouse, The Church. Father, honor her merits and hear her prayers for each of us, and for Thy Holy Catholic Church.
Help us to pass unscathed through the corruption of this world, and to remain unshakably faithful to Thy Holy Catholic Church in word, deed, and example.
Help us always to see in the Petrine See and true Vicar of Christ an anchor in the storms of life, and a beacon of light to the harbor of Thy Love, in this dark night of Thy times and men’s souls.
Grant also to each of us our special petition:
We ask this through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, in the unity of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
St. Catherine of Siena, pray for us.
St. Peter, pray for us.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
No one around him cared enough to correct him, depose him, and enjoin him to repent.
Alright, let’s pray for the Petrine See. It’s been vacant for 842 days. Will the vacancy continue or will the Papacy be restored? I don’t know. Like Our Lady and the nascent Church on Holy Saturday, we watch and pray.
Let’s see what the Divine Providence has in store. Let’s give Him room to work, always trusting implicitly in His goodness, and that His Church is VISIBLE.
This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
Today is a day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
He is risen, as He said.
When God Incarnate says He is going to do something, YOU TAKE IT TO THE BANK. To have faith in Jesus Christ and His promises is NOT a species of psychological infantilism, being “dippy”, or a “refusal to deal with reality”. As events continue to unfold, ALWAYS remember the words of the angel at His empty tomb: “SICUT DIXIT”.
AS HE SAID.
AS HE SAID.
AS HE SAID.
And the Lord said: Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren.
Luke 22: 31-32
If you see a man calling himself “the Pope”, whose faith has clearly failed, and who not only refuses to confirm the brethren, but is actively attempting to lead them into apostasy, not only is that man not the Pope – HE NEVER WAS.
He is risen.
As. He. Said.
Alleluia.
The Resurrection, Francesco Buoneri (Cecco del Caravaggio), ARSH 1619, Art Institute of Chicago
(Let the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, speak to us, console us, and edify us as The Blessed Mother surely did in the Cenacle as she awaited the fulfillment of her Son’s promise, never doubting for an instant, despite the horror of the previous day, that He would do as He said He would.
Holy Saturday is HER day. She held the nascent Church together. –AB ’25)
From the descent of Christ to hell we may learn, for our instruction, four things:
1. Firm hope in God. No matter what the trouble in which a man finds himself, he should always put trust in God’s help and rely on it. There is no trouble greater than to find oneself in hell. If then Christ freed those who were in hell, any man who is a friend of God cannot but have great confidence that he too shall be freed from whatever anxiety holds him. “Wisdom forsook not the just when he was sold, but delivered him from sinners; she went down with him into the pit and in bands she left him not” (Wis. x. 13-14). And since to His servants God gives a special assistance, he who serves God should have still greater confidence. “He that feareth the Lord shall tremble at nothing, and shall not be afraid: for he is his hope” (Ecclus. xxxiv. 16).
2. We ought to conceive fear and to rid ourselves of presumption. For although Christ suffered for sinners, and went down into hell to set them free, he did not set all sinners free, but only those who were free of mortal sin. Those who had died in mortal sin He left there. Wherefore for those who have gone down to hell in mortal sin there remains no hope of pardon. They shall be in hell as the holy Fathers are in heaven, that is for ever.
3. We ought to be full of care. Christ went down into hell for our salvation, and we should be careful frequently to go down there too, turning over in our minds hell’s pain and penalties, as did the holy king Ezechias as we read in the prophecy of Isaias, “I said: In the midst of my days I shall go to the gates of hell” (Is. xxxviii. 10).
Those who in their meditation often go down to hell during life, will not easily go down there at death. Such meditations are a powerful arm against sin, and a useful aid to bring a man back from sin. Daily we see men kept from evildoing by the fear of the law’s punishments. How much greater care should they not take on account of the punishment of hell, greater in its duration, in its bitterness and in its variety. “Remember thy last end and thou shalt never sin” (Ecclus. vii. 40).
4. The fact is for us an example of love. Christ went down into hell to set free those that were His own. We, too, therefore, should go down there to help our own. For those who are in purgatory are themselves unable to do anything, and therefore we ought to help them. Truly he would be a harsh man indeed who failed to come to the aid of a kinsman who lay in prison, here on earth. How much more harsh, then, the man who will not aid the friend who is in purgatory, for there is no comparison between the pains there and the pains of this world. “Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends, because the hand of the Lord hath touched me” (Job xix. 21).
We help the souls in purgatory chiefly by these three means, by Masses, by prayers, and by alms giving. Nor is it wonderful that we can do so, for even in this world a friend can make satisfaction for a friend.
+ + +
St. Thomas Aquinas. Meditations for Lent. Passages selected from the works of St. Thomas by Fr. Mezard, O.P.; translated here by Fr. Philip Hughes. London: Sheed and Ward, 1937. 139-141.
The Harrowing of Hell, Giotto, ARSH 1320. Note St. Dismas, the Good Thief, carrying the Cross. Also note the demons on the rock outcropping in the background tormenting the eternally damned, that is, those who died in mortal sin.
Sixteen minutes of glory from Psalm 85, verses 14-17, as set by Artemy Vedel.
O God, the wicked are risen up against me, and the assembly of the mighty have sought my soul: and they have not set Thee before their eyes. And thou, O Lord, art a God of compassion, and merciful, patient, and of much mercy, and true. O look upon me, and have mercy on me: give Thy command to Thy servant, and save the son of Thy handmaid. Shew me a token for good: that they who hate me may see, and be confounded, because Thou, O Lord, hast helped me and hast comforted me.
Tenebrae is the liturgical highlight of my year, and every year something new jumps off the page at me. This year for Tenebrae of Good Friday in the pre-dawn hours of the morning morning, it was the Responsory after the Third Lesson of the First Nocturn.
I had planted thee a noble vineyard;
* How then art thou turned into a degenerate plant, which willest that Barabbas should be released unto thee, and that I should be crucified.
℣. I fenced thee, and gathered out the stones from thee, and built a tower in the midst of the land.
A degenerate plant we are indeed. And this leads into a repost by request of the reminder about what the name “Barabbas” means…
So one of my absolute favorite, make-the-hair-on-my-arms-stand-up dynamics is when God, in His perfect and unsearchable Providence, causes even His enemies to testify, unknowingly but unmistakably, to His Godhead and His infinite love. For me, these episodes are even more compelling and convincing than levitating saints (St. Philip Neri, my direct patron, for example).
This tidbit comes from Dr. Mazza’s Church History Course. This is something that I feel like I SHOULD have known, but when Dr. Mazza said it, I was so shocked and overjoyed that I think there is no way I could have forgotten something so cool.
Let’s go back to Pontius Pilate’s court. Pilate knows Our Lord is innocent and does NOT want to execute Him, but the Jews, led by the High Priest and the Sanhedrin have threatened Pilate – they have threatened his life, and almost no one today understands this. Pilate was terrified for his life and the life of his family, which Mel Gibson alluded to in “The Passion of The Christ” in the scene between Pilate and his wife, Claudia, in which Pilate expresses the pressure he is under from Rome. But even Gibson’s treatment doesn’t fully explain how deep Pilate’s fear was.
Did you know that there was a man named Lucius Aelius Sejanus, who was the head of the Praetorian Guard, and was essentially the number 2 to Tiberius Caesar? When Tiberius withdrew to the Isle of Capri in ARSH 26 (some of you may have been to Capri as tourists, apparently it is very beautiful), Sejanus was left to essentially administer the entire Roman Empire. Sejanus, not Tiberius Caesar, APPOINTED PONTIUS PILATE the governor of Judea. So Pilate was Sejanus’ boy, not Tiberius’. Sejanus was executed by Tiberius in AD 31 because pretty much everyone suspected Sejanus of plotting to take over. SO, when the Jews, led by the High Priest and Sanhedrin in Pilate’s Court yelled out to Pilate…
“If thou release this man, thou art not Caesar’s friend. For whosoever maketh himself a king, speaketh against Caesar.” — John 19: 12
…what they were doing was threatening Pilate’s life – they were threatening to have Pilate and his entire family “canceled” and “Arkancided” by denouncing him as not loyal to Tiberius, and rather loyal to the Sejanus faction. “Not Caesar’s friend,” but rather “Sejanus’ friend.” Which would have meant torture and execution for Pilate, and his family.
Isn’t. That. Interesting.
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose, non?
And just so we’re clear, as we heard in the Sixth Lesson of Tenebrae of Thursday night-Friday morning, St. Augustine says that Pilate, even under intense coercion of his own torture and death and that of his family is still guilty, but less so than the Jews. Yes, succumbing to coercion, even the most severe coercion, does not absolve guilt. WE MUST DO THE RIGHT, NO MATTER THE COST.
“By the very fact of doing what he did, Pilate became a sharer in their crime; but compared with them he was much less guilty.”
But Pilate was still guilty. Because “much less guilty” is still guilty. WE are called by Our Lord to “be perfect”, that is, to not succumb to coercion AT ALL. It’s not okay to fold in fear, find an easy way out, and wash your hands of the mess, being content with being merely “much less guilty.” Pontius Pilate is NOT a moral example to anyone. In fact, he is a dire warning against the temptation to succumbing to coercion.
NOW, for the amazing part.
Pilate, as we all know, NOT wanting to execute an innocent man, but desperate (and now we know exactly why) to appease the Jews led by the High Priest and the Sanhedrin, tried to appeal to the annual “release one prisoner” Jewish tradition. And we all know the prisoner that was offered was Barabbas. And as we all know, the Jews, led by the High Priest and the Sanhedrin cried out: “Give us Barabbas!”
STOP. Do you know what the name BARABBAS means? I’m ashamed for not making this connection. Dr. Mazza laid this out for us:
“BAR” means “the son of” in Aramaic. As in Peter’s original name being “Simon Bar-Jonah” – Simon the son of Jonah. “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah!” Matthew 16: 17. The Apostle Bartholomew is “the son of Timothy”, Bar-Timaeus.
And we should know what the Aramaic word “Abba” means from Our Lord’s words in the throes of His Agony in the Garden: “And He saith: Abba, Father, all things are possible to Thee: remove this chalice from Me; but not what I will, but what Thou wilt.” –Mark 14: 36
“Abba” means “father”.
So the criminal Barabbas’ name literally means “Son of the Father”.
And Our Lord, infinite power, infinite LOVE, infinite mercy, said…
Amen. So be it.
And so it was, and so it is. And so we ARE redeemed, and so we might be saved.
(And we worry about the likes of Antipope Bergoglio and his Antichurch, or the New World Order, or the Deep State in Washington…?)
This moment is made manifest at EVERY Mass, because the Mass is the bending of space-time behind a supernatural veil such that the once-and-for-all sacrifice of Our Lord’s Passion is made literally present upon the altar. This moment in which the the entire Church cries out, “GIVE US THE SON OF THE FATHER! LET HIS BLOOD BE UPON US AND UPON OUR CHILDREN!” occurs at the elevation of the Chalice. Angels come and dip supernatural hyssop branches into the Precious Blood in the Chalice and sprinkle the world, and the Poor Souls in Purgatory, AND YOU, with Our Lord’s Blood, the Blood of the Lamb.
Now you know why I prefer to be in the front row at Mass. Maximum angelic sprinklage. I’m only about 30% kidding. At every elevation of the Chalice, I now say inaudibly, “Give us the Son of the Father. Let His Blood be upon us and upon our children!” I have said “Let His Blood…” for many years, after a conference in Denver in which the visions of St. Gaspar del Bufalo were shared. But now I complete the moment with, “GIVE US THE SON OF THE FATHER!”
And THIS, friends, is why we GO TO MASS. We go to Mass because Our Lord stood at the top of Pilate’s steps and fallen man (which is me) begged for Him and His Blood – not even knowing what they were actually saying or doing. But Our Lord knew, and knew what Love demanded, and what we all need and want: HIM. Our Lord knew why He created mankind, and the entire universe for man, in the first place. And Our Lord in His Providence even had the infinite Mercy to arrange for fallen man, “THE DEGENERATE PLANT”, mired in sin and consumed with hatred for Him, to testify to His Divinity and the Power and Glory of His Blood.
And Our Lord said, “Amen.” So be it.
If you aren’t teared up, you should be.
Here is Gibson’s version of the incident. This clip is good because there are no subtitles. Now that you know exactly what was going on, and EXACTLY what was being said and by whom, it is far more powerful without the subtitles. And consider – Our Lady, there present in the courtyard with St. John, certainly “got” what was being said, and St. John very probably understood too.
And now, so do you. (Thanks, Dr. Mazza.)
“GIVE US THE SON OF THE FATHER!”
Jesus Christ is God Almighty. He transcends time. Time is His invention. He exists outside of it. That is why He said, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” Therefore, when He says something like, “I’ve really been looking forward to this…” it means that He is being just about as emphatic about something as possible. He is emphasizing that “this” is an event of infinite importance.
Given that, are we really to believe that Jesus Christ was referring to a symbolic light snack as this event that He had “desired with desire” to institute?
No. He was referring to the institution of the Holy and August Sacrifice of the Mass, and in particular to the Sacramant of the Altar, the Eucharist, the transubstantiation of mere unleavened bread and mere wine into literally, not figuratively nor symbolically, but really and truly the physical, substantial presence of His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.
Why? Because love. Love, love, love. Infinite, condescending, total, complete love.
The Mass and the Eucharist are the most important thing in the universe. They are the pounding heart of not just the universe, but of existence and reality.
Today is Spy Wednesday, so called because this is the day in which Antipope Bergoglio’s homoerotic demoniacal patron, Judas Iscariot snuck off to the Sanhedrin to negotiate the price and seal the deal to betray Jesus Christ to be murdered.
Oftentimes in art, Judas Iscariot is depicted as ugly, almost to the point of physical deformity, with a super-heavy brow, beady eyes, etc. While one can certainly understand this iconographical approach, I think in these dark days it is more salutary for us to look upon Judas Iscariot as he almost certainly was – a perfectly normal-looking man. Folks, evil people in this world don’t walk the streets drooling, with teeth filed to points. It is generally difficult to pick out most evil people by sight. The Victoria Nulands of the world are the exception, not the norm. In fact, as I think more and more people are waking up to the fact, evil oftentimes presents itself as completely pedestrian, and not uncommonly as attractive.
Consider the fact that at the Last Supper, the Apostles had no idea which one of them would betray Our Lord. It isn’t as if Our Lord spoke of the betrayer, and everyone in the room turned and looked at Judas Iscariot. In fact, St. John says in his Gospel that even when Judas got up to leave after Jesus said to him, “That which thou dost, do quickly,” most of the Apostles thought that Our Lord had sent Judas out to either buy supplies, or to do some work of charity.
I’d like to take it a step further and put forth the possibility that when all is revealed at the General Judgment and we are all able to see EVERYTHING, that it is possible that Judas Iscariot will have appeared to have been both pious and humanly attractive. Further, I think that it is very possible that when we see all of Judas’ interactions with Our Lord, including private interactions, conversations, etc., over the course of Our Lord’s ministry and Judas’ time with Him as an Apostle, AND Judas’ interactions and relationship with the Blessed Mother (have you ever considered Judas with regards to Mary?) that it will become clear just exactly how deep and profound Judas’ betrayal was. Because remember, Judas didn’t merely walk away. Judas sold Our Lord TO BE MURDERED with full malice aforethought for today’s equivalent of approximately $500.
Why? Two things. First, as we see all around us today, Judas lusted after power. Second, Judas was EMBARRASSED by Our Lord. This all came to a head when Our Lord gave the Bread of Life discourse as recorded in John 6, explaining the Eucharist, and that He was about to institute the Eucharist whereby people would literally – not symbolically, not figuratively, but LITERALLY – eat Our Lord’s Body, Blood Soul and Divinity. Judas lusted for earthly temporal power, and had all kinds of visions and plans for Jesus overthrowing the Roman occupation and that he, Judas would be made a prince of the land, with all the power that goes with it. When Our Lord gave the Bread of Life discourse and all of the thousands of people got up and left, saying that Our Lord was insane and/or demonic, and Judas saw his planned power base and political ambitions going up in smoke, he was enraged. He was further, and perhaps even more enraged because he was EMBARRASSED by the Eucharist, as so very, very many people – most especially clerics and prelates – are today. I cover this in the essay, “THEY DON”T ACTUALLY BELIEVE ANY OF THAT BULL****.
So, still lusting after power, Judas decided that the thing to do was to get Jesus out of the way, which is to say dead, and then walk back and totally eliminate all of Jesus’ crazy-pants talk, especially the insane parts about the Eucharist, and then he, Judas, could “re-found” the movement and be its glorious leader.
By the way, is this ringing any bells? Sounding familiar at all?
Let me help you – remember that Judas Iscariot was always going on about “the poor” because he kept the money box, and was a money-grubbing thief.
Antipope Bergoglio stopped saying Mass YEARS ago. Is anyone here surprised? Why would an apostate sodomite Antipope continue to say Mass if he could get out of doing it?
And so, Judas decided that Jesus had to be eliminated. Filled with rage and spite from the embarrassment of the Eucharistic discourse, Judas went to the Sanhedrin and negotiated the price and terms. Judas’ priority clearly was NOT getting rich off the Sanhedrin deal. No, he was playing long ball. He just wanted Jesus dead, and then the REAL MONEY would come flowing in. So, Judas low-balled the offer – $500. The Sanhedrin took the offer and the deal was sealed.
Which brings us to today. Do you want to get an idea of how normal Judas looked, how benign, how pious, even? Well, that’s easy. Go look in the mirror. Every time we sin, we are selling Jesus Christ unto death on the Cross, and selling Him cheap. What is your price? What is my price?
Is it your salary?
Your pension?
Is it your estate?
Is it your planned future earnings as you slither up the ladder of “career advancement”?
Or is it even cheaper than that? Is your price mere human respect and personal popularity?
Is your price hits on your website? Or likes on Facebook? How about clicks on your “Donate” button?
Is your price an orgasm, or several decades of orgasms?
Is your price as low as not having to actually get dressed and do anything?
As with Judas Iscariot, it is so very simple to undo our treasons against Christ – go to Him, confess and repent. In fact, Judas did return the $500 to the Sanhedrin – that part was done. How many people today refuse to do even that, or are choosing to believe the transparent lies from on high that their sins aren’t sins if they themselves “discern” that they aren’t, or worse yet, that God positively wills that they continue in their sins?
Judas knew and fully acknowledged that what he had done was wrong. All Judas had to do from there was go to Our Lord and ask His forgiveness and mercy, and it would have come without hesitation. All he had to do was get within shouting distance, which he could have. Judas could have literally gone to Calvary and been absolved by Christ as He hung on the Cross. The greatest sin ever committed, deicide, could have been wiped away, and Judas could have gone on to be a saint and the ultimate example of the penitent and forgiven sinner, the ultimate example of Christ’s mercy, far beyond Mary Magdalen.
But no. Judas murdered himself, and thus freely, and completely unnecessarily chose hell.
We’ve all sold Our Lord, and for far less than Judas’ piddly $500. We can all see ourselves in Judas. Is it not time to take our “$500” and throw it back at the Sanhedrin, and then sprint to the foot of the Cross, confess to Him, and receive His Mercy? If not now, when?
I hope this helps.
Christ, have mercy on us.
What does a person who has sold Christ cheap unto death on the Cross look like? Here’s an excellent example. And she seems so nice…. Some might even say mildly attractive. Ah, the mystery of iniquity.
Dear Miss Barnhardt —
I am just writing to say that “The Voice of a Stranger” is the most powerful and shattering piece of prose on the current situation in the Church that I have ever read. Every sentence struck like an iron hammer on an anvil — not just with truth, but with all the crushing blows that Bergoglio, the rotten hierarchy, and above all our stupid “Recognize and Resist” Catholics and Trad Incorporated Catholics so richly deserve.
I have not always agreed with you on some subjects. But I say this now, in all sincerity — you may not be the only voice of honesty in our Church today, but you are the ONLY VOICE that is speaking out forcefully and with laser-sharp intelligence against the venom that is poisoning us.
God bless you and keep you.
Professor X, Classics & Rhetoric, Gotham City
(Dr. Mazza, NonVeni Mark and Matthew McCusker at LifeSite are doing amazing work too!! —AB)