Catholic Voice 1st January 2021 Issue 307

CatholicVoice Omnia possum in eo, qui me confortat

1 January - 14 January 2021

Issue 307

Only 50 Ire land/ NI £2 U K

€/£1.

“And seeing the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

And entering into the house, they found the child with Mary his mother, and falling down they adored him; and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (Matthew 2:10-11)

Adoration Of The Magi - Carlo Dolci (1616 - 1686)

Keep up to date with CatholicVoice news and articles via The Lumen Fidei Website www.lumenfidei.ie

2 EDITORIAL

Catholic Voice

1st January 2021

Pope Francis Declares Year of St. Joseph pointed us to Joseph consistently in the last 150 years, indicating that we need his protection and support in the midst of our moral famine.

Consider the following acts of Supreme Pontiffs: On December 8, 1870 Pope Pius IX, in an act of enormous consequence, declared St. Joseph Patron of Universal Church.

Anthony Murphy Eight Ways to Gain a Plenary Indulgence Over the Next Year On December 8th, 1870 — 150 years ago — Pope Pius IX declared St. Joseph the Patron of the Universal Church. In honour of this anniversary, Pope Francis has announced a Year of St. Joseph, that began on December 8th and will be celebrated through to December 8th, 2021.

This is amazing news! The Church has awakened a sleeping giant, St. Joseph the terror of demons.

Devotion to St. Joseph has been steadily gaining momentum and is desperately needed for our time. The Church is the Body of Christ and Joseph was appointed guardian of Christ and head of God’s household.

He is the Patriarch, like the first Joseph, who through his vigilance saved the world from starvation in time of famine. The Popes have

CatholicVoice

Editor: Anthony Murphy editor@catholicvoice.ie Telephone: 059 8627268 ROI 00353 59 8627268 Outside ROI Keep up to date with news and articles via The Lumen Fidei website www.lumenfidei.ie

In 1889, Pope Leo XIII wrote an encyclical on St. Joseph, ‘Quamquam Pluries’, asking that a prayer to Joseph be added to the rosary during the month of October and that the month of March be kept in honour or St. Joseph.

In 1955 Pope Pius XII erected the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker to be celebrated on May 1st to counteract Communist May Day celebrations.

Essentially, he asked St. Joseph to counteract the false ideology of work and politics overtaking the world after World War II. In 1962 Pope St. John XXIII added St Joseph’s name to the Roman Canon, followed by Pope Francis’ inclusion of Joseph in all Eucharistic prayers in 2013.

We also see devotion to St. Joseph confirmed supernaturally: First: “The Story of Knock began on the 21st August, 1879 when, at approximately 8 o’clock in the evening, fifteen people from the village of Knock in Co. Mayo, witnessed an Apparition of Our Lady, St. Joseph, St. John the Evangelist, a Lamb and cross on an altar at the gable wall of the Parish Church.”

Second, the Miracle of the Sun in Fatima: “After our Lady had disappeared into the immense distance of the firmament, we

beheld St. Joseph with the Child Jesus and Our Lady robed in white with a blue mantle, beside the sun.

St. Joseph and the Child Jesus seemed to bless the world, for they traced the Sign of the Cross with their hands.”

Third, recently approved apparitions in Itapiranga, Argentina: three Sacred Hearts: Jesus, Mary and Joseph: “My son Jesus and I, your Mother, desire that the whole world be consecrated to the most chaste heart of St. Joseph.”

As we know from Sr. Lucia of Fatima: “The final battle between the Lord and the kingdom of Satan will be about Marriage and the Family.”

One of the main victims of this battle has been fatherhood, young men in particular are in need of strong role models and what better father figure to teach the true meaning of fatherhood than St. Joseph. Devotion to the chaste heart of Joseph the worker may be the antidote to the crisis of manhood we face in our culture. This special year will be the Catholic answer to the militant feminism which plagues our society, the feminism which not only perverts the true calling of women but also undermines authentic manhood and destabilise our families.

In future issues of Catholic Voice we will dedicate some pages to St. Joseph in order to celebrate and promote this special year.

Pope Francis also added indulgence opportunities to the decree. The decree explains four ways to obtain a plenary indulgence throughout this liturgical year.

The indulgence requires the individual to follow the three usual conditions with “the intention of

1st January 2021 Catholic Voice

EDITORIAL 3

complying as soon as possible). One must receive sacramental confession, holy communion, and pray for the Holy Father, as well as detach oneself from all sin.

Here are some ways to gain a Plenary Indulgence During the Year of St. Joseph: 1) Meditate for 30 minutes on the Our Father 2) Attend a spiritual retreat that includes St. Joseph meditation 3) Carry out a corporal or spiritual work of mercy 4) Recite the Holy Rosary with your family (or if engaged, with your future spouse).

5) Entrust your day and/or work to St. Joseph, invoke his protection and intercession.

6) Pray to St. Joseph for persecuted Christians.

7) Recite any legitimately approved prayer or act of piety in honour of St. Joseph.

8) For the elderly, sick, and dying: recite act of piety in St. Joseph’s honour, entrust life and discomforts to St. Joseph.

In conclusion here the Prayer to Saint Joseph requested

by Pope Leo XIII: To thee, O blessed Joseph, we have recourse in our affliction, and having implored the help of thy thrice holy Spouse, we now, with hearts filled with confidence, earnestly beg thee also to take us under thy protection.

By that charity wherewith thou wert united to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God, and by that fatherly love with which thou didst cherish the Child Jesus, we beseech thee and we humbly pray that thou wilt look down with gracious eye upon that inheritance which Jesus Christ purchased by His blood, and wilt succour us in our need by thy power and strength.

Defend, O most watchful guardian of the Holy Family, the chosen off-spring of Jesus Christ. Keep from us, O most loving Father, all blight of error and corruption.

Aid us from on high, most valiant defender, in this conflict with the powers of darkness. And even as of old thou didst rescue the Child Jesus from the peril of His life, so now defend God’s Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity. Shield us ever under thy patronage, that, following thine example and strengthened by thy help, we may live a holy life, die a happy death, and attain to everlasting bliss in Heaven. Amen.

St. Joseph, patron of the Catholic Church, pray for us!

Could you consider leaving a bequest for CatholicVoice?

As a not for profit registered organisation we rely on the generosity of our benefactors for financial and prayerful support.

A bequest from you in your Last Will and Testament would help us to continue growing the publication of Catholic Voice and the dissemination of Catholic Truth If you are in a position to leave a bequest, however large or small, you are assured that it will be used to promote and strengthen Catholic teaching.

May God bless you for your generosity.

4 A POEM TO OUR LADY

Catholic Voice

1st January 2021

Long Lost Poem by J. R. R. Tolkien Is a Beautiful Christmas Prayer to the Virgin Mary Billy Ryan

J. R. R. Tolkien was not only the author of the bestselling novel ever written, but a fierce Catholic whose Faith was pervasive in his work.

“Besides the Sun there may be moonlight but if the Sun were removed there would be no Moon to see. What would Christianity now be if the Roman Church has in fact been destroyed?” – Letter 250, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Not a poet in the traditional sense, Tolkien published nearly 40 poems throughout his life. In 2016, two lost poems by the Anglo-Saxon scholar were discovered originally published in an obscure 1936 annual magazine for Our Lady’s Abingdon in Oxfordshire.

Of the two, one is a Christmas poem entitled Noel dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Here is the beautiful Christmas prayer to Virgin Mary, ‘Noel’, by J. R. R. Tolkien:

Fr. Peter Rookey, Miracle Prayer, and Healing Cloths

NOEL Grim was the world and grey last night: The moon and stars were fled, The hall was dark without song or light, The fires were fallen dead.

The wind in the trees was like to the sea, And over the mountains’ teeth It whistled bitter-cold and free, As a sword leapt from its sheath.

The lord of snows upreared his head; His mantle long and pale Upon the bitter blast was spread And hung o’er hill and dale.

The world was blind, the boughs were bent, All ways and paths were wild: Then the veil of cloud apart was rent, And here was born a Child.

The ancient dome of heaven sheer Was pricked with distant light; A star came shining white and clear Alone above the night.

In the dale of dark in that hour of birth One voice on a sudden sang: Then all the bells in Heaven and Earth Together at midnight rang.

Mary sang in this world below: They heard her song arise O’er mist and over mountain snow To the walls of Paradise, And the tongue of many bells was stirred in Heaven’s towers to ring When the voice of mortal maid was heard, That was mother of Heaven’s King.

All Enquiries to Declan & Carmel 8 Coppingers Court Powerscourt Lawns Waterford X91 TEY0 Tel: 087-0553011

Glad is the world and fair this night With stars about its head, And the hall is filled with laughter and light, And fires are burning red.

The bells of Paradise now ring With bells of Christendom, And Gloria, Gloria we will sing That God on earth is come.

J. R. R. Tolkien

1st January 2021 Catholic Voice

CATHOLIC VOICE APPEAL 5

CATHOLIC VOICE ADVENT APPEAL Dear Reader As we approach the Advent season this year we especially ask you to consider Catholic Voice as a recipient of your Advent giving.

Your generosity of prayerful and financial support over the past long months has enabled us to continue spreading Catholic news and Truth. We have been able to continue reaching a wide audience of readers , not only in Ireland but in many different countries.

During this year we have all been challenged in many ways including the closing of churches and the absence of the sacraments. Many of you have become more aware that Catholic Voice is a not for profit organisation and neither we nor our contributors and promoters take a salary.

The ongoing effects of covid 19 plus the additional strain of Kim’s long hospitalization result in our need to appeal to you for your support of Catholic Voice so that we can continue our apostolic work into and beyond 2021.

If you are in a position to contribute financially to our Advent appeal you are assured that you are directly helping to spread our treasured Catholic faith.

Anthony Murphy HOW TO DONATE: 1. Online - Visit www.catholicvoice.ie click ‘Donate’ 2. By Telephone: Call 059 8627268 (00353 59 8627268 outside ROI) to pay by credit/ debit card - please leave your phone number and name and we shall return your call 3. Send a cheque or postal order (made payable to Catholic Voice) with the reply coupon to Catholic Voice, St Michael’s House, Castlemitchess South, Athy, Co Kildare, Eire

Dear Anthony & Kim, I/ We would like to donate towards the ongoing publication of Catholic Voice.

Donation enclosed. Please tick box or enter and individual amount €1,000  €500 €250 €100 €50 €10 Other € _____ Name:

________________________________________

Address:

Phone:

________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ Cheques & Postal Orders made payable to Catholic Voice Please send your cheque or postal order to Catholic Voice St. Michael’s House Castlemitchell South, Athy Co Kildare, Eire

6 THE THREE KINGS

Catholic Voice

1st January 2021

What Became of the Magi After Visiting Jesus?

Their Amazing Forgotten Story Patrick Hayes

The magi have a short but memorable place in the Gospel story. After Jesus was born, magi from the east follow a star to Bethlehem, offer the new born king their three gifts, and then return home without revealing to Herod where they found Jesus (cf. Matthew 2).

That’s it. They drop out of the story. Scripture doesn’t even tell us exactly how many of them there were.

But where the Gospel story ends, the tradition of the Church takes over.

Various traditions say that there were in fact three magi and that their names were Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar.

One tradition says that they came from and represented the three continents of the Old World: Europe, Asia, and Africa, respectively.

Apparently, they were deeply affected by their encounter with Jesus, and either became Christians immediately,

The Shrine of the Three Kings - Photo Arminia (wikimedia)

or quickly converted upon meeting the Apostles during their ministry. They were so strong in their faith that all three of them willingly accepted martyrdom. As such, they are considered saints.

But that’s not the end of their story!

When St. Helena visited the Holy Land in the 4th century, among the many relics she recovered were the bones of the three magi, which she took to the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.

They were later moved to Milan, and finally to Cologne, Germany by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I in 1164, where they have remained ever since.

The Shrine of the Three Kings, or the Tomb of the Three Kings, or Tomb of the Three Magi is a reliquary traditionally believed to contain the bones of the Biblical Magi. The shrine is a large gilded and decorated triple sarcophagus placed above and behind the high altar of Cologne Cathedral. It is considered the high point of Mosan art and the largest reliquary in the western world.

The Orthodox monastery at Mount Athos claims to have the three gifts of the magi.

Ss. Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar, please pray for us!

1st January 2021

THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS 7

Catholic Voice

The Third Servant Erin Cain

In the parable of the ten gold coins, Jesus calls us to be good stewards of the gifts we’ve been given, to grow and develop the skills and resources we have and use them toward building His Kingdom instead of sitting idle.

A key element in this story is how the third servant, bewildered by his master’s ways and unable to understand him, buried his talents away out of fear. Instead of taking a chance and investing them, or even placing them in the bank, where they would gain steady interest, he avoided his responsibility and just let them sit.

What angered his master about this response was not the amount of money he returned, but the fact that he let fear hold him back from doing good, from gaining anything at all. He allowed his fear to paralyse him.

The Lord has entrusted each of us with particular gifts, and we are called to respond by employing those gifts in service to His mission for us. But too often we allow our fears to hold us back from developing our gifts to fruition. We are tempted to compare ourselves with others, to doubt whether our gifts will be good enough, whether our contribution even matters. We allow our pride to keep us from offering our gifts to the world, preferring to hide ourselves away rather than face the possibility of failure.

But when we give in to fear and allow ourselves to be controlled by it, we miss out on what God has in store for us. He wants to see our gifts, however humble they may be, placed before Him as an offering. If we entrust them all to Him, we can be sure that He will not leave us disappointed.

God will provide what we need when we need it; there is no reason for us to live in fear.

During these winter days, I am noticing just how little daylight remains. The night seems impossibly opaque and pitch-black, and its darkness encroaches little by little, day by day. It can feel all the more sombre after this year of darkness and uncertainty. But as the daylight wanes, let us ever keep in mind that we are children of the day, for we bear the Light of Christ within us.

It is only during a pitch-black night that we can recognise the beauty of the twinkling stars; similarly, it is against the backdrop of darkness that our own gifts are meant to shine brightly. But that can only happen if we step out in faith, trusting in God even amidst our fear. During these dark days, when we can’t see anything around us, let us not cover up the Light within us, but rather respond to God’s call to illuminate the darkness.

The Parable of the Talents - Willem de Porter (1608 - 1648)

Question : Do you know your Father!

Everyone loves to get to really know their Father and that can take a lifetime.

But we also have Our wonderful Father in Heaven who created us and is waiting for us when we pass from this life.

The question is do we know Him! Have we tried to get to know Him! Of course it is never too late!

We can get to know Our Wonderful Father in Heaven Now, if we so wish.

Please contact Declan & Carmel 8 Coppingers Court Powerscourt Lawns Waterford X91 TEY0 085-8222430 for details.

8 THE CHURCH MUST RISE

Catholic Voice

1st January 2021

Acting on Lessons Learned Father Roger Landry

Editor’s note: This article was first published in the National Catholic Register and relates to the Church in America but offers some sobering thoughts on the reduced numbers returning to Church after the imposed lock-down.

---

When crises come, the Church is not supposed to cower on the sidelines, seemingly useless.

On May 1, as the initial panicked phase of the battle against COVID-19 was concluding, I wrote that the most important and urgent lesson Church leaders needed to learn coming out of the first phase was the disaster of acquiescing as various civil leaders attempted to treat the Church’s activity and worship as a “non-essential” service.

It’s not surprising, I said, that those who do not believe in God might think that the life of faith is non-essential. It’s similarly unremarkable that Catholics who no longer practice the faith, who do not deem it essential to their life, might also reckon it unnecessary in the lives of others. But that the Church — clergy, religious and faithful alike — would not thunderously protest against such a gross mischaracterisation, and in some places would behave as if she agreed with that description, was scandalous.

That’s the lesson that was unwittingly taught when the Church in some locales made the decision to lock churches and forbid all access to the

sacraments, except for priests, even when such decisions were not required by public mandate. It was reinforced when such decisions were made as if they were not particularly vexing. It was cemented when certain Church leaders insisted that even practical solutions fully in alignment with medical and government directives on safety be shut down, like drive-in Masses, confessions at safe distances in parking lots, anointing of those dying of non-communicable diseases, all adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, as well as all baptisms, weddings and funerals.

Legitimate health-related restrictions were one thing; discriminatory restrictions contrary to religious freedom — both a natural and a constitutionally-protected right — were another. The prelates were now, moreover, armed with data to respond to the ludicrous, hyperbolic and phobic assertion that religious gatherings were somehow super-spreading disasters waiting to happen.

Since churches reopened in May with proper safety protocols, there has not been one reported case of someone getting COVID-19 at a Catholic church anywhere in the country.

Pastors have since seen the consequence that such decisions, treating the practice of the faith as de facto non-essential, have had: The percentage of those who had been regularly coming to Mass in February who have returned to Church after the spiritual lockdown is, in most places, a quarter to a third; those where it is 50% of pre-shutdown numbers are doing relatively well. Some are watching the Mass live-streamed because they’re in at-risk populations, care for those who are, or simply prefer it. Many of those who are not coming seem to have deprioritised Mass altogether.

Supreme Court justices recognized what was happening and ultimately overturned such restrictions.

It has also become clear that the compelling health justification that had been given by civil leaders can no longer be considered credible.

Churches were closed as non-essential but liquor stores and marijuana dispensaries remained open? Eleven masked parishioners could not come together in a Church fitting a thousand but 11,000 unmasked and nonsocially-distanced Black Lives Matter protesters could convene in a crowded courtyard? The inconsistent decisions of civil leaders made plain that something else was at work rather than legitimate concern for public health.

Certain shepherds began to fight back in defence of their people, their rights and their spiritual good. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville and Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco took the lead.

In a decision fittingly announced the day before Thanksgiving in a case in which Bishop DiMarzio sued New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Justice Neil Gorsuch lacerated the governor’s decisions in a concurring opinion.

“The businesses the Governor considers essential include hardware stores, acupuncturists, and liquor stores.

Bicycle repair shops, certain signage companies, accountants, lawyers, and insurance agents are all essential too,” he wrote in Diocese of Brooklyn v.

Cuomo. “So, at least according to the Governor, it may be unsafe to go to church, but it is always fine to pick up another bottle of wine, shop for a new bike, or spend the afternoon exploring your distal points and meridians. Who knew public health would so perfectly align with secular convenience?”

He continued that in New York “people may gather inside for extended periods in bus stations and airports, in laundromats and banks, in hardware stores and liquor shops. No apparent reason exists why people may not gather, subject to identical restrictions, in churches or synagogues, especially when religious institutions have made plain that they stand ready, able, and willing to follow all the safety precautions required of ‘essential’ businesses and perhaps more besides.

1st January 2021 Catholic Voice The only explanation for treating religious places differently seems to be a judgment that what happens there just isn’t as ‘essential’ as what happens in secular spaces. Indeed, the Governor is remarkably frank about this: In his judgment laundry and liquor, travel and tools, are all ‘essential’ while traditional religious exercises are not. That is exactly the kind of discrimination the First Amendment forbids.”

Justice Samuel Alito has been similarly outspoken. In a July dissent in Calvary Chapel v. Silolak, a case in which the governor of Nevada had permitted casinos to have 50% occupancy but limited churches to 50 people, Alito wrote: “The Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion. It says nothing about the freedom to play craps or blackjack, to feed tokens into a slot machine, or to engage in any other game of chance. But the Governor of Nevada apparently has different priorities.”

He elabor ated on the unconstitutional hypocrisy of such decisions — and what they presage — in a Nov. 12 speech to the Federalist Society’s National Law Conference.

“It pains me to say this,” he stated, “but in certain quarters, religious liberty is fast becoming a disfavoured right. Over the summer, the Supreme Court received two applications to stay COVID restrictions that blatantly discriminated against houses of worship. … If you go to Nevada, you can gamble, drink and attend all sorts of shows. But … if you want to worship and you’re the 51st person in line, sorry, you are out of luck. Houses of worship are limited to 50 attendees.

The size of the building doesn’t matter.

Nor does it matter if you wear a mask and keep more than six feet away from everybody else. And it doesn’t matter if the building is carefully sanitised before and after a service. The state’s message is, ‘Forget about worship and head for the slot machines or maybe a Cirque du Soleil show.’”

These justices demonstrate that what we’re not dealing with is not imperative decisions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the super-saturation of

ICUs and the ensuing suffering and death of thousands each day. We’re dealing with baldly unconstitutional discrimination against religious believers and their houses of worship.

And it seems, with the confirmation of Justice Amy Barrett, that such undisguised bias will no longer be countenanced.

That leaves the Church in a position now to do what it should have been doing from the beginning: taking a leading spiritual and moral role in response to the crisis, helping to guide and augment people’s prayer, forming them in the courage and compassion needed to care perseveringly for those in need, educating and animating the young, bringing people into communion — if even socially-distanced or virtually —

THE CHURCH MUST RISE 9 to overcome injurious isolation, and assisting everyone to find meaning in suffering and even death.

When crises come, the Church is not supposed to cower on the sidelines, seemingly useless. Catholics are called, rather, individually and organically, to unleash our God-given competencies and charisms, and to make the Eucharist we humbly receive consequential.

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God With thy whole heart, And with thy whole soul, And with thy whole mind.

This is the greatest And the first commandment.

The

Dominicans

Truth

...more Precious than Time

"Truth is not something that we invent; if we do it is a lie. Rather it is something that we discover, like Love."

- Bishop Fulton J. Sheen www.irishdominicanvocations.com

10 THE DARK E.U. EMPIRE

Catholic Voice

1st January 2021

The E.U. Is Coming For Catholics Marek Jan Chodakiewicz

Poland and Hungary are in trouble with the European Union again. Ostensibly, this time it is a budgetary dispute that neither Warsaw nor Budapest is willing to sign off on. But, in essence, it is a clash of post-modernism on the one hand and traditionalism on the other. Brussels endeavours brutally to impose its social-engineering schemes on the Poles and the Hungarians, who view such ham-fisted behaviour as a violation of their national sovereignties.

At the moment, we are witnessing a fight over two fundamental issues: immigration and sexuality. Brussels huffs and puffs about freedom of movement and human rights. Poland and Hungary simply must accept whatever quota of Third World migrants (mostly Muslims) the E.U. has set for the member states. Further, they must agree to all rules and regulations favouring LGBT causes, abortion, and so on — long overdue in the region. Or so Brussels says.

To force compliance, the Eurocrats call the reprobates in Central and Eastern Europe racists, homophobes, and misogynists. Brussels resents the Magyars and the Poles for controlling their own borders. The E.U. is livid that the constitutions of Poland and Hungary both define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

The commissars of the European commission hate the fact that the Hungarian Parliament de-funded “critical theories,” “gender studies,” and other such programs in the nation’s universities. Lastly, the lords of the European superstate fume at Poland’s legal protection of life, in particular the outlawing of abortion on demand.

But the Polish and the Hungarians are neither racist nor any kind of sexphobic. They merely practice defence against the nefarious consequences of those fashionable ideologies embraced by the E.U. — ideologies that have done so much to ruin Western Europe.

Thus, the Poles and the Hungarians see such strictures as disingenuous.

For them, it is about maintaining sovereignty, including the cultural essence of their nations.

They themselves decide who may or may not come to settle within their borders. And they have been quite welcoming and accommodating of the alien needy. For instance, Poland is not only host to about a million Ukrainian war refugees and economic migrants, but it has agreed to welcome Syrian Christians on the Vistula.

Further, as for Syrian war refugees, both the Hungarians and the Poles (via their governments and religious charitable institutions) have been doing yeoman’s work at the source, where it really matters: in the Middle East refugee camps. This way, the needs of the destitute are taken care of in situ. The unfortunates remain close to home, ready to return when the conflict is resolved.

That is the most efficient way to manage this kind of human tragedy, the point lost on Brussels and, particularly, Berlin. The masters of the E.U. would rather see waves of refugees resettled on the Continent and pay homage to the gods of multiculturalism… and, in due time, to bolster their tax intake, salvage labour shortages, and reverse their demographic collapse.

They also order the Hungarians and the Poles to fall in line as far as LGBT issues are concerned.

Poland and Hungary must become as forward-thinking as the rest of the E.U., in particular its Western part.

That means changing laws protecting traditional family and embracing everything from gay marriage through gay adoption to mandatory school indoctrination sessions about gender fluidity, transgenderism, and other achievements of so-called “sexual citizenship” that has become standard in the West.

Once such “norms” are rammed down the Hungarian and Polish throats, the road to other joys of what Saint John Paul II called “the culture of death” will be wide open. Euthanasia beckons. Who knows? Paedophilia may be on the cards as more and more progressives insist that we lower the age of consent. That is what Warsaw and Budapest fear and expect.

Then, as now, there will be no room for diversity under the diktat of Brussels and Berlin. Everyone must fall in line.

This is the prism through which one ought to see the latest spat. The Eurocrats have made the redistribution of Polish and Hungarian taxes contingent upon their agreement to unrestricted emigration and the Sexual Revolution. Both nations thus vetoed the E.U. budget. We’re talking

1st January 2021

THE DARK E.U. EMPIRE 11

Catholic Voice

about $2.2 trillion. There will be no tying of the budget to the Polish and Hungarian compliance with any socialengineering schemes.

Ecclesiastical Art Restorations

by Dr.Nicholas von Kerckhoff

The E.U. struck back by introducing an alternative way Special Church Statues Repair and Repaint Nationwide of disbursing its largesse through a “bridge fund” option. www.atelier-nicholas.com This would allow the E.U. executive (not popularly elected, of course) to exclude the dissenting countries from the Mobile 087 2203898 distribution process. The latter includes a generous amount set aside for Covid relief. Thus, the masters in Brussels violate parliamentary procedures by bureaucratically Hungary if elected chancellor. The Dutch Parliament subverting the democratic process and allocating the monies vowed to haul Poland before the Constitutional Tribunal for allegedly tormenting homosexual persons. by fiat to non-dissenting countries.

So far, Hungary and Poland have refused to budge. All parties involved are frantically looking for allies. The dissidents have not only hobnobbed with the Croats and the Slovenes, whose governments are rather conservative, but they have chatted up the Portuguese, who are ruled by the left.

The barrage never ceases, lustfully assisted by the liberal media spewing disinformation. The hammering will stop only when Hungary and Poland cave.

When Hungary and Poland joined the E.U. in 2004, they were attracted by the promise of a free market union of sovereign nation states. It has since become a superstate The E.U. has also recalled its top representative from Poland. poised to use its power against freedom, family, tradition, Two Belgian regions broke off direct relations with their and patriotism.

Polish counterparts. Germany’s leading social-democratic politician, Martin Schulz, threatened to cut subsidies to There was a reason for Brexit, wasn’t there?

Cardinal Müller Says ‘Politicians Do Not Have The Right To Forbid The Holy Mass’ John-Henry Westen

Governments are using COVID-19 restrictions as ‘opportunity to suppress the Catholic Church’ In an interview with LifeSiteNews, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the former head of the Vatican’s powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said “politicians don’t have the right to forbid the Holy Mass and celebration of the sacraments.”

While the cardinal did say that the Church willingly accepts some security measures to guard against the coronavirus, he noted that some governments and politicians are taking this as an “opportunity to suppress the Catholic Church.”

The cardinal criticised the approach of various governments as “incoherent” since while allowing mass gatherings and tightly-packed public transit, they are forbidding Masses in large churches.

“We must fight for our basic rights, the rights of freedom of religion in order to practice our religion,” he said. “We must be very firm to give priority to the worship to God and to come together as the members of the body of Jesus Christ which is the Church.”

And in response to politicians who would counsel Catholics to just “pray at home,” the former Prefect

Cardinal Gerhard Müller of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith said that Christ Himself called on the Church to come together in memory of Him. “We are not a spiritualistic religion,” he said. “The Word became Flesh, and we are beings of flesh and blood and soul. We are living in the reality of the material world – also created by God – and therefore we need this corporal visible mediation by the sacraments within the community of the believers.”

12 WAITING IN JOYFUL HOPE

Catholic Voice

1st January 2021

Waiting In Joyful Hope John Lacken

As we begin the New Year 2021, let us include a resolution to pray more earnestly for our Irish Bishops. The year 2020 was not a good year for the Catholic Church in Ireland with the faithful being denied access to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for more than twenty weeks. Many elderly Catholics found it difficult to get the last rights of the Church before their death, and access to the Sacrament of confession was either curtailed or non-existent depending on the parish, the bishop and the priest where one resided.

First Holy Communions and the sacrament of Confirmation were severely disrupted and the rightful celebrations that should accompany these wonderful moments in the lives of Catholic children were curtailed or forbidden out of fear of an invisible virus.

So let us pray for our bishops and let us ask Our Lady to intercede with her Son Jesus, asking him to send us a courageous bishop in the style of St John Fisher, who resisted the tyrannical King Henry VIII. We can also ask Our Lady to grant courage to some of our current bishops.

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

Let us also thank God for the priests who continued to administer the sacraments to the faithful during the prolonged lock-downs with special thanks going to those priests who allowed faithful Catholics to attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Deo Gratias Fathers.

One of the things that bothers me most concerning the whole situation regarding the Covid-19 virus is that our bishops seem to have granted the gift of infallibility to our government. Our bishops do not seem to have done any independent research on the matter and seek to comply above and beyond what is required by government directions.

I was also disturbed that on the Kerry Diocesan website it states as one of the government’s conditions for returning to Holy Mass over Christmas that, “Face coverings/ face masks must be used.”

This is not true. Government guidelines say that “Face coverings are now recommended in crowded workplaces, places of worship and in busy or crowded outdoor spaces where there is significant congregation.

When a diocese changes government guidelines from ‘recommended’ to ‘must’ it is not upholding the truth.

As Catholics we are obliged at all times to tell the truth. This is not the first time that I have come across false information being given out in the name of the Catholic Church in Ireland, but it is always sad to see this.

The reason that I checked the Kerry Diocesan website is because I was contacted by someone from the diocese who was challenged when going into Holy Mass by two priests for not wearing a face mask. Another person contacted me about someone who is exempt from wearing a face mask who was told during Holy Mass that they would have to leave the Church if they did not put on a face mask.

This is the sad reality in Ireland at present and it once again clearly

shows the deplorable state of the faith in Ireland.

Subsequent to my visit to the Kerry diocesan website I also checked on the government guidelines called ‘Safe Christmas’. I was annoyed at what I came across. I am coming to the conclusion that some of the people writing these guidelines are performing an experiment where they have a competition to see who can come up with the most ridiculous guideline and get it published.

For example, the government says on Christmas day to: “Remember to wear a mask when cooking and serving food”.

It is alright to take the mask off once the food is cooked and served, presumably because the virus only attacks those who are cooking or serving.

My elderly mother, who is eighty seven years of age, in order to protect her from the virus is to be in a room where all the windows and doors are left open. This in the middle of December where temperatures often fall below freezing. She might die from pneumonia or from catching a cold, but at least she won’t die from Covid seems to be the government’s reasoning.

“Keep windows and doors open where possible” (Safe Christmas).

If you were not convinced of it before, I can tell you that the people promoting these guidelines have gone insane. They are mad. They have lost their common sense and I haven’t even mentioned what the guidelines said about cutlery.

1st January 2021

Catholic Voice

WAITING IN JOYFUL HOPE 13

It seems to me that the primary purpose of the scaremongering around covid-19 is to facilitate the roll-out of a global vaccination programme.

Let me be very clear, I am not opposed to vaccines, but I am opposed to unsafe vaccines or to vaccines which are being used for political or other purposes. I am also opposed in principle to governments indemnifying vaccine manufacturers from prosecution in the case of a vaccine doing grave harm. No other business is granted immunity from prosecution for creating a product that has caused harm so why are vaccine manufacturers being given this deal?

It is reported that some of the vaccine manufacturers will not make their vaccines available unless they get this immunity from prosecution. If that is the case, then it is gravely immoral and amounts to a form of health blackmail.

Let us not forget that there are over eighty cases currently going against the Irish government for side effects from the last covid vaccine, ‘Pandremix’, with the first case being settled against the government in November of this year. The manufacturers of Pandremix were given immunity from prosecution by the government and so the tax payer has to foot the bill.

The Irish bishops released a statement on the ninth of December this year which has caused confusion amongst some Catholics. The bishops welcome the news of potential vaccines against covid-19 and they state that it is morally acceptable in some cases to use a vaccine that was developed with the help of foetal celllines derived from aborted babies and that this does not amount to support for abortion.

Most Catholics are not moral theologians and many find it difficult to understand the distinction between ‘direct’ and ‘remote’ co-operation in a grave evil. What the Irish bishops have stated is factually correct, there are situations where the good of citizens allows remote co-operation in a past evil, even though the original product was obtained by unethical means.

For example, much medical and surgical advancement has come from the unethical experiments carried out

by Japanese and German doctors on prisoners during the second world war.

However there are other considerations to be made in relation to the use of vaccines. One of the primary ones being; is there really a need for a major vaccination programme i.e. does the disease under consideration

Logo Used In Sligo Cathedral Mission 2019 warrant such a programme, especially given the enormous psychological pressure being brought to bear on people to take the vaccine?

Once again a simple look at the Irish government’s own figures on covid-19 bring the necessity of a global vaccination programme into question. On 31st of May 2020, the HPSC reported that the ‘case fatality ratio’ for covid-19 was 5.58%. By the 10th December this figure had dropped by more than half to 2.48%. In other words, 97.52% of people who test positive for covid survive. Also we must remember that there is a difference between those who die ‘from’ covid-19 and those who die ‘with’ covid-19’. The government do not tell us how many people have actually been admitted to hospital on account of covid, and how many were admitted for other reasons but tested positive whilst in hospital with little or no symptoms of covid.

Regarding the vaccines, the companies involved were allowed to skip animals trials in testing the safety of their vaccine products. Therefore it perfectly legitimate for Catholics to refuse these vaccines until they can be assured of their safety and efficacy. It is also theologically sound to say, that one is not obliged to

14 WAITING IN JOYFUL HOPE

Catholic Voice

potentially endanger one’s health in order to protect oneself from another apparent health threat or risk.

On another note, not related to covid-19, but which has parallels in other ways, readers may remember an article in which I mentioned a strange logo that was used to promote climate awareness during the Sligo Cathedral Mission of September 2019. (see image on previous page) The word that jumped out at me from this strange logo was ‘destroy’ and I wondered what these people wanted to destroy.

I am sad to report that I have recently found a demonic connection to this logo. I am not going to publish an image of the demon Baphomet, who is honoured, promoted and used by many who practice occultism including the Freemasons and Alistair Crowley. This demon is usually depicted with a horned goats head, exposed female breasts, two intertwined serpents and wings.

The arms of this demon are tattooed with two words ‘solve’ and ‘coagula’ which roughly translate as destroy

Give a Postal Subscription to

CatholicVoice This Christmas

We will send a Christmas card detailing the subscription to you for the recipient.

In Ireland 6 months €40 12 months €75 To Order Please Telephone 059-8627268 00353 59-8627268

1st January 2021

or dissolve and then put back together. The logo used for the Sligo Cathedral Mission says ‘destroy’ and also ‘restore’. The similarities between the two are obvious.

This is not to say that those who promoted the Sligo Cathedral Mission are demon worshippers, but it does call into question the origins of this logo. Remember that Adam and Eve were not bad people, in fact they were perfectly good people, created without original sin and with perfect integrity. Yet, they were deceived by the devil who tempted them with the power to become gods. There is a danger in modern times that we are exalting our health and our planet above God. In some cases the manic promotion of climatology is akin to worshipping the planet and raising the importance of the planet above the importance of mankind. We are created in the image and likeness of God and we will live long after the Earth has disappeared at the end of time.

This is not the first time that there have been worrying signs in the Elphin diocese. On two occasions that I know of, the Catholic Voice has been removed from circulation there. Two people contacted me in December to tell me that the paper had been removed from Sligo Cathedral after one day. These people do not believe that the paper was sold out but that it was removed.

On a prior occasion when Catholic Voice was removed from sale we were told that it had been said that the Catholic Voice was not a ‘Catholic’ paper. When asked to provide proof of anything contrary to the Catholic faith that had been published in the paper, those questioned declined to do so and the paper was put back on sale.

The Catholic Church is currently under serious attack from dark forces. We see this in Ireland with recent legislation on abortion and fake marriage, and with the corrupting sex education programmes that are allowed into our Catholic schools.

There is a danger that some of us may become discouraged and may even be led close to despair at times, but these are tactics of the evil one.

As Catholics we must live our lives in joyful hope that Jesus Christ is always with us, that He will never abandon us, and that regardless of the circumstances in which we have to live our lives, we must be prepared to bear courageous witness to our Catholic Faith. As I have said before on many occasions, anyone who tells you

1st January 2021 that being a faithful Catholic is easy, is not telling you the truth. In a way we have been blessed with a strong Catholic faith tradition in Ireland, but recent development show that the faith has been compromised during these ‘easy’ times. As Walter Macken noted, ‘the inducements of the easy road’ do far greater damage to the Catholic faith than outright persecution.

But persecution is never far off for Catholics. As Christ tells us is St John’s Gospel: “If the world hate you, know ye, that it has hated me before you.

If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Remember my word that I said to you: The servant is not greater than

WAITING IN JOYFUL HOPE 15

Catholic Voice his master. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you:” Regardless of the opposition we will face both within and without the Catholic Church when we stand up for the Truth, we must persevere and we must strive to maintain our sense of Joy which comes from knowing that God is in charge and that Christ has already won the victory.

Let us be more determined than ever in this New Year of 2021, to boldly proclaim our Catholic Faith and to strive earnestly to win souls for Christ.

Let us make the little aspersion that Our Lady gave to the children of Fatima our own.

‘O my Jesus, it is for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary I offer this sacrifice to Thee.’”

May I finally take this opportunity to thank all of you for your generous support in the difficult year of 2020.

Let us strive together to make sure that we grow the support for both Catholic Voice and The Lumen Fidei Institute in 2021 relying ever more on God’s help and trusting both ventures to the protection of St Joseph and Our Immaculate Mother Mary.

May God bless you

John Lacken

“Sacrifice yourselves for sinners; and say often, especially when you make some sacrifice:

The Five First Saturdays

There’s A Place For Us

This book is a collection of Rosary There’s a Place for Us meditations composed by the Homosexuality in the celebrated French Dominican, Father Divine Plan of Redemption Jacques Marie Louis Monsabré, which were translated into English in 1885. Although these were composed in before Our Lady visited Fatima, they are perfectly suitable for use with the Five First Saturdays Devotion of Reparation.

Jesus said to those who would stone her: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

The importance of the Five First Saturdays Devotion cannot be over emphasised, Our Lady specifically came from Heaven to Fatima to ask Catholics to honour her in this way. We would appreciate your help in getting this book to as many people as possible. The cost is €10.00 including post & packing to anywhere in Ireland and it would make a great Christmas present.

Jesus said to the woman: “Woman, where are they that accused thee? Hath no man condemned thee?

Who said: No man, Lord. And Jesus said: Neither will I condemn thee.”

“Go, And Now Sin No More.”

By John Cassidy

There’s A Place For Us: This testimony does not shirk away from difficult Catholic teachings but shows with piercing clarity why the Church teaches as she does the area of human sexuality. In our lives we are called to a lot more than sexual satisfaction. Rather, we are granted the privilege of living life on the highest possible plane in responding to the call of greatness of being the Sons and Daughters of God.

John Cassidy - Bio Ex-homosexual and New Man John Cassidy has been serving the Catholic Church as a full-time Lay-Man since his conversion in 2014. John has founded the Association of Believing Catholics which is a lay initiative to promote and defend the fullness of Catholic truth.

Paperback

Paperback

€/£10.00 inc p&p in Ireland

€/£6.00 inc p&p in Ireland

€/£15.70 inc p&p outside of Ireland

€/£9.40 inc p&p outside Ireland

To Order please telephone 087 1208779 ROI 00353 871208779 Outside ROI Alternatively, Order Online @ www.lumenfidei.ie/shop

THE EPIPHANY

Catholic Voice

1st January 2021

The Epiphany Of Our Lord Extracts from The Liturgical Year of Dom Prosper Gueranger.

The Feast of the Epiphany is the continuation of the mystery of Christmas; but it appears on the Calendar of the Church with its own special character. Its very name, which signifies Manifestation, implies that it celebrates the apparition of God to his creatures.

For several centuries the Nativity of our Lord was kept on this day; and when, in the year 376, the decree of the Holy See obliged all Churches to keep the Nativity on the. 25th December, as Rome did, the Sixth of January was not robbed of all its ancient glory. It was still to be called the Epiphany, and the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ was also commemorated on this same Feast, which Tradition had marked as the day on which that Baptism took place.

The Greek Church gives this Feast the venerable and mysterious name of Theophania, which is of such frequent recurrence in the early Fathers, as signifying a divine Apparition. We find this name applied to this Feast by Eusebius, St Gregory Nazianzen, and St Isidore of Pelusium. In the liturgical books of the Melchite Church the Feast goes under no other name.

The Orientals call this solemnity also the Holy Lights, on account of its being the day on which Baptism was administered; for, as we have just mentioned, our Lord was baptized on this same day. Baptism is called by the holy Fathers Illumination, and they who received it Illuminated.

Lastly, this Feast is called, in many countries, King’s Feast: it is of course an allusion to the Magi, whose journey to Bethlehem is so continually mentioned in to-day’s Office.

The Epiphany shares with the Feasts of Christmas, Easter. Ascension, and Pentecost the honour of being called, in the Canon of the Mass, a Day most holy. It is also one of the cardinal Feasts, that is, one of those on which the arrangement of the Christian Year is based; for, as we have Sundays after Easter, and Sundays after Pentecost, so also we count six Sundays after the Epiphany.

The Epiphany is indeed a great Feast, and the joy caused us by the Birth of .our Jesus must be renewed on it, for as though it were a second Christmas Day, it shows us our Incarnate God in a new light. It leaves us all the sweetness of the dear Babe of Bethlehem, who hath appeared to us already in love; but to this it adds its own grand manifestation of the divinity of our Jesus. At Christmas it was a few Shepherds that were invited by the Angels to go and recognize The Word Made Flesh; but now, at the Epiphany, the voice of God himself calls the whole world to adore this Jesus, and hear Him. The mystery of the Epiphany brings upon us three magnificent rays of the Sun of Justice, our Saviour. In the calendar of pagan Rome, this Sixth day of January was devoted to the celebration of a triple triumph of Augustus, the founder of the Roman Empire: but when Jesus, our Prince of peace, whose empire knows no limits, had secured victory to his Church by the blood of the Martyrs, then did this his church decree that a triple triumph of the Immortal King should be substituted, in the Christian Calendar, for those other three triumphs which had been won by the adopted son of Caesar.

The Sixth of January, therefore, restored the celebration of our Lord’s Birth to the TwentyFifth of December; but in return, there were united in the one same Epiphany three manifestations of Jesus’ glory: the mystery of the Magi coming from the East, under the guidance of a star, and adoring the Infant of Bethlehem as the divine King; the mystery of the Baptism of Christ, who, whilst standing in the waters of the Jordan, was proclaimed by the Eternal Father as Son of God; and thirdly, the mystery of the divine power of this same Jesus, when he changed the water into wine at the marriage-feast of Cana...

If we now come to consider these three mysteries of our Feast separately, we shall find that the Church of Rome, in her Office and Mass of to-day, is more intent on the Adoration of the Magi than on the other two.

The two great Doctors of the Apostolic See, St Leo and St Gregory, in their Homilies for this Feast, take it as the almost exclusive object of their preaching; though, together with St Augustine, St Paulinus of Nola, St Maximus of Turin, St Peter Chrysologus, St Hilary

1st January 2021

Catholic Voice

THE EPIPHANY 17

The Wise Men From The Orient of Aries, and St Isidore of Seville, they acknowledge the three mysteries of to-day’s Solemnity.· That the mystery of the Vocation of the Gentiles should be made thus prominent by the Church of Rome is not to be wondered at; for, by that heavenly vocation which, in the three Magi, called all nations to the admirable light of Faith, Rome, which till then had been the head of the Gentile world, was made the head of the Christian Church and of the whole human race...

Let us. then open our hearts to the joy of this grand Day; and on this Feast of the Theophany of the Holy Lights. of the Three Kings let us look with love at the dazzling beauty of our Divine Sun, who, as the Psalmist expresses it, runs his course as a Giant, and pours out upon us floods of a welcome and yet most vivid light.

The Shepherds who were called by the Angels to be the first worshippers have been joined by the Prince of Martyrs, the Beloved Disciple the dear troop of Innocents, our glorious Thomas of Canterbury, and Sylvester the Patriarch of Peace; and now to-day these Saints open their ranks to let the Kings of the East come to the Babe in his crib, bearing with them the prayers and adorations of the whole human race. The humble Stable is too little for such a gathering as this, and Bethlehem seems to be worth all the world besides. Mary, the Throne of the divine Wisdom, welcomes all the members of this court with her gracious smile of Mother and Queen; she offers her Son to man for his adoration, and to God, that he may be well pleased. God manifests himself to men, because he is great; but he manifests himself by Mary, because he is full of mercy.

The great Day, which now brings us to the crib of our Prince of Peace, has been marked by two great events of the first ages of the Church. It was on the Sixth of January in the year 361, and Julian, who in heart was already an apostate, happened to be at Vienne in Gaul.

He was soon to ascend the imperial throne, which would be left vacant by the death of Constantius, and he felt the need he had of the support of that Christian Church in which it is said he had received the order of Lector, and which, nevertheless, he was preparing to attack with all the cunning and cruelty of a tiger. Like Herod, he too would fain go on this Feast of the Epiphany, and adore the new-born King. His panegyrist Ammianus

Marcellinus tells us that this crowned Philosopher, who had been seen, just before, coming out of the pagan temple, where he had been consulting the soothsayers, made his way through the porticoes of the church, and standing in the midst of the faithful people, offered to the God of the Christians his sacrilegious homage.

Eleven years later, in the year 372, another Emperor found his way into the Church, on the same Feast of the Epiphany. It was Valens; a Christian, like Julian, by baptism; but a persecutor, in the name of Arianism, of that same Church which Julian persecuted in the name of his vain philosophy and still vainer gods. As Julian felt himself necessitated by motives of worldly policy to bow down, on this day, before the divinity of the Galilean; so, on this same day, the holy courage of a saintly Bishop made VaIens prostrate himself at the feet of Jesus the King of kings.

Saint Basil had just then had his famous interview with the Prefect Modestus, in which his episcopal intrepidity had defeated all the might of earthly power. Valens had come to Caesarea, and, with his soul defiled with the Arian heresy, he entered the Basilica, when the Bishop was celebrating, with his people, the glorious Theopkany. Let us listen to St Gregory Nazianzen, thus describing the scene with his usual eloquence: ‘The Emperor entered the church.

The chanting of the psalms echoed through the holy place like the rumbling of thunder. The people, like a waving sea, filled the house of God. Such was the order and pomp in and about the sanctuary, that it looked more like heaven than earth. St Basil himself stood erect before the people, as the Scripture describes Samuel — his body and eyes and soul motionless, as though nothing strange had taken place, and, if I may say so, his whole being was fastened to his God and the holy Altar. The sacred ministers, who .surrounded the Pontiff, were in deep recollectedness and reverence. The Emperor heard and saw all this. He had never before witnessed a spectacle so imposing. He was overpowered. His head grew dizzy, and darkness veiled his eyes.’

Jesus, the King of ages, the Son of God and the Son of Mary, had conquered. Valens was disarmed; his resolution of using violence against the holy’ Bishop was gone...

18 A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Catholic Voice

1st January 2021

A Christmas Carol Christopher Monckton of Brenchley Standing on the sturdy jetty at Carie Point on the southern shore of Loch Rannoch on a crystal-clear, starry night, thousands upon thousands of stars hanging silently above us, we looked up to the West and saw the cloud-like wisp of light that is the heart of the Andromeda megagalaxy rushing towards us. The galaxy, prosaically catalogued by astronomers as M31, is enormous. It occupies 17 degrees of arc, though only its heart can be seen with the naked eye. It will collide with our galaxy to form a globular cluster in about a billion years. That will be a spectacular sight.

One night a housewife, mother of four and formidable astrophysicist (how did she find the time?), carefully studied the outer stars of Andromeda through a giant telescope. She discovered that they were rotating about the galactic centre with much the same angular momentum as the innermost stars close to its monstrous, raging black hole.

Hers was one of the earliest observations that led to the theory that dark matter must exist. For unless that vast, silent galaxy were bound rigidly together by the gravitational attraction of dark matter, so that it rotated much as though it were a solid disc, the outer stars would have a longer orbital

ACCOMMODATION WANTED

Mature single and retired lady - non smoker - seeks accommodation.

Non driver so requires to be on bus route or near services Telephone: 086-4019508

Youtube Screen grab

period than the inner stars, just like the planets of the Solar System.

Thus went the theory: but a recent re-evaluation has tended to support Monckton’s hypothesis that whatever cataclysmic force set the spiral galaxies spinning was so great that the outer stars, with little or no gravitational attraction from celestial bodies beyond their own galaxy to slow them down, have simply continued to orbit the galactic centre at something close to the original rate at which they were flung into eternal orbit.

garish, unloved and egregiously supererogatory sodium-arc streetlights in the tiny, stone-built village of Kinloch Rannoch, at the end of the loch three miles east of Carie Point.

Anyone who has what is today the rare privilege of gazing up at the stars cannot but be struck by the sheer inventiveness of the Creator of all that was and is and is to come.

How in Heaven did He think up all of that, and set it in motion, and lay down the laws by which it would live and move and have its being?

In that event, perhaps there is no such thing as dark matter. We cannot see it for the good and sufficient reason that it is not there.

To paraphrase Hughes Mearns, “I met dark matter in the air. I met it but it wasn’t there. It wasn’t there again today. I wish that it would go away.”

When He gave us free will, He gave us something of His inventive power. Social psychologists, a sour and gloomy bunch of killjoys, say that only one in 100 of us will ever use that power and invent anything, for the uninventive majority tend to resent invention, and too often to reward it only with grief.

Rannoch is one of the few places in these crowded islands where there is no light pollution, which is why there was such fury locally when the numpties at Perth and Kinross Council decided to install pointless,

For all that, we are a lovably inventive species. And nowhere is our power of invention more charmingly expressed than in the countless ways we have found to thank the Lord of Life for giving us

1st January 2021

Catholic Voice

A CHRISTMAS CAROL 19

something of the life and love and laughter of the stars.

Now that we are safely into Christmastide, I have allowed myself a treat that I sternly deny myself for the rest of the year. I listen to my favourite Marian Christmas carol, Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen, a Catholische gesang whose simple, traditional melody was first printed in the Speierisches Gesangbuch of 1599.

The musical scholar Michael Praetorius came upon it in the Gesangbuch and, ten years later, gave it the magnificent four-part harmony that is sung by the world’s choirs to this day. The Nazis tampered with the ancient words to remove the mention of Jesse, on the ground that he was a Jew. That characteristically loutish interference did not survive them.

Now that the internet is at our command, we can hunt for the very best versions of our favourite music. I have played that innocent game with Es ist ein Ros’. Yes, the King’s Singers do it nicely, if rather bloodlessly. Ditto the Ottawa Bach Choir. The Jena Students’ Choir belt it out. Even Andre Rieu, the master of blue-rinsed kitsch and schlock, has a go, though the words are mumbled and muffled. The Ensemble Chanticleer come close, very close.

But unquestionably the best version is by the Gesualdo Six, founded only six years ago to perform Gesualdo’s Tenebrae responsories in the Chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge in 2014. The Six are all learned musical scholars. Most of them are not only singers but also keyboard specialists or organ scholars.

They recorded their version standing beneath the great octagonal lantern tower of Ely Cathedral, the Ship of the Fens, once surrounded by the North Sea but now, thanks to the inventiveness of the Dutch engineer Jan Vermuyden, watching majestically over – and visible from – hundreds of thousands of acres of flat, fertile farm fields.

Aside from the Six, the vast cathedral – one of the few Gothic cathedrals that stirs my soul, for I am a Classicist and not so much a Gothicist – is empty. The recording was made in the evening, with the cathedral lit in a honeyed glow.

And O, the singing! It is acapella, and all the more moving for that. In the most perfectly-enunciated German, the Six give the gentlest, most reverent, most thrilling performance of this lovely, simple harmony.

The balance between the voices is meticulously maintained throughout.

Unlike most choral consorts, the Gesualdo Six take the fullest advantage of the Classical freedoms: momentto-moment, delicately controlled variations of tempo, dynamic range and articulation. You don’t get

Original Melody And Lyrics From 1599

any of those in the clang-bang-twang of contemporary music.

But the chief glory of this profound and worshipful performance is the counter-tenor, Guy James, who is justifiably in great demand. He has sung both at Westminster Abbey and at Westminster cathedral, as well as with numerous ensembles and choirs, and has contributed to two dozen choral CDs. And – what’s not to like? – he plays cricket when he is not singing.

His performance of the soprano part is a triumph of self-effacing sensitivity. Owain Park, the director, rightly gives him his head, particularly in the closing stanza: O Jesu, bis zum Scheiden aus diesem Jammertal, Lass Dein hilf uns geleiten hin in den Freudensaal.

In Deines Vaters Reich da wir Dich ewig loben, o Gott, uns dass verleih.

O Jesu, till our parting out of this vale of woe, O with Thy help escort us there to the hall of joy.

Within Thy Father’s realm, There may we ever praise Thee; God, this on us bestow.

I like to imagine that our Creator, looking down upon the six singers praising Him so beautifully at the heart of the great Cathedral whose architects and craftsmen had laboured for a hundred years to praise Him in a symphony of stone, does not regret having given us free will and, with it, the power of invention.

20 COVID TAKEOVER

Catholic Voice

1st January 2021

‘Apocalypse’: British Doc Writes Scathing Essay Aghast At Government Covid Takeover Dorothy Cummings McLean

The doctor, who calls himself ‘The Covid Physician,’ writes forebodingly of ‘a medical tyranny transitioning to a technocratic totalitarianism.’

A veteran British doctor has written an essay detailing how much damage the government’s approach to the outbreak of COVID-19 is doing to the practice of medicine and how much government overreach threatens personal liberty.

The physician, who has practiced for 25 years, has written his third essay for the online magazine The Critic under the pseudonym “The Covid Physician,” detailing his disgust with the government.

“The post-Covid pseudo-medical order has not only destroyed the medical paradigm I faithfully practised as a medical doctor last year,” he wrote in “A day in the life of the Covid Physician,” but “[i]t has inverted it. I do not recognise the government apocalypse in my medical reality. The breath-taking

speed and ruthless efficiency with which the media-industrial complex have co-opted our medical wisdom, democracy and government to usher in this new medical order is a revolutionary act.”

“A medical tyranny transitioning to a technocratic totalitarianism,” he continued.

The Covid Physician is clearly more frightened of what powerful non-doctors in the government are doing than he is of the coronavirus itself. COVID-19, he feels, is not particularly fatal, rating in severity somewhere between “the flu and the Hong Kong flu.”

“The average age of a Covid death is about 82 years — similar to the normal lifespan, the general survival rate of a Covid ‘case’ is 99.6 per cent. In the under 20s it is virtually 100 per cent,” he wrote.

The Covid Physician began his essay by considering the suffering of a high-needs patient with motor

neurone disease, “an asylum seeker who thought she was escaping persecution and tyranny,” who is avoided by carers and visited by doctors only virtually, over the internet, thanks to the lockdown.

And she’s not the only one.

“It occurs to me that the dehumanising, forced impoverishment and restrictions of my refugee and asylum patient group is now upon us all — meagre social credits, not allowed to work, restricted movement, restricted access to healthcare. We are all in the same Lockdown boat, now,” he wrote.

The doctor described himself beginning his boring day of “seeing, yet not seeing” his patients over the computer by wondering where all the “unwell” ones had gone.

I wonder. How many can I prevent from coming in, today? Then a brief thought comes to me … like a sliver of light illuminating a former career … yes … I remember now … where have all the unwell patients gone? Where are all the children with high fevers — we used to see so many. Now none. Where are all those unexpected emergencies that should have dialled 999? Where did they go? What happens to them, now? Does Covid really displace and cure all else? I shrug off these heavy questions with a disturbing ease. I still need to put food on the table. Is this how the doctors coped in Auschwitz? Am I losing my compassion?

He is greatly annoyed by nondoctor Matt Hancock, the Conservative politician who is now Britain’s secretary of state for health and social care. Hancock has stated that the new COVID vaccine

1st January 2021

Catholic Voice

COVID TAKEOVER 21

is necessary to reduce the risk of people getting the coronavirus and influenza together, which The Covid Physician said is “most unlikely.” “[B]ut as this is the thoroughly abnormal new normal what can we do in a parliamentary dictatorship to correct him?” he asked.

Hancock is also a “blunt instrument,” the writer believes. He is bemused when another doctor sends him a message to complain about having to “deliver this vaccine” on short notice. The Covid Physician reflects that even if it takes two months to get the nation inoculated, the health minister will be able to preserve his job or get another one.

“He would still be able to inject some of his cringeworthy pharmaceutical ‘hope in millions of arms’ with boots on the ground before another Ides of March mortality spike,” the Physician wrote.

“Certainly, a vaccine is the only hope for his political career. But I feel sure AstraZeneca, or a Health Informatics company like Babylon or OWKIN would ease his pain with a lucrative sinecure as he happily revolves out of government. Either way, live or die, the chances are any vaccine will be political win-win for him.”

In contrast, The Covid Physician praises former Pfizer executive Dr. Michael Yeadon, another coronavirus lockdown skeptic. He notes that the expert was soon shut down.

“It was a breath of fresh air when someone with compassion, knowledge and wisdom finally spoke,” he wrote.

“Dr. Mike Yeadon, former VP of Pfizer and briefly, excolleague of Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance.

His film was censored by YouTube within 24 hours. In the same week Facebook censored a medical post by Dr. Carl Heneghan, an Oxford Professor of EvidenceBased Medicine and GP as coronavirus ‘false information.’”

The Covid Physician believes that a “virtual pogrom” against doctors and scientists who do not agree with the ruling narrative about the coronavirus is taking place.

But even worse, perhaps, is the government’s collection of genetic data from medical health workers from across Britain.

“When we NHS workers were mass-tested in June,

they took whole-blood samples,” The Covid Physician wrote.

“I was not consented for anything other than the inaccurate Roche antibody test. A business colleague had developed a finger-prick test which was far more accurate at the time, but someone trained in the humanities at the civil service declined it,” he continued.

“It seemed feckless, but whole-blood means other tests can be done later, such as T-cell immunity studies. Sure enough, that data has subsequently emerged from PHE. So, what’s to say Moderna will not be given access to our samples and/or our data without explicit consent?

This has been occurring elsewhere in the NHS at an unregulated pace with Google’s DeepMind project.”

The Covid Physican, pondering the mass testing and mass quarantining of Britons going on, wonders if a form of “communism” has simply conquered the Western world.

“I think of the Nuremberg Code, medical ethics, and patient choice,” he wrote.

“I cannot believe how disproportionate the massive political response is to the relatively small magnitude of the medical problem. I recall the UN declaration of Bioethics and Human Rights.

Why are states breaking so many sacred global covenants for something which has killed somewhere on the scale from flu to Hong Kong flu?”

“Such a flimsy, phoney pretext with which to bring the world to its knees. My concern is a medical version of communism has captured the WHO and our nation states.”

22 SAINTS BASIL & GREGORY

Catholic Voice

1st January 2021

A Picture of a Strong Bishop in the Face of Suffering Monsignor Charles Pope

On January 2nd, we celebrated the feast of St. Basil and St. Gregory Nazianzen. They were bishops in Cappadocia (modern-day Turkey) during the stormy period of the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ. Despite the strong affirmation by the Council of Nicaea, the Arian heretics did not desist. Saints Basil and Gregory were strong forces for truth in the long battle to stamp out the heresy.

When the emperor, Julian the Apostate, sought to compel bishops to admit Arian heretics to Holy Communion both these bishops refused to comply.

An interaction between St. Basil and the local prefect of the emperor shows forth an image of a strong bishop that is rare today.

Encountering St. Basil’s resistance, the prefect said, “Are you mad, that you resist the will [of the emperor] before which the whole world bows? Do you not dread the wrath of the emperor, nor exile, nor death?”

“No,” said Basil calmly, “he who has nothing to lose need not dread loss of goods; you cannot exile me, for the whole earth is my home; as for death, it would be the greatest kindness you could bestow upon me; torments cannot harm me: one blow would end my frail life and my sufferings together.”

“Never,” said the prefect, “has anyone dared to address me thus.”

“Perhaps,” suggested Basil, “you never before measured your strength with a Christian bishop” (from Butler’s Lives of the Saints).

The emperor backed down.

The lives of early bishops were filled with suffering, exile, and martyrdom. Thirty of the first thirty-

three popes were martyred, two died in exile, and only one died in his own bed. It was a similar story with many ancient bishops, for example Athanasius, Chrysostom, Basil, and Gregory. It’s hard to imagine many among the current leaders of the Church enduring such suffering.

Many bishops and higher clergy today live comfortable, protected lives. Even less elevated clergymen live fairly insular lives, shielded from the ordinary struggles of the laity. Many of us have healthcare, housing, laundry services, prepared meals, and staff to handle many day-to-day matters. God bless all of our staff and God’s good people, who care for us so well.

There comes a point, though, when we clergy become soft, no longer able to relate to even small sufferings, let alone larger ones that might come from preaching the Gospel in an uncompromising and clear way. Failing to accept this suffering in our own lives, we fear to preach it to others.

Unlike St. Basil, who had felt he had nothing to lose, we modern clergy often think we have too much to lose. Indeed, the whole Church (at least in the prosperous West) fears we have too much to lose. We fear the loss of popularity, political power, and access; we fear the impact on our careers; we fear the loss of buildings, institutions, and

1st January 2021

Catholic Voice

programs as well as the money and power needed to sustain them. We seem to fear just about everything except the loss of our faith, which we are too willing compromise, ignore, or water down in order to keep the lesser things.

Ultimately, however, this world and the devil will never be satisfied with compromises we make until every last bit of our integrity is gone.

Whatever time we buy through compromise is temporary; it is a pyrrhic “victory.” Despite all our attempts to fit in with the modern world, we are still closing churches and schools; Catholic charities are losing contracts; our members are continuing to drift away. The world cannot save us; being popular or up to date does not inspire faith or attract converts. Owning nice buildings is worthless if they are empty.

SAINTS BASIL & GREGORY 23

We end with a paradox. Acting out of fear that we have too much to lose will mean that we lose everything.

Freely accepting that we have nothing to lose will mean that we gain everything, for we gain Christ Jesus and all that He promises us here and in the life to come.

But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you (Matthew 6:33).

And anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it (Matthew 10:38-39).

May St. Basil, St. Gregory, and all the heroes and martyrs pray for us, clergy and laity alike!

Saint Gregory Of Nazianzus.

By Francesco Bartolozzi (1728 - 1815)

24 A SPIRITUAL PLAN

Catholic Voice

1st January 2021

Be Victorious In The New Year With A Spiritual Plan Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

One of the concrete manifestations of growing in good will towards God is by formulating and writing out, in a clear and practical way, a “Plan of Life”. The variety of ways to hammer out a Plan of Life are limitless; the one proposed in this article focuses on the various areas in life and on how we can improve and make our life a fragrance pleasing to God. Let us make the Psalmist’s prayer our prayer: “O Lord give success to the work of our hands.”

A Plan of Life ought to bring order to whatever is disordered in our lives. Due to sin, our lives are marked by upheaval, confusion, and disorder. Opposing this is the Holy Spirit, who brings about good order. From this order comes peace of heart, mind and soul. The Augustinian definition of peace is “tranquillity of order.”

What Order Will You Bring?

Before writing out your specific Plan of Life, why not give the spiritual project a specific theme, motto, or emphasis for the year?

areas. It’s much better to formulate proposals that are practical rather than idealistic ones that go away the first week of January! y l ekl We rituar Spi nne Pla

Remember the words of Jesus: “He who is faithful in the small will be faithful in the greater.” And we see this in the saints as the essence of the spirituality of St Therese is to undertake the ordinary things of one’s daily life with extraordinary love. Here we have the secret key to holiness!

Here are some specific areas to include in your Plan of Life.

Some suggestions: Choose a corporal or spiritual work of mercy that you feel God is challenging you to embrace and live out this year. Maybe you prefer to take one of the Stations of the Cross, and that can be your motif.

Or else you can choose one of the eight Beatitudes found in Matthew 5:1-12 and strive to live that out with the help of your Plan of Life.

Perhaps you would like to have a Marian theme; choose one of the Mysteries of the Holy Rosary as your guiding star for the New Year.

Finally, you might prefer choosing a Biblical verse or scene that captivates your attention: Jesus walking on the water, or one of his words from the cross, “I thirst…” or, “Lord strengthen my faith…” It could even be the heart of Divine Mercy: “Jesus I trust in you.”

Consider These In Your Plan Of Life

Now we will proceed into the Plan of Life and give various specific areas that we want to examine honestly, we will then make a short, practical proposal so as to improve in these

1. Prayer Life Examine seriously the tenor, tone, and present status of your prayer life. Then pray about how you can make improvements. One suggestion: Why not decide to give just five minutes of prayer every day?

2. Confession & Reconciliation By birth, we are all sinners. Until our dying day, we must fight fiercely — trusting more in God’s grace, to overcome sin in our lives.

Sin is mortal enemy number one.

One of the most efficacious means to conquer sin is through the reception of the Sacrament of Confession.

God’s healing touch and grace manifests itself most abundantly through this Sacrament.

My suggestion: Go to confession more frequently (you can decide).

Also, it’s best to prepare yourself the night before you confess and, after, learn to trust more in God’s mercy.

Victory through God’s mercy!

1st January 2021

Catholic Voice

A SPIRITUAL PLAN 25

3. Holy Mass and Holy Communion

Our eternal salvation depends on allowing Jesus to save us. The name “Jesus” means Saviour.

Jesus outlines a clear and concrete plan of action to be saved in His “Bread of Life Discourse” (John 6:22-71). Read it and meditate upon this Word of life. To sum up Jesus’ message in a few words, the salvation of our immortal souls depends upon eating and drinking.

Adam and Eve ate and they brought death to the world. Jesus promises us eternal life through eating and drinking His Body and Blood through reception of Holy Communion. He states clearly without stammer or stutter: “I am the Bread of Life, whoever eats my Body and drinks my Blood will have everlasting life and I will raise Him up on the last day.”

Action point: aim for daily Mass and Holy Communion! If this is already your practice, come ten minutes early before Mass and offer your own intentions, depositing them on the altar. The graces that flow into your heart are in direct proportion to your preparation and disposition. One Holy Communion could transform us into saints!

Fantastic!

4. Apostolic Life To be a follower of Christ is to be a missionary. The last words of Jesus before ascending into heaven were, “Go out to all the world and teach them all that I taught you and behold I will be with you always even until the end of time” (Matthew 28). We are challenged to grow in our faith, but also to share our faith with others. Indeed one of the best ways to fortify one’s own faith is to share it with others! Try it! What might be a concrete way?

In the family, suggest the daily recitation of the Rosary. Outside, invite a fallen away Catholic back

home to the Catholic Church. If we love God we should love what God loves — the salvation of souls!

5. Permanent Formation Catholics today must make a concerted effort to learn their faith more deeply; our Catholic faith is a fathomless ocean in its depth and width. Set aside at least 15 minutes every day to apply yourself to a serious study of your Catholic faith.

6. Penance To take flight a bird needs two wings. So as to soar high in the spiritual atmosphere the soul needs to apply itself seriously to two practices: prayer and penance.

Our Lady of Fatima, who appeared to the three little shepherd children insisted that they pray — especially the most Holy Rosary — but also that they offer up sacrifices for the conversion of poor sinners. Jesus expressed this bluntly: “Unless we do penance we will perish.” Here is a suggestion: since Friday is the day that we are obliged to do penance, why not choose one of the following: no meat, give up sweets for the day, fast from watching television, eat less, make the Way of the cross, do not complain the whole day!

7. Work All of us are called to work. God said to Adam that he would earn his bread by the sweat of his brow.

St. Paul exhorts us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

We also all know probably from personal experience that idleness is the workshop of the devil. Examine carefully your daily work and see areas for improvement.

Proposal: be punctual in starting, hard in working, and honest in the hour you leave. Remember that you are working for the Lord. As St. Paul reminds us, “Whether you eat or drink do all for the Lord!”

8. Vocational Call Most are called to the life of marriage; some are called to the priesthood and religious life and others are called to the single life. If one is called to the married life then a clear examination of conscience and concrete proposals can be made with respect to one’s plan of life? Examine and respond to these questions: How can I be a better wife/husband/ son/daughter? How can I improve as father/mother?

Pray over this and the Holy Spirit will inspire you with a concrete proposal.

26 A SPIRITUAL PLAN 9. Spiritual Direction In addition to frequent confession, spiritual reading, and serious theological studies, those who are pursuing the path of perfection should have some form of periodic Spiritual Direction. St. John of the Cross put it bluntly: “He who has himself as spiritual director has an idiot for a disciple.”

Catholic Voice with the utmost conviction: “The quickest, easiest and most efficacious path to holiness is through True Devotion to Mary.”

In other words, she is the short cut to God! Proposals: The Daily Rosary, Consecration to Mary through True Devotion, reading about Mary, living in the presence of Mary and imitation of Mary’s virtue. Choose your weakest virtue this year and beg for Mary’s intercession to conquer yourself!

In other words we all have blind spots and need someone other than ourselves to help us on the demanding and rigorous path to becoming a saint.

Conclusion Let us conclude with the words Advice: pray that God will help you of wisdom taken from Adolphe to find this guide. If you have already Tanquerey in his classic, “The discovered one be thankful humble, Spiritual Life”: docile and obedient!

“The man who holds to a 10. Mary: Our Life, Our Sweetness, well-defined rule of life saves and Our Hope considerable time: A successful plan of life would be incomplete if Mary were neglected. 1. He wastes no time in hesitation.

As St. Louis de Montfort asserts He knows exactly what he

1st January 2021 is to do, and when he is to do it. Even if his schedule is not mathematically detailed, at least it sets off time-periods and lays down principles with regard to religious exercises, recreation, work, etc…

2. There is little or nothing unforeseen, for even should the unusual occur, he has already provided for it by determining beforehand exercises that may be shortened and the manner of making up for them. At all events, as soon as these exceptional circumstances cease to exist, he immediately comes back to his rule.

3. Inconstancy likewise vanishes.

The rule urges him to do always what is prescribed, and that every day and at every hour of the day. Thus the habits are formed that, give continuity to his life and assure perseverance; his days are full days, teeming with good works and merits.” (# 560)

1st January 2021

Catholic Voice

THE ANGEL OF FATIMA 27

Is the Angel of Portugal Actually Saint Michael the Archangel?

“My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love you,” the angel prayed.

“I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love you.”

James Day

The “5 October 1910 Revolution,” as it was known, overthrew the Portuguese monarchy and instituted the Portuguese First Republic.

The Catholic monarchy was established by King Alfonso I Henriques of Portugal as far back as 1139. Over the next eight centuries, Portuguese Catholicism quietly but firmly rooted itself as the country’s anchor. Those in charge of the Portuguese First Republic, anti-clerical and opposed to Catholicism’s ties with the monarchy, had difficulty in shaking off the faith of the overwhelming majority of Portuguese who identified as Catholic. This included the faith of those in Fatima, location of the great apparitions granted to three peasant children amid not only the rule of the Portuguese First Republic, but also World War I. We know from the memoirs of Sister Lúcia that her first visionary experience was not of the Blessed Mother, but of a statue-like, gleaming young man. In the spring of 1916, Lúcia was playing a game with pebbles while tending sheep with her younger cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Martos. All three encountered an appearance of a young man. “It is in the middle of an olive grove that belongs to my godfather, Anastacio,” Sister Lúcia relates in her memoirs. She continues: “We had only been at it a few moments when a strong wind began

Statue of The Angel of Portugal, Fatima - Photo - Castinçal (wikimedia commons)

to shake the trees and we looked up to see what was happening, since it was such a calm day. And then we began to see, in the distance, above the trees that stretched to the east, a light whiter than snow in the form of a young man, quite transparent, and as brilliant as crystal in the rays of the sun. As he came near we were able to see his features.

We were astonished and absorbed and we said nothing to one another.

And then he said: ‘Do not be afraid.

I am the angel of peace. Pray with me.’ He knelt, bending his forehead to the ground. With a supernatural impulse we did the same, repeating the words we heard him say: ‘My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love you. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love you.’”

In a second appearance in the summer of 1916, the angel identifies himself as “the angel of Portugal.” A third and final appearance, in fall 1916, a full year before the appearance of Our

Lady at the Cova da Iria, included an extraordinary moment where the angel administers the Eucharist to the children, the Host bleeding into the chalice. “Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men! Make reparation for their crimes and console your God,” the angel implored.

Who is the angel of Portugal? How powerful this angel must be to offer Christ in such a mystical way to the three privileged children!

Angel of Portugal To identify this angel, let us return to the founding of the Kingdom of Portugal, with King Alfonso I. This future first king was born in Guimarães in northern Portugal around 1109. Guimarães Castle, an imposing Romanesque structure built in the 10th century, contained a small chapel. It is widely believed Alfonso was baptised here. The chapel’s name is Igreja de São Miguel do Castelo — the Church of

28 THE ANGEL OF FATIMA

Catholic Voice

Saint Michael do Castelo. An enduring tradition among the monarchs of Portugal is that every royal palace thereafter was dedicated to Saint Michael.

The battle against the Moors that gave Alfonso the capability to declare himself king of Portugal, the Battle of Ourique, is preserved in Portuguese tradition as one in which Christ and the Guardian Angel of Portugal, along with other heavenly hosts, appeared to Aflonso. Eight years later, Alfonso Henriques and 250 Kingdom of Portugal knights conquered Santarem from the Moors on March 15, 1147, 50 kilometres south of Fatima. The popular Portuguese story details an eclipse of the sun in Santarem, out of which emerged the winged Saint Michael the Archangel.

That same year, under the authorisation of King Alfonso, a dynastic order was established in Portugal in gratitude for the conquest. Its name was the Order of Saint Michael of the Wing, named after that miraculous apparition in the sky during the taking of Santarem. It was recognised by Pope Alexander III in 1171 and is still active today.

In 1504, Pope Julius II approved King Manuel I’s request for a feast day dedicated to the Custodian Angel

HANDS OFF OUR KIDS

PROTECTING PARENTAL CHOICE IN THE CLASSROOM

This CD of the compelling talk given by Charlotte McQuaid-Bruen at Catholic Voice annual conference 2019, sums up the proposed sex education to be taught across schools in Ireland in 2020. Parents, grandparents, friends, family members and clergy need to be informed about what their children are going to be subjected to.

Please help spread this talk TODAY. 4 CDs inc p&p €20

1 CD inc p&p €7.50

Complete coupon and return with cheque/postal order to The Lumen Fidei Institute, Raith, Aghamore, Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo F35 V127 Name: ...........................................................................................

Address: ........................................................................................ ....................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................

Phone No: .....................................................................................

Please send me ______copies of the CD - ‘Hands off our Kids’ Total Enclosed: € ________ To pay by post with credit/debit card please complete: Card number: ______________________________________ Expiry Date: _________________ C.V.V._______________

1st January 2021

of the Kingdom of Portugal. The feast day was set for June 10, known today as Portugal Day. Three days after the Feast of the Custodian Angel on June 13, 1917, the Blessed Mother appeared to Lúcia, Francisco, and Jacinta for the second time. “I want you to continue saying the Rosary every day,” she instructed. “And after each one of the mysteries, my children, I want you to pray in this way: ‘O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.’”

Also at that visit, Our Lady assured Lúcia, “I will be with you always, and my Immaculate Heart will be your comfort and the way which will lead you to God.” With this prayer, particularly the exhortation to “lead all souls into heaven,” Saint Michael is here invoked, as guide of the deceased towards the light of God’s face.

Though unnamed as specifically Saint Michael himself, as we have seen the Angel of Peace, Guardian Angel of Portugal, provided the Body of Christ and Precious Blood to Lúcia, Jacinta, and Francisco in his final appearance before the 1917 apparitions. Could this also be a veiled reference to Saint Michael as loyal subject to the Eucharistic Lord?

Saint Michael so venerates the Eucharist he is known as the Guardian of the Blessed Sacrament.

For instance, Saint Gerard Majella (1726-1755), the patron saint for expectant mothers, was visited by Saint Michael and given his First Holy Communion at the age of seven. It is therefore not out of the realm of possibility that this Angel of Peace, preparing three children for the most remarkable encounter with the apparition of the Blessed Virgin — who would grant the children insights into glimpses of hell, foretell coming war, and urge the conversion of Russia (which that very year banished the Christian House of Romanov) — was also none other than Saint Michael the Archangel.

Additionally, the image of the flaming sword from the July 13, 1917 apparition inescapably evokes the revolving flaming sword guarding the entrance to Eden: “He expelled the man, stationing the cherubim and the fiery revolving sword east of the garden of Eden, to guard the way to the tree of life” (cf. Gen. 3:24).

In Book Eleven of John Milton’s epic poem in blank verse, Paradise Lost (1667), it is Saint Michael who leads a troop of cherubim from heaven to the Garden to cast out Adam and Eve and blockade Eden with the fiery sword.

1st January 2021 Catholic Voice

THE ANGEL OF FATIMA 29

An Angel of Peace in a time of war, asserting his identity as Portugal’s protector, guardian of the Eucharist, and chaperone of the souls upon death. Instead of appearing to three illiterate peasant children, two of whom would die less than two years after the 1917 apparitions, why would not Saint Michael, that is, the angel of peace, interfere directly with the raging Great War then underway, inspiring troops in the same way as Alfonso I and his armies were motivated by sights of the archangel?

In many ways, the Europe of 19161917 was an alien world to the Europe of the 12th century. Civil leaders who asserted power by toppling monarchies were suspicious of religion, and vehemently opposed to any mingling of Church and State. Instead such access fell to the little ones, not emperors or kings. Children were thus chosen as recipients of divine graces and messages, from Bernadette of Lourdes to Lúcia, Francisco, and Jacinta. That the Fatima apparitions occurred during the turbulence of World War I is not without

coincidence. The Angel of Peace comes to three children in time of war just as he appeared throughout Portugal’s history. The pope during the Great War, Benedict XV, who vigorously sought a way to negotiate peace among the warring nations, earns the name the Pope of Peace. The angel holding the flaming sword — symbolising, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger taught in his theological commentary on the third secret of Fatima, judgment

pending over the world — appears frightening and foreboding in the July 13, 1917 apparition at the Cova da Iria.

And rightly so. But the angel is also loyally on the side of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who promised to the children whose messages continue to captivate and transform those who fall in love with the story of Fatima, that it in the end, “My Immaculate Heart will triumph.”

“To forestall this [the second world war], I shall come to ask for the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays.

“If they heed My requests, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace. If not, she shall spread her errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecutions of the Church; the good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated; in the end, My Immaculate Heart shall triumph.

(Our Lady - Fatima July 13th 1917)

Please Help Us To Promote The Five First Saturdays of Reparation Order Some of Our New Five First Saturday Devotions Cards These cards are designed to help people to complete The Five First Saturdays Devotion of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Contact John Lacken 085-1208779 secretary@lumenfidei.ie

Fatima Prayer

Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He Himself is offended, and through the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary I beg of thee the conversion of poor sinners. Amen.

30 BOOKS

Catholic Voice

1st January 2021

STRENG THEN YOUR FAITH DURING THIS CRISIS r for o

yourself BUY CATHOLIC BOOKS! Buy for nd. a frie

DON’T GO TO HELL Catholic Church Teaching on Hell

THE CHURCH IN OUR TIMES

This book contains three essays, one in question & answer format, from a time when pastors were more direct and ‘plain speaking’ in presenting the Truth of Catholic doctrine to their flocks.

They were primarily concerned with the salvation of the souls entrusted to their care rather than being overly concerned about whether or not their flocks would find these Truths offensive or difficult.

They sought the Praise and Glory of God, and not the praise of men.

is a series of reflections on topical issues concerning the Catholic Church and the practice of the faith ranging from ‘Faith and Culture’, to ‘GLBT – New thinking’, to ‘Purgatory and Remembrance’. Fr Hahesy’s style is conversational and he weaves through the various topics all the while pointing to the soul’s need for God. “The daily prayers at the end of this book, will ensure the salvation of our soul and a happier life here. Please believe me. It does not seem much to ask for such a great reward. To know and love God is the ultimate good whether people know this or not, accept it or not.”

€/£7 inc p&p Ireland €/£8.50 inc p&p outside Ireland

€/£10 inc p&p Ireland €/£12 inc p&p outside Ireland

In this book, Dr. van den Aardweg debunks many of the myths created by the global homosexualist movement. The argument for gay “marriage” is exposed as a deception in this ground breaking book. For many years the public has been indoctrinated with unfounded assertions which in fact are no more than modern fairy tales sold as science. In other words, as regards homosexuality, people hear and read mostly lies. The book explains why the deception is possible and shows why no assertion of the gay ideology has been scientifically validated. €/£9 inc p&p Ireland €/£10.50 inc p&p outside Ireland

SIN AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

EGO EIMI - IT IS I

“May the present book of Rev. Fr. de Malleray FSSP, a beautiful and impressive “paper shrine to the Most Holy Eucharist”, have a wide diffusion and be a practical spiritual aid in order to renew the Catholic Faith, the Catholic Love and the Catholic Worship of the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist.” + Athanasius Schneider.

“This highly readable, informative, and edifying treatise on the Holy Eucharist will enrich the understanding and devotion of Catholics regardless of their prior knowledge of the subject: I recommend it wholeheartedly.” Dr Joseph Shaw PhD,

SCIENCE SAYS NO

This really is a fantastic book which presents Catholic teaching on sin in a simple, clear and precise way. You will learn about the nature of sin, about the different kinds of sin, mortal and venial, formal and material sins.

Reflections on the Abortion Issue in Ireland.

Oxf, Chairman of The Latin Mass Society.

The book also teaches us about sins of omission. After discussing sin, the book then speaks of the great graces offered to us in the sacrament of confession, it teaches us about temptations, about Christ’s suffering and death on the cross, and then it finishes with a very hope filled chapter on the joys of the resurrection.

Many countries, including Ireland, have removed the right to life from the Constitution and given the legislature the power to legalise abortion, which by definition is the intentional killing of the unborn child.

The assumption is that unborn babies have no human rights. The essays in this monograph expose the fallacy that unborn babies do not have the right to life and may be ‘terminated’ if that is the ‘choice’ of the mother. In the New Ireland, human killing is now legal. It is estimated that 800 – 900 unwanted unborn babies are ‘terminated’ every month. Abortion has become the murder machine of our time.”

€/£9 inc p&p Ireland €/£12 inc p&p outside Ireland

€/£10 inc p&p Ireland €/£12 inc p&p outside Ireland

€/£13.50 inc p&p Ireland €/£15 inc p&p outside Ireland

Book Title/s: ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ Credit/Debit Card Number: __________________________________________________ Expiry Date: _______________________________

C.V.V. ________________

Total Enclosed: €/£__________________________ Name:

_________________________________________________________________

Address: _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Post Code: __________________________________ Daytime Tel: ________________________________

Send completed form with cheque/postal order made payable to Catholic Voice or with credit/debit card details to: Catholic Voice, St Michael’s House, Castlemitchell South, Athy, Co Kildare, Ireland or telephone 059 8627268 (00353 59862726 8 from outside Ireland) Please allow 14 working days for delivery.

CLASSIFIEDS 31

1st January 2021 Catholic Voice

CLASSIFIEDS From Our Lady of Fatima Do you want peace in the world?

Will you do what Our Lady tells you?

Say the Rosary every day.

Do the Five First Saturdays in honour of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Those who spread this devotion will be placed by Our Lady as flowers before the throne of Almighty God. Next issue of

CatholicVoice On sale in churches, newsagents & bookshops from

15 January 2021

TELEPHONE 00353 59 8627268

REGULAR TRADITIONAL LATIN MASSES IN IRELAND (LISTED BY DIOCESE)

DAILY & WEEKLY Armagh: New Mellifont Abbey, Collon, Co. Louth; Every Sunday 3pm.

Cork & Ross: Ss Peter’s & Paul’s, Cork: Sundays 12.00 noon Mon -Sat 10.00am.

Dromore: St.Mary’s, Newry: Sundays and Holydays 09.00.

Dublin: St. Kevin’s, Harrington Street: Sundays & non working Holy Days: 10.30; Mon - Fri 08.00; Sat 09.00.

Working Holidays & First Fridays; 08.00 and 19.00.

Dublin: St. Joseph’s, Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow; Sat 11.00 Limerick: Sacred Heart, The Crescent (ICKSP); Sun10.30; Mon-Thurs 08.00 and 19.00; Friday 19.00; Saturday 08.00 & 12.00 noon.

Meath: Silverstream Priory (Benedictine monks) Stamullen: Sunday 10.00 preceded by Terce, other days 11.00.

Meath: Johnstown, Navan: Sundays 13.00; Holydays as announced.

Ossory: St. Patrick’s, College Rd, Kilkenny; Sundays 17.00.

Raphoe: St. Patrick’s, Drumkeen, Co. Donegal Sundays 11.00am.

Down & Connor: St. Therese of Lisieux, Somerton Rd, Belfast :Sundays at 4pm TWICE MONTHLY Ferns: St. Alphonsus, Barntown, Co Wexford: Second Sunday 17.00 and occasional Third Sundays Derry: St. Columba’s , Longtower: First and Third Sunday 14.00.

Waterford: St. John’s Church, Parnell Street, Waterford City - 1pm on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the Month.

MONTHLY Armagh: St. Patrick’s, Dungannon, Co Tyrone: First Saturday 14.00.

Cork & Ross: St. Francis , Liberty St. Cork : First Saturday 13.00.

Derry: St. Marys, Aughabrack, Co Tyrone: Fourth Sunday 12.45 Elphin: St. John’s, carraoe, Co Sligo ; Last Sunday 15.00.

Killaloe: St. Joseph’s, Ennis, Co Clare: First Sunday 17.30.

Tuam: St. John the Baptist, (Old Parish Church), Knock, Co Mayo; Second Sunday 17.30.

Every effort has been made to ensure this list is up to date. Please contact the Latin Mass Society of Ireland of any changes or errors. email president@latinmassireland.com

Visit our all-new website today!

Mass Cards

Enrollment Books

All Occasion Gifts

It’s now easier than ever to have Mass cards, enrolment books & religious gifts delivered directly to your door.

Web: www.mscmissions.ie Email: info@mscmissions.ie Tel: +353 (0)21 4545704

32 ADVERT

Catholic Voice

1st January 2021

‘OUR LADY OF KNOCK, QUEEN OF IRELAND, YOU GAVE HOPE TO YOUR PEOPLE IN A TIME OF DISTRESS AND COMFORTED THEM IN SORROW’

Unique Eucharistic Marian Shrine, Knock, Co Mayo, Ireland

The Knock Apparition August 21st 1879 Our Lady of Knock, Queen of Ireland, in the name of your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Who is really, truly and substantially present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar please intervene, with immediate effect, and create an inviolable pathway for the inauguration on the 20th of January 2021 of a Pro Life and Pro Family President. May he then carry out God’s Holy Will as Commander-in-Chief of the United States of America.

Also, please continuously protect and enlighten him, his family, his administration and his supporters against all enemies both foreign and domestic, spiritual and corporeal. Thank You. E.C. 04/December/2020.

Published by: Catholic Voice Newspapers, St Michael’s House, Castlemitchell South, Athy, County Kildare. Tel 059-8627268 ROI / 00353 - 59 8627268 Publisher: Anthony Murphy.

Layout by: Lumen Fidei