Hell is for Real!

A while back I posted about Purgatory and its reality after death. In this article today I want to talk about Hell and it's reality since in todays way of thinking, many seem to believe that there is some universal salvation system in which everyone is going to Heaven. This is not true, nor does the Church teach this as true. Hell is a real place and if you die in the state of mortal sin, you will go to Hell. St. Teresa of Avila tells us how God showed her her place in Hell indicating that without God's grace and without us following and cooperating with His will during our time on Earth, that there is a place for all of us waiting in Hell. So this idea that all are saved, is not always the case.

Hell by definition is the place were souls are sent for all eternity because during their life on Earth, they choose a life without God… And therefore that's what they got. What we can also know about the sufferings of Hell, we can know from our own nature and from justice. Since with God the punishment fits the crime. Which means that in different levels of Hell people suffer differently based upon the particular crimes they committed on Earth. In this life the amount of suffering we can withstand is based upon the limitations of the flesh. Not so however in Hell. In Hell we are incorruptible and therefore the sufferings are even more intense, and not to mention… They are forever. So when we consider the nature of man, we can consider the different ways in which man can suffer. One of those ways is with the sense of touch, and with touch comes the sense of pressure and temperature. The saints tell us how in Hell there is a great feeling of pressure; of being pinned, crushed or trapped and unable to escape. There is also the feeling of burning in Hell, not just exteriorly, but throughout the whole body. There even some places in Hell that the saints say that it is freezing cold, and so the souls of the damned will go from the burning to the freezing. Yet when they enter into the cold, they freeze and so they find that they can never find relief. 

Then there is sense of taste. If you can imagine drinking the foulest sewer water, this is nothing compared to what your sense of taste will experience in Hell. In the case of the sense of smell, the saints often describe the smell sulfur and brimstone existing in Hell. With sight, those who are in Hell see all the others who are suffering in Hell, as well as Devil and all his demons. Therefore you see the entire horror of Hell. There will also be a great darkness in Hell, since light is a gift from God, and therefore it doesn't exist in Hell.

Besides the suffering of all your exterior senses, the there is also the discussion of the interior senses that will suffer as well. The first of these is the common sense, which helps to bring order all the senses. In Hell, your common sense will go away and therefore all the senses will come at once causing great confusion. Also you will not be able to control your imagination. On Earth we have the ability to control our imagination to some degree, but in Hell it will be uncontrollable and we will be face with the images of horrific things. It is also said that in Hell, the Devil and his demons, along with some of even the damned will be able to play with your imagination and forcibly cause you to see even more horrific things that we would never be able to comprehend in this life. We will have a great anger at God and those who caused us or helped us to end up in Hell, and there will be a great despair in knowing we can never be saved.

Hell is nothing to joke about. It is a real place and we all have the opportunity of ending up there if we do not seek the help and grace of God in this life. Believing that one will be saved just for being a good person is foolish. There is even a story of St. Bruno in which a horrible event took place at Paris before he left the city. A Doctor, who had always been considered very learned and at the same time very pious, died. His death seemed a very happy one, as it followed soon after his having received the holy Sacraments. But when the corpse was brought to the church, for the funeral ceremonies and the usual prayers, behold! the dead man arose during the Office of the Dead, to the great horror of all present, and cried, with a terrible voice: " The Justice of God has accused me! " On the second day, when the clergy had reached the same lesson in the Office, the body again moved, and cried in the same fearful tones: " The Justice of God has rejected me!" On the third day, the same happened : the dead sitting up, cried with a still more awful voice: "The Justice of God has condemned me!" The feelings of all present may easily be imagined. There was not one among them who did not turn pale, and all left the Church in fear and trembling.

Again the moral of this story is to remember that our salvation is not guaranteed! We must strive always to do God's will, receive the Sacraments, do good to our neighbors and always live piously. 

God love you all! Pray the Rosary Daily!

Reverence at Mass

For anyone who has ever been to a Latin Mass, most will quickly notice how much reverence is given not only by the Priests, Deacons and servers, but also the laity. Now I must also say that there are many Masses even in the Norvus Ordo (aka: English Masses) that are also very reverent, and that is such a breath of fresh air to see in a world that has been so lost in the secularization of everything. Yet at the same time there are unfortunately a majority of Norvus Ordo Masses that have fallen into Liturgical Abuses. Having the Holy Mass said in ways and forms that have in the end caused people to view the Mass as a form of entertainment, over something holy and spiritual. Because of these abuses, many have become lost in what is the appropriate practices in the Mass? What is the right way of decorum when you are standing before Christ in the tabernacle?

Let's go through the Mass step by step:

1. When you arrive at Mass you must remember that you are truly in the presence of Almighty God. Present with you are all the choirs of Angels in Heaven along with all the Saint and our loved ones who have gone before us. In His present as it is said, "Every knee shall bend, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord." Therefore if you are in the presence of Almighty God, you must act accordingly, for you are in the presence of the King of Kings! Clothing should be proper, and modest. No bare shoulders, short skirts, low-cut dresses or jeans. No tennis shoes, sandals or flip flops. I don't know who ever came up with the phrase, "Well if Jesus wore sandals, then so can I." I don't think so. Jesus lived in a time in which sandals were the only appropriate form for footwear… Now we have such thing as formal shoes and dress-ware and therefore we should honor our Lord by dressing in our "Sunday best"! It's a shame when even our Protestant brothers & sisters are dressing better than us for church.
2. Whenever we enter into the sanctuary we must genuflect to our Lord in the tabernacle. Again, "Every knee shall bend, every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord." It breaks my heart whenever I see someone bowing to the altar and completely turning their back to the tabernacle. Especially when in some churches the Tabernacle is placed in the back of a church. Which according to canon law, "The tabernacle in which the Most Holy Eucharist is reserved is to be situated in some part of the church or oratory which is distinguished, conspicuous, beautifully decorated, and suitable for prayer." We should not be putting Our Lord in the back of the Church, He should always be front and center. Whenever we pass by the tabernacle in the church we must always genuflect/bow to Our Lord who is fully present there. And if He is exposed for Benediction, a double genuflection is most appropriate! (A double genuflection is when you go down on both knees and bow to Our Lord.) Yet of course if you are unable to due to medical complications, that is okay.
3. Music in the Church should always be reverent and not distracting during the Holy Mass. The use of trumpets, guitars, and drums does not maintain the sacred silence and peace during Mass. Gentle hymns and light piano or organ music is good for keeping the mind in harmony with the sacredness of the Mass and helps to maintain constant prayer and reverence during even the consecration. There should also never be any clapping during the Mass. This can also be another form of distraction.
4. During the "Our Father" we have become accustomed to holding hands in America. I don't know who ever started this practice, but since the time it started, it has become more of a distraction than an uplifting spiritual union of people praying together, and to me seems to have more Protestant roots than Catholic. The same goes for the sign of peace, which in the Latin Mass is only exchanged between the clergy. This suddenly can also become a distraction during Mass, as for some it even turns into a social event in the midst of the Consecration. Instead, when engaging in the sign of peace in the Norvus Ordo Mass, maintain your composer to give one the sign of peace without giving into stretching over the pews to shake someones hand, or hollering across the church to a dear friend. I would also venture to say that giving the “peace sign” to someone sitting far away is not appropriate either for during Mass.
5. In the Latin Mass, the reception of Holy Communion is done on the tongue while kneeling. As it has been made aware to those of us, none of the laity should touch Our Lord since our hands are not consecrated, only the Priest's hands are. Therefore it is more reverent to receive Our Lord in the Eucharist on the tongue, rather than in the hand. Our hands are unclean, and at times have caused us to sin… Therefore we should not allow our hands to touch our most pure and Holy Lord. Even the Priest who is guilty of sin as well, goes through a series of cleansing prayers and even washes his hands to make himself worthy enough to touch Our Lord during the consecration. We must also make note that the use of Extraordinary Ministers is only for the purpose of times when there aren't enough Priests or Deacons to distribute Holy Communion. Otherwise EME's are not necessary at every Mass.
6. After the reception of Holy Communion, we have often become accustomed to making the sign of the cross as we walk back to our pew. This is a practice that, as reverent as it is, is not actually necessary. When we receive Our Lord in the Eucharist we are receiving the greatest blessing we could ever receive. Therefore, the act of blessing ourselves again is not required. Rather it is more important to walk back to our pews as individual tabernacles of Our Lord. Our hands should be folded in prayer and not at our side or folded over our chests. Our eyes need to be focused in prayer, and not wandering around to see what others are doing around us. And when we arrive back in our pews be must make a proper act of thanksgiving to Our Lord
7. Towards the end of Mass we should not leave until the priest has left. It was often reminded to me that those who leave after communion are only repeating what Judas did at the Last Supper. And most of all at the end of Mass, there should be no clapping. The Mass is not a show… It’s the greatest form of prayer that could ever be said.

If you were unaware of these reverent practices before, don't worry. But now you know. And don't think, "Well these are practices are only for those who attend the Latin.” One of the purposes of Pope Benedict’s Motto Proprio, Summarium Pontificum, was to allow Ordinary Form Roman Rite to learn from the Extraordinary Rite and adopt certain practices of reverence, and prayer that were at one time before Vatican II, common place in every Catholic Church. It is important to often look at these rubrics practiced in the Latin Mass and also question why they are no longer practiced in the Norvus Ordo Masses. You might be surprised to learn that the reasons for the change aren’t found in the documents of Vatican II.

God love you all! Pray the Rosary daily!

Roman Pantheon, American Pantheon

Where is God? Part 2

I recently stumbled across a video of Richard Dawkins going toe-to-toe answering questions on God, evolution and the purpose of life with Cardinal George Pell of Sidney, Australia. The show was quite entertaining, yet at the same time very troubling. And I have included the video in the end of this post for you to view if you wish. It is clear that Richard Dawkins is truly a very lost individual when it comes to any discussion on God. And it is clear that his atheistic and scientific understandings of this world have blinded him to any spiritual realities.

What also surprised me was that all the questions he answered in a very one dimensional kind of way. Basically it would appear that his understanding goes as far as to believe that if scientifically it couldn't happen… Then its impossible. To which I would have posed the questions I did in my last post on "Where is God?" on how would he go about explaining miracles? And I'm not talking about miracles in which we pray for a loved one to recover from an illness and they miraculously recover faster than normal. I'm talking about miracles that are shocking, and that science can't explain. Miracles like people who have been blind, suddenly being able to see… Yet they don't have pupils. Or bodies of individuals that don't decay? Or even people who have lost body parts, miraculously have them returned to them out of the blue, and in perfect working condition, like the man that St. Padre Pio healed who was with an eye, and got it back! How would Richard Dawkins explain that? How would any atheist explain that?

Another troubling topic for me when watching this video was when the Cardinal was asked if we all came from apes. He hesitated for a while and tried to answer the question in a round about way to include the fact that God ultimately created the first humans. But eventually agreed that it was possible that we could have evolved from apes. I find trouble with this personally, because from my understanding, there really is no connection between us an apes besides the fact that their make-up is very similar to ours. Yet the make-up of a Lion and a Tiger is the same as well, and they can have baby Ligers. Same with a horse and a donkey who can have mules, or a wolf and a dog who can have pups. But there is something that truly separates us from apes and physically does not make us, "cousins". I wish the Cardinal would have been a little more clear about that.

Finally another issue that Richard Dawkins tried to pin the Cardinal to the wall on, was the issue of the resurrection of the body and the Eucharist. And this is the way I would have responded.

Dawkins: ...The brain is what we do our thinking with, the brain is going to rot. That's all there is to it. I'm intrigued how the Christians say that we are going to be resurrected... in the body? I mean, that's… an astonishing idea and I don't think you really mean that. Just as I believe that you don't really mean that the wafer turns into the Body of Christ. You must mean body in some special kind of sense.

Myself: Mr. Dawkins of course these terms "Resurrection of the Body" and "the Body of Christ" are puzzling to you because you look at this from a very scientific and worldly kind of view. And from that understanding, you're right… Its impossible for a dead and decayed body to come back to life, just as much as it is impossible for a piece of bread or a glass of wine to turn into flesh and blood. It just can't happen by the means of earthly science. But it can, by the power of God, just as much as the universe can come into existence from nothing. We know that the resurrection is possible and is going to happen because Jesus Himself told us it would happen and showed us in His own resurrection. If that Jesus wouldn't have rose from the dead… There would not be one Christian here today. The Romans would have never tolerated such a lie to be going around… And in fact they didn't! Many of the first early Christians were killed and slaughtered for this truth that Jesus rose from the dead. But the movement didn't stop, because it was the truth, and there were Christians willing to die for this truth! Would you be willing to die over the belief that there isn't a God? Or would you rather not take that chance?

Dawkins: But other Christian denominations are willing to take that (the belief in the real presence in the Eucharist) as more symbolic and metaphorical meaning and Catholics take it as a literal meaning. And I'm trying to be charitable, I'm trying to suggest that its that same sense in that you say that the body is resurrected, because the body is certainly not resurrected in terms of the cell, the protoplasm, the proteins, the DNA… That doesn't happen any more than the wafer turns into that… So you do not mean the wafer turns into the body in any sense in which normal English language usage would understand. You mean it in some other sense. And I take it, its that same sense that the body is resurrected.

Myself: You are correct in some degree that the sense in which this occurs is not from the means of this world. But it does happen.

Dawkins: But I am also a rationalist. I mean, english is my native language! The wafer does NOT become the body of anybody in the english language!

Myself: Well then let me explain it to you better in english that you might understand. Everything has a substance, it is what makes it what it is, correct?  At Mass when the Priest utters the words of consecration, repeating the words and actions that Christ did, what happens to the bread and the wine is called "Transubstantiation". It is where the substance of what makes the bread, bread and the wine, wine is suddenly changed into the substance of the Body and Blood of Christ. It may still look and taste like bread and wine, but it's substance is that of Jesus Christ Himself. Now to you, this may not be a good enough scientific explanation… But again it is because you are seeing this from the perspective of the world. And to believe this you must have the understanding of the world from the sense that God can make anything happen. And if the Man who is the Son of God told us that this is His Body and is His Blood, than I would rather trust what He says over what you say.

God love you all, Pray the Rosary daily!

Why I Love the Latin Mass

St. Padre Pio once said, "It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do so without the Holy Mass." It's sad that many people don't realize this. Especially those who are often referred to as "Easter Bunnies" or "Flower People", those who come to Mass only on special occasions. They are missing out on so much!

All my life I have considered myself a very faithful person. My parents raised me with the knowledge of Jesus Christ and with the Mass as a very important part of my upbringing. In grade school I was often teased and called "Jesus Boy" for always wanting to do the right thing. And in high school I joined my church's youth group so that I could strengthen my relationship with Christ through the fellowship of other Catholics. Yet I always wanted more! When ever I would go to Mass I wanted more opportunities to fall in love with Jesus... but each time I left feeling more enriched by the Eucharist than anything else. For me it appeared that after the 1960's, Mass had kinda lost its strength as it once did. It even seemed as though even the priests weren't taking their calling seriously anymore. The Church herself was suffering and I could see it!

It was in high school that I got a real eye-opener when my teacher in my "Christian Ethics" class had each of us attend Mass at different churches around the Minneapolis area. The first Mass I had to attend was at a church called St. Agnes where they celebrated the Mass in Latin. I was instantly in love! The reverence, the music, the whole atmosphere was everything that I had been looking for! This was the Mass that the Saints back in the day would die for!! This was the Mass that was persecuted for its undeniable reverence for Our Lord being truly present in the Eucharist! This was the Mass that the Apostles had received from Jesus Himself!!

The next Mass I had to go to was at another church called St. Joan of Arc's and oh my... I will also never forget that experience either! Their  Mass was held in their gymnasium, and there was no sign of the priest anywhere until a man who wasn't wearing a collar or vestments suddenly stood up with his cup of coffee and said, "Well let's begin!" It wasn't until later that I realized that was the priest, when he finally put on his vestments for consecration. I was horrified! The readings were taken out of a magazine, and a woman came up and gave a homily on a paganistic idea about how "mother earth birthed us from her womb!" It was so extremely appalling!! Many of the other Masses we had to go to after that were quite typical of what I was used to for Mass around town, but after that Latin Mass at St. Agnes, something clued me in to the fact that there is still something very great about the Mass that was being hidden.  

By the time I got to college, my interest in the Holy Mass had peeked, and my search had begun to find what Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI had called the "hidden treasure of the Church" in the world! Sunday after Sunday I would attend Mass at the local parish on campus that was run by the Jesuit order. The order that St. Ignacius himself started so as to help bring Protestants back into the Church after the Reformation. Yet from one Mass to the next, I was experiencing the same thing... nothing! And soon once the war on terror started, all I ever heard at Mass was a political sermon! I finally got to the point where my sister and I begged my Grandparents to take me to the church that they always went to! And it was there that I found the Latin Mass being offered again! Finally Sunday after Sunday I was beginning to feel my spiritual life getting stronger and stronger! My love for Jesus and His Church becoming more and more!! And even my knowledge of the faith even becoming more and more complete! Ah yes, this was it! This was the Mass of the Saints in Heaven!! This was the Mass that made sinners into Saints!

It was at the Latin Mass that I began to see young boys wanting to serve! And no longer would I hear them say, "I want to be a fireman when I grow up" I was hearing them say instead, "I want to be a priest! I want to be a monk!" I was told so often that the Church was struggling with a shortage of priests, but here they were in the Latin Mass springing  forth like a wildfire! Many I had heard say, "If they want to add more priests to the priesthood, they should allow priests to marry or even allow women to be priests!" But from this I could see, that was not the answer at all! What these young boys needed was a good example of a priest! A priest who believed what he preached and preached what he believed! A priest who would be a true father-figure to his church and guide them on the right path. I priest who wouldn't be afraid of stepping on toes or refusing communion to someone who came in with a bunch of facial piercings and expected it to be okay! No! This was the Mass! This was Mass of Jesus Christ! The Mass of the same God who told Abraham to sacrifice his only son, the same God who wipped out the sinful people in Sodom and Gomorrah, and cast out the thieves and money changers in the temples in Jerusalem! The same God, Jesus Christ who died for us on a cross and shed His blood for many so that sins may be forgiven! It was clear this was the Mass!

However now-a-days, people who attend the Latin Mass are viewed as those who are against Vatican II. As I have posted before, Vatican II had a lot of errors in it, and many of the documents of Vatican II were left open to interpretation, which has caused so much confusion in the Church. I would not say that the Latin Mass folk are against the Church and the teachings of Vatican II, but rather we are more cautious with it because of what many have done with it. The English Mass is still valid Mass, do doubt! But unfortunately its true splendor is being hidden by corrupt practices that are being followed. Practices that are personalizing the Mass into the Mass of the priest who says it! And this is not right! The Mass should be about Jesus and bringing us back to His sacrifice for us on the cross! Mass is not another Sunday chore that we must do because we are Catholic... but because we want nothing more than to be with Jesus at Calvary!

As I have also posted before on the story of Pope St. Leo XIII, it is probably a good thing to be cautious with Vatican II since from the time it began it did fall into the "75-100 years" that the Devil requested in order to destroy the Church. And look at it now… Many of the faithful are leaving the Church, abandoning reverence in the Church, and giving into sinful practices that earlier in the Church's history, would never have been allowed. Even a buddy of mine recently alerted me to the fact that the real "Emily Rose" (Anneliese Michel) from the famous exorcism movie, had even been told by her demons that they were "very pleased with the recent Church council." This to me, makes me want to be very cautious, and stay even closer to the Latin Mass.

If you have never been to a Latin Mass before, I would encourage you to go. For some it takes some time to get used to, but for others, it can be love at first sight! I love the Latin Mass!

God love you all, Pray the Rosary Daily!

Drawing the Curtain

Lord Have Mercy On Us!

On October 13, 1884, Pope Leo XIII had a vision. When the aged Pontiff had finished celebrating Mass in his private Vatican Chapel, attended by a few Cardinals and members of the Vatican staff, he suddenly stopped at the foot of the altar. He stood there for about 10 minutes, as if in a trance, his face ashen white. Then, going immediately from the Chapel to his office, he composed the prayer to St. Michael, with instructions it be said after all Low Masses everywhere. When asked what had happened, he explained that, as he was about to leave the foot of the altar, he suddenly heard voices - two voices, one kind and gentle, the other guttural and harsh. They seemed to come from near the tabernacle. As he listened, he heard the following conversation:

The guttural voice, the voice of Satan in his pride, boasted to Our Lord: "I can destroy your Church."

The gentle voice of Our Lord: "You can? Then go ahead and do so."

Satan: "To do so, I need more time and more power."

Our Lord: "How much time? How much power?

Satan: "75 to 100 years, and a greater power over those who will give themselves over to my service."

Our Lord: "You have the time, you will have the power. Do with them what you will."

This happened in 1884.  The devil said he needed 75 to100 years.  Well, 75 years from 1884 is 1959.  Interestingly enough, on January 25, 1959, Blessed John XXIII publicly summoned the Second Vatican Council. Remember that after the vision, Pope Leo XIII immediately wrote the Prayer to St. Michael to help us overcome the devil in his quest.  He instructed that it be said after every low Mass.  One of the first changes to come from Vatican II, was the deletion of the Leonine Prayers which included the prayer to St. Michael.  These prayers were eliminated in 1964, the 80th year of the Devil’s 75 - 100 years needed to destroy the Catholic Church.  It would seem that this would be the time to especially say that prayer, not to delete it. The 100th year finally came in 1984. This would mean that Satan’s mission to destroy the Church is over right? You tell me?

I would say that during these 100 years time, Satan more likely planted seeds in time in order to help distort the Church and her teachings amongst her followers. And because of this, we currently see much disorder not only in Holy Mother Church amongst her laity and clergy, but also in the world as well.

It is more common than ever these days to see more people claim to be atheist, or even leave the Catholic faith for a heretical Protestant Church. And I believe it is becoming safe to say that as good faithful Catholics defend the faith at political rallies, more and more people are becoming publically Anti-Christian, and it would seem that no one cares that this is happening. People hold up signs at rallies stating blasphemous things against Our Lord and His Most Sacred Name! And sinful behaviors are no longer corrected by parents, but rather seen as, “well, that’s just the way things are in this age. The times have changed!” But we must remember that God hasn’t! And the God of the Old Testament is the same God we believe in today!

The number of good faithful Catholics is shrinking, and clearly our Holy Father is suffering greatly as the wolves are devouring his flock. We need to pray for the conversion of sinners and the freedom and exaltation of Holy Mother Church! As we can all see, she is being attacked!

More over we must pray for our Bishops and Priests who have grown weak in this battle for souls. Instead of preaching about the faith and morality, sin and Hell, they have gone on to tell jokes and retell the Gospel in fun and crowd pleasing ways. Most people will even go from Church to Church to find a Priest that will agree with their way of living. Most priests are even aware that majority of engaged couples these days that are going through marriage prep are cohabitating… yet they marry them anyway.

What is our world coming to? Even our nations leaders seem to look at faithful practices as something that is equivalent to holiday traditions; something to be practiced once in a while, but never on a regular basis. Even our judges and lawmakers ignore the natural law given to us by God and invent their own laws to please mankind! Often times when I see things like this happen in the news, I picture Jesus uttering these words to all our politicians and lawmakers who had swore on the Bible to uphold the constitution and pledge allegiance to the flag of which “One Nation, Under God…” stands:

We must not loose hope… we must not give into despair… the battle is not over yet. Even though Satan has become more aggressive in his efforts to destroy the Church and her faithful… he will not win! "That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." Matt. 16:18 & 28:20

God love you all! Pray the Rosary Daily!