The Holy Catholic Church, which has fought the battles of Christ for eighteen hundred years, is therefore destined to pass through a persecution compared to which those that she has suffered up to the present time are insignificant. St. Augustine classifies them under three general headings. The first he calls violent, on account of the cruelty with which the early Christians were treated by the Roman Emperors, while at a later period the Church suffered from the deception of false brethren, a trial much more insidious than the former, as it was more dangerous. But the persecution of Antichrist will combine both forms and will consequently prove more redoubtable than when one form only had to be contended with. - The Antichrist by the Rev. Paschal Huchede

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Friday, February 20, 2009

Open letter to Mr. Abbot R. of Cacqueray, District Superior of France (SSPX)

Link to original site and article in title

Jeudi 19 février 2009

Le 17 février 2009, Christo regnante


M. l'Abbé régis de Cacqueray
Supérieur du District de France

Fraternité Sacerdotale Saint Pie X

11, rue Cluseret - B.P.128 - 92154 Suresnes cedex



LETTRE OUVERTE

Monsieur l’Abbé,

Je vous écris au sujet du n° 187 de Fideliter (janvier-février 2009) consacré à la Russie, dans lequel vous avez signé l’éditorial " Pour que renaisse la Russie ", ainsi qu’au sujet de la levée du décret d’excommunication du Vatican contre la FSSPX.

L’initiative du dossier spécial de Fideliter est excellente et les articles sont bons (avec des réserves au sujet de l’article du R.P. Damien-Marie, pour les mêmes raisons énoncées ci-dessous), donnant une image positive de la Russie de Poutine-Medvedev.

Malheureusement, le titre de ce numéro " Russie : vers la conversion " ainsi que votre éditorial : " Pour que renaisse la Russie " indiquent que la conversion et la " renaissance " de la Russie ne sont pas encore réalisées et que c’est le meilleur souhait que l’on puisse faire pour ce pays, suivant la prédiction de la Ste Vierge à Fatima : " La Russie se convertira ".

Au risque de vous déplaire, je vous dirai que la Russie s’est déjà convertie, étant redevenue officiellement chrétienne depuis la fin du communisme et ayant condamné la révolution bolchevique, réhabilité le tsarisme et les Romanov, des héros comme l’amiral Kolchak, des écrivains dissidents comme Soljenitsyne.

" Vouloir, c’est pouvoir ". En l’occurrence, plaider pour la conversion de la Russie orthodoxe au catholicisme, ce n’est pas annoncer une politique de la FSSPX, qui n’existe pas (c’est du ressort de la Providence) mais s’associer à la seule politique réelle et existante dans ce domaine, qui est celle du Vatican. Or celle-ci n’est pas de convertir la Russie orthodoxe au catholicisme traditionnel, comme vos lecteurs l’espèrent, mais au faux catholicisme conciliaire, hérésie maçonnique.

L’objectif du Vatican, à travers le dialogue œcuménique/interreligieux avec l’église orthodoxe russe, est bien de la subvertir afin de détruire la Russie comme pays chrétien et souverain. Devenue franc-maçonne et laïciste, elle sera envahie par l’Islam comme l’Europe, à l’aide d’une politique d’immigration forcée à partir des " stans " du sud.

Dans ce cens, la stratégie du Vatican est étroitement associée à la politique judéo-américaine d’hégémonie mondiale et d’instauration d’une nouvelle religion universelle, MASDU de l’Abbé de Nantes ou Religion noachide, comme on veut, cette dernière étant déjà légalisée par la Public Law 102-14, " Education Day ", signée le 20 mars 1991 par les 2 chambres américaines et le dernier président Bush, à l’initiative de la secte pharisienne des Lubavitch.

Cette loi substitue aux Dix Commandements les " Sept lois noachides " comme " socle de la civilisation ". Ces lois sont la désignation talmudique pour les sept lois bibliques données à Adam et à Noé avant la révélation à Moïse au Mont Sinaï, et liant toute l’humanité. La violation de l’une de ces lois soumet le Noachide à la peine capitale par décapitation, selon l’Encyclopedia Judaica, page 1192. Je vous rappelle que Benoît XVI était arrivé l’année dernière aux Etats-Unis le jour même de " Education Day ", le 15 avril 2008, avant de se rendre à la Synagogue de Central Park où il prononça un discours de " réconciliation " dans le prolongement de " Nostra Aetate ".

Si l’on regarde à long terme, le ralliement de la FSSPX à Rome est un laboratoire pour le ralliement des orthodoxes et la destruction du christianisme, principal obstacle au règne de la Synagogue de Satan sur le monde. Les méthodes sont les mêmes que celles qui ont été utilisées pour la destruction du catholicisme en Angleterre à partir de Henri VIII et son remplacement par l’Eglise anglicane inféodée au pouvoir temporel.

Je profite aussi de ce courrier pour vous manifester mon vif désaccord avec les propos que vous avez tenus lors de la Galette des Rois de la Chapelle N.-D. de l’Espérance à Villepreux. Attribuer à la " bienveillance " de Benoît XVI à l’égard de la FSSPX , au million de chapelets et à l’intercession de la Sainte Vierge le " succès " de la levée du décret d’excommunication contre la FSSPX est une imposture pour cacher les manœuvres menées par une partie des responsables de la Fraternité avec Rome en vue de son ralliement, qui signifie la soumission de la vraie foi catholique à la religion noachide née de Vatican II et celle de tous les Gentils au Kahal.

Être " excommunié " par la Rome apostate est un titre d’honneur pour les fidèles de la Fraternité St Pie X, et c’est cet honneur que vous voulez en plus leur ôter sous prétexte de lever un obstacle gênant dans leurs relations familiales et sociales !

Comme l’a dit Mgr Lefebvre, Rome " a perdu la foi " et le cardinal Ratzinger/Benoît XVI est un " serpent ". Les prêtres, évêques, cardinaux -et le Pape lui-même- issus de Vatican II sont dépourvus de toute autorité légitime en raison de l’invalidité du sacrement de l’Ordre et du caractère hérétique de la doctrine conciliaire . On ne dialogue pas avec un serpent, on lui écrase la tête. La soit-disant " conversion de Rome " par la FSSPX est une plaisanterie tragique.

La FSSPX n’avait pas d’autre raison d’être que de défendre la vraie foi catholique contre l’hérésie. Vous trahissez l’une et l’autre, ainsi que la mémoire de Mgr Lefebvre, et vous trompez vos fidèles.

Vous avez bien imprudemment cité Ste Jeanne d’Arc à la fin de votre lettre aux fidèles du 31 décembre 2008 " D’un préalable à l’autre ".

Nous, nous savons bien que ce sont des clercs de l’Eglise de France qui l’ont condamnée au bûcher.

Veuillez agréer, Monsieur l’Abbé, l’expression de mes salutations distinguées.

Pierre-Olivier Combelles


Thursday, February 19, 2009

February 17, 2009, Christo reigning M. governed by the Abbot Cacqueray District Superior of France



Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X

11, rue Cluseret - BP128 - 92154 Suresnes Cedex



OPEN LETTER

Monsieur l'Abbé,

I am writing about the No. 187 Fideliter (January-February 2009) devoted to Russia, where you signed the editorial "For Russia reborn", and about the lifting of the decree of Vatican excommunication against the SSPX.

The special feature of the initiative Fideliter is excellent and the articles are good (with reservations about the article in the RP-Marie Damian, for the same reasons set forth below), giving a positive image of Putin's Russia -Medvedev.

Unfortunately, the title of this issue "Russia: toward conversion" and your editorial: "For the rebirth of Russia" suggest that the conversion and the "rebirth" of Russia are not yet completed and it is the best hope that we can do for this country, according to the prediction of the Virgin Mary at Fatima: "Russia will be converted."

At the risk of displeasing you, I will tell you that Russia has already converted, being officially Christian returned since the end of communism and has condemned the Bolshevik Revolution, the Tsarist rehabilitated and Romanov, heroes like Admiral Kolchak, the dissident writers like Solzhenitsyn.

"To want is power." In this case, plead for the conversion of Russia Orthodox to Catholicism, it is not announcing a policy of the SSPX, which does not exist (that is the responsibility of Providence), but associate with the only real and existing policy in this area, which is the Vatican. Now this is not to convert Orthodox Russia to traditional Catholicism, as your readers expect, but the false conciliar Catholicism, Masonic heresy.

The objective of the Vatican, through the ecumenical dialogue / interreligious with the Russian Orthodox Church, is to subvert it in order to destroy Russia as a Christian country and sovereign. Become a Freemason and secular, it will be overrun by Islam as Europe, with a policy of forced migration from the "stans" of the south.

In this census, the strategy of the Vatican is closely associated with Jewish-American policy of global hegemony and the establishment of a new universal religion, the Abbot of MASDU Nantes Noachide or Religion, as you will, the latter being already certified by Public Law 102-14, "Education Day", signed March 20, 1991 by the two chambers and the last U.S. President Bush, on the initiative of the Lubavitch sect of the Pharisees.

This law replaces the Ten Commandments "Sept. Noachides laws" as "cradle of civilization." These laws are Talmudic designation for seven biblical laws given to Adam and to Noah before the revelation to Moses on Mount Sinai, and binding all mankind. The violation of these laws subjects the Noachide to death by beheading, according to the Encyclopedia Judaica , page 1192. I remind you that Benedict XVI had happened last year in the United States the same day as "Education Day", April 15, 2008, before going to the Synagogue of Central Park where he delivered a discourse of "reconciliation" in extension of "Nostra Aetate".

If you look long term, the rallying of the SSPX in Rome is a laboratory for the rallying of the Orthodox and the destruction of Christianity, the main obstacle to the reign of the Synagogue of Satan on the world. The methods are the same as those used for the destruction of Catholicism in England from Henry VIII and his replacement by the Anglican Church subservient to the temporal power.

I also take this letter to express to you my strong disagreement with the statements you made during the Galette des Rois de la Chapelle Notre Dame of Hope to Villepreux. Attributed to the "benevolence" of Benedict XVI with respect to the SSPX, and the million rosaries to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin "success" of the lifting of the decree of excommunication against the SSPX is a sham to hide maneuvers conducted by some of the leaders of the Brotherhood with Rome for its rally, which means the submission of the true Catholic faith to religion Noachide born of Vatican II and that of all the Gentiles to the Kahal.

Be "excommunicated" by the apostate Rome is a title of honor for the faithful of the Society of St Pius X, and this honor is that you want to deprive them more pretext to remove an annoying obstacle in their family and social relationships !

In the words of Archbishop Lefebvre, Rome "lost faith" and Cardinal Ratzinger / Benedict XVI is a "snake". Priests, bishops, cardinals, and Pope himself, from Vatican II are devoid of any legitimate authority because of the invalidity of the sacrament of Order and the heretical nature of the conciliar doctrine. We do not talk to a snake, he crushes the head. The so-called "conversion of Rome" by the SSPX is a joke tragic.

SSPX had no other purpose than defending the true Catholic faith against heresy. You betray one and the other, and the memory of Archbishop Lefebvre, and your faithful are mistaken.

You have unwisely quoted St. Joan of Arc at the end of your letter to the faithful of December 31, 2008 "On Pre-other."

We know that we are the clerics of the Church of France who condemned to the stake.

Sincerely, Father, the expression of my highest consideration.

Pierre-Olivier Combelles

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

The Teaching of Our Lord Jesus Christ on Apostasy

Mt:23:

1 ¶ Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples,

2 Saying: The scribes and the Pharisees have sitten on the chair of Moses.

3 All things therefore whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do: but according to their works do ye not. For they say, and do not.

4 For they bind heavy and insupportable burdens and lay them on men's shoulders: but with a finger of their own they will not move them.

5 And all their works they do for to be seen of men. For they make their phylacteries broad and enlarge their fringes.

6 And they love the first places at feasts and the first chairs in the synagogues,

7 And salutations in the market place, and to be called by men, Rabbi.

8 But be not you called Rabbi. For one is your master: and all you are brethren.

9 And call none your father upon earth; for one is your father, who is in heaven.

10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, Christ.

11 He that is the greatest among you shall be your servant.

12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled:and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

13 ¶ But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men: for you yourselves do not enter in and those that are going in, you suffer not to enter.

14 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour the houses of widows, praying long prayers. For this you shall receive the greater judgment.

15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you go round about the sea and the land to make one proselyte. And when he is made, you make him the child of hell twofold more than yourselves.

16 Woe to you, blind guides, that say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but he that shall swear by the gold of the temple is a debtor.

17 Ye foolish and blind: for whether is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?

18 And whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it is a debtor.

19 Ye foolish and blind: for whether is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

20 He therefore that sweareth by the altar sweareth by it and by all things that are upon it.

21 And whosoever shall swear by the temple sweareth by it and by him that dwelleth in it.

22 And he that sweareth by heaven sweareth by the throne of God and by him that sitteth thereon.

23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you tithe mint and anise and cummin and have left the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and faith. These things you ought to have done and not to leave those undone.

24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnatand swallow a camel.

25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you make clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but within you are full of rapine and uncleanness.

26 Thou blind Pharisee, first make clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, that the outside may become clean.

27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you are like to whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear to men beautiful but within are full of dead men's bones and of all filthiness.

28 So you also outwardly indeed appear to men just: but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

29 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, that build the sepulchres of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the just,

30 And say: If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

31 Wherefore you are witnesses against yourselves, that you are the sons of them that killed the prophets.

32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

33 You serpents, generation of vipers, how will you flee from the judgment of hell?

34 ¶ Therefore behold I send to you prophets and wise men and scribes: and some of them you will put to death and crucify: and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city.

35 That upon you may come all the just blood that hath been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just, even unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you killed between the temple and the altar.

36 Amen I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation.

37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldst not?

38 Behold, your house shall be left to you, desolate.

39 For I say to you, you shall not see me henceforth till you say: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

(DRV)



Mt:24:

1 ¶ And Jesus being come out of the temple, went away. And his disciples came to shew him the buildings of the temple.

2 And he answering, said to them: Do you see all these things? Amen I say to you, there shall not be left here a stone upon a stone that shall not be destroyed.

3 And when he was sitting on mount Olivet, the disciples came to him privately, saying: Tell us when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the consummation of the world?

4 ¶ And Jesus answering, said to them: Take heed that no man seduce you.

5 For many will come in my name saying, I am Christ. And they will seduce many.

6 And you shall hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that ye be not troubled. For these things must come to pass: but the end is not yet.

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And there shall be pestilences and famines and earthquakes in places.

8 Now all these are the beginnings of sorrows.

9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall put you to death: and you shall be hated by all nations for my name's sake.

10 And then shall many be scandalized and shall betray one another and shall hate one another.

11 And many false prophets shall rise and shall seduce many.

12 And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold.

Up to this point, Mt 24:12, in Our Lord Jesus Christ’s discourse He is describing the Apostasy

13 But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved.

14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations: and then shall the consummation come.

From this point, Mt 24:15 on, Our Lord Jesus Christ is describing the culmination of the Great Apostasy and His Second Coming and Judgement

15 When therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that readeth let him understand.

16 Then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains:

17 And he that is on the housetop, let him not come down to take any thing out of his house:

18 And he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat.

19 And woe to them that are with child and that give suck in those days.

20 But pray that your flight be not in the winter or on the sabbath.

21 For there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be.

22 And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened.

23 Then if any man shall say to you, Lo here is Christ, or there: do not believe him.

24 For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect.

25 Behold I have told it to you, beforehand.

26 If therefore they shall say to you, Behold he is in the desert: go ye not out. Behold he is in the closets: believe it not.

27 For as lightning cometh out of the east and appeareth even into the west: so shall also the cowling of the Son of man be.

28 Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together.

29 And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be moved.

30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven. And then shall all tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty.

31 And he shall send his angels with a trumpet and a great voice: and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them.

32 ¶ And from the fig tree learn a parable: When the branch thereof is now tender and the leaves come forth, you know that summer is nigh.

33 So you also, when you shall see all these things, know ye that it is nigh, even at the doors.

34 Amen I say to you that this generation shall not pass till all these things be done.

35 Heaven and earth shall pass: but my words shall not pass.

36 But of that day and hour no one knoweth: no, not the angels of heaven, but the Father alone.

37 And as in the days of Noe, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38 For, as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, even till that day in which Noe entered into the ark:

39 And they knew not till the flood came and took them all away: so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.

40 Then two shall be in the field. One shall be taken and one shall be left.

41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill. One shall be taken and one shall be left.

42 Watch ye therefore, because you know not what hour your Lord will come.

43 But this know ye, that, if the goodman of the house knew at what hour the thief would come, he would certainly watch and would not suffer his house to be broken open.

44 Wherefore be you also ready, because atwhat hour you know not the Son of man will come.

45 Who, thinkest thou, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath appointed over his family, to give them meat in season?

46 Blessed is that servant, whom when his lord shall come he shall find so doing.

47 Amen I say to you: he shall place him over all his goods.

48 But if that evil servant shall say in his heart: My lord is long a coming:

49 And shall begin to strike his fellow servants and shall eat and drink with drunkards:

50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day that he hopeth not and at an hour that he knoweth not:

51 And shall separate him and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

(DRV)




Mt:24:9:

9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall put you to death: and you shall be hated by all nations for my name's sake. (DRV)

From:

Rev. E. Sylvester Berry, D.D.

“At the breaking of the fifth seal St John sees the souls of the martyrs beneath the altar where they enjoy eternal happiness in union with Christ, yet they cry out for justice. They beseech God to manifest His Glory, His justice and His mercy by the resurrection of their bodies, the punishment of His enemies and the general judgement of all men. The imagery of this vision seems to refer to the altar of holocaust which stood in the inner court of the temple before the Holy Place. In the Jewish ritual the blood of the victim was poured out at the foot of the altar. The life of the victim was said to be in the blood: “the life of the flesh is in the blood” and again. “Beware of this that thou eat not of the blood, for the blood is for the soul and therefore thou must not eat the soul with the flesh”. Hence the life or the soul of the victim was conceived as being under the altar. In like manner the souls of the martyrs are seen beneath the altar because they too have become victims to God through martyrdom and the voice of their blood cries out to God for justice. “The voice of thy brothers blood crieth out to me from the earth”. The martyrs have received the white robes of eternal happiness and glory, but they must wait for the resurrection of the body until the number of their fellow martyrs has been filled up. They have but a short while to wait since the whole course of ages is as a few moments when compared with the eternity that follows: “For a thousand years in thy sight are as yesterday which is past and as a watch in the night” This verse clearly foretells that there shall be marytrs other than those of the first ages of the church. There shall be witnesses to God by their blood in every age especially in the days of Antichrist and at the end of the world. The resurrection and general judgement shall not take place until after this last persecution.

Rev. E. Sylvester Berry, D.D.
The Apocalypse of St. John

The Antichrist with Freemasonry and Ecumenism prior to the Return of Our Lord Jesus Christ

The Antichrist and his precursors - Freemasonry and Ecumenism.

At the end of the age the Return of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Freemasonry (the root and substance of modern Ecumenism) is condemned by the Traditional Orthodox Church and the Traditional Catholic Church, but just the opposite by the Apostate Orthodox and Apostate Catholic Churches.


Ecumenism
http://www.orthodoxfaith.com/ecumenism.html



The Frankish Papacy's
Involvement in Judeo-Masonry
[Excerpts from "The Two Babylons," Bible Believer's Newsletter, #167, Sydney, 2002.]
The Pope's Attitude towards Judaism
http://www.orthodoxfaith.com/ecumenism_papacy_masonry.html



The Attitude of the Holy Fathers Towards Heretics and Pagans Compared to the Contemporary Hierarchs of "World Orthodoxy"

1. Testimonies from the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Fathers on the Necessity of Having No Communion with Heretics and Schismatics, the Enemies of Christ

By Dr. Vladimir Moss
http://www.orthodoxfaith.com/ecumenism_exposed.html

[Showing pictures of: 33 Degree Mason "Patriarch" Athenagoras with 33 Degree Mason Pope Paul VI and including Pope Paul VI abandons the papal tiara to the United Nations, no pope has worn it since;
Pope Paul VI begins using a new papal staff with a broken Masonic cross and a limp Christ;
Pope Paul VI with a Judeo-Masonic emblem, the Ephod of Caiaphas, hanging from his loins.]



Vladimir Moss
Can be found at
The Pilgrims’ Way: Articles

THE BOOK OF THE END
An Interpretation of the Apocalypse of St. John the Theologian - by Vladimir Moss

http://uk.geocities.com/guildfordian2002/Polemics/TheBookOfTheEndP1.htm
http://uk.geocities.com/guildfordian2002/Polemics/TheBookOfTheEndP2.htm
http://uk.geocities.com/guildfordian2002/Polemics/TheBookOfTheEndP3.htm
http://uk.geocities.com/guildfordian2002/Polemics/TheBookOfTheEndP4.htm





Related sites:


End of the World

Bisho Alexander (Mileant)
http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/end_w.htm



The Antichrist OrthodoxPerspective
Compiled By Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes
Boise, Idaho
USA
October 1999
http://www.serfes.org/orthodox/theantichrist.htm



Especially see:

The Antichrist
http://theantichristhuchede.blogspot.com/


The Testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ


THE PLOT
AGAINST
THE CHURCH

BY
MAURICE PINAY

1962

Translated from the German and Spanish

http://www.catholicvoice.co.uk/pinay/

Freemasonry by Right Rev. Mgr. George Dillon, D.D.
http://www.catholicvoice.co.uk/dillon/text.htm

Freemasonry: Official Statement of the Church of Greece (1933)
http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/masonry.aspx
Ecumenism
Rev. E. Sylvester Berry, D.D.
On opening of the sixth seal we catch a glimpse of the last persecution and the destruction of the world. This is to show that the prayers of the martyrs have already been heard in the designs of God and shall be answered in due time. These verses make it clear that there is no question of real locusts such as those that ravaged Egypt in the days of Moses. They are purely symbolic, and their ravages chiefly spiritual. Their sting burns and poisons the soul with false doctrines but has no power to injure those who remain faithful to the graces received in Baptism and Confirmation. For a short time these locusts are permitted to harass and persecute without killing, but they cannot destroy the church. In those days men shall seek death and find it not. The good would welcome death as an escape from the evils and miseries that surround them. Many who have been led astray by false doctrines would likewise welcome death as a relief from their doubts and remorse of conscience. The locusts resemble horses accoutred for war. Heresy and schism are ever fruitful sources of religious wars and persecutions. The crowns indicate that rulers – emperors, kings, and princes will be arrayed against the Church as actually happened at the reformation of the 16th century. The crowns merely resembled gold, because there was but a mere semblance of real Christian charity in those days. The human faces prove that these locusts symbolize real persons. The hair of the woman probably signifies vanity and immorality; the teeth of a lions strength and cruelty. The breastplates of iron show preparedness for defense as well as for attack. The sound of their innumerable wings resembles the thunder of chariots rushing to battle. This indicates their great numbers and impetuousity. The scorpion like sting is a symbol of heresy that stings and poisons the soul. Its location in the tail signifies deceit and hypocrisy. The king of these symbolic locusts is called the destroyer (Exterminans). He is Lucifer, the angel of the abyss, the leader of the rebel angels. His minions on earth are the leaders of heresy, schism and persecution. The invasion of the locusts is the first woe predicted by the eagle. The two yet to come will fill up the mystery of iniquity with the appearance of Antichrist and his prophet. God sends a sixth angel to instruct and guide the church. This mission will still further reveal the thoughts of many hearts. The wicked continue to be separated from the just.
Rev. E. Sylvester Berry, D.D.
The Apocalypse of St. John

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Revolt against Christ and His Church and punishment due to that revolt

 

From:

 

Rev. E. Sylvester Berry, D.D.
 

A voice from the golden altar commands the captive angels of the Euphrates to be released. As noted above the altar is Christ who makes trials and tribulations a means of sanctification for souls and an increase of fervour and holiness in the church. They also serve to spread the blessings of the Gospel for as Tertullian says “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Christians”. Christ Himself gives command to release the captive angels thus showing that the enemies of the Church have no power against her unless God Permits. The Church can say to her enemies as Christ said to Pilate “Thou shouldst not have any power against me unless it were given thee from above”  The captive angels are demons who will arouse new enemies and increased enmities against the Church. In a figurative sense they represent the new enemies thus aroused against the Church, whether they be nations, individuals or secret societies hostile to her. Four, the number of universality indicates how widespread will be their influence. With the prophests of old the region of the Euphrates was ever the country whence came the enemies of God’s people. Its mention here indicates that these new enemies will arise among nations already hostile to the church. In a secondary sense the term may be taken literally to represent peoples from that region who are hostile to the Church. The Four angels of the Euphrates now ordered to be released may be the same as those whom Christ forbade to injure the earth until the Church should be firmly established after the persecutions. Even the time for the manifestation of these evil spirits and their minions has been accurately fixed in the designs of Providence. The very day and hour has been determined. Great numbers will be done to death in the religious wars and revolutions stirred up by these angels from the Euphrates. The prophecy may also mean that large numbers will be lead into new errors and schisms. Both interpretations are fully justified by the history of the pretended Reformation and the wars that followed it.

These scourges shall be more terrible than any yet predicted. The first plagues were brought to earth by the four horsemen. Then we saw four charioteers, the four winds, ready to scourge mankind. Here we find a vast array of cavalry. The chastisements sent upon the world increase with the growth of iniquity and the approach of Antichrist. The description of horses and riders in this vision gives some idea of their boldness, strength and cunning ferocity. They inflict upon men the plagues of fire smoke and sulphur. The fire is persecution and war. Smoke symbolizes the obscuring of doctrine and the weakening of faith, sulphur the moral depravity which follows. The fire smoke and sulphur issue from the mouth of the horses. From the mouth should process words of wisdom instead there comes forth heresies and incitements to revolt and revolution. It should be noted that Luther openly preached revolt and revolution to the peasants of Germany but when they put his words into practice, he turned to the princes and urged them to stamp out the revolt with fire and sword. The horses of this vision inflict injuries with their tails which resemble serpents. Amongst all peoples the serpent is a symbol of lying and hypocrisy. These vices have ever characterized the enemies of the Church. There is no question here of real artillery as some have imagined. St. John is giving only the broad outlines of the Church’s history. He is not concerned with the material means employed by men to wage war against her. The vision of locusts and the vision of cavalry horses are not two representations of one and the same event. They foreshadow two distinct events that follow one another in the order of time. The one is the great revolt against the Church brought about by the fallen star. The other consists of wars and disturbances which follow in the wake of that revolt. After these plagues have passed there still remain many who worship idols and many guilty of robbery, murder and immorality. This is verified today. Although nineteen hundred years have elapsed since the first preaching of the Gospel, whole nations are still steeped in idolatry and Christendom seems hopelessly divided by heresy and schism.

 

An angel coming in clouds of grace and glory brings to St. John a book of further prophecies. The rainbow about his head symbolizes mercy while the brightness of his countenance expresses the power of his teachings to enlighten souls. The feet as of fire indicate that he shall lead the Church in the ways of truth and justice as the pillar of fire guided the Israelites in the wilderness. The book is open to signify that the prophecies therein revealed to St. John are intelligible and shall be understood in due time according to the needs of the Church. The angel places one foot upon the sea, the other upon the land to express God’s supreme dominion over all things. The voice like the roar of a lion is the voice of the Gospel which shall penetrate the very ends of the earth teaching divine truth, condemning error and threatening persecutors with the vengeance of God. Here as elsewhere the thunders may symbolize the anathemas of the church against all wickedness and error; but it would be useless to comment on their exact meaning since St. John was ordered to seal up the words of his prophecies until the time appointed by God for their publication. The words of the seven thunders may also have been such as St. Paul heard – “ secret words which it is not granted to man to utter”. Lifting his hand to heaven the angel calls upon the God of all creation to witness the truth of his words that time shall be no  more. This does not mean that the end of the world is at hand, but that the time for judgement against obstinate sinners and persecutors has arrived. This judgement shall be the greatest persecution of Antichrist and his attendant evils. Then shall be accomplished the “mystery of God” which has been announced (evangelized) by the prophets of old. To evangelize is to announce good tidings hence this mystery of God is probably the plenitude of the Redemption applied to all nations of the earth. After the destruction of Antichrist and his kingdom all peoples  shall  accept the Gospels and the church of Christ shall reign peacefully over all nations. Eating the book symbolizes an intimate union with the Holy Ghost by which the mind of the Apostle is illuminated with the spirit of prophecy. St John finds the book sweet to the taste because it announces mercy to the elect and the final triumph of the church. It is bitter in so far as it predicts dire persecutions for the church and terrible punishments for the wicked.

 

The followers of antichrist have been warned of defeat and eternal punishment – the faithful have been encouraged by the promise of victory here and the eternal happiness hereafter. The time of judgement is at hand; the final conflict now begins. The separation of the good from the bad will be still further accomplished. As on the last day Christ sends forth His angels to gather the wheat in the barns while the cockle is being bound into bundles for the fire, The gathering in of the good through martyrdom is represented as a harvest. The destruction of the wicked is depicted as the vintage of God’s wrath. The realization of this judgement will be found in the complete destruction of the kingdom of Antichrist in subsequent chapters. The reaper sitting upon a bright cloud is an angel who comes in the name of Christ to execute His orders. Hence he bears the resemblance of Christ and is surrounded by a cloud of glory. He also wears a crown of gold, the emblem of royalty because as representative of Christ  he exercises dominion over all peoples. The cloud of glory and the crown of royalty might lead one to accept the reaper as Christ Himself. Yet the context makes it plain that the reaper cannot be identified with Christ since he is commanded by an angel to thrust in his sickle. Furthermore Christ has told us in the Gospel that angels shall be commissioned to separate the wheat from the cockle. The voice from beneath the altar commanding the vintage to be gathered is the voice of a martyr whose blood cries to heaven for vengeance. The martyr who has “power over fire” is probably Elias who will destroy Antichrist by sending down fire from heaven. The prohet Joel also describes the judgement of God against unholy nations as a vintage and a treading of the wine press. The wine press of divine wrath shall be trodden outside the city of Jerusalem. Final victory over Antichrist will be won through great slaughter and bloodshed in a battle near the Holy city, perhaps in the valley of Josaphat. The prophecy of Joel may refer to this event instead of the last Judgement; “Let the nations come up into the valley of Josaphat: for there I will sit to judge all nations round about…in the valley of destruction: for the day of the Lord is near”

 

Rev. E. Sylvester Berry, D.D.
The Apocalypse of St. John

 

 

 

 

Apostasy - Recapitulatio Universae Iniquitatis

Gal:1:
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema.
9 As we said before, so now I say again: If any one preach to you a gospel, besides that which you have received, let him be anathema.
(DRV)

Recapitulatio Universae Iniquitatis - Universal Recapitulation of Iniquity

From:

Rev. E. Sylvester Berry, D.D.,

“In the forgoing chapter [Apocalypse 12] St. John outlines the history of the Church from the coming of Antichrist until the end of the world . . . In this chapter he shows us the true nature of the conflict. It shall be a war unto death between the Church and the powers of darkness in a final effort to destroy the Church and thus prevent the universal reign of Christ on earth.

Satan will first attempt to destroy the power of the Papacy and bring about the downfall of the Church through heresies, schisms and persecutions that must surely follow . . . he will raise up Antichrist and his prophet to lead the faithful into error and destroy those who remain steadfast . . . . . . The Church, the faithful spouse of Jesus Christ, is represented as a woman clothed in the glory of divine grace . . .


" . . . In this passage there is an evident allusion to some particular son of the Church whose power and influence shall be such that Satan will seek his destruction at any cost. This person can be none other than the Pope to be elected in those days. The Papacy will be attacked by all the powers of hell. In consequence the Church willsuffer great trials and afflictions in securing a successor upon the throne of Peter.


“The words of St. Paul to the Thessalonians may be a reference to the Papacy as the obstacle to the coming of Antichrist: ‘You know what withholdeth, that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity already worketh; only that he who now holdeth, do hold until he be taken out of the way. And then that wicked one shall be revealed.’


“ . . . St. John . . . sees in heaven a red dragon with seven heads and ten horns . . . The dragon is Satan red with the blood of martyrs, which he will cause to flow. The meaning of the seven headsand ten horns must be sought in the description of the beast that represents Antichrist where they symbolize kings or worldly powers. (II Thessalonians 2:6-7) . . . Satan’s attacks against the Church will be organized and carried out by the governments and ruling powers of those days.


“With the beast of Antichrist only the horns have diadems as symbols of royalty or governing power. The heads are branded with names of blasphemy. (Apocalypse, 13:1) Hence they symbolize the sins and errors that will afflict the Church . . . in this final struggle to prevent the universal reign of Christ all forms of sin and error will be marshaled against the Church . . . all errors which have afflicted the Church may be summed up in these seven: Judaism, paganism, Arianism, [false, kafirs not truly, Muslim] "Mohammedanism", Protestantism, rationalism, and atheism.


“The dragon is seen in heaven which is here a symbol of the Church, the kingdom of heaven on earth. This indicates that the first troubles of those days will be inaugurated within the Church by apostate bishops, priests, and peoples, — the stars dragged down by the tail of the dragon.


“ . . . The dragon stands before the woman, ready to devour the child that is brought forth. In other words, the powers of hell seek by all means to destroy the Pope elected in those days.


“. . . It is now the hour for the powers of darkness. The new-born Son of the Church is taken ‘to God and to his throne.’ Scarcely has the newly elected Pope been enthroned when he is snatched away by martyrdom. The ‘mystery of iniquity’ gradually developing through the centuries, cannot be fully consummated while the power of the Papacy endures, but now he that ‘withholdeth is taken out of the way.’ During the interregnum ‘that wicked one shall be revealed’ in his fury against the Church.” [In his interpretation of the Apocalypse, Fr. Berry suggests that it will the martyrdom of the Pope, immediately after his election, that will precipitate an extended interregnum, causing manifold tribulations to be visited upon the faithful. However, the suppression of a true Pope, and the intense agony suffered by the rightful Pontiff, who watches helplessly as the Church is ravaged by demonic powers usurping his see for a generation, could certainly be compared to a type of prolonged martyrdom.]


“It is a matter of history that the most disastrous periods for the Church were times when the Papal throne was vacant, or when anti-popes contended with the legitimate head of the Church. Thus also shall it be in those evil days to come.


“The Church deprived of her chief pastor must seek sanctuary in solitude there to be guided by God Himself during those trying days . . . In those days the Church shall . . . find refuge and consolation in faithful souls, especially in the seclusion of the religious life.


“ . . . Our Divine Savior has a representative on earth in the person of the Pope upon whom He has conferred full powers to teach and govern. Likewise, Antichrist will have his representative in the false prophet who will be endowed with the plenitude of satanic powers to deceive the nations.


“ . . . As indicated by the resemblance to a lamb, the prophet will probably set himself up in Rome as a sort of antipope during the vacancy of the papal throne . . .


“ . . . The ‘abomination of desolation’ has been wrought in many Catholic churches by heretics and apostates who have broken altars, scattered relics of martyrs and desecrated the Blessed Sacrament. At the time of the French Revolution a lewd woman was seated upon the altar of the cathedral in Paris and worshipped as the goddess of reason. Such things but faintly foreshadow the abominations that will desecrate churches in those sorrowful days when Antichrist will seat himself at the altar to be adored as God.


“. . .Antichrist and his prophet will introduce ceremonies to imitate the Sacraments of the Church. In fact there will be a complete organization - a church of Satan set up in opposition to the Church of Christ. Satan will assume the part of God the Father; Antichrist will be honored as Savior, and his prophet will usurp the role of Pope. Their ceremonies will counterfeit the Sacraments . . .”8


"The prophecies of the Apocalypse show that Satan will imitate the Church of Christ to deceive mankind; he will set up a church of Satan in opposition to the Church of Christ

"Antichrist will assume the role of Messias; his prophet will act the part of Pope, and there will be imitations of the Sacraments of the Church. There will also be lying wonders in imitation of the miracles wrought in the Church. (p.119)

"And, there seems to be no reason why a false Church might not become universal, even more universal than the true one, at least for a time." (p.155)

Rev. E. Sylvester Berry, D.D.,
The Church of Christ, An Apologetic and Dogmatic Treatise.
Herder, St. Louis and London, 1927 & 1941.