Some data on the “Spirit of Vatican II” go read the rest here.
Differences in Beliefs/Attitude between Traditional and New Order Catholics
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Church Teaching On Socialism and Communism
“Christian Socialists” are frauds
“Christian socialism, are contradictory terms; no one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist.”
– Pius XI, Encyclical Quadragesimo Anno, May 15, 1931
Socialism like other sins corrupt what is good in man
“…communism, socialism, nihilism, hideous deformities of the civil society of men and almost its ruin.”
– Leo XIII, Encyclical Diuturnum, June 29, 1881
Socialists oppose the Will of the One True God
“…We speak of that sect of men who, under various and almost barbarous names, are called socialists, communists, or nihilists, and who, spread over all the world, and bound together by the closest ties in a wicked confederacy, no longer seek the shelter of secret meetings, but, openly and boldly marching forth in the light of day, strive to bring to a head what they have long been planning – the overthrow of all civil society whatsoever. Surely, these are they who, as the sacred Scriptures testify, ‘Defile the flesh, despise dominion and blaspheme majesty.’ (Jude 8).”
– Leo XIII Encyclical Quod Apostolici Muneris, December 28, 1878
Socialism is a false utopia, another fraud.
“The dream of re-shaping society will bring socialism but stranger still, alarming and saddening at the same time, are the audacity and frivolity of men who call themselves Catholics and dream of re-shaping society under such conditions, and of establishing on earth, over and beyond the pale of the Catholic Church, ‘the reign of love and justice’ … What are they going to produce? … A mere verbal and chimerical construction in which we shall see, glowing in a jumble, and in seductive confusion, the words Liberty, Justice, Fraternity, Love, Equality, and human exultation, all resting upon an ill-understood human dignity. It will be a tumultuous agitation, sterile for the end proposed, but which will benefit the less Utopian exploiters of the people.
– St. Pius X, Apostolic Letter Notre Charge Apostolique, August 25, 1910
Socialism is opposed to Christian truth
“… For Socialism, which could then be termed almost a single system and which maintained definite teachings reduced into one body of doctrine, has since then split chiefly into two sections, often opposing each other and even bitterly hostile, without either one however abandoning a position fundamentally contrary to Christian truth that was characteristic of Socialism.” -Pius XI, Encyclical Quadragesimo Anno, May 15, 1931
Socialism delivers the opposite to its stated intention.
“The State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering person − every person − needs: namely, loving personal concern. We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need.”
-Benedict XVI, Encyclical Deus Caritas Est, December 25, 2005
The fundamental error of socialism is anthropological in nature.
“Socialism considers the individual person simply as an element, a molecule within the social organism, so that the good of the individual is completely subordinated to the functioning of the socio-economic mechanism. Socialism likewise maintains that the good of the individual can be realized without reference to his free choice, to the unique and exclusive responsibility which he exercises in the face of good or evil. Man is thus reduced to a series of social relationships, and the concept of the person as the autonomous subject of moral decision disappears, the very subject whose decisions build the social order. From this mistaken conception of the person there arise both a distortion of law, which defines the sphere of the exercise of freedom, and an opposition to private property.” – John Paul II, Encyclical Centesimus Annus, May 1, 1991
The Greatest Disappointment
God will not save us against our will or against our indifference.
“The most disappointing reality in the Catholic Church today is not sexual perversion, however gross that is. Because while acts of sexual perversion are morally wrong, if a man retains the truth of the Faith, there is still a possibility of his repentance.
So, the greatest tragedy is, then, the loss of the Faith, the loss of truth. When a mind comes to love lies, to love to lie, to live in mendacity and to defend and promote mendacity, the soul of the man has descended to infernal regions.
Such a soul has nothing of itself or in itself to dispose it to repent, for it has turned its back on truth.”
Br. Alexis Bugnolo
St. Valentine
St Valentine Kneeling in Supplication (David Teniers III, 1600s)
St. Valentine of Terni (a city also known as Interamna) was a young noble who converted to Christianity. He became a bishop at a young age, and died a martyr at the age of 97. Born in Terni in 176, he was martyred in Rome on February 14, 273.
He was persecuted for having encouraged marriages between Romans and Christians.
During his trial he discussed his faith with his judge. The judge Asterius put his Faith to the test. The judge presented Valentine with his blind daughter, who was healed. Asterius destroyed the idols in his house and had his whole family and household of 44 members baptized. He then freed all Christian inmates under his charge.
Valentine was arrested again for attempting to convert the heathen. He was tortured and martyred.
From the Sermons of St Austin, Bishop of Hippo:
“The illustrious day whereon the blessed Martyr Valentin conquered, doth this day come round to us again and as the Church doth rejoice with him in his glory, so doth she set before us his footsteps to be followed. For if we suffer, we shall also reign with him. In his glorious battle we have two things chiefly to consider the hardened cruelty of the tormentor, and the unconquered patience of the Martyr the cruelty of the tormentor, that we may abhor it; the patience of the Martyr, that we may imitate it. Hear what the Psalmist saith, complaining against sin: “Fret not thyself because of the evil-doers, for they shall soon dry up like the grass.” But touching the patience which is to be shown against the evil-doers, hear the word wherewith the Apostle moveth us Ye have need of patience, that ye may receive the promise.”
Archaeologists have unearthed both Roman catacombs and an ancient church dedicated to St. Valentine. In 496 AD Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom.
The connection between the secular celebrations and his day probably have two contributing factors.
St. Valentine’s feast day coincides with the Lupercalia, an ancient Roman festival dedicated to fertility, which Pope Gelasius abolished in 496.
This connection also got a boost in the Middle Ages when it was believed that birds paired couples half way through the second month of the year.
In Chaucer’s Parliament of Foules we read:
For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day
Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate.
St. Valentine is the Patron Saint of bee keepers, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, and young people.
Prayer
Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that we who keep the birthday of thy blessed Martyr Valentine may be delivered by his prayers from all the ills that hang over us.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.
Amen.
St. Catherine of Ricci
chalk on paper Snite Museum of Art a gift of the Artist
Born Alessandra Lucrezia Romola on April 23rd, 1522, in Florence, St. Catherine entered The Third Order Dominicans. She entered the novitiate, in 1535 at the age of fourteen (taking the name of Catherine), and professed in 1536.
She lived a life of penance and mortifications, fasting two or three days a week on bread and water, and sometimes passed the whole day without food. She mortified her body with a sharp iron chain which she wore next her skin.
For two years she suffered severe health related pains offering this suffering via meditation on the passion of Christ. After a miraculous restoration of her health, she studied and labored to die to her senses, and to advance in the penitential life
She is most remembered for her mystical life and weekly ecstasy. The great “Ecstasy of the Passion”, happened for the first time in February, 1542, and repeated each week afterwards for twelve years from Thursday at noon till 4 p.m. on Friday, for several years. She went through all the stages of Our Lord’s Passion, recounting all that His Blessed Mother suffered in witnessing it. These ecstasies ceased in answer to the prayers of both Catherine and her community.
Catherine received the stigmata, the very wounds of Our Lord, on her hands, feet, side, and around her head. On Easter Sunday in 1542, she was visited by Our Lord, and He gave her a gold ring with a diamond in it as a sign that she belonged to him. To the world, her finger appeared to have a hard ring just below the surface of her skin. Catherine saw and experienced it as a physical gold ring.
Catherine was chosen, at a very young age to be mistress of the novices, then sub-prioress, and, at the age of twenty-five was appointed perpetual prioress. Her community still exists and inhabits the convent of San Vincenzio (now commonly called Santa Caterina), and there her body still reposes. Her feast is kept on the 13th of February.
Adapted from the Catholic Encyclopedia, and Vol. II of “The Lives or the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints” by the Rev. Alban Butler, the 1864 edition published by D. & J. Sadlier, & Company.
Prayer
Almighty God, you brought Catherine to holiness through her contemplation of your Son’s passion and the sorrows of Our Blessed Mother. She gave us an example of a life of penance and heroic virtue. Through her intercession, help us to become courageous witnesses and teachers of these mysteries. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, you Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.