Excommunicated on Christmas Eve

     When I saw the tweet from Nick Donnelly (whom I follow and think does an outstanding job), I was saddened and a bit shocked, though to tell the truth I find it harder and harder to be shocked under the Francis Papacy. 

Most of the comments under the tweet were people upset and outraged that this happened. 

I wanted to know why, so I read the Declaration from the hermits themselves, which you can find HERE. 


The part that stood out to me, was this: 

"Though we are utterly unimportant, for who is interested in hermits that dare to speak out, we cannot keep silent for fear of damning not only our own souls, but the souls of countless others(xxii) .  We who are watchmen for the Church, who must speak from the watch tower of Truth, have no option but to withdraw our obedience from Pope Francis and sever communion with the Holy See(xxi) .  We do this with great fear and trepidation, but we cannot take part in the Pope’s sin. This is not an act of schism, nor is it an act of defiance, it is an act of real prudence; for no-one in their right mind would stay in a burning building, nor would they silently go down with the sinking ship.  They would try to save not only themselves, but warn others and help them to safety(xxiv)." 

As a result of the hermits severing themselves from the Holy See and Pope Francis, while acknowledging Francis to be the Pope, the Church had no other choice but to excommunicate them. 

And the battle began on social media among Catholic laity. I can see both sides in this, but I can't support both sides.

Some are taking the hermits side against the Church and others (myself among them) are siding with the Church.   

The way I see it (and I am open to anyone showing me how I could wrong-don't hold back in the comments), is that our Church, Our Holy Mother Church is in her Passion as Christ suffered His. 

Corrupt men inside the Church are a cancer, eating away and spreading disease in the Church. Francis, our wretched (God help him) pope is a large poisonous tumor spreading cancer in the body of the Church. 

What do faithful children do when their Mother is suffering so much? 

Do we abandon her? 

No! We stay and fight and pray for her. 

We cling to the authentic Faith, we have it, we know it. We don't leave her to suffer alone because Francis is a terrible pope! We suffer along side Mother Church and hold on because we KNOW who wins in the end! We already know how this story ends! 

Why in the world would you leave when there is no where else to go? Jesus created One Holy Catholic Church on earth, just the one. Outside of it, you may very well lose your salvation if you don't repent before death. 

Popes come and go. God will judge Francis as God Himself has allowed Francis to be our pope right now. 

I often wonder if Francis is a test on us. Do we love our Church enough that even when we have a bad pope we aren't rattled? OK, Francis rattles me, but he won't push me out of the Church.  

From the hermits blog page (sidebar)...

"Now however, the world and the Churches are descending ever further into a moral morass. And as we have ended our obedience to Pope Francis - and therefore all Bishops who go along with his false teachings and example - we are free to do what we must do under God. Preach God's Truth to the people, in season and out of season, so that those who have ears to hear may turn back to God and be saved."

They have, in my opinion (for what that's worth) placed themselves in schism and asked for the excommunication. 

In the hermits defense, they state in their Declaration that they believe Francis has set up the False Church of prophecy (by Blessed Anna Catherine Emmerich). 

The hermits quote: 

“I saw also the relationship between the two popes… I saw how baleful would be the consequences of this false church

“The Church is in great danger… I see that in this place the Church is being so cleverly undermined, that there will hardly remain a hundred or so priests who have not been deceived. They all work for destruction, even the clergy.

“When I saw the Church of St. Peter in ruins, and the manner in which so many of the clergy were themselves busy at this work of destruction – none of them wishing to do it openly in front of others – I was in such distress that I cried out to Jesus with all my might, imploring His mercy. He said, among other things, that this translation of the Church from one place to another meant that She would seem to be in complete decline. But She would rise again; even if there remained but one Catholic, the Church would conquer again because She does not rest on human counsels and intelligence. It was also shown to me that there were almost no Christians left in the old acceptation of the word.”

“Among the strangest things that I saw, were long processions of bishops. Their thoughts and utterances were made known to me through images issuing from their mouths. Their faults towards religion were shown by external deformities. A few had only a body, with a dark cloud of fog instead of a head. Others had only a head, their bodies and hearts were like thick vapours. Some were lame; others were paralytics; others were asleep or staggering.”

“I saw what I believe to be nearly all the bishops of the world, but only a small number were perfectly sound…”


“A false church, and wicked men scheming against the Catholic Church and doing much harm–both in her own time and in the future. And actually saw in a vision this, the enemies of the Church tearing it down and trying to build a new one on strictly human plans–but none of the saints would lend a hand. Later, this church of men is destroyed and the saints of God join in to rebuild the true Church of God, which becomes more glorious than ever before.”

Based on Emmerich and what Francis says and does, these hermits have severed all ties with the Church and Pope Francis because they believe our Catholic Church is now the False Church. 

What do you all think? 

Are the hermits right to sever all ties with the Church and Pope Francis? 

My current thinking, and its subject to change on this matter, is that Pope Francis will one day be declared an anti-pope and all he said and did will be washed away, leaving the Church and Her teachings as they always were. Now my hope and prayers are that Pope Francis will accept correction in his many errors, repent and one day be a decent pope. It could happen and I am praying for it to happen. But if it doesn't, I believe he will in the future be declared an anti-pope.

Now I want to hear from all of you.

What do you think of what the hermits did? 

Was the Church right in excommunicating them? 

Do you believe the hermits are correct? 

Has the Church become the False Church Emmerich speaks of? 

Let me hear your thoughts. 

Don't hold back, speak out and God bless you all. 



In Christ, 


Julie 



Sources: 

https://twitter.com/ProtecttheFaith/status/1209556382363668484 

http://www.trumpeteer.co.uk/the-declaration/4594595263 

http://www.trumpeteer.co.uk/the-hermits-blog/4594613512 

Now is not the time to panic good and faithful servants

Between the latest homosexual priests scandals and cover-ups; to the pope changing the catechism some people have apparently reached their limits. 

It's understandable, but not an excuse to jump ship. 

I left a comment over on The Remnant...

Julie: I pray for this pope and I try so hard to love him...but I fear him. He seems to be purposely destructive...makes me think of the prophecy's from Emmerich about those inside the Church tearing Her down from the inside.
I wonder...will the next pope be able to "undo" what our current pope is doing?

And a wonderful woman quoted the Catechism (a part that so far, hasn't changed). 

Ann Malley replies to Julie @ CT Catholic Corner...  

Look to CCC 675: Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers (cf. Lk 18:8; Mt 24:12). The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth (cf. Lk 21:12; Jn 15: 19-20), will unveil the “mystery of iniquity” in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of His Messiah come in the flesh (cf. 2Thess 2: 4-12; 1Thess 5: 2-3; 2Jn 7:1; 1Jn 2:18, 22).

We all knew this was coming, but we forget when these things happen. We are shook and scandalized and frustrated and angry. I happen to believe the Anne Catherine Emmerich prophecies about what is coming... the near total (the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church) destruction of the Church by Freemasons and rotten clergy in the Church. So I can't say that I am surprised by anything coming from the Church any more. It breaks my heart to see and it does make me angry, but I am not shocked by it because we have been warned. 

Anne Catherine Emmerich prophecy: 

“Last night I had a vision of the Pope. I saw St. Francis carrying the church, and the basilica of St. Peter borne on the shoulders of a little man who had something of the Jew in his countenance. It looked very perilous. Mary stood on the north side of the church with her mantle extended over it. The little man was almost bent double. He is, as yet, a laic. I know who he is. The twelve men whom I always see as the twelve new Apostles ought to have helped him, but they arrive too late; however, just as he was about to fall, they all ran up with myriads of angels to his assistance. It was only the pavement and the back part of the church, for all the rest had been demolished by the secret society helped by the servants of the church themselves. They bore it to another place, and it seems as if rows of palaces fell before it like fields of wheat in harvest time.


“When I saw St. Peter’s in this ruinous state and so many ecclesiastics laboring, though secretly, at its destruction, I was so overcome that I cried earnestly to Jesus for mercy. Then I saw my Heavenly Spouse (Jesus) before me under the form of a youth. He spoke to me for a long time. He told me that this translation of St. Peter’s signified that the Church would apparently fall to total ruin: but that, resting on these supports, she would be raised up again. Even if there should remain but one Catholic Christian, the Church would again triumph since its foundations were not cast in the intellect or councils of men. She had never yet been without members praying and suffering for her. He showed me all that He Himself had endured for her, what efficacy He had bestowed upon the merits and labors of the martyrs and He ended by saying that He would endure it all over again if it were possible for Him again to suffer. He showed me, also, in numberless pictures, the miserable aims of Christians and ecclesiastics throughout the whole world. The vision grew wider, more extended, until it embraced my own country; and then Jesus exhorted me to perseverance in prayer and expiatory suffering. It was an unspeakably great and sorrowful picture. I cannot describe it!”[clip]

And...“Then, I saw that everything that pertained to Protestantism was gradually gaining the upper hand, and the Catholic religion fell into complete decadence. Most priests were lured by the glittering but false knowledge of young school-teachers, and they all contributed to the work of the destruction. 


“In those days, Faith will fall very low, and it will be preserved in some places only, in a few cottages and in a few families which God has protected from disasters and wars.”[end quote] 

We have the Sacred Scriptures as mentioned in the catechism and many prophecies warning us about what is coming, so none of us should be shocked to be witnessing these things. Saddened yes, but not so much that we jump out of the Ark of our Salvation and into certain death. 

We were warned so that we could be prepared. 

We must hold fast to the authentic Faith, go to Mass and Confession, practice a good devout prayer life and work out our salvation as Saint Paul tells us while trying to save the souls of those around us. If we want to hear "Well done, good and faithful servant" at the end of our life, then we must be "good and faithful" until the end of our lives.

Don't jump ship in the storm- there is no salvation to be found anywhere else. 

In Christ and holding on, 

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 


links: 

https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/4000-killing-capital-punishment-francis-vs-the-catholic-church

http://catholicprophecy.org/venerable-anna-emmerich/ 

https://www.lifesitenews.com//news/church-at-crisis-moment-that-demands-serious-pain-and-soul-searching-ewtn-p 

Vatican: Woohoo! Front and center dissenting gay activists!

Once more, this papacy has caused scandal to the faithful (and by “faithful” I mean devout practicing Catholics who accept Church teaching) by giving a dissenting group of homosexual activists a VIP seat in St. Peter’s Square during a papal audience with the “Who am I to judge” Pope Francis.

Quote: A prominent American Catholic gay rights group was given VIP treatment for the first time at an audience with Pope Francis on Wednesday, a move members saw as a sign of change in the Roman Catholic Church.“This is a sign of movement that’s due to the Francis effect,” said Sister Jeannine Gramick, co-founder of New Ways Ministry, which ministers to homosexual Catholics and promotes gay rights in the 1.2 billion-member Church.Gramick and executive director Francis DeBernardo led a pilgrimage of 50 homosexual Catholics to the audience in St. Peter’s Square.They told Reuters in an interview afterwards that when the group came to Rome on Catholic pilgrimages during the papacies of Francis’s predecessors John Paul and Benedict, “they just ignored us”.This time, a U.S. bishop and a top Vatican official backed their request and they sat in a front section with dignitaries and special Catholic groups. As the pope passed, they sang “All Are Welcome,” a hymn symbolising their desire for a more inclusive Church.

How nice (not!) that a U.S. Bishop and top Vatican official (would like to know who that is) supported the request to give dissenting Catholics who support mortal sin and flaunt it (sin of scandal) a special VIP place at the Vatican.   

And these dissenting ‘catholics’ sing a protestant song (“All are welcome” see link below for more on that little gem) to push their desire for the Church to welcome mortal sin and redefine it.  

Clearly, some Bishops and “top Vatican officials” DO support mortal sin and we’ve learned from the Synod on the family last fall that there is a deep evil desire within the Church to do just that-redefine what is and isn’t sin.  Thank our dear Lord that He sent the Holy Spirit to protect the Church from not only the evil outside the Church, but also the evil disgusting men inside the Church who work to destroy Her from the inside.  They will not succeed in destroying the Church, so there NEVER any need for Catholics to run out of the Church Jesus Christ founded for something else that “looks” like His Bride.  Christ wasn’t a polygamist- he has only One Bride. 

I am a big fan of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich and have been for many years.  I think she would completely understand what devout Catholics today are suffering because of the current state of the Church: 

Quote: Sister Emmerich lived during one of the saddest and least glorious periods of the Church's history, when revolution triumphed, impiety flourished, and several of the fairest provinces of its domain were overrun by infidels and cast into such ruinous condition that the Faith seemed about to be completely extinguished. Her mission in part seems to have been by her prayers and sufferings to aid in restoring Church discipline, especially in Westphalia, and at the same time to strengthen at least the little ones of the flock in their belief. Besides all this she saved many souls and recalled to the Christian world that the supernatural is around about it to a degree sometimes forgotten. A rumour that the body was stolen caused her grave to be opened six weeks after her death. The body was found fresh, without any sign of corruption. In 1892 the process of her beatification was introduced by the Bishop of Münster.

Our Lord gave Emmerich a lifetime of amazing visisions and among those visions include the attempted destruction and then restoration of the Church.  I thought I would share today, one of Emmerich’s visions for two reasons 1) I am reading Emmerich again as part of my Lenten plan (I always make a Lenten plan) and 2) because I think some might find comfort in this vision- especially those who are considering leaving the Church for something else that merely resembles the Church.

“[Dec. 27^th] I saw St. Peter’s.  A great crowd of men were trying to pull it down whilst others constantly built it up again.  Lines connected these men one with another and with others throughout the world.  I was amazed at their perfect understanding.  The demolishers, mostly apostates and members of different sects, broke off whole pieces and worked according to rules and instructions.  They wore white aprons bound with blue riband.  In them were pockets and they had trowels stuck in their belts.  The costumes of the others were various.  There were among the demolishers distinguished men wearing uniforms and crosses.  They did not work themselves, but they marked out on the wall with a trowel where and how it should be torn down.  To my horror, I saw among them Catholic priests. 

Whenever the workmen did not know how to go on, they went to a certain one in their party.  He had a large book, which seemed to contain the whole plan of the building and the way to destroy it.  They marked out exactly with a trowel the parts to be attacked, and they soon came down.  They worked quietly and confidently, but slyly, furtively, and warily.

I saw the Pope praying, surrounded by false friends who often did the very opposite of what he had ordered, and I saw a little black fellow (a laic) laboring actively against the Church.  Whilst it was thus being pulled down on one side, it was rebuilt on the other, but not very zealously. 

I saw many clergy whom I knew.  The Vicar-General gives me great joy.  He went to and fro, coolly giving orders for the repairing of the injured parts.  I saw my confessor dragging a huge stone by a roundabout way.  I saw others carelessly saying their breviary and, now and then, bringing a little stone under their cloaks or giving it to another as asomething very rare.  They seemed to have neither confidence, earnestness, nor method.  They hardly knew what was going on.  It was lamentable! 

Soon the whole front of the Church was down; the sanctuary alone stood.  I was very much troubled and kept thinking, “Where is the man with the red mantle and white banner whom I used to see standing on the Church to protect it?” [Interesting to note: earlier in her writings Emmerich identifies this “man with the red mantle” as St. Michael the Archangel- some suggest he is no longer seen atop the Church because the St. Michael prayer is no longer said at the end of Mass, in Emmerich’s vision of December 30, right after this vision of the Church being restored by a new pope, she once more sees Michael atop the Church] 

Then I saw a most majestic lady floating over the great square before the Church.  Her wide mantle fell over her arms as she arose gently on high, until she stood upon the cupola and spread it over the Church like golden rays.  The destroyers were taking a short repose, and when they returned they could in no way approach the space covered by the mantle. 

On the opposite side, the repairs progressed with incrediable activity.  There came men, old, crippled, long-forgotten, followed by vigorous young people, men, women, children, ecclesiastic and lay, and the edifice was soon restored.

Then I saw a new Pope coming in procession, younger and far sterner looking than his predecessor.  He was received with pomp!  He appeared about to consecrate the church.  But I heard a voice proclaiming it unnecessary as the Blessed Sacrament had not been disturbed.

The same voice said that they should solemnly celebrate a double feast, a universal jubilee and the restoration of the Church.

The Pope, before the feast began instructed his officers to drive out from the assembled faithful a crowd of the clergy both high and low, and then I saw them going out, scolding and grumbling.  Then the Holy Father took into his service others, ecclesiastic and lay.  Now commenced the grand solemnity in St. Peter’s.  The men in white aprons worked on when they thought themselves unobserved, silently, cunningly, though rather timidly.”  [Quote from ‘The Life of Anne Catherine Emmerich” by the Very Reverend Carl. E. Schomoger, C.SS.R., Volume I, pages 564-566]

Again I say, stick with the ONLY Church Jesus Christ created on earth no matter who the pope is or what evil the clergy are doing.  The Church belongs to Christ and He will sustain Her through all attacks- inside and outside the Church.   We are called “the faithful” IF and when we actually REMAIN faithful to Her. 

“To whom shall we go Lord?  You have the words of eternal life.” asked Saint Peter in John 6, and Jesus answered “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve?  Yet one of you is a devil.”

There were devils in the Church when Christ founded Her, and there are devils in the Church now. 

To whom shall we go?  There is nowhere else but Christ’s Holy Catholic Church.  Remain faithful by remaining in Her through all Her tribulations.  Don’t let evil men inside the Church chase you out- that’s the devils hope and plan for you.  He delights when people leave Christ’s Church.  Be faithful!  Remain inside Christ's Church.

In Christ,

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner

Sources:

Sin of SCANDAL: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_P80.HTM

Link: http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/02/18/gay-catholic-group-gets-vip-treatment-at-vatican-for-first-time/

Video Link: http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/world/2015/02/18/23624209/

Link to Bishop’s letter on “All Are Welcome” protestant hymn:  http://www.madisoncatholicherald.org/bishopscolumns/2596-the-beauty-of-our-worship-in-the-liturgy.html

Emmerich Book: http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/231230868914?lpid=82&chn=ps

Anne Catherine Emmerich: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05406b.htm