January 31: Saint John Bosco

 

"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell." Matthew 10:28

 

THE GREAT JUDGMENT: THE STORY OF A MAN WHO BELIEVED HIMSELF JUSTIFIED

 

There was once a man.

A good man.

Or at least, that’s what he thought.

He was a man of faith—unshakable faith. He believed, with all the confidence of a reformer holding a hammer before a church door, that faith alone was enough. That with faith—only faith—he was righteous before God.

He had read Luther and Calvin with fervor, debated with every Catholic friend he had, and was absolutely certain that salvation was his, with no need for works to prove it.

And in this absolute certainty, he died.

And then, he awoke in a great hall.

It was not an earthly hall. It had no visible walls or ceiling, yet he felt enclosed. No source of light shone, yet everything was illuminated. No voice spoke, yet something in him understood.

The judgment had begun.

And then, a voice—one that needed no introduction—asked:

— Have you been righteous?

The man, with the same confidence with which he had debated sola fide on countless online forums, raised his chin and declared:

— Yes, because I had faith!

There was a silence, as if the entire universe had paused to listen to his response.

And then, before him, a book was opened.

A massive book, like a divine ledger. His name was there, shining and clear.

And beneath his name—nothing.

Nothing.

Not a single work of mercy. Not a single act of charity. Not one moment where he had fed the hungry, clothed the naked, or visited the sick.

Nothing.

And the voice asked again, with a calmness that cut like a sword:

— Where are your fruits?

The man hesitated. For the first time in his existence, his confidence wavered.

— But… I believed.

And then, without warning, another voice echoed—a voice written centuries ago, in the pages of an apostle he had chosen to ignore:

— “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.” (James 2:24)

A shiver ran through his soul. But he was not defeated yet. No, he had answers—answers he had repeated countless times in his life.

— But… Saint Paul said we are justified by faith.

Another silence. And then, another page appeared, from the very same Paul he had cited. And in it, these words burned like fire:

— “For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.” (Romans 2:13)

The man felt his confidence slip through his fingers like sand in the wind.

— But… I was justified because God imputed it to me. I… I didn’t have to do anything—just believe.

There was a whisper in the air, an echo of centuries of wisdom. And then, out of nowhere, a figure appeared—a man with a pen in his hand and the gaze of one who had crushed heresies before breakfast.

Saint Robert Bellarmine.

— “If justification were merely a declaration of righteousness without a real transformation of the soul, then God would be a liar, calling just what remains unjust.”

And for the first time, the man saw the abyss of his error.

God could not be a liar. And yet, his doctrine made God a liar. Because if he, filthy, empty, fruitless, was called just by a simple declaration, then justice had no meaning.

— But… Luther said…

And at that moment, another figure appeared, with the serenity of a lion and the logic of an unstoppable machine.

Saint Thomas Aquinas.

— “The justification of the sinner is a transformation of the soul in which, by God’s grace, he truly becomes just.” (STh I-II, q. 113, a. 2)

— But…

And then, another man stepped forward—an eloquent bishop with the heart of fire and a tongue sharp as a sword, a knight who had destroyed heresy with words as sweet as they were relentless.

Saint Francis de Sales.

— “Justification that does not produce a real change is a phantom without substance. If faith without works is dead, how could something dead justify?”

The man felt his soul tremble.

And then, the voice spoke again.

— God, who created you without you, will not save you without you.

The man recognized the words. Saint Augustine had said them. He had read them. But he had never understood them.

Because all his life, he had believed salvation was a blank check. That he could believe and remain unchanged. That his soul could be a corpse wrapped in a cloak of imputed righteousness.

But now he saw it. Now he understood. The soul had to be transformed. Faith had to be accompanied by love. Grace did not merely cover the soul—it made it new.

And he… he had done nothing.

And at that moment, he understood the Parable of the Talents. He understood the words of Christ:

— “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink.” (Matthew 25:41-42)

He had believed that God would demand nothing more than faith. But now he saw that God expected fruits.

And he had none.

And for the first time in his existence, terror filled him.

The voice spoke one final time.

— If you love me, keep my commandments. (John 14:15)

The book closed.

And the man, who had died believing himself justified, fell into the abyss.

⸻

Epilogue: The Lesson

The Protestant error is a fatal error. One that sounds pious, but is the greatest betrayal of Scripture.

The man who trusts in forensic justification, in a righteousness that does not change him, is living a lie.

Because God does not call just what remains unjust.

Because faith without works is dead.

Because grace does not merely cover—it transforms.

Because God created us without us, but He will not save us without us.

The man at the Judgment realized it too late.

But you, who have read this, still have time.

There is no more bargaining

 

HELL CERTAINLY EXISTS

 

Hell certainly exists, as Jesus assures us multiple times throughout the Gospels. (Mat 7:13-14, Mat 8:12, Mark 9:43, Mat 13:41-42, 49-50, 48-49, Mat 22:13, Mat 25:46, Luke 12:5, John 3:18) John devotes an enormous passage in his Revelations describing it. (Rev 14:9-11; 19:3).

If everyone's going to Heaven, then that would mean Jesus was confused or ignorant and this is unacceptable especially when those who support this particular heresy (Universal Salvationism) are at a loss for explaining how it is that they come to this new "doctrine" that contradicts everything we ever knew about Christ. If we ignore this part of Christ's teaching, why should we give credence to any of it? It's a slippery slope.

IT IS NOT GOD WHO CASTS US INTO HELL; WE CAST OURSELVES INTO IT BY OUR SINS

For a blasphemy, for a bad thought, for a bottle of wine, for two minutes of pleasure!... For two minutes of pleasure to lose God, one's soul, Heaven… forever! My children, if you saw a man prepare a great pile of wood, heaping up fagots one upon another, and when you asked him what he was doing, he were to answer you, "I am preparing the fire that is to burn me, " what would you think? And if you saw this same man set fire to the pile, and when it was lighted throw himself upon it, what would you say? This is what we do when we commit sin. It is not God who casts us into Hell; we cast ourselves into it by our sins. The lost souls will say, "I have lost God, my soul, and Heaven; it is through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault!" Pray, make your spiritual meditation, frequent the Sacraments daily, have good friends, flee from occasion of sin, read spiritual books... Lead a holy life in the eyes of God.

From the homilies of Saint John Mary Vianney

GO INTO THE ETERNAL FIRE

"Hell is a reality, gentlemen. Christ Himself has said it. It matters little that non-believers deny it. Despite their denial, its existence is a terrible reality. But it is convenient that we go a little further and try to discover what is in it. The Catechism, that little book that contains a wonderful summary of Catholic doctrine, tells us that hell is "the sum of all evils, without any good". A wonderful definition. But there is another one, even more profound: the one that Our Lord Himself gave us in the Gospel. It is the same sentence that He will pronounce on the Day of the Final Judgment: "Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire." This terrible formula contains a marvelous summary of the whole theology of hell."

Father Royo Marín

FEAR THOSE WHO KILL THE SOUL, FEAR THOSE WHO LEAD YOU ON THE PATH OF SIN TO ETERNAL DAMNATION

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him” (Lk. 12, 4-5).

BE HONEST AND ANSWER THE QUESTION OF SAINT JOHN BOSCO

 

DON’T BE FOOLED

Hell can't be made attractive, so the Devil makes attractive the road that leads there.

Saint Basil the Great

________________________________

Remember It

Meeting Carried out by Lucifer with His Demons in Hell, after the Death of Christ Our Lord by Sister Mary of Jesus of Agreda

The fall of Lucifer with his demons from Mount Calvary to the depths of hell, was more turbulent and furious than when he was thrown from heaven. And although that place is always a dark land covered in the shadows of death, of a caliginous (dark) confusion, of miseries, torments and disorder, as Saint Job says, on this occasion his unhappiness and disturbance was greater, because the condemned souls received new horror and accidental grief with the ferocity of the demons that descended. It is true that they have no power in hell to put souls at will in places of greater or lesser torment; because this is decided by the divine justice, according to the demerits of each of the condemned. But, in addition to the essential penalty, the Judge orders other accidental penalties on some occasions; because their sins left in the world roots and many damages for others that for their cause are condemned, and the new effect of their sins causes them these penalties. The demons tormented Judas with new penalties, for having sold and procured death to Christ. And they knew that this place of such formidable sorrows, where they had placed him, was destined for the punishment of those who only had faith without works, and those who scorned the cult of this virtue and the fruit of human redemption. And against these demons manifest the greatest indignation, as they conceived it against Jesus and Mary.

As soon as Lucifer was permitted to proceed in these matters and arise from the consternation in which he remained for some time, he set about proposing to his fellow-demons new plans of his pride. For this purpose he called them all together and placing himself in an elevated position, he spoke to them: "To you, who have for so many ages followed and still follow my standards for the vengeance of my wrongs, is known the injury which I have now sustained at the hands of this Mangod, and how for thirty-three years He has led me about in deceit, hiding his Divinity and concealing the operations of his soul, and how He has now triumphed over us by the very Death which we have brought upon Him. Before He assumed flesh I hated Him and refused to acknowledge Him as being more worthy than I to be adored by the rest of creation. Although on account of this resistance I was cast out from heaven with you and was degraded to this abominable condition so unworthy of my greatness and former beauty, I am even more tormented to see myself thus vanquished and oppressed by this Man and by his Mother. From the day on which the first man was created I have sleeplessly sought to find Them and destroy Them; or if I should not be able to destroy Them, I at least wished to bring destruction upon all his creatures and induce them not to acknowledge Him as their God, and that none of them should ever draw any benefit from his works. This has been my intent, to this all my solicitude and efforts were directed. But in vain, since He has overcome me by his humility and poverty, crushed me by his patience, and at last has despoiled me of the sovereignty of the world by his Passion and frightful Death. This causes me such an excruciating pain, that, even if I succeeded in hurling Him from the right hand of his Father, where He sits triumphant, and if I should draw all the souls redeemed down into this hell, my wrath would not be satiated or my fury placated."

Is it possible that the human nature, so inferior to my own, shall be exalted above all the creatures! That it should be so loved and favored, as to be united to the Creator in the person of the eternal Word! That He should first make war upon me before executing this work, and afterwards overwhelm me with such confusion! From the beginning I have held this humanity as my greatest enemy; it has always filled me with intolerable abhorrence. O men, so favored and gifted by your God whom I abhor, and so ardently loved by Him! How shall I hinder your good fortune? How shall I bring upon you my unhappiness, since I cannot destroy the existence you have received? What shall we now begin, O my followers? How shall we restore our reign? How shall we recover our power over men? How shall we overcome them? For if men from now on shall not be most senseless and ungrateful, if they are not worse disposed than we ourselves toward this Godman, who has redeemed them with so much love, it is clear that all of them will eagerly follow Him; none will take notice of our deceits; they will abhor the honors which we insidiously offer them, and will love contempt; they will seek the mortification of the flesh and will discover the danger of carnal pleasure and ease; they will despise riches and treasures, and love the poverty so much honored by their Master; and all that we can offer to their appetites they will abhor in imitation of their true Redeemer. Thus will our reign be destroyed, since no one will be added to our number in this place of confusion and torments; all will reach the happiness which we have lost, all will humiliate themselves to the dust and suffer with patience; and my wrath and haughtiness will avail me nothing."

"Ah, woe is me, what torment does this mistake cause me! When I tempted Him in the desert, the only result was to afford him a chance to leave the example of this victory, by following which men can overcome so much the more easily. My persecutions only brought out more clearly his doctrine of humility and patience. In persuading Judas to betray Him, and the Jews subject Him to the deadly torture of the Cross, I merely hastened my ruin and the salvation of men, while the doctrine I sought to blot out was only the more firmly implanted. How could One who is God humiliate Himself to such an extent? How could He bear so much from men who are evil? How could I myself have been led to assist so much in making this salvation so copious and wonderful? O how godlike is the power of that Man which could torment and weaken me so? And can this Woman, his Mother and my Enemy, be so mighty and invincible in her opposition to me? New is such power in a mere creature, and no doubt She derived it from the divine Word, whom She clothed in human flesh. Through this Woman the Almighty has ceaselessly waged war against me, though I have hated Her in my pride from the moment I recognized Her in her image or heavenly sign. But if my proud indignation is not to be assuaged, I benefit nothing by my perpetual war against this Redeemer, against his Mother and against men. Now then, ye demons who follow me, now is the time to give way to our wrath against God. Come all of ye to take counsel what we are to do; for I desire to hear your opinions."

Some of the principal demons gave their answers to this dreadful proposal, encouraging Lucifer by suggesting diverse schemes for hindering the fruit of the Redemption among men. They all agreed that it was not possible to injure the person of Christ, to diminish the immense value of his merits, to destroy the efficacy of the Sacraments, to falsify or abolish the doctrine which Christ had preached; yet they resolved that, in accordance with the new order of assistance and favor established by God for the salvation of men, they should now seek new ways of hindering and preventing the work of God by much the greater deceits and temptations. In reference to these plans some of the astute and malicious demons said "It is true, that men now have at their disposal a new and very powerful doctrine and law, new and efficacious Sacraments, a new Model and Instructor of virtues, a powerful Intercessor and Advocate in this Woman; yet the natural inclinations and passions of the flesh remain just the same, and the sensible and delectable creatures have not changed their nature. Let us then, making use of this situation with increased astuteness, foil as far as in us lies the effects of what this Godman has wrought for men. Let us begin strenuous warfare against mankind by suggesting new attractions, exciting them to follow their passions in forgetfulness of all else. Thus men, being taken up with these dangerous things, cannot attend to the contrary."

Acting upon this counsel they redistributed the spheres of work among themselves, in order that each squadron of demons might, with a specialized astuteness tempt men to different vices. They resolved to continue to propagate idolatry in the world, so that men might not come to the knowledge of the true God and the Redemption. Wherever idolatry would fail, they concluded to establish sects and heresies, for which they would select the most perverse and depraved of the human race as leaders and teachers of error. Then and there was concocted among these malignant spirits the sect of Mahomet, the heresies of Arius, Pelagius, Nestorius, and whatever other heresies have been started in the world from the first ages of the Church until now, together with those which they have in readiness, but which it is neither necessary nor proper to mention here. Lucifer showed himself content with these infernal counsels as being opposed to divine truth and destructive of the very foundation of man's rescue, namely divine faith. He lavished flattering praise and high offices upon those demons, who showed themselves willing and who undertook to find the impious originators of these errors.

Some of the devils charged themselves with perverting the inclinations of children at their conception and birth; others to induce parents to be negligent in the education and instruction of their children, either through an inordinate love or aversion, and to cause a hatred of parents among the children. Some offered to create hatred between husbands and wives, to place them in the way of adultery, or to think little of the fidelity promised to their conjugal partners. All agreed to sow among men the seeds of discord, hatred and vengeance, proud and sensual thoughts, desire of riches or honors, and by suggesting sophistical reasons against all the virtues Christ has taught; above all they intended to weaken the remembrance of his Passion and Death, of the means of salvation, and of the eternal pains of hell. By these means the demons hoped to burden all the powers and the faculties of men with solicitude for earthly affairs and sensual pleasures, leaving them little time for spiritual thoughts and their own salvation.

Lucifer heard these different suggestions of the demons, and answering them, he said: "I am much beholden to you for your opinions: I approve of them and adopt them all; it will be easy to put them into practice with those, who do not profess the law given by this Redeemer to men, though with those who accept and embrace these laws, it will be a difficult enterprise. But against this law and against those that follow it, I intend to direct all my wrath and fury and I shall most bitterly persecute those who hear the doctrine of this Redeemer and become his disciples; against these must our most relentless battle be waged to the end of the world. In this new Church I must strive to sow my cockle (Matth. 14, 25), the ambitions, the avarice, the sensuality, and the deadly hatreds, with all the other vices, of which I am the head. For if once these sins multiply and increase among the faithful, they will, with their concomitant malice and ingratitude, irritate God and justly deprive men of the helps of grace left to them by the merits of the Redeemer. If once they have thus despoiled themselves of these means of salvation, we shall have assured victory over them. We must also exert ourselves to weaken piety and all that is spiritual and divine; so that they do not realize the power the Sacraments and receive them in mortal sin, or at least without fervor and devotion. For since these Sacraments are spiritual, it is necessary to receive them with well-disposed will, in order to reap their fruits. If once they despise the medicine, they shall languish in their sickness and be less able to withstand our temptations; they will not see through our deceits, they will let the memory of their Redeemer and of the intercession of his Mother slip from their minds. Thus will their foul ingratitude make them unworthy of grace and so irritate their God and Savior, as to deprive them of his helps. In all this I wish, that all of you assist me strenuously, losing neither time nor occasion for executing my commands.''

It is not possible to rehearse all the schemes of this dragon and his allies concocted at that time against the holy Church and her children, in order that these waters of Jordan might be swallowed up in his throat. It is enough to state that they spent nearly a full year after the Death of Christ conferring and considering among themselves the state of the world up to that time and the changes wrought by Christ our God and Master through his Death and after having manifested the light of his faith by so many miracles, blessings and examples of holy men. If all these labors have not sufficed to draw all men to the way of salvation, it can be easily understood, that Lucifer should have prevailed and that his wrath should be so great, as to cause us justly to say with saint John: "Woe to the earth, for satan is come down to you full of wrath and fury!'' But alas! that truths so infallible and so much to be dreaded and avoided by men, should in our days be blotted from the minds of mortals to the irreparable danger of the whole world! Our enemy is astute, cruel and watchful: we sleepy, lukewarm and careless! What wonder that Lucifer has intrenched himself so firmly in the world, when so many listen to him, accept and follow his deceits, so few resist him, and entirely forget the eternal death, which he so furiously and maliciously seeks to draw upon them? I beseech those, who read this, not to forget this dreadful danger. If they are not convinced of this danger through the evil condition of the world and through the evils each one experiences himself, let them at least learn this danger by the vast and powerful remedies and helps, which the Savior thought it necessary to leave behind in his Church. For He would not have provided such antidotes if our ailment and danger of eternal death were not so great and formidable.

“MYSTICAL CITY OF GOD”. YEAR 1888.

Believe or not

Vision of Saint Teresa on the Consequences of Bad Confessions

A terrible vision of St. Teresa (to reflect on it).

The saint was in prayer, when she suddenly saw a deep abyss opening up before her eyes, all filled with fire and lit in vivid flames, where the miserable souls precipitated, as winter snowflakes. Amazed the saint looks up to the sky and exclaims:

- "My God, my God!, what does this mean? - Who are all these poor souls? Surely they are poor wretches, pagans, Turks, Jews. . . "

"No, Teresa," God answers. “Know that the souls you see now rushing into hell, by my permission, are all souls of Christians like you.”

"But surely they are souls of people who neither believed nor practiced religion, nor frequented the sacraments.”

"No, Teresa, no." All these souls are of Christians, baptized like you, who, as you, believed and practiced the Christian faith ..."

"But, surely, they never went to Confession, not even at the hour of death..."

- They are souls who did go to Confession and who confessed in the trance of death...

"How then, my God, are they condemned?”

- They are condemned because they confessed badly!... Go, Teresa, tell everyone what you saw and urge all bishops and priests to never get tired of preaching about the importance of Confession and against badly made confessions, so that my beloved Christians do not turn medicine into poison and harm themselves with this sacrament, which is the sacrament of mercy and forgiveness.

Taken from: "Confesss Well"

Let Us Repent Following the Example of the Prodigal Son by Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

How can worldlings, living in sin, amidst earthly pleasures and dangerous occasions hope for a happy death? God forewarns sinners that in death they shall seek Him, and shall not find Him: "You shall seek me, and shall not find me." (Jn 7:34.) God says, that then will be the time for vengeance, not for mercy: “Revenge is mine, and I will repay them in due time” (Dt. 32:35).

Reason tells us the same; for at the hour of death, a worldly man will find himself weak in mind; his heart obscured and hardened because of his evil habits: his temptations will be stronger; and how will he be able to resist at the hour of death, who during life was so often and so easily conquered?* An all-powerful Divine grace would be needed to change his heart; but is God obliged to give him this grace? Has he deserved it, with the unholy life he has led?... And yet this is a question of eternal happiness or eternal misery… How is it then possible that, reflecting on this, he who believes in the truths of faith does not give up everything to give himself entirely to God, who will judge us according to our works?

- oOo -

O my Heavenly Physician, cast Thine eyes upon my poor soul, look upon the many wounds I have inflicted upon myself by my sins, and have pity on me. I know that Thou canst and wilt heal me; but to be healed Thou desirest that I repent of the injuries I have done Thee. Yes, I do repent of them with all my heart; heal me, then, now that Thou canst heal me. “Heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee” (Psalms 40:5). I have forgotten Thee, but Thou hast not forgotten me; and now Thou makest me feel that Thou wilt also forget my past offenses against Thee if I detest them. “But if the wicked do penance, I will not remember all his iniquities.” (Ezech. 18:21). Behold, I now detest and abhor them above every evil… forget, then, O my Redeemer, all the grief I have caused Thee. In future, I will lose all, even life itself, rather than Thy grace. And of what use to me are all the goods of this world without Thy grace?... Ah, assist me:_ for Thou knowest how weak I am! Hell will not cease tempt me; already it prepares for me a thousand assaults, to make me once more its slave. No, my Jesus, do not forsake me. From this day hence forth I will be the slave of Thy love. Thou art my only Lord, Thou hast created me, Thou hast redeemed me, Thou hast loved me beyond all others… Thou alone deserves to be loved, Thee only will I love.

*Editor’s Note: It is true that after a life of constant sin there may be exceptional cases of genuine repentance and perfect contrition at the time of death, having time for it, but exceptional cases, such as Dimas’ story, are that . However, the norm is that one dies as one lives, for the hardness of heart that generates a constant sinful life hardly breaks. Hence the importance of always living in a state of sanctifying grace, or of recovering it, if unfortunately it has been lost. If we have had a bad life, let us follow, in time, the example of the prodigal son and let us keep on the grace and friendship of God.

SOURCE: PREPARATION FOR DEATH. SAINT ALPHONSUS MARIA DE LIGUORI, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH AND FOUNDER OF THE REDEMPTORISTS. NAME OF THE POST: TITLED BY CATHOLICITY.

For the Lukewarm

The Dreams of Don Bosco: Hell (Video)

Watch video - it takes a few seconds to appear- (Click on the “CC” icon to activate the subtitles.)

Be careful with the advertisements posted on You tube. They are sometimes financed by Protestant sects.

You can reproduce this post provided you quote this site.

Source of information: Blog CATOLICIDAD, http://www.catolicidad.com/2016/03/los-suenos-de-don-bosco-el-infierno.html

False Churches = False Religions

Pope Francis intends to participate in a joint ceremony between the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation to commemorate the 500^th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation on October 31, 2016, date on which it is celebrated the arguable, and for some people, mythical event where the Catholic ex priest Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis against the Catholic Church on the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg.

Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, who in 2012 had declared, with reference to the Anniversary of the Reformation, that there was nothing to celebrate, for “we cannot celebrate a sin”, and then in 2014 reiterated once again the same truth, has now adapted to the new times and stated that: “By concentrating together on the centrality of the question of God and on a Christocentric approach, Lutherans and Catholics will have the possibility of an ecumenical commemoration of the Reformation, not simply in a pragmatic way, but in the deep sense of faith in the crucified and resurrected Christ."

While the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ, true God and true man, in A.D. 33, in the day of Pentecost (Matthew 16: 18-19 and Acts 2), all the false religions that separated from her through schism and heresy were sects created by man. Such is the case of the heretical German monk, who died hating the Church from which he had separated, and dragged countless souls by creating his own sect, from which, in turn, thousands of other sects would be invented (because the Truth is ONE and only whereas error is plural).

In 1883, Blessed Sister Maria Serafina Micheli (1849-1911) had an apparition while praying: Her Guardian Angel appeared to her and said: “I want you to see where Martin Luther is in Hell and the pain he suffers as a punishment for his pride.” After these words, she saw a terrible abyss of fire where Luther was tormented. As at that time it was being celebrated in Saxony the 400^th anniversary of the heresiarch’s birth, the sister thought that if people saw the dramatic scene that she had seen they would neither honor nor commemorate and celebrate such an evil character. She was convinced that Martin Luther was being punished in Hell especially for the first deadly sin of pride, which caused him to commit a mortal sin and led him to open rebellion against the Catholic Church. His behavior, his attitude towards the Church, and his preaching were crucial to encourage and bring many unwary and superficial souls to eternal ruin and wrong.

For his part, Fr. Stefano Manelli, founder of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, has remarked, in Il Settimanale di Padre Pio (January 20, 2013) that Padre Pio thought the same way about Luther being in Hell, and warned that those who think they can speak directly with God, as Luther did, were also on the way to Hell. Luther's end was horrible and frightening, Fr. Manelli writes based on what Padre Pio said, but this will also be the same history of many Christians and Catholics who believe in the teachings of Luther, he adds.

There is no reason to celebrate the separation of the false churches from the one and only Church of Christ. Is error and leading thousands and thousands outside the path of salvation a cause of joy and celebration? Are people to celebrate now, in the name of a false ecumenism that does not convert anyone, the main anniversaries and feasts of these false religions, and with that their betrayal to Christ?

With all due respect, and without judging anyone’s inner intentions, it has to be said that this event is inconceivable and unbelievable. Never, in the history of the Church, has there been a Pope who thought of accepting something so implausible.

Down below there is a chart that contains all the false sects that call themselves “Christians”. Following the logic above-mentioned, the same should be done for all the other sects so to avoid them feeling discriminated against.

STRIKING STATEMENTS OF FATHER GABRIELE AMORTH, EXORCIST OF ROME

• THE NEW RITUAL FOR EXORCISTS IS INEFFECTIVE
• EXORCISTS ARE BADLY TREATED BY THE MAJORITY
• SATAN’S GREATEST SUCCESS IS MAKING PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT HE DOESN’T EXIST
• THERE ARE NUMEROUS BISHOPS THAT DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL TRUTH ANYMORE
• THERE IS A TENDENCY TO GET RID OF EVERYTHING RELATED TO THE PAST
• SATANISM IS SPREADING
• THERE ARE LEGIONS OF DEMONS IN THE VATICAN, BUT THE GATES OF HELL WILL NEVER PREVAIL
• DEMON MAY WIN BATTLES, BUT WILL NEVER WIN THE WAR AGAINST THE CHURCH

                                      A brief overview of Father Gabriele Amorth’s  life. Click below in CC (subtitle):

Father Amorth, the Italian translation of the new Ritual for Exorcists is finally ready.

FATHER AMORTH: Yes, it is ready. Last year the CEI didn’t want to approve it because it contained errors in the translation from Latin to Italian. And we exorcists, the ones who would have to use it, we took the opportunity to point out that, on a number of points, we were in disagreement with the New Ritual. But the underlying Latin text has remained the same in this revised translation. This long-awaited Ritual has turned into a farce. An incredible obstacle that is likely to prevent us acting against the demon.

A heavy accusation. What is it that you are thinking of?

FATHER AMORTH: I will give you but two examples. Two spectacular examples. Point 15 treats of evil spells and how one should behave when dealing with them. An evil spell is an evil brought about on a person by means of recourse to the devil. It can be accomplished under a variety of forms like spells, curses, the evil eye, voodoo and macumba. The Roman Ritual used to explain how one should confront it. The New Ritual on the other hand categorically declares that it is absolutely forbidden to perform exorcisms in such cases. Absurd. Evil spells are by far the most frequent causes of possessions and evil procured through the demon: at least 90% of cases. It is as good as telling exorcists they can no longer perform exorcisms.

Then Point 16 solemnly declares that one should not carry out exorcisms if one is not certain of the presence of the devil. This is a masterstroke of incompetence: the certainty that the devil is present in someone can only be obtained by carrying out an exorcism. What is more, the authors of the Ritual failed to notice that on two points they were contradicting the Catechism of the Catholic Church. For this points out that exorcism should be practiced in cases of diabolical possession and in those of evil caused by the demon. And it also recommends that it be performed on people as well as on things. And in things, there is never the presence of the demon, there is only his influence. The declarations contained in the New Ritual are very serious and very damaging. They are the fruit of ignorance and inexperience.

 But wasn’t the New Ritual put together by specialists?

FATHER AMORTH: Not at all! During these last ten years, two commissions worked on the Ritual; one which was made up of cardinals and which was responsible for the Praenotanda, that is to say the initial provisions, and the other which was responsible for the prayers. I can affirm with certainty that none of the members of these commissions had ever performed an exorcism, had ever been present at an exorcism and ever possessed the slightest idea of what an exorcism is. Here lies the error, the original sin of this Ritual. Not one of those who collaborated on it was an exorcism specialist.

How is that possible?

FATHER AMORTH: It is not me you should be asking. At the Vatican II Ecumenical Council, each commission was aided by a group of experts who assisted the bishops in their work. And this custom was kept up after the Council, every time that parts of the Ritual were redrafted. But not this time. And yet, if there were ever a subject that demanded the participation of specialists, it was truly this.

And yet?

FATHER AMORTH: And yet we exorcists were never consulted. And what is more, any suggestions that we were able to make were unfavourably received by the commissions. It is a paradoxical history. Do you want me to tell you what happened?

Of course.

FATHER AMORTH: As Vatican Council II had requested, the various parts of the Roman Ritual were gradually revised. We exorcists were waiting for title 12 to be addressed, that is to say the Exorcism Ritual. But apparently this Ritual was not considered an important subject, for the years went by and nothing happened. Then, quite unexpectedly, on 4 June 1990, there was published a Ritual ad interim, that is a trial Ritual. This was a real surprise for us, as we had not been consulted beforehand. And yet we had prepared a whole series of requests in view of the Ritual’s revision. We were asking, among other things, that the prayers might be amended so that invocations to the Virgin, which were completely absent, might be incorporated, and that the number of prayers specifically relating to exorcism might be augmented. But we were not given the chance to make any kind of contribution.

However, we were not discouraged: after all the text had been drawn up for us. And as in his letter of presentation, the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship at the time, Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo, had asked the Episcopal Conferences to send in, over the following two years, "any advice and suggestions made by priests who would make use of it", we got down to work. I brought together eighteen exorcists, chosen from among the most expert on the planet. We examined the text with great attention. We used it. We immediately commended the first part in which the evangelical foundations of exorcism were summarized. This part deals with the biblical and theological aspect of the question, and on this head no lack of competence was apparent. It is a new section not found in the Ritual of 1614, which was composed under Pope Paul V; besides, at that time, there was no need to recall these principles, since the whole world knew them and accepted them. Today, on the contrary, this is indispensable.

But when we came to examine the practical part that demands a specific knowledge of the subject, the total inexperience of the writers really showed through. We made numerous observations, article by article, and we sent these on to all interested parties: the Congregation for Divine Worship, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, end the Episcopal Conferences. One copy was handed directly to the Pope.

How were your observations received?

FATHER AMORTH: Badly, and they achieved nothing. We had taken our inspiration from the dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium in which the Church is described as the "People of God". In number 28, it speaks of priests collaborating with bishops, and in number 37 it is clearly stated - and this applies to the laity also - that "by reason of the knowledge, competence and preeminence they enjoy, they are empowered, indeed sometimes obliged, to manifest their opinion on things that pertain to the good of the Church." This is exactly what we did. And we were ingenuous enough to think that the directives of Vatican II had found their way into the Roman Congregations. But instead we found ourselves up against a wall of rejection and derision. The Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship gave a report to the Commission of Cardinals in which he said that those who had contacted him were bishops and not priests and exorcists. And with regard to our own humble attempt to help them by giving our advice as specialists, he added - and I quote verbatim - "One should also take note of the fact that a group of exorcists and "demonologues", who subsequently formed themselves into an international Association, were busy orchestrating a campaign against the rite." An indecent accusation: we have never orchestrated a campaign! The Ritual was intended for us, and yet not one competent person had been called upon by the commissions; so it was only to be expected that we should seek to make our contribution.

Does this mean then that, for you, the New Rite is unusable in the struggle against the demon?

FATHER AMORTH: Yes. They were looking to give us a blunt weapon. Efficacious prayers, prayers that had been in existence for twelve centuries, were suppressed and replaced by new ineffective prayers. But, as luck would have it, they threw us a lifeline at the last moment.

What was that?

FATHER AMORTH: The new Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, Cardinal Jorge Medina, attached to the Ritual a Notification in which he specified that exorcists were not obliged to use this Ritual and that, if they wished, they could ask their bishop for authorization to use the old one. The bishops must in their turn ask for authorization from the Congregation which, as the Cardinal writes, "willingly accords it".

"Willingly accords it"? That is a very strange concession...

FATHER AMORTH: Do you want to know where it comes from? It comes from an attempt made by Cardinal Ratzinger, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and by Cardinal Medina to introduce into the Ritual an article - it was article 38 at that time - which would authorize exorcists to use the previous Ritual.

It was undoubtedly a manoeuvre in extremis to fend off on our behalf the grave errors found in the definitive Ritual. But the two cardinals failed in their attempt. Then Cardinal Medina, who had understood what was at stake in this matter, decided to grant us this lifeline anyway and he added a separate note.

How do you exorcists see your position within the Church?

FATHER AMORTH: We are very badly treated. Our brother priests who are charged with this delicate task are treated as though they are crazy, as fanatics. Generally speaking they are scarcely even tolerated by the bishops who have appointed them.

And the most striking manifestation of this hostility?

FATHER AMORTH: We organized an international congress of exorcists near Rome. We asked to be received by the Pope. To avoid pressurizing him and adding yet another audience to those he had already granted, we simply asked to be received in a public audience, that of Wednesday in Saint Peter’s. We were not even asking him to address us his personal greetings. We made our request for an audience in the proper manner, as will be perfectly recalled by Mgr. Paolo de Nicolo of the Prefecture of the Pontifical House, who received our request very warmly. But on the day before the audience, Mgr Nicolo told us - to tell the truth, he was very embarrassed and it was very apparent that the decision did not depend on him - not to present ourselves at the audience, and that we had not been admitted. Unbelievable: 150 exorcists from five continents, men appointed by their bishops in accordance with the rules of canon law which requires that they be men of prayer, knowledge and good reputation - and thus in some way the cream of the clergy - ask to take part in a public audience with the Pope and are shown the door! Mgr Nicolo told me, "I promise to immediately send you a letter explaining the situation." Five years have passed and I am still waiting for this letter. It [was] certainly not John Paul II who excluded us. But the fact that 150 priests should be forbidden to take part in a public audience with the Pope in Saint Peter’s shows what kind of obstacles exorcists encounter even within their own Church and to what extent they are frowned upon by a great number of ecclesiastical authorities.

You fight against the demon every day. What is Satan’s greatest success?

FATHER AMORTH: To succeed in making people believe that he doesn’t exist. And in this he has almost succeeded. Even within the Church. We have a clergy and an episcopate who no longer believe in the devil, in exorcisms, in the extraordinary evil that the devil can cause, nor in the power that Jesus has given us to drive out demons.

For three centuries, the Latin Church - in contrast with the Orthodox Church and various Protestant confessions - has almost entirely abandoned the ministry of exorcism. As the clergy no longer practice exorcisms, as they no longer study them and have never seen them, they no longer believe in them. And nor do they believe in the devil either. We have entire episcopates who are hostile to exorcisms. There are countries in which there is not a single exorcist, as for example Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal. A terrifying deficiency.

You did not mention France. Is the situation any different there?

FATHER AMORTH: There is a book written by Isidore Froc, the best known French exorcist, entitled: Exorcists, who are they and what do they do? This work, translated into Italian, was written at the request of the French Episcopal Conference. Nowhere in this book is it stated that exorcists, in certain cases, perform exorcisms. And the author has several times stated on French television that he has never performed an exorcism and that he would never do so. Out of a hundred French exorcists, there are but five who believe in the devil and carry out exorcisms. All the rest send those who contact them to the psychiatrist. And the bishops are the main victims of this situation of the Catholic Church in which belief in the existence of the demon is in the process of disappearing.

Before this new manual appeared, the German episcopate sent a letter to Cardinal Ratzinger in which they declared that there was no need to create a new Ritual because exorcisms should no longer be performed.

Is it down to the bishop to appoint exorcists?

FATHER AMORTH: Yes. When a priest is appointed bishop, he is faced with an article in the Code of Canon Law which gives him absolute authority to appoint exorcists. The minimum one can ask of a bishop is that he has taken part in at least one exorcism, given that he has to make such an important decision. Unfortunately, this is almost never the case. But if a bishop finds himself before a serious request for an exorcism - that is to say one that has not been made by someone deranged - and he does nothing, he commits a mortal sin. And he is then responsible for the terrible sufferings endured by this person. Sufferings which sometimes last for years or even an entire lifetime, and which he could have prevented.

Do you mean to say that the majority of the bishops in the Catholic Church are in a state of mortal sin?

FATHER AMORTH: When I was a child, my old parish priest taught me that there are eight sacraments: the eighth is ignorance. And the eighth saves more than all the others together. To commit a mortal sin, there must exist grave matter, but also full awareness and deliberate consent. To fail to give one’s aid is, for bishops, a grave matter. But these bishops are ignorant: there is therefore no deliberate consent and full awareness.

But if one does not believe in the existence of Satan, does one’s faith remain intact, is it still the Catholic faith?

FATHER AMORTH: No. I will tell you a story. When I met Don Pellegrino Ernetti for the first time, a celebrated exorcist who had practiced in Venice for forty years, I said to him, "If I could speak to the Pope, I would tell him that I meet too many bishops who do not believe in the devil." The following afternoon, Father Ernetti came back to see me to tell me that that same morning he had been received by John Paul II. "Holiness," he had said to him, "there is an exorcist here in Rome, Father Amorth who, if he met you, would tell you that he knows too many bishops who do not believe in the devil." The Pope answered him briefly: "He who does not believe in the devil does not believe in the Gospel." That is the reply which was given to him and which I repeat.

Explain to me if you would: does this mean that there are many bishops and priests who are no longer Catholic?

FATHER AMORTH: Let us say that they do not believe in a Gospel truth. Therefore, I would possibly accuse them of propagating a heresy. But let us understand: someone is only formally heretical if he is accused of committing an error and he persists in it. But because of the situation in the Church today, no one would ever accuse a bishop of not believing in the devil or in demonic possession and of not appointing exorcists because he has no belief in these things. I could mention a great number of bishops and cardinals who, as soon as they had been appointed to a diocese, withdrew from all exorcists the faculty of exercising their powers. Or of bishops who openly maintain: "For myself, I do not believe in these things. They are beliefs of the past." Why is this? Because unfortunately there has been an extremely pernicious influence exerted by certain biblical experts, and I could mention the names of some very well-known people. We who every day come into close contact with the world beyond, we know that this influence has had a hand in many of the liturgical reforms.

For example?

FATHER AMORTH: Vatican Council II had asked for certain texts to be revised. But this order was disobeyed, as there was a desire to rewrite them all from scratch. No thought was given to the possibility of making things worse rather than better. And many rites were spoiled by this mania for jettisoning everything from the past and of rebuilding everything from top to bottom, as though the Church had, until today, hoodwinked and misled us, and as though there had now finally arrived a time of great geniuses, of super-theologians, of super-biblicists, of super-liturgists, who knew how to give the Church what was sound.

It is all a lie: the last Council simply asked for these texts to be revised, not to be destroyed. The Exorcism Ritual, for example, was to be revised, not rewritten. There were prayers in it which had been in use for twelve centuries. Before suppressing these ancient prayers which had proved so efficacious, one should have thought long and hard. But no! We exorcists have all tried out the new prayers in the New Ritual ad interim and we have come to realize that they are absolutely ineffectual. But the rite of baptism for children has also been spoiled. It has been so drastically overhauled that the exorcism against Satan has virtually been eliminated. This had always held a very great importance for the Church, so much so that it is called the minor exorcism. Paul VI himself publicly protested against this new rite.

We find the same degeneration of the rite in the new benedictionary. I have read its 1200 pages minutely. Well! any reference to the fact the Lord must protect us against Satan, that the angels protect us from the attacks of the demon, has been systematically suppressed. All the prayers for the blessing of homes and schools have been suppressed. Everything should be blessed and protected, but today there is no longer any protection against the demon. There no longer exists any defense or any prayers against him. This same Jesus had taught us a prayer for liberation in the Our Father: "Deliver us from the Evil One. Deliver us from the Person of Satan." This prayer has been mistranslated and today people pray saying, "Deliver us from evil." One speaks of a general evil whose origin is essentially unknown. But the evil against which Our Lord Jesus taught us to fight is, on the contrary, a concrete person: it is Satan.

You are in a privileged observation position: is it your impression that Satanism is spreading?

FATHER AMORTH: Yes. Enormously. When the faith retreats, superstition makes progress. In biblical terms, I can say that people are abandoning God to give themselves up to occultism. The terrible retreat of the faith throughout the whole of Catholic Europe makes people throw themselves into the arms of magicians and fortunetellers, and satanic sects prosper. Devil worship is the object of great publicity among the masses through satanic rock and celebrities like Marilyn Manson. Children are also under attack: there are magazines and comic strips that teach magic and Satanism.

Spiritualist seances in which the dead are called up to answer certain questions are very widespread. People are now being taught to perform spiritualist seances through the computer, the telephone, the television, the video recorder, but above all through automatic writing. No longer is there a need for a medium: this is a spiritualism that each can practice by himself. According to polls, 37% of students have on at least one occasion played the game with letters and a glass, which is a veritable spiritualist seance. In a school where I had been invited to speak, the students told me that they used to play this game during the religion lesson, under the obliging eyes of the teacher.

And does this work?

FATHER AMORTH: There is no difference between white magic and black magic. When magic works, it is always the work of the demon. Every form of occultism, like this widespread resort to the religions of the East with their esoteric suggestions, are open gateways to the demon. And the devil enters. At once.

In the case of the Sister who was killed at Chiavenna and in that of Erika and Omar, the two adolescents from Novi Ligure who killed Erika’s mother and little brother, I had no hesitation in stating immediately that diabolical intervention was involved, because these children had given themselves up to Satanism. The police inquiry subsequently showed that they were following Satan, that they had satanic books.

How does the demon set about seducing people?

FATHER AMORTH: His strategy is always along the same lines. I have told him this and he admits it. He makes people believe that hell does not exist, that sin does not exist, and that he is nothing but one more experience to try out. Concupiscence, success and power are the three great passions on which Satan relies.

How many cases of demonic possession have you encountered?

FATHER AMORTH: About a hundred. I have stopped counting.

A hundred? But that is an enormous number. In your book you say that cases of possession are rare.

FATHER AMORTH: And indeed they are. Many exorcists have encountered nothing but cases of diabolical harm. But I have inherited the "clientele" of a famous exorcist, Father Candido, and therefore cases which he had not as yet resolved. Moreover, exorcists send me their more resistant cases.

What is the most difficult case you have ever met?

FATHER AMORTH: It is one I am "treating" at this moment, and that for two years now. It is the young girl who was blessed - it was not a true exorcism - by the Pope in October, at the Vatican, and whose case caused a great stir in the press. She is buffeted twenty-four hours a day and is the victim of unspeakable torments. The doctors and psychiatrists can make nothing of this. She is completely lucid and very intelligent. A truly sad case.

Click below to watch a dramatization of an exorcism that appears in the movie Padre Pio. Click in CC (subtitle):

How does one become a victim of the demon?

FATHER AMORTH: One can be subjected to the attacks of the demon in four cases. Either because it constitutes a blessing for the person and such is the case with many of the saints, or because of irreversible persistence in sin, or because one is the victim of a curse uttered in the name of the demon, or else when one gives oneself up to practices of occultism.

During the exorcism of possessed persons, what kind of phenomena occur?

FATHER AMORTH: I recall an illiterate peasant who, during an exorcism, spoke to me only in English and I had to have an interpreter. There are people who manifest a superhuman strength, others who completely levitate from the ground and whom it is impossible even for several men to keep seated in their armchair. But it is only the context in which these phenomena occur which makes us speak of demonic possession.

Has the devil ever harmed you personally?

FATHER AMORTH: When Cardinal Poletti asked me to take on this role of exorcist, I recommended myself to the Virgin: "Envelop me in Thy mantle and I will be in total security." The demon has often threatened me, but he has never harmed me.

Don’t you ever feel afraid of the demon?

FATHER AMORTH: Me, of that animal? It is he who should be afraid of me; I act in the name of the Lord of the world. But as for him, he is nothing but God’s monkey.

Satanism is spreading more and more widely. The New Ritual, in practice, prevents the carrying out of exorcisms. Exorcists are prevented from taking part in an audience with the Pope in Saint Peter’s. Tell me frankly: what is going on?

FATHER AMORTH: The smoke of Satan has entered everywhere. Everywhere! Perhaps we were excluded from the audience with the Pope because they were afraid that such a large number of exorcists might succeed in chasing out the legions of demons that have installed themselves in the Vatican*.

You are joking, aren’t you?

FATHER AMORTH: It may seem like a joke, but I do not believe it is. I have no doubt about the fact that the demon tempts the authorities of the Church especially, just as he tempts every authority, those of politics and industry.

Are you saying then that here as well, as in all wars, Satan wishes to conquer the enemy’s stronghold in order to take the enemy generals prisoner?

FATHER AMORTH: It is a winning strategy. It is one that is always applied. Especially when the adversary’s defenses are weak. Satan is also attempting it. But, thank Heaven, it is the Holy Spirit who directs the Church: "The gates of hell will never prevail." Despite the defections. And despite the betrayals, about which one should not be surprised. The first betrayal was the work of one of the closest Apostles of Jesus: Judas Iscariot.

Yet, despite this, the Church continues on her way. The Holy Spirit keeps her going and that is why Satan’s attacks can only be partially successful. Admittedly, the demon may win battles, and even important battles. But never the war.

Note: The Exorcism written by H.H. Leo XIII after a revelation he had, reads as follows: “Now this ancient enemy, homicide according to the principle, has arisen with vehemence “disguised as an angel of light” with a hord of perverted spirits, runs all over the earth, places himself everywhere in order to abolish the Name of God and of His Christ, to steal, to destroy and to throw into endless damnation those souls, who should crown eternal glory. A dragon injects into men, mentally depraved and corrupted by the heart, a river of abjection: his malicious virus, his spirit of lies, of impiety and of blasphemy, the mortal breath of vice, of lust and, of universal iniquity. The Church, spouse of the Immaculate Lamb, is saturated with bitterness and flooded with poison by very clever enemies; they put their impious hands on whatever the Church desires as most sacred. Here where the seat of the blessed Peter was founded, and the Chair of Truth, here they have set the throne of their abomination in impiety in such way that the Shepherd is struck the flock can be scattered.”

This interview was originally published in the June 2000 issue of the Italian magazine 30Giorni, and despite the time that has passed since it was published, the issue is as topical as it was before.

You can reproduce this article provided you quote this site.

Source of information: Blog CATOLICIDAD

http://www.catolicidad.com/2009/06/impactantes-declaraciones-del-exorcista.html Translated from Spanish by Fabiola Lozano.