Thought for the day:

"Give me grace to amend my life, and to have an eye to mine end, without grudge of death, which to them that die in thee,
good Lord, is the gate of a wealthy life."
St. Thomas More

THREE THINGS

"Three things are necessary for the salvation of man; to know what he ought to believe; to know what he ought to desire; and to know what he ought to do."
St. Thomas Aquinas

Rights of Man?

"The people have heard quite enough about what are called the 'rights of man'. Let them hear about the rights of God for once". Pope Leo XIII Tamesti future, Encyclical

Eternity

All souls owe their eternity to Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, many have turned their back to him.


Tuesday, May 2, 2017

St. Athanasius


What we need today desperately--another Athanasius


Today is the day we honor St. Athanasius, defender in the 4th century. He fought against the Arian heresy, and eventually won because Christ promised that His Church, with ALL the teachings, would prevail forever. Today, in these times, we need St. Athanasius and people like him, to defend the Faith as taught by Jesus Christ. These days, we have, spoken by St. Pope Pius X, the synthesis of all heresies, Modernism. Christ's Church has been reduced, as well as His teachings, to not much more just another Christian denomination. We are told that if we put them all together, we can have the entire truth. All are saved regardless. This is a huge and full, 'oversized', 'pantload'!!!!! Those who profess this sentiment are bass ackwards! The Catholic Church has the entirety of Truth, and all others are offshoots of it. What we need is teaching the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Faith. This is what St. Athanasius, who fought Bishops who taught that Christ was NOT divine. The pope of that time, Liberius, is the first pope since Peter to not be listed among the saints. Go figure!? Here's what St. Athanasius stated in his Creed:


Athanasian Creed 1. Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith;

2. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.

3. And the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;

4. Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.

5. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit.

6. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.

7. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.

8. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated.

9. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.

10. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.

11. And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal.

12. As also there are not three uncreated nor three incomprehensible, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible.

13. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty.

14. And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty.

15. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;

16. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.

17. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord;

18. And yet they are not three Lords but one Lord.

19. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord;

20. So are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say; There are three Gods or three Lords.

21. The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten.

22. The Son is of the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten.

23. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

24. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.

25. And in this Trinity none is before or after another; none is greater or less than another.

26. But the whole three persons are co-eternal, and coequal.

27. So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.

28. He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.

29. Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

30. For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man.

31. God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of substance of His mother, born in the world.

32. Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.

33. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood.

34. Who, although He is God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ.

35. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of that manhood into God.

36. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person.

37. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ;

38. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead;

39. He ascended into heaven, He sits on the right hand of the Father, God, Almighty;

40. From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

41. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies;

42. and shall give account of their own works.

43. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.

44. This is the Catholic Faith, which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved.


I'm just going to end using part of a prayer to this wonderful saint, since it is so appropriate for our times, taken from 'The Liturgical Year', by the Abbot Gueranger. Keep in mind that these were written in the 19th century, and put together in the 1920's:

'...O Athanasius, glorious Doctor of Holy Mother Church! humble these modern Arians; expose their proud ignorance and sophistry; how this false doctrine leads either to the abyss of the abominations of pantheism, or to the chaos of skepticism, where all truth and morality are impossibilities.

Preserve within us, by the influence of thy prayers, the precious gift of faith, wherewith our Lord has mercifully blessed us. Obtain for us that we may ever confess and adore Jesus Christ as our eternal and infinite God; 'God of God, Light of Light; True God of True God; Begotten, not made; who, for us men, and for our salvation, took Flesh, of the Virgin Mary.' May we grow each day in the knowledge of this Jesus, until we join thee in the face-to-face contemplation of His perfections. Meanwhile, by means of holy Faith, we will live with Him on this earth that has witnessed the glory of His Resurrection. How fervent, O Athanasius, was thy love of this Son of God, our Creator and Redeemer! This love was the very life of thy soul, and the stimulus that urged thee to heroic devotedness to His cause. It supported thee in the combats thou had to sustain with the world, which seemed leagued together against thy single person. It gave thee strength to endure endless tribulations. Oh! pray that we may obtain this love--a love which is fearless of danger, because faithful to Him for Whom we suffer--a love which is so justly due, seeing that He, through the Brightness of His Father's glory, and Infinite Wisdom, emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the Cross. How else can we make Him a return for His devotedness to us except by giving Him all our love, as thou didst, O Athanasius! and by ever singing His praise in compensation for the humiliations which He endured in order to save us?

St. Athanasius, pray for us to keep and defend the Faith.


Quote from Athanasius:
“As we walk the unerring and life-bringing path, let us pluck out the eye that scandalizes us - not the physical eye, but the spiritual one. For example, if a bishop or presbyter - who are the eyes of the Church - conduct themselves in an evil manner and scandalize the people, they must be plucked out. For it is more profitable to gather without them in a house of prayer, than to be cast together with them into the Gehenna of fire together with Annas and Caiaphas.”
WAKE UP, ALL YOU LEADERS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, AND DO YOUR JOB !!!!!!!!!!!

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