THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: As we approach the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, that ushered Marxism onto the world scene in all it's forms (communism, socialism and fascism), and simultaneously the 100th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions, the final battle of the Church in our age is now underway.
In May through October of 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared to three peasant children in Fatima Portugal with a warning. She told the children that Russia would spread it's evils all over the world, and the Church would suffer greatly, ultimately resulting in the assassination of the pope, unless the pope (in union with the bishops of the world) consecrated Russia to her immaculate heart as an act of faith and renewal. Many believe this prophecy was fulfilled in the papacy of John Paul II, and indeed many signs point to that conclusion. However, while John Paul II was nearly assassinated by a Muslim hired by the Soviet KJB, and he did consecrate the whole world to Mary's immaculate heart, he never specifically consecrated Russia as the apparition at Fatima requested. So there is considerable disagreement as to whether the Virgin's instruction has truly been honored the way she requested it.
Simultaneously, the threat of worldwide communism, socialism and fascism remains. Entire nations remain under communist rule, and even Russia still has a fascist dictator controlling it. As the world's economic crisis continues to worsen, in what the Europeans are already calling an "economic depression," the threat of Marxist ideologies making a huge worldwide comeback has become a very real possibility. Then when we consider the increasing nationalization of private industry underway in the United States, which is supposedly the "leader of the free world," we have the makings of Russia's evil Bolshevik Revolution spreading around the globe. To assume that the current pope is safe from all danger would be foolish. There are many who see the possibility of another assassination attempt in the near future. Likewise, there are many who believe the pope will soon be forced to leave the Vatican, and ultimately die in exile. Again, this is all just speculation, but it is not without merit.
Still yet, there are now revelations that the Soviets struck a deal with the Vatican just before the Second Vatican Council, in which it was agreed that the bishops would not mention communism by name, in exchange the Soviets agreed to leave the council unmolested. Even though the Church's struggle against communism was the defining spiritual battle of the 20th century, a quick reading of the Vatican II documents reveal that the bishops kept their end of the bargain. Should it be any surprise then that the Second Vatican Council remains the most vague and unspecific ecumenical council in the 2,000 year history of the Catholic Church? According to Pope Paul VI, who concluded the Council, the bishops of Vatican II chose not to exercise the note of infallibility at all, thus putting it on a lower level than previous ecumenical councils, making it purely pastoral in nature. The years following Vatican II were marked by confusion and chaos, as Pope Paul VI instituted a whole new liturgical form created by his chief liturgist, an alleged Freemason mole, Monsignor Annibale Bugnini. (NOTE: Allegations of Bugnini's Masonic connections have never been proved.) The "reform" of the liturgy, which dramatically altered it in almost every way, was accompanied by unapproved liturgical innovations of every sort, on every level, from papal celebrations down to the regular mass at local parishes. The problem was so bad that Pope Paul VI referred to it as the "smoke of Satan" having entered the Church (read more here). With this liturgical "reform" and innovation came an immediate drop in vocations to the priesthood, followed by a general apostasy of many Catholics leaving the faith, and of those that remained, half no longer practice. Now the Church finds itself near the end of the greatest crisis it's ever faced. The priesthood is vanishing as those ordained in the 1960s and 70s approach retirement. Religious orders have likewise seen a similar drop in vocations, to the point where some convents and monasteries are being shut down and boarded up. Publicly, the Church is faced with clerical sex-abuse scandals (which only amount to less than 5% of the clergy by the way), followed by bad press and public ridicule. The pope is attacked in the media and assailed by his own clergy for nothing other than practicing orthodoxy and leadership. Finally, the Church has been plagued with the problem of Cafeteria Catholicism and the heresy of Liberation Theology. Cafeteria Catholicism being the insistence of some Catholics to "pick and choose" which doctrines they will believe. Liberation Theology being the heretical teaching of socialism that is white-washed with a "Christian" facade. Liberation Theology has been utterly condemned by every pope who has encountered it, especially John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Indeed, when the bishops of Vatican II made their deal with the communists, they effectively made their deal with the devil, and they've been paying the price ever since. Pope Benedict XVI, while Cardinal Ratzinger, plainly stated that the crisis in the Church today is liturgical in origin. Lex orandi, lex credendi - or - "The law of prayer is the law of faith." Our liturgical chaos has reflected (and in many ways created) the moral and spiritual chaos within the Catholic Church today.
So here we are, forty years after the institution of the new liturgy following the Second Vatican Council. The one religious order that most vehemently criticized the "reforms" of Vatican II, and the new liturgical form, was the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). Having always received grief from champions of the "reform," in 1988 the SSPX clergy unfortunately found themselves unfairly excommunicated by the Vatican over a dispute concerning a technical detail of canon law. Just this year (2009), Pope Benedict XVI revoked those excommunications, and a firestorm erupted among the so-called champions of "reform" because of it. Now negotiations between the SSPX and the Vatican begin in earnest. The Vatican seeks a way to bring the SSPX back into the normal canonical structure of the Church. The SSPX seeks to reform the Vatican entirely, thus restoring liturgical and doctrinal sanity within the worldwide Church. Both sides will be pushing hard to meet their goals. However, in the midst of all this, the SSPX has asked us simply to pray, not for them, and not for the negotiations concerning their future. They ask instead that we pray for the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, and for the Church in general, that the wishes of Our Lady of Fatima be fulfilled exactly as she requested, thus relying on God's miraculous grace to put down the Marxist threat (both inside and outside the Church) once and for all.
Our time has come. The battle of the ages reaches it's final act within the next few years. Will Satan triumph, and Our Lady's conditional prophecies concerning the terrible future of the Church be fulfilled? Or will her promise of God's miraculous grace win the day instead. WE ordinary every-day Catholics hold the answer to these questions within our own hands. Pray the Rosary for the consecration of Russia. Print out the form below. Fill it in as you go, and mail it into the address provided on it. These lists will be presented to the Holy Father himself, and he will see them. Yours will be included in that if you participate. It's time to make history, and this time we'll do it simply by calling upon Our Lady, and relying totally on the miraculous grace of God to save us from the threat of Marxism (in all it's evil forms), and restore order and discipline to the Catholic Church.
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