Although I am very much mindful that this is Holy Week, this republished commentary from last year is very apropos for this week of weeks in which Our Divine Redeemer, Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, wrought our salvation for us during His Passion and Death on the wood of the Holy Cross on Good Friday as it deals with Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s repeated disparagement of Our Lady as the Co-Redemptrix of the human race.
Indeed, this commentary is very appropriate for Holy Week as it includes the following passage from Father Francis X. Weninger’s First Sermon for Good Friday speaks to the point of doctrine Bergoglio called “foolishness” on December 12, 2019, very directly:
As it seemed good to the Lord to place a helpmate by the side of the earthly Adam, so we behold at the side of Jesus, the heavenly Adam, Mary, the Eve of the New Law; that, as by the fall of the first Adam and Eve the whole human race was plunged into an abyss of woe, so through the second — Jesus and Mary — rescued man was led to hope for heaven.
It is true that, in the abstract, it was the merits of Christ alone which effected our redemption, yet, that its fruits might be imparted to man individually, Jesus was pleased to place by his side a mother — Mary — for the consolation and assistance of the human race.
Therefore, God filled her heart with the most fervent affection for us, who have been born in sin, ensnared by numberless temptations, walking in the path to heaven, it may be, but in constant danger of going astray, and persecuted by the enemies of our salvation who rejoice when we make but one false step, hoping thereby that we will become their prey forever. Mary's heart is filled with the most unspeakable compassion for us; and no mother, of her own natural inclination, so fondly loves a child, so tenderly cares for its welfare, so untiringly watches over it in every danger, as does Mary in regard to the children of men; especially if they have had the happiness of receiving baptism as members of the Holy Catholic Church. "Come ye all to me, and be filled with my fruits." Thus does Holy Church cry out to those who zealously walk under her protection and patronage in the way of perfection, the path which leads to the joys of heaven. (Father Francis X. Weninger, S.J., Original, Short and Practical Sermons for Every Feast of the Liturgical Year: Three Sermons for Every Feast, published originally by C. J. H. Lowen, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1882, pp. 279-287.)
This commentary is divided into the following parts:
- An Overview of Bergoglio’s Blasphemy
- The Theology of Redemptive Suffering is Excluded by Denying Our Lady as the Co-Redemptrix
- The Meaning of Our Lady as Co-Redemptrix
- Father Francis X. Weninger, S.J. On the Infallibility of Papal Teaching
- Summary
- An Act of Reparation
- Appendix: Father Francis Weninger’s First Sermon for Good Friday
The material from Father Francis X. Weninger's book on papal infallibility is absolutely priceless. Consider this one excerpt:
In compliance with an ordinance from the Pope, the holy Doctor forbade the troublesome Jovinians the Episcopal city of Milan.
In a funeral oration on his brother Satyrus, he [Saint Ambrose] eulogized the zeal of the deceased in the cause of the Roman Church, and alluded, with undisguised satisfaction, to his custom of inquiring from all, whom he chanced to meet, whether they were in communion with the See of Peter. If Satyrus discovered that they had failed in this respect, he rebuked them, because he considered that thereby they had cut themselves loose from the communion of the whole Church.
In his forty-seventh sermon, the Saint advanced the principle: “Where Peter is, there is the Church.” “Ubi Petrus, ibi ecclesia.” If this axiom is once admitted, it is plain that Peter and his successors, when acting as vicars of Christ, can never err in doctrinal decisions. If they could, the Church herself would be in error. But this supposition destroys the very idea of the church. Therefore, according to St. Ambrose, Peter and his successors can never lapse into error. (Father Francis X. Weninger, S.J., On The Apostolical and Infallible Authority of the Pope When Teaching the Faithful, and On His Relation to a General Council, Third Edition. New York: Sadlier and Company, 1890; Cincinnati, Ohio: John P. Walsh, 1890.)
Truth is simple, which is why I rue the fact that it took me until 2006 to see it but am nevertheless grateful for the fact that I was led to the truth, which demands our adherence no matter what criticism will come our way and remembering, as always, that seeing it makes us not one whit better than anyone else nor does it guarantee us final perseverance in a state of Sanctifying Grace. We must always cling to Our Lady as we rreat all others as we would treat her Divine Son in the very flesh.
There will be another republished article tomorrow. (The need for non-tax-deductible donations remains. Thank you.)
Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.
