Revised: Compare and Contrast

by Thomas A. Droleskey

[2012 Preface: This article was written five years ago, that is, in the year 2006. It has undergone a little tweaking here and there. What I want to emphasize in the preface to the 2012 posting, however, is that the examples of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI's praise of false religions, something that stands in stark contrast to the work of Saint Hyacinth, are not exhaustive. Numerous articles of mine in the past few years have detailed Ratzinger/Benedict's violation of the First and Second Commandments as he has praised one false religion after another and called their places of false worship as "sacred." 

[Here are just a few of those articles: Saints and Idols: No Room for "Coexistence", No Such Thing as a Small Sacrilege, Asking Our Lady to Repair the Damage,  Keep Focused on Root Causes, Words and Actions of Antichrist, How Catholics Act and Speak in Jerusalem, "When He  Cometh, Shall He Find, Think You, Faith on Earth?", Apologizing to Everyone Save For God Himself, Pope Saint Pius V and the Conversion of the Muslims, Pope Saint Pius V and the Conversion of the Conciliarists, Mocking Pope Saint Pius X and Our Lady of Fatima, On Full Display: The Modernist Mind, Just Following Their "Pope's" Call for Cohesion, They're Screaming At Us: We're Not Catholic, With The Passage Of Time, Anti-Apostles All, Forever Prowling the World Seeking the Ruin of Souls, part 1, Forever Prowling the World Seeking The Ruin of Souls, part 2, Catholicism Is The Only Foundation of Personal and Social Order, Turning Perfection Aside For A More Perfect Banality, Get The Man A Mirror, Boy, If Only The "Pope" Knew, Boy, If Only The "Pope" Knew, partie deux, Fearing to Offend Men Rather Than God, Live By Separation of Church and State? Die By Separation of Church and State, Touchy, Touchy, As New Dog and Pony Shows Come To Town, part one, As New Dog and Pony Shows Come to Town, part two, As New Dog and Pony Shows Come To Town, part three, As New Dog and Pony Shows Come To Town, part four (the end), Chastisements Under Which We Must Save Our Souls, part one, Chastisements Under Which We Must Save Our Souls, part two, Chastisements Under Which We Must Save Our Souls, part three, One of Those "Is It Really Necessary To Write This Again" Articles, Revolutions Have Consequences, part one, Revolutions Have Consequences, part two, Another Year of the Same Conciliar Apostasy, part one, Another Year of the Same Conciliar Apostasy, part two, Another Year of the Same Conciliar Apostasy, part three, Impressed With His Own Originality, Accepting "Popes" As Unreliable Teacher, Sixty Years of Priestly Apostasy, Tale of Two Benedicts and in the comprehensive overview provided two months ago in What Lines Are You Reading Between, Bishop Fellay?.)

[The apostasies and blasphemies emanating from Ratzinger/Benedict are unremitting. He is relentless in violating the binding precepts of the First and Second Commandments. The likes of Saint Hyacinth, O.P., are not welcome in the counterfeit church of concilairism.]

The Modernist mindset of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI has been critiqued a number of times on this site in the past four years. There is little of the Catholic Faith as it has been handed down to us over the centuries under the infallible guidance of the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, God the Holy Ghost, that seems to bind his conscience. Although he uses phrases familiar to Catholics and holds his Hegelian views about the Faith very sincerely, Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI has a very long paper trail that puts him at odds with the defined teaching of the Catholic Church in a number of areas.

One of the areas that places Ratzinger/Benedict XVI at odds with the authentic patrimony of the Catholic Church is his belief that it is wrong for Catholics to seek to proselytize Protestants or the Orthodox. He has also discouraged the "targeting" of Jews for conversion, stating as well that the Old Testament could be read in a way that did not point definitively to Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Ratzinger/Benedict thus believes that it is not a matter of urgency to seek the salvation of those outside of the Catholic Church. He gave concrete proof of this almost exactly four years ago now when he said that the murdered Protestant syncretist, "Brother" Roger Schutz of the Taize Ecumenical Community, had attained eternal joy, something that the false "pontiff" reaffirmed on more than one occasion (see Creating Ever More "Traditions" That Come From Hell).

Indeed, Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI has demonstrated throughout his priestly life that he believes it is possible for people of differing cultures and background to "work together" for the common good without seeking to Catholicize every man and every aspect of a nation's social life. He specifically and categorically rejects the consistent teaching of the Catholic Church that the civil state has an obligation to recognize her as the true religion and base its policies with a view to the fostering of conditions wherein citizens are better able to sanctify and thus to save their immortal souls. Ratzinger's view of culture and of the civil state are Modernist. They are the very views that were condemned by Pope Saint Pius X in Notre Charge Apostolique, August 15, 1910, a chief passage from which will be reproduced once again for the sake of emphasis:

 

No, Venerable Brethren, We must repeat with the utmost energy in these times of social and intellectual anarchy when everyone takes it upon himself to teach as a teacher and lawmaker - the City cannot be built otherwise than as God has built it; society cannot be setup unless the Church lays the foundations and supervises the work; no, civilization is not something yet to be found, nor is the New City to be built on hazy notions; it has been in existence and still is: it is Christian civilization, it is the Catholic City. It has only to be set up and restored continually against the unremitting attacks of insane dreamers, rebels and miscreants. omnia instaurare in Christo.

Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI is possessed of all manner of notions, some of them very hazy, some of them simply in complete opposition to Catholic truth. He does not want the Catholic City restored. Oh, no. He believes that the Church can coexist "peacefully" with other religions without seeking to convert men in false religions and without seeking to convert nations to the Social Reign of Christ the King, a time whose "anchorage" has past and will never return.

Consider a German television interview with Ratzinger/Benedict XVI. Taped on August 5, 2006, in Castel Gandolfo, the summer residence of the popes, and aired on August 14, 2006, the interview reveals that the former Joseph Ratzinger is now who he has always been: a man who believes he has a mission from God to "re-think" the Catholic Faith in order to make it appealing to "modern" man. Answering a question about his then forthcoming visit to his home state of Bavaria in Germany, Benedict said:

Of course. The purpose of the visit is precisely because I want to see again the places where I grew up, the people who touched and shaped my life. I want to thank these people. Naturally I also want to express a message that goes beyond my country, just as my ministry calls me to do. I simply let the liturgical recurrences suggest the themes to me. The basic theme is that we have to rediscover God, not just any God, but the God that has a human face, because when we see Jesus Christ we see God. Starting from this point we must find the way to meet each other in the family, among generations, and then among cultures and peoples as well. We must find the way to reconciliation and to peaceful coexistence in this world, the ways that lead to the future. We won't find these ways leading to the future if we don't receive light from above. So I didn't choose very specific themes, but rather, it is the liturgy that leads me to express the basic message of faith which naturally finds its place in everyday reality where we want to search, above all, for cooperation among peoples and possible ways that can lead us to reconciliation and peace. (Interview with Bayerische Rundfunk (ARD), ZDF, Deutsche Welle and Vatican Radio)

Peaceful coexistence? This is not a Catholic phrase, I am afraid. Saint Patrick did not believe in "peaceful coexistence" with the Druids. Saint Boniface did not believe in "peaceful coexistence" with the false gods of Germany. Saint Hyacinth, whose feast is celebrated today, August 17, did not believe in "peaceful coexistence" with the pagans and the Orthodox. Each of these saints believed in the conversion of men and of their nations to Catholic Faith.

Peaceful coexistence? This is not a Catholic phrase, I am afraid. Oh, yes, I remember the phrase well from my youth when I was a student at Saint Aloysius School in Great Neck, New York. The entire student body prayed the Rosary every once in a while in practice air raid drills, remembering to pray for the conversion of the Butcher of the Ukraine who had popularized the phrase "peaceful coexistence" in the 1950s, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (from 1953 to 1964) and the Premier of the same Soviet Union (from 1958-1964), Nikita S. Khrushchev. He is the one who popularized the phrase "peaceful coexistence" in the 1950s.

Ratzinger/Benedict acts and speaks as though that the patrimony of the Catholic Church has almost nothing to offer him insofar as leading the world back to Our Lord as He has revealed Himself thorough His true Church. He is searching for the "light from above" to oppose the secularizing elements that have been abroad in the world-at-large for the past 500 years or so, refusing to admit that Our Lord has deposited His own teaching in this regard in the Catholic Church alone, and that true popes prior to 1958 enunciated this teaching faithfully without its being "historically conditioned" so as to render its "particulars" "obsolete" over the course of time.

No, Ratzinger/Benedict believes that the "opening to the world" wrought by Angelo Roncalli/John XXIII in 1958 has ushered in a new era that requires new "adaptations" to be made to the "new" circumstances in which "modern" man lives. Alas, this "opening to the world" has resulted in a silencing of the Catholic voice, a renunciation of the importance of restoring the Catholic City, a deconstruction of the Fatima Message, indeed, a wholesale revisionist history of the lives of the saints, including the martyrs of the first centuries of the Church, in order to fit everything into the apostate framework that is conciliarism and its demonic accommodationism to the spirit of the world.

Peaceful coexistence? Can Mortal Sin and Sanctifying Grace coexist in the same soul? Can Our Lord's immutable truths coexist in the world with beliefs that contradict those truths? Can the true Church refuse to assert the truth that she alone is the only authentic guide given us by God Himself as to what He has taught and how men are to seek the sanctification of their souls, proving themselves to be good citizens of Heaven and of the nation in which they live? Can Catholics and those who adhere to false religions (or to no religion) at all work together for the betterment of society?

Judeo-Masonry answers those questions in the affirmative. Conciliarism? Well, look at the words of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI himself. Peaceful coexistence? A healthy secularity? The belief that Jews, whose souls are in states of Original Sin, do not wait for the Messiah in vain? The belief that a murdered Protestant syncretist goes straight to Heaven? The belief that false religions and false beliefs can build up the better society? The belief that a mountain upon which sits a Buddhist temple in Japan is "sacred"? The thoroughly condemned and anathematized belief that we can understand dogmatic truths differently at different points in time?

Ratzinger/Benedict closed his interview four years ago by responding to a question about whether he had changed over the years. His answer was indeed quite revealing:

I've been taken apart various times: in my first phase as professor and in the intermediate phase, during my first phase as Cardinal and in the successive phase. Now comes a new division. Of course circumstances and situations and even people influence you because you take on different responsibilities. Let's say that my basic personality and even my basic vision have grown, but in everything that is essential I have remained identical. I'm happy that certain aspects that weren't noticed at first are now coming into the open. (Interview with Bayerische Rundfunk (ARD), ZDF, Deutsche Welle and Vatican Radio)

In other words, the false "pontiff," Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI remains the same theologically now as when he was under suspicion of Modernism by the Holy Office during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII. There has been no change in his thinking at all. He used his considerable skill to advance his "new thinking in the "Second" Vatican Council and to make it the "norm" of the structures of the counterfeit church of conciliarism today.

Begging your indulgence of the redundancy of quoting from Notre Charge Apostolique yet another time, I do so to point out the absolutely irreconcilable nature of Pope Saint Pius X's condemnation of the spirit of Sillon, which is the spirit of conciliarism, with the hazy, un-Catholic, Modernist mind of "Pope" Benedict XVI:

The same applies to the notion of Fraternity which they found on the love of common interest or, beyond all philosophies and religions, on the mere notion of humanity, thus embracing with an equal love and tolerance all human beings and their miseries, whether these are intellectual, moral, or physical and temporal. But Catholic doctrine tells us that the primary duty of charity does not lie in the toleration of false ideas, however sincere they may be, nor in the theoretical or practical indifference towards the errors and vices in which we see our brethren plunged, but in the zeal for their intellectual and moral improvement as well as for their material well-being. Catholic doctrine further tells us that love for our neighbor flows from our love for God, Who is Father to all, and goal of the whole human family; and in Jesus Christ whose members we are, to the point that in doing good to others we are doing good to Jesus Christ Himself. Any other kind of love is sheer illusion, sterile and fleeting.

Indeed, we have the human experience of pagan and secular societies of ages past to show that concern for common interests or affinities of nature weigh very little against the passions and wild desires of the heart. No, Venerable Brethren, there is no genuine fraternity outside Christian charity. Through the love of God and His Son Jesus Christ Our Saviour, Christian charity embraces all men, comforts all, and leads all to the same faith and same heavenly happiness.

By separating fraternity from Christian charity thus understood, Democracy, far from being a progress, would mean a disastrous step backwards for civilization. If, as We desire with all Our heart, the highest possible peak of well being for society and its members is to be attained through fraternity or, as it is also called, universal solidarity, all minds must be united in the knowledge of Truth, all wills united in morality, and all hearts in the love of God and His Son Jesus Christ. But this union is attainable only by Catholic charity, and that is why Catholic charity alone can lead the people in the march of progress towards the ideal civilization.

Pope Saint Pius X went on to condemn the admixture of beliefs in the quest for "justice" at home and "peace" abroad:

Here we have, founded by Catholics, an inter-denominational association that is to work for the reform of civilization, an undertaking which is above all religious in character; for there is no true civilization without a moral civilization, and no true moral civilization without the true religion: it is a proven truth, a historical fact. The new Sillonists cannot pretend that they are merely working on “the ground of practical realities” where differences of belief do not matter. Their leader is so conscious of the influence which the convictions of the mind have upon the result of the action, that he invites them, whatever religion they may belong to, “to provide on the ground of practical realities, the proof of the excellence of their personal convictions.” And with good reason: indeed, all practical results reflect the nature of one’s religious convictions, just as the limbs of a man down to his finger-tips, owe their very shape to the principle of life that dwells in his body.

This being said, what must be thought of the promiscuity in which young Catholics will be caught up with heterodox and unbelieving folk in a work of this nature? Is it not a thousand-fold more dangerous for them than a neutral association? What are we to think of this appeal to all the heterodox, and to all the unbelievers, to prove the excellence of their convictions in the social sphere in a sort of apologetic contest? Has not this contest lasted for nineteen centuries in conditions less dangerous for the faith of Catholics? And was it not all to the credit of the Catholic Church? What are we to think of this respect for all errors, and of this strange invitation made by a Catholic to all the dissidents to strengthen their convictions through study so that they may have more and more abundant sources of fresh forces? What are we to think of an association in which all religions and even Free-Thought may express themselves openly and in complete freedom? For the Sillonists who, in public lectures and elsewhere, proudly proclaim their personal faith, certainly do not intend to silence others nor do they intend to prevent a Protestant from asserting his Protestantism, and the skeptic from affirming his skepticism. Finally, what are we to think of a Catholic who, on entering his study group, leaves his Catholicism outside the door so as not to alarm his comrades who, “dreaming of disinterested social action, are not inclined to make it serve the triumph of interests, coteries and even convictions whatever they may be”? Such is the profession of faith of the New Democratic Committee for Social Action which has taken over the main objective of the previous organization and which, they say, “breaking the double meaning which surround the Greater Sillon both in reactionary and anti-clerical circles”, is now open to all men “who respect moral and religious forces and who are convinced that no genuine social emancipation is possible without the leaven of generous idealism.”

 

"What are we to think of this respect for all errors, and of this strange invitation made by a Catholic to all the dissidents to strengthen their convictions through study so that they may have more and more abundant sources of fresh forces?"

Indeed. What are we to think of Ratzinger/Benedict's respect for those who hold errors, of his--and Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II's--exhortation to Protestants to be faithful to their "traditions"? What are we to think of efforts to "re-think" things have been revealed to us by God and taught definitively by popes and dogmatic councils? Such a contempt for the authentic patrimony of the Catholic Church is a sign of infidelity to Our Lord and of a manifest rejection of the teaching authority of the popes and the councils that preceded the death of Pope Pius XII on October 9, 1958.

Leaving aside other elements--such as Benedict's statement that the pope is not an absolute monarch and that the Church has no role to play in the Mideast crisis, thus vitiating once more Heaven's Peace Plan, Fatima-- in the German television interview conducted three years ago that are merely reiterations of the conciliarist mindset that Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI helped to bring about and continues to proselytize with great evangelical fervor, I want to contrast Ratzinger's Modernist acceptance of the "changed" nature of the world and his rejection of the necessity of Catholicizing men and their nations with the great Apostle of the Northland, Saint Hyacinth, O.P., who gave his life so that men and their nations would indeed be Catholic.

The Apostle of the Northland

Born in 1185 in Silesia, which was then in Poland, Hyacinth was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Cracow and accompanied his Uncle Ivo, the Bishop of Cracow, to Rome with his brother Ceslaus, also a priest of the Diocese of Cracow. After having heard that Father Dominic, the founder of the Order of Friars Preachers, had raised Stephen Cardinal Orsini's nephew from the dead. Bishop Ivo told his two nephews, both of whom would be raised to the altars of the Catholic Church, that they should try to see this Father Dominic before they left Rome to return to Poland.  As is recounted in the late Mary Fabyan Windeatt's Saint Hyacinth of Poland:

A soft glow stole into Hyacinth's eyes. "Maybe we should also pray for another favor," he suggested. "What do you think, Uncle Ivo? Could you use some of Father Dominic's friars in Cracow?

Such was Father Hyacinth Konski's zeal for souls that he desired to help his brother Poles to have the best priests possible to teach them the Faith from which they had, for the most part, fallen away over the course of time. Father Dominic de Guzman had no priests to send to Poland. He did, however, suggest that Hyacinth and Ceslaus, ordained priests, join his own novitiate and then return to their homeland to preach to their own people. Bishop Ivo Odrowatz was a little amazed at the suggestion:

Now Ivo Odrowatz, who had come to Rome for one purpose only: to be confirmed in his new post as Bishop of Cracow, was somewhat stunned at the sudden turn of events. Could it be that these nephews whom he had trained and encouraged for years in God's service were being rather too hasty in their decision to follow the Spanish friar?

"Ceslaus has degrees in theology and law from the University of Bologna," he said slowly. "He's been a priest at the Cathedral in Cracow for about five years. . ."

"And this younger brother? What of him?"

The bishop gazed fondly at Hyacinth. "He, too, has a good education, Father Dominic. First at the University of Prague, then at Bologna. Like Ceslaus, he is now a canon of the Cathedral in Cracow. But do you really think. . .?"

Dominic smiled--understandingly, affectionately. "Do I really think that men who are already priests can take to living as simple friars without a struggle? Oh, Your Lordship, have no fear! You have asked for workers, for apostles in the North. Soon you will have them. And not only in Hyacinth and Ceslaus. There are others in your retinue whom God intends for His service."

The Bishop stared, "Others, Father Dominic?"

"Yes, I see one now--standing by the window. And a second at the door. Come here, my sons. Tell me if it is not true that God has suddenly touched your heats with His grace--that now you are both convinced you must give yourselves to Him completely.

All eyes turned to where Dominic pointed, and the Bishop gasped. Advancing toward the Spanish friar were two of his lay attendants--Herman, who hailed from Germany, and a young Czech named Henry. They were good souls, honest and hard-working, but never had the Bishop suspected that they might be interested in the religious life. Indeed, until this very moment they had seemed quite content to spend their days as servants in the episcopal household.

Dominic was smiling. "Well, Herman? Well, Henry? What do you ask?"

With one accord the two fell upon their knees. Yes, they also wanted to be clothed in the habit of the Friars Preachers."

Miss Windeatt went on to describe Bishop Ivo Odrowatz's continued amazement at all of this:

"Bishop Ivo watched the little scene with a fast-beating heart. What an amazing day this was! He had come to beg for missionaries from Father Dominic de Guzman. Instead, the holy man had claimed both nephews and servants for his preaching Order. Yet even as he thought on this, reassuring words echoed in Ivo's ears:

"Why not give me some of these young men who have accompanied you here to Rome? In just a little while I would return them to you as true apostles."

Apostles! Apostles for Poland. God willing, the holy friar was right, thought the Bishop. Ceslaus and Hyacinth, even Herman and Henry, would do great things in the cause of Christ!"

 

Apostles, indeed! The novitiate having been completed, the friars set out for their 750 mile journey to Cracow, unaware that God would separate them on different paths to evangelize different peoples as they walked. Father Dominic accompanied them part of the way, resisting the temptation to proceed onto Poland himself, aware that he was going to die a little over a year from then, on August 6, 1221. Father Dominic did get Father Hyacinth to relate the history of Poland to him while they were walking, learning that the Poles fought a lot and were in need of being taught the Faith well.

"There have been feuds and battles without number in such cases," said Hyacinth sadly. "Brother kills brother and seizes his lands, so that he may be more powerful. Soon he meets a man who has done just the same thing. They fight each other, taxing the people to provide for their armies. Then thousands upon thousands of young men are killed. Many sins are committed, homes are destroyed, and there is no time to think about God, to provide training and education for the poor. Oh, my friends! Don't you see why apostles must hurry to the North? The nobles there must be taught to see Christ in other human beings! The peasants, fighting and dying in a foolish cause, must be taught the same!

Dominic's eyes shone. What an immense field for good lay in northern Europe! And how fine if he could go there with these zealous young disciples! It would be as fruitful a trip as the one he had longed to make to Asia in his early manhood. But even as he thought on this, a shadow crossed his face. Sixteen years ago, by express command of Pope Innocent the Third, Asia, had been denied him as a missionary field. He had been forced to set aside the glorious thought of dying as a martyr at the hands of the barbarian Tartars living there and to concentrated instead on rooting out the Albigensian heresy in southern France. Now, it would seem that, with the same spirit of abandonment to God's Will, he must set aside the thought of going to Poland. What strength he had should be spent in training others to be missionaries, not wasted in foolish day-dreams.

"By my spirit will go forth with Hyacinth and his friends," he thought. "God will grant this one favor at least. And He will also grant another. Someday Poland will be one of the truly Christian countries of the whole world. Many saints and martyrs will rise up there to love and bless the Holy Name of God. I know it!"

The trip to Poland did not go as quick as Father Hyacinth, O.P., thought it would. The Archbishop of Salzburg, Austria, inveighed his company of friars preachers to stay on in his archdiocese, working first in the mining city of Friesach, where over fifty men had heard of the Dominicans and wanted to join the order. Putting aside his own plans to return home hastily, Saint Hyacinth answered God's call and relented to the desire of the Archbishop of Salzburg to stay there for a while.

"Maybe you'll tell me how long I ought to stay here in Friesach? asked the young superior suddenly. "Also, what is to be done with the fifty novices?"

The Archbishop looked out of the window. A huge crowd had gathered in the public square. and every face was turned in the direction of the church steps. Apparently one of Hyacinth's little band was preaching, and the prelate noted thankfully that the audience was hanging on every word. Ah, how good God was, he reflected, to have sent such true apostles to Austria--men who were literally remaking the city of Friesach! For these daily sermons in the public square were only part of the work undertaken by the friars since their arrival six weeks ago. Always, after the sermons, there were long lines of men and women wanting to go to Confession. Throughout the city the secular clergy were busier than they had ever been before. And because of the increased reception of the Sacraments, vice had almost disappeared in Friesach. There was much more happiness in family and in individual life.

 

It is only Catholicism, not the Modernist orientation of conciliarism, that transforms the lives of men and thus that of their countries. The Deposit of Faith. The Sacraments. Public devotion given to the Mother of God, including exhortations to pray her Most Holy Rosary (none of which were given by Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI during his visits to the United States of America and Australia this year, 2008.) There is no other path to personal or social reform other than Catholicism. Do you think that Joseph Ratzinger believes this? His words have been constant throughout his priestly life in denying that this is the case.

Before leaving Father Herman in charge as the superior of the Dominicans in Friesach, Father Hyacinth prepared himself in prayer:

As Herman took the chair his superior indicated, his heart rejoiced. It has been quite a while since there had been a chance to talk privately with Father Hyacinth. The recent days had been such busy ones for him, what with the many sermons to the public square, the opening of the new monastery, the reception and training of fifty novices. And at night things were not much different, for then Hyacinth gave himself to long and loving prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, realizing full well that a man never accomplishes anything of himself, not even the smallest task. All grace and strength come from God, and come in truly greater abundance if they are asked for frequently and humbly upon one's knees.

"Now, you're having a really wise thought, Brother Herman," said Hyacinth as he seated himself at the other side of the table. "Prayer is certainly the most wonderful medicine in the world. And none of us ever grows strong enough to do without it."

As had happened so many times, Herman did not even notice this bit of mind-reading. He leaned forward with childlike eagerness.

"Prayer is wonderful, Father. Do you know that last week I made up a little one of my own and dedicated it to the Blessed Mother? Ever since then it has brought me one great comfort."

"Really? And what is this prayer, Brother?"

"Sweetest Jesus, grant that I may praise with my mouth, cherish with my heart and honor by my actions Thy most loving Mother and mine."

For a moment Hyacinth was silent, gazing long and tenderly at the young religious. And as he gazed, he was struck with sudden joy. Herman was a saint! For months he had prayed faithfully to the Blessed Mother for help with his work. Since he was convinced that he was stupid, a good-for-nothing when it came to study and preaching, his prayers had been rooted in unusual humility. Herman had recognized his own nothingness, was even content to remain stupid if this were God's Will. Yet he he had remembered that Father Dominic had clothed him with the habit of a Friar Preacher for some special reason, that he must do all in his power to be true to the wonderful gift of his vocation. Prayer was required of him, of course--humble and persevering--but work was required, too, and early in his religious life Herman had discovered the worth of these twin tools with which each man in the world must build his ladder to Heaven. He had discovered them and called upon the Blessed Mother for assistance in their use. And of course she had answered the prayer of a trusting child. Every day. slowly, surely, Herman was progressing in both the spiritual and the intellectual life.

 

It was soon thereafter that Father Hyacinth had to part with his own beloved brother, Father Ceslaus. The Bishop of Prague had heard what wonderful things the Dominican friars were doing in Austria. Father Hyacinth knew that he had to part with his own brother for the sake souls:

 

Quietly he placed his hands on Ceslaus' head and prayed that comforting words would come to him, wonderful for still another time why Father Dominic had made him, the younger brother, superior of the group that had set out from Rome more than five months ago. Yet, sensing his weakness, he sensed a certain strength, too.

"Ceslaus," he whispered suddenly, "do you remember how we used to wonder at Father Dominic's great success as a preacher?"

Ceslaus smiled. "Yes. But we soon discovered the reason. He paid the price for other people's sins. the fruitful sermons sprang from sacrifices--small and large."

"I know. And somehow it seems that it ought to be the same with us. If we really want to do great things for souls, shouldn't we disregard our own feelings? Shouldn't we be willing to do anything God asks, even if it means. . ."

"Even if it means never seeing each other again?"

Hyacinth looked long and earnestly into his brother's eyes. Ah, so Ceslaus did understand!

"That would be true suffering, wouldn't it?" he asked presently, "with power to purchase many souls from sin?"

Ceslaus did not answer right away. "To be separated from this younger brother would be much more than suffering in the ordinary sense. It would be akin to a slow and excruciating death. Yet of course Hyacinth was right. Only by dying to earthly joys are men made ready for the joys of Heaven. Therefore. . .

"If we ask God to help us, we can make any sacrifice," he said finally. "So I will go to Prague, Hyacinth--or anywhere else you wish to send me--and go with a happy heart. And here and now perhaps I had better say good-bye. May Our Lord bless you always--and prosper your work, wherever it may be."

Scarcely knowing whence came the idea, Hyacinth suddenly felt convinced that countries other than Poland would profit from the labors of Ceslaus and himself. Between then, and with God's help, they would spread the True Faith over much of Europe. "You will go to Bohemia, Silesia and Germany," he said, not realizing that his voice had taken on strange and prophetic tones. "I will go to Poland, Ruthenia, Lithuania and Prussia. And every day we will meet in prayer at the altar, as Father Dominic taught us."

After leaving Brother Henry in charge of a new monastery in Olmutz, Father Hyacinth was able to return to his beloved Poland, meeting two children just outside of Cracow who caught his attention:

"Little friends, I'm Father Hyacinth," he told them, smiling. "My clothes are those of a Friar Preacher, and I've come from rome to Cracow with important news for souls. Now, who are you?"

"My name is Stanislaus," announced the boy promptly. "I'm ten years old, and I live a mile farther down this road."

"And I'm his sister Elizabeth," said the girl." I'm eight years old. Every day we gather wood for our parents."

Hyacinth nodded approvingly. Both Stanislaus and Elizabeth had the fair hair and blue eyes that were so common in Poland. Their plain homespun garb and the confident manner in which they carried the burdens of firewood showed that they were of the peasant class--sturdy and accustomed to hard work out-of-doors. But suddenly the friar's glance narrowed. Could it be that something was wrong? That the two children. . .

It surprised the youngsters when their new friend suddenly suggested that he carry the bundles of wood. Apparently he wanted to hear more about both brother and sister and believed that talking would be easier for the children if they did not have such awkward loads upon their shoulders.

"I do like your names," he told them, smiling. "Stanislaus and Elizabeth. Of course you received them in Baptism?"

A sudden pain shot through Hyacinth's heart. So--his fears had not been groundless! These children, like hundreds of thousands in northern Europe, had never been baptized. Neither probably, had their parents or grandparents. Indeed, young Stanislaus probably knew nothing of the man who had made this name the holiest in Poland's history--Bishop Stanislaus of Cracow--in 1079 the country's first martyr at the wicked hands of King Boleslaus the Second. As for the little girl--had anyone ever told her of the Blessed Virgin or of her cousin Elizabeth.

So it was that presently Hyacinth was giving the peasant children their first lesson in Catechism. They listened attentively, for never before had they heard anyone speak of Heaven, that wonderful place where men and women live in eternal glory after having served God faithfully upon earth.

"You mean that we can go to Heaven, too, Father Hyacinth?" asked Elizabeth, her eyes shining. "We can go there, even if we're poor?"

The friar smiled. "Yes, child. God wishes all the souls He has made to be happy with Him forever in Heaven. But they must love and serve Him in the way He has told us."

The little girl was on the point of asking still more questions when suddenly her brother seized her arm. "What luck, Elizabeth! See the big procession? The Duke must be coming out from the city!"

Immediately the child forgot her new-found interest in the next-world. Shading her eyes, she stood tip-toe and gazed spellbound into the distance. For the road they had been traveling had now reached its highest point. Cracow lay before them, and the blue waters of the Vistula, while winding out from the city's south gate were more than fifty carriages decked with gay banners and flags!

Elizabeth tugged eagerly at Hyacinth's cloak. "Look, Father! the gold and scarlet carriage with the twelve white horses belongs to Duke Leszek. Isn't it beautiful?"

Hyacinth smiled. "Yes, child. And we have a wonderful view from here."

Suddenly, Stanislaus let out an excited squeal. "Two soldiers are riding ahead, Father, and waving at us! Do you suppose that means we should get off the road?"

The friar shifted the two bundles of firewood on his shoulders. His keen eyes had just identified the coat of arms of Bishop Ivo flying from one of the carriages. With a little laugh he looked down at the boy beside him.

"No, I don't think we need to get off the road, Stanislaus."

"But the Duke must be coming to greet some important visitor! A prince, maybe! Or a king!"

Again Hyacinth laughed. "No, little friend. I believe this visitor is as poor as any beggar in Cracow."

A few minutes later the brilliant procession had halted at a short distance down the road and dozens of noblemen and clerics were emerging from the carriages.What was the children's astonishment when they observed that the attention of the entire company was upon the man who was laden with their own bundles of firewood! Then, before their eyes, Leszek the White, Duke of Cracow, approached Hyacinth and prostrated himself in the dust. And thus he lay until the friar had raised him to his feet.

"Your Grace, I am only a human being," Hyacinth protested. "I deserve no such reception as this."

Leszek's face as pale as he pointed a trembling hand toward the sky. "But surely you saw her, Father?"

"Saw whom, Your Grace?"

"Why, the Blessed Virgin! A few minutes ago it was as if the heavens had opened. I saw Our Lady standing in the clouds, and she was giving you her blessing. It was before her loveliness that I threw myself in the dust."

At these words a murmur of astonishment ran through the crowd and all eyes looked upwards. But soon it was evident that it had been seen by Leszek only. Apparently God wished that the Duke of Cracow should appreciate Hyacinth's entrance into the city and do all that he could to help the Friar Preacher in his missionary labors among the Poles.

Yes, my friends, the Queen of Heaven and of earth, the Queen of All Saints, smiles on the work of priests to convert souls to the Catholic Church. She smiled on Saint Hyacinth that day in Cracow. She smiled on Juan Diego on Tepeyac three hundred years later. She smiled on Bernadette at Lourdes six hundred years later. She smiled on the seers of Fatima seven hundred years later. She smiles on the work of praying and making sacrifices for the conversion of souls, especially through the Most Holy Rosary that she gave into the hands of Saint Dominic de Guzman, not on the smug, prideful assurance that all men are absolutely secure in their eternal destiny even though they live their entire lives and die outside of the bosom of the Catholic Church. Our Lady does not smile on the ecumenism of conciliarism. She smiles on the work of men to convert souls to the Catholic Church, not on those who leave souls in their false religions to the point of their deaths.

Father Maximilian Kolbe explained that false ecumenism was the enemy of the Immaculata:

"Only until all schismatics and Protestants profess the Catholic Creed with conviction, when all Jews voluntarily ask for Holy Baptism – only then will the Immaculata have reached its goals.”

“In other words” Saint Maximilian insisted, “there is no greater enemy of the Immaculata and her Knighthood than today’s ecumenism, which every Knight must not only fight against, but also neutralize through diametrically opposed action and ultimately destroy. We must realize the goal of the Militia Immaculata as quickly as possible: that is, to conquer the whole world, and every individual soul which exists today or will exist until the end of the world, for the Immaculata, and through her for the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.” (Father Karl Stehlin, Immaculata, Our Ideal, Kansas City, Missouri, Angelus Press, 2007, p. 37.)

Remember what Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI said in Cologne, Germany, on August 19, 2005:

We all know there are numerous models of unity and you know that the Catholic Church also has as her goal the full visible unity of the disciples of Christ, as defined by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council in its various Documents (cf. Lumen Gentium, nn. 8, 13; Unitatis Redintegratio, nn. 2, 4, etc.). This unity, we are convinced, indeed subsists in the Catholic Church, without the possibility of ever being lost (cf. Unitatis Redintegratio, n. 4); the Church in fact has not totally disappeared from the world.

On the other hand, this unity does not mean what could be called ecumenism of the return:  that is, to deny and to reject one's own faith history. Absolutely not!

It does not mean uniformity in all expressions of theology and spirituality, in liturgical forms and in discipline. Unity in multiplicity, and multiplicity in unity:  in my Homily for the Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul on 29 June last, I insisted that full unity and true catholicity in the original sense of the word go together. As a necessary condition for the achievement of this coexistence, the commitment to unity must be constantly purified and renewed; it must constantly grow and mature. (Benedict XVI, Ecumenical meeting at the Archbishopric of Cologne English, August 19, 2005.)

 

Go tell that to Saint Hyacinth!

Father Hyacinth established Holy Trinity Monastery in Cracow, working to teach the people, being blessed with great success. Not content, however, to stay in Cracow, he went on in due course to try to establish the Faith in the pagan land known as Prussia. While en route there, Our Lady helped him walked across the Vistula River, near Vishogrod, when it was raging. Miss Windeatt picks up the scene:

 

Naturally the people of Vishogrod were beside themselves. Who were these strangers? Surely the God they worshiped must be the True God!

"I'm going to get my boat and go after them!" cried a fisherman suddenly. "Who wants to come along?"

Instantly, there was a mad scramble to fill this and other boats, and soon the now peaceful Vistula presented a busy scene. Almost half the population of Vishogrod was on its way across the river--all eyes fixed upon the four religious who continued to defy the laws of nature in so spectacular a fashion.

As might be expected, the miraculous crossing was witnessed by many from the opposite bank. When Hyacinth and his friars finally stepped ashore here, it was to be greeted by an anger and awestruck throng, a few of whom had received the Christian Faith in years past but since had drifted away. Now they fell upon their knees to make a general Confession of their sins. Oh, how true that they had broken all the Commandments--even to the point of committing murder and worshiping false gods!

"Forgive us, Father! they begged earnestly. "Give us your blessing, and we'll try not to sin anymore!"

Father Hyacinth could not grant the crowd's request to establish a monastery there at that time. He had to press on with his travels to meet with the Duke of Pomerania, Duke Swientopelk. Establishing a monastery in Pomerania would place his preaching friars reasonably near Prussia itself. The Duke was very accommodating, but surprised to learn that Saint Hyacinth wanted to establish his monastery in Gedan, known today as Gdansk (known also as Danzig in the days when the Germans controlled this port city along the Baltic Sea).

Hyacinth smiled as he read the Duke's thoughts, but he did not change his mind. Somehow he had a feeling that Gedan was one of the most valuable sections of Pomerania. Although it was isolated now, and a wilderness, there would come a day when the waters of the Baltic would complete a remarkable change. Even now tons of sand were being deposited by the tide in such a manner that gradually the channel between Gedan and the mainland was becoming very shallow. As a result, in a few years there would no longer be an island. One one side nature would have joined Gedan to the mainland, thus creating an excellent harbor.

"When this happens, Gedan will become a great center of commerce," Hyacinth told himself. "Boats will come here from all over the world. Some will continue to call the place Gedan, others Sdansk, but most people will know it by the name of Danzig. God willing, our friars will have some part in making Danzig a truly Christian city."

Saint Hyacinth stayed in Gedan for a while to establish his monastery, informing Duke Swientopelk that he was going to go to Russia to convert the people steeped in the errors of Orthodoxy, that harbinger of Protestantism that has such a hold on the mind of the former Joseph Ratzinger. In other words, Saint Hyacinth was undertaking the sort of proselytism in Russia that is absolutely forbidden by the conciliar church today. Miss Windeatt explains Saint Hyacinth's concerns:

"Today every city [in Russia] has its churches and monasteries," Hyacinth explained as they set out on their journey. "Yet there is work for us because for generations the Russian bishops and priests have been living in error. Like so many others in the East, particularly in Turkey and Greece, they accept only part of what the Church teaches. And since the clergy are in error, so, naturally, are the people. They have been led astray so completely that they no longer understand what is meant by Truth."

Not exactly in accord with the conciliarism, huh? Saint Hyacinth was in perfect accord with Catholicism.

The narrative continues:

"I know about one of the errors in Russia," said Florian. "The priests and people don't recognize the Pope as Vicar of Christ on earth. Isn't that so, Father?"

Hyacinth nodded. "That is one of the errors. But there are several others. For instance, the Russian Christians don't believe that in Purgatory souls are cleansed from the stain of sin or that the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ at the very instant the priest pronounces the words of Consecration. They say, too, that the Holy Ghost proceeds from God the Father alone and not also from the Son."

 

Please believe that Joseph "Cardinal" Ratzinger, who presided over the Joint Declaration on Justification in 1999 that, in essence, contradicted the Council of Trent, is willing to forgo Purgatory and the Filioque in order to effect a false union with the Orthodox. Not so Saint Hyacinth.

Saint Hyacinth informed his companions that he was taking them to Kiev, not to Moscow or Smolensk. His reception by Vladimir Burikovitch, the Grand Prince of Kiev, was not pleasant at first, that is, until Saint Hyacinth gave sight to the prince's daughter, who had been blind from birth:

 

"Receive what you most desire, child," he whispered, "in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

In just a few minutes the entire palace was in an uproar. Servants, guards--even the royal family itself--were running hither and yon, the same exciting words on every tongue. Little Princess Anna could see!

"I'm sure the new priest did it!" cried the child joyfully, pointing to Father Hyacinth. "I heard him praying over me, and now thins aren't dark anymore."

Unashamed of the tears coursing down his cheeks, Vladimir pressed his little daughter to his heart. What joy! What marvelous and unexpected joy! But even as the happy tears flowed, the mind of the Grand Prince was troubled. How could he ever repay the Polish friar who had made all the happiness possible? Why, only a short while ago he had ordered him out of the palace, even out of Kiev!

"Father, forgive me!" he murmured humbly. "What reward will you have for the miracle?"

Hyacinth shook his head. "Reward? Why should I have a reward, Your Majesty? or gratitude? Don't you know that God worked this wonder so that you would be brought closer to Him?

Vladimir hesitated."Yes, Father. But just the same, there must be something you would like. Can't you tell me what it is?"

Once again Hyacinth shook his head. He would claim no reward. As he continued to smile kindly upon the Russian monarch, the latter's pride suddenly crumbled. Could it be that his foreigner professed the True Faith, and not the clergy of Kiev? That the "western Catholics" were in the right, instead of those who paid homage to the Patriarch of Constantinople?

After a battle within himself, Vladimir professed the Catholic Faith and gave permission for Father Hyacinth to establish a monastery in Kiev. Knowing that there would be fierce opposition from some Orthodox priests (and from the conciliar Vatican today if this had taken place in our own lifetimes), Hyacinth, who was given to see the future, including the fact that he would die at the age of seventy-two, in 1257, reassured his companions about how things would turn out, explaining that they should not worry about the wounded pride of the heretical priests steeped in the many errors of Orthodoxy and that some of them would embrace the true Faith, Catholicism:

Hyacinth smiled. "Possibly, my son. And yet that is just what is going to happen. Within two years we'll clothe several young men in the habit of our Order. More than that. A number of Russian priests will also be converted and come to live in this new monastery.

Godinus and Florian looked wide-eyed at each other. This was almost too much to believe--that some of Kiev's heretical priests should acknowledge their error, lay aside important positions, then ask for the lowest place in a monastery of "western" friars!

"It will happen thus within two years," repeated Hyacinth firmly. "However, we won't think about it now. We won't even try to do very much about converting the 'eastern Catholics' or their leaders. Rather, we shall devote ourselves to another group of people. Who are they, Brother Florian?"

"The pagans," replied the latter quickly. "There are many of them in the city."

Saint Hyacinth, having effected the conversion of Grand Prince Vladimir, knew that Our Lady would spread the True Faith as he concentrated on the pagans. Unlike the conciliarists, who forbid any efforts to convert the Orthodox, Saint Hyacinth knew that the Orthodox were in error and had started, much like Saint Patrick with the Irish chieftains, with the leader and knew that the Blessed Mother would do the rest of the work.

Part of his work in dealing with the pagans involved destroying their false worship. He did not engage in "inter-cultural" dialogue. He did not believe in "peaceful coexistence" with demon worship. He was an apostle whose immortal soul was on fire for the conversion of souls to the True Faith, sparing no effort to take people out of their false worship.

Here is a scene that took place on island in the Dnieper River outside of Kiev:

For a moment all was silence as Hyacinth fixed his eyes in careful scrutiny upon the island. Then suddenly his hands clenched. Drawn up at one side of the island were several small boats. And toward the center, from amidst the thick trees, rose a slender column of smoke!

"The pagans!" he whispered. "They're offering sacrifice!"

Yes, the hour of sunrise was a favorite time for idol worship and gratefully Hyacinth realized that his plans were working out well More than a hundred men and women must be on the island, kneeling in a secret grove before the ugly statue they believed to be a god. Already there must have been prayers and hymns, then the burning of a lamb or calf before the idol. Soon the service would be over and the pagans would stream down to their boats to return to their homes in Kiev.

"I've no time to lose," he said firmly. "Kneel down, Brother Martin, and pray that I do something really worthwhile to help these poor people!"

Before the young religious could realize what was happening, Hyacinth had turned and started down the grassy slope to the river's edge. His black cloak floated before him like a sail, and for a moment Martin knelt as one in a dream--forgetful of the command to pray. With what speed his beloved superior moved! Why, he was all but flying down the hill! Then the young friar grew really weak, for suddenly he understood that he was witnessing a genuine wonder. By now Father Hyacinth had reached the Dnieper and was starting to cross over to the island. But not in a boat. Ah, no! Father Hyacinth was walking on the river as thought it were dry land!

"Mother of God! cried Martin. "I heard that he did such a thing at Vishogrod . . . on the Vistula! But here? Before me? Oh, no! It's too much!

Presently Hyacinth landed safely on the island, then disappeared into the thick woods. And, though Martin strained his eyes for several minutes, he could see him no longer. Nor was any sound to be heard save the harsh cries of water birds as they circled over the river in search of food.

As he looked and listened in an agony of suspense, the young religious tried to clasp his trembling hands in prayer. Oh, what was going to happen? Would Father Hyacinth really seek out the pagans? Would he put a stop to their heathen sacrifice?

It should be noted at this juncture, my friends, that heathen sacrifice is offered all the time in the name of the "inculturation of the Gospel," as happened in July of 2006 in Toronto, Canada, when Hindu "worship" was offered in the context of what purported to be an offering of the Protestant and Masonic Novus Ordo worship service. Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II once praised a voodoo witch doctor in Benin, Africa, in 1993 for the "contributions" he made to his people. Pagan blessings of "the four winds" are offered regularly in many Catholic churches, as has been done at Mission San Juan Capistrano in California. Oh, no, my friends, conciliarism worships at the devil's altars, considering the work of Saint Hyacinth to be something to apologize for, not imitate. Does anyone want to contend that Saint Hyacinth would have called Mount Hiei in Japan "sacred" for its being the site of the first outpost of the Tendei sect of the false, diabolical religion known as Buddhism? Does anyone want to contend that Saint Hyacinth would have done what Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI did on April 17, 2008, when latter received with his own priestly hands the symbols of five false religions? Does anyone want to contend that Saint Hyacinth would have said anything other than the simple truth that God hates each false religion and that He wants each of them and their symbols eradicated from the face of this earth?

Ah, back to the story:

"It can mean death," he [Martin] thought. "Even I know that the Russian pagans are little more than crude barbarians."

Suddenly there was a clamor in the distance, muted at first, then growing louder, and with a sinking heart, the young man realized that the pagans were aroused. They were pouring out of the woods with screams and shouts. But soon he could see that they were not attacking Father Hyacinth. They were not even making for their boats. Rather, they were throwing themselves on their knees in a very frenzy of terror. And why? Because a black-and-white-clad friar was striding out of the woods and driving before him a horrible creature--half man, half beat---with flames shooting from its mouth and eyes!

Martin's blood ran cold as he looked at the terrible sight. Could it be that this was the Devil? that Father Hyacinth's prayers had forced him to leave the idol and appear before the pagans in one of his hellish shapes?

"Oh, if one some of the Russian priests could be here!" whispered the young friar, his teeth clattering. "Maybe this would teach them not to speak ill of a true servant of God!"

Martin was wrong. When word of the miracle was noised about in Kiev, the jealousy of the heretical priests reached alarming proportions. So Father Hyacinth had gone to the island and found the pagans worshiping before an old oak tree? With one blow he had sent the great tree crumbling into dust? As the Evil One emerged from the tree, he had fought with him hand to hand, then thrown him into the Dnieper?

The jealousy of the Russian Orthodox priests forced Grand Prince Vladimir's hand. While the Grand Prince remained a Catholic and two of Father Hyacinth's friars could stay on at the monastery in Kiev, he, Father Hyacinth, had to leave. His work, though, for souls had been established. That anyone in the Ukraine today is Catholic is the result of the seeds planted by Father Hyacinth, O.P.

Saint Hyacinth continued working for souls throughout his life. We have read Miss Windeatt's book out loud at mealtimes for our daughter to hear. The full book, which was reprinted by TAN Books and Publishers in 1993, is certainly a great antidote to the indifferentist spirit of conciliarism. Saint Hyacinth wanted to win men and their nations for Christ the King and for his true Church, the Catholic Church.

Although the passage below was included in In Full Communion with the Golden Calf several years ago now, the vision of Heaven that Saint Stanislaus had shortly before he died reminds us of the reward that awaits those who are zealous to bring souls into the true Church:

But on the feast of Saint Dominic all realized that Hyacinth's days were numbered. Apart from the fact that he was worn out with thirty-seven years of missionary labors, he no loner cared to live. Indeed, his one great desire was to die as quickly as possible.

"Any why? Because our good Father has had a glimpse of Heaven!" the Prior told the community in awed tones. "He's seen a little of the reward awaiting those who do God's Will, and now even the finest things in life are no more than dust and ashes."

"Tell us about the wonderful vision, Father," urged the Novice Master. "It will do us all good."

So the Prior began. He explained how one day recently Father Hyacinth, as he was concluding the Holy Sacrifice, had found himself in the center of a bright ray of light. It had streamed down upon him from some mysterious source above the altar, and as he looked up, he had been amazed to find that hundreds of angels and saints were also enfolded in the strange glow.

Suddenly there was an even greater radiance, and Heaven itself opened before him. Then the saints and angels divided and ranged themselves in two lines, facing one another. At the end of the glittering passageway was a golden throne.

"Our Lady was seated on the throne," said the Prior reverently, "and Our Lord stood beside her. The air was filled with the most beautiful music as the saints and angels joined in praise of Mother and Son. Then suddenly the perfect harmony died away. All was silence, and Our Lord placed a splendid crown upon His Mother's head. It seemed to be made of flowers and stars."

The community listened in breathless amazement as the Prior described the scene which followed. With a smile the Blessed Virgin had taken the glittering crown from her own head and presented it to Hyacinth.

"This is for you," she had said, "the symbol of eternal life." And as she finished speaking, the saints and angels resumed their heavenly song, their faces shining with such light and happiness that Hyacinth could hardly bear to look upon them. Indeed, only one thought filled his mind. He wanted to finish his earthly work at once, so that he might be numbered among these blessed ones for all eternity.

As the days passed the priests and lay Brothers of Holy Trinity went about their duties in deep thought. Father Hyacinth's vision of Heaven, as related by the Prior, had made an enormous impression upon them, and now even the smallest task was seen in a new light. Its faithful accomplishment was nothing more than a coin wherewith to purchase everlasting joys.

"Of course, we've always known that this was so," said one young priest slowly. "The trouble is, we've never thought about it enough. But now--well, I'm happy to say that I can't get the idea out of my mind."

"Yes," put in another. "And that crown of flowers and stars is far more than it seems. It's only a sign, and a very small sign, too, of all the joys possessed by the blessed in Heaven.

His companion nodded. "I know. Why, if we spent our whole lives in listing the good tidings God has provided for those who serve Him faithfully, in this world, we'd have only a few poor samples." 

Saint Hyacinth performed many miracles, including raising the dead to life. We need to pray to him in our own day that so the lords of the counterfeit church of conciliarism who have cast aside Saint Hyacinth's zeal for the conversion of souls will return to the maternal bosom of the spotless and immaculate Catholic Church, she who can never give us defective liturgies or false or ambiguous doctrines or pronouncements, before they die. Saint Hyacinth is very much with us today as a member of the Church Triumphant in Heaven.

This is what he told Brother Florian just before he died on the Feast of the Assumption, August 15, 1257:

"I am going to Heaven now, my son, yet I shall be with you in spirit. Whenever you are in trouble, you are to call upon me and I will come to your aid. Do you understand?"

Florian choked back a sob. "Yes, Father, I . . . I understand."

Hyacinth sighed. "No, you do not understand. Why, you can barely speak for sorrow, because deep in your heart you believe that the blessed are far away from you! But it is not so, my son. Oh, no!"

Then Hyacinth gave his message. Yes, he was about to die. But this only meant that from now one he could be of greater use to his friends. In Heaven he would be a perfect soul, utterly pleasing to god, and so his prayers would have even more power than upon earth.

"Have faith in what I tell you," he urged. "And try to believe that I shall never leave Poland. I shall be with my beloved country until the end."

The Prior leaned forward anxiously. "Is our country to have many troubles in the future, Father?"

The dying friar nodded. "Yes. But all will turn out well, Father Prior. Have no fear of that."

The same holds true for the Catholic Church today. A counterfeit church claiming to be the Catholic Church has deceived millions upon millions of Catholics as it makes one accommodation after another with the spirit of the world and with all manner of false religions. Modernism seems to have triumphed decisively in the person of Joseph Ratzinger and his contempt for the Received Teaching of the Catholic Church and of her authentic Tradition. The triumph is only momentary. The Modernists will be driven away. The counterfeit church of conciliarism will collapse. Our Lady's Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart will triumph. And our devotion to and imitation of Saint Hyacinth will help to bring about the day when his example of zeal for souls is once again the norm and the apostasy of the present moment is remembered no more as we pray as many Rosaries each day as our states-in-life permit.

Saint Hyacinth of Poland, pray for us! Pray for Holy Mother Church. Inspire us to use the instrument that Saint Dominic de Guzman received from the hands of Our Lady herself, her Most Holy Rosary, to be ready for the moment of our own Particular Judgments at all times, attempting to plant seeds for the conversion of souls, starting with ourselves, on a daily basis and to make reparation for our own sins and those of the whole world to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus through her own Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart.

Vivat Christus Rex!

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us.

Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.

Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Gabriel the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Raphael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.

Saints Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, pray for us.

Saint Hyacinth, O.P., pray for us.

Saint Ceslaus, O.P., pray for us.

Saint Dominic de Guzman, O.P., pray for us.

Saint Stanislaus, pray for us.

Saint Hedwig, pray for us.

Saint Stanislaus Kostka, pray for us.

See also: A Litany of Saints