If You Do Not Return to the True Faith, You Will Be Cast Into Hell!
by Thomas A. Droleskey
Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI has appeared as an "equal" with various Protestants masquerading as clergymen. He has appeared as an "equal" with the "Patriarch" of Constantinople, Bartholomew I. Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI will address leaders of non-Christian religions in Washington, D.C., one week from tomorrow, Thursday, April 17, 2008, accepting from them "symbols" of their false religions, each of which is loathed by God. He will also participate in an "inter-religious" prayer service with Protestants and the Orthodox at Saint Joseph's Church in the Borough of Manhattan in the City of New York, New York, on Friday, April 18, 2008. Having already clearly and decisively rejected what he calls disparagingly the "ecumenism of the return" (Ecumenical meeting at the Archbishopric of Cologne English), we can be assured most fully that Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI will do not contradict himself during his upcoming visit to the United States of America.
Refusing to seek with urgency the conversion of those outside of the Catholic Faith is a major crime before God, Who gave His Apostles the following command before He Ascended to the Father's right hand in glory on Ascension Thursday forty days after He arose from the dead on Easter Sunday:
Going, therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world. (Mt. 28:19-20)
Father Maximilian Kolbe, S.J., knew that Our Lady was an enemy of the sort of false ecumenism being promoted in his own day, the sort of false ecumenism that is so near and dear to the heart of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI:
"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.)
Father Maximilian Kolbe was not imagining things. Our Lady herself has shown us just how deadly serious she takes the fate of souls who are steeped in false religions, including the false religions of each and every sect of Protestantism, including that particularly wicked species known as Calvinism. Consider, for example, this account of Notre Dame de l'Osier, also known as Our Lady of the Willow (or Our Lady of the Willow Tree):
Many years ago in the village of Plantees, France, there lived a farmer named Pierre Port-Combet, who used to work on Sundays and Feast Days. At one time he had been a Catholic, but he had fallen away from the truth Faith and joined a Protestant religion called Calvinism. He had a great dislike for Catholics and anything about the Catholic Faith.
Pierre had married a devout Catholic woman named Jeanne. They had six children and Jeanne tried to raise them as good Catholics. But even though Pierre had made a vow to allow his wife to raise their children as Catholics, he gradually led their six children into the Calvinist religion! Jeanne was broken hearted about this because it meant that her husband and children were in great danger of loosing their souls. And since Pierre would not listen to her pleadings, the best she could do was to go to Mass, pray, and make sacrifices.
This area of France was very Catholic at the time. There was a law that all people should not work on Sundays and on special Holy Days, so that they could go to Mass and spend the rest of the day in prayer and holy reading. But Pierre loved to break this law, especially on Our Lady's Feast Days, because he did not like the Catholic religion!
On March 25, 1649, the Feast of the Annunciation, Pierre showed his dislike for the Catholic Church by working near a road where villagers could see him, as they traveled on their way to Mass. He pretended to work, by using his knife to cut into a willow tree, which grew beside the road. But as soon as he cut into the willow, the tree bled! Pierre was shocked as the blood flowed out of the tree and splashed onto his hands and arms. At first Pierre thought he was wounded, but finding that he was not injured, he stabbed the willow tree another time, and again the tree bled!
Around this time, Pierre's wife passed by on her way to church. Seeing that her husband's arms were covered with blood, she rushed over to help him. While she was looking for the wound, Pierre tried to explain to his wife what had just taken place. Jeanne tried to calm her husband and cut the tree with his knife, but nothing happened. When Pierre noticed that no blood came from the tree, he grabbed the knife from his wife and cut off a willow branch. The blood came gushing out of the tree!
By now Pierre was terribly frightened! He called to Louis, a neighbour who was just passing by, and begged him to come and see what happened. But when Louis took the knife and tried to cut the tree, no blood came out. As the other villagers passed by they began to realize that the blood from the tree was a warning from God to Pierre, so that he would come back to the Catholic Faith and not work on Sundays.
Before long, Pierre was brought to court for working on this special Feast Day and he had to pay a fine. And when the Bishop heard about the miracle of the bleeding willow tree, he ordered some priests to look into the matter. Pierre and others who saw the miracle were questioned. In the end it was decided that this miracle was a stern warning from God to Pierre, so that he would mend his ways!
Pierre had a change of heart and realizing that he was wrong, he would often go to pray near the willow tree. But when some of his Calvinist friends saw him, they threatened to hurt him if he left the Calvinist religion. Because of this Pierre refused to go back to the Catholic Church.
Heaven was watching over Pierre and after seven years, on March 25, 1656, Our Lady appeared to him. On that day, Pierre was working in the field and saw a Lady standing far away on a little hill. The Lady wore a white dress, a blue mantle and had a black veil over her head, which partly covered her face. As the Lady came toward Pierre, she suddenly picked up speed and in a flash, she stood beside him. With her beautiful, sweet voice, the Lady spoke to Pierre, "God be with you my friend!"
For a moment, Pierre stood in amazement. The Lady spoke again, "What is being said about this devotion? Do many people come?"
Pierre replied, "Yes many people come,"
Then the Lady said, "Where does that heretic live who cut the willow tree? Does he not want to be converted?"
Pierre mumbled an answer. The Lady became more serious, "Do you think that I do not know that you are the heretic? Realize that your end is at hand. If you do not return to the True Faith, you will be cast into Hell! But if you change your beliefs, I shall protect you before God. Tell people to pray that they may gain the good graces which, God in His mercy has offered to them."
Pierre was filled with sorrow and shame and moved away from the Lady. Suddenly realizing that he was being rude, Pierre stepped closer to her, but she had moved away and was already near the little hill. He ran after her begging, "Please stop and listen to me. I want to apologize to you and I want you to help me!"
The Lady stopped and turned. By the time Pierre caught up to her, she was floating in the air and was already disappearing from sight. Suddenly, Pierre realized that the Most Blessed Virgin Mary had appeared to him! He fell to his knees and cried buckets of tears, "Jesus and Mary I promise you that I will change my life and become a good Catholic. I am sorry for what I have done and I beg you please, to help me change my life…"
On August 14, 1656, Pierre became very sick. An Augustinian priest came to hear his confession and accepted him back into the Catholic Church. Pierre received Holy Communion the next day on the Feast of the Assumption. After Pierre returned to the Catholic Faith, many others followed him. His son and five daughters came back to the Catholic Church as well as many Calvinists and Protestants. Five weeks later on September 8, 1656, Pierre died and was buried under the miraculous willow tree, just as he had asked.
Fr. Fais, the parish priest from the nearby town of Vinay, helped a lady to buy the field where Pierre had spoken to Our Lady. In time the chapel of Our Lady of Good Meeting was built on the spot where Our Lady had spoken to Pierre. Soon, a large church was built over the spot of the miraculous tree, and named in honour of Our Lady of the Willow. Some good person also carved a statue of Our Lady similar to the way Pierre had described the Blessed Virgin Mary. When this statue was placed in the church, many people came to honour Our Lady of the Willow.
But alas, because of the sinfulness of man, this beautiful shrine did not last and was ruined by members of the horrible French Revolution. These wicked men took the statue of Our Lady of the Willow and chopped it to pieces! Oh, what a terrible way to treat Our Lady's image! However, all was not lost! A good lady gathered up the pieces of the statue and hid them until the French Revolution was over. A piece of the willow tree was also saved from the hands of these wicked men.
After the horrible French Revolution, people came again to honour Our Lady of the Willow at this sacred spot. The statue of Our Lady was repaired and in time the shrine was placed in the hands of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Now some priests were caring for the shrine and could help the many people who came there.
In 1856, two hundred years after the apparition of Our Lady to Pierre, Blessed Pope Pius IX decreed that the statue of Our Lady should be crowned on September 8 of that year. More than 30,000 people were present at the shrine for the crowning of Our Lady of the Willow, and at least four hundred priests were also present at the ceremony. And this same Pope ordered that another crowning should take place in 1873!
On March 17, 1924, Pope Pius XI declared that Our Lady of the Willow Church was now a minor basilica. Here the statue of Our Lady of the Willow is venerated. A box containing a piece of the old willow tree lies under her altar and Pierre's grave is at the foot of the altar.
Many people come to honour Our Lady of the Willow at this shrine and many have left little plaques in thanksgiving to Our Lady, for some special grace which she has given them. Also more than a hundred miracles are reported to have taken place at this shrine. Thank-you Jesus and Mary for your great mercies.
Our Lady of the Willow, Pray for Us! Our Lady of the Willow Tree
Here is another account of Our Lady of the Willow Tree, found in Joan Carroll Cruz's Miraculous Images of Our Lady:
The events relating to the origin of the shrines at Plantees would seem beyond belief were it not for the testimony of witnesses, the formal inquiry conducted by the bishop, and the documents which may still be seen in the Provincial Archives in Grenoble [France]. Finally, the events were given Church approval when, on two occasions, Pope Pius IX ordered the solemn crowning of Our Lady of the Willow Tree (Notre Dame l'Osier).
The main personage of this drama was Pierre Port-Combet, a farmer of the area who was a well-known follower of a heresy known as Calvinism. As such he harbored a great dislike for Catholics and all that represented the Faith. He had married a devout Catholic, Jeanne Pelion, but despite her protest, he disregarded his vow to permit her to raise their six children in the Catholic Faith and instead drew them into heresy.
On solemn holidays all work was suspended in the province so that the people might attend church services and spend the remainder of the day in private devotions. Pierre's great delight was to show public disregard for the Church. and in particular the holydays dedicated to the Blessed Mother. On that fateful day in 1649, on the Feast of the Annunciation, Pierre decided to show his utter disdain for the observances by performing work where all would see him. He chose to stand beside the road where the villagers would be passing on their way to Mass.
Drawing his knife, Pierre pretended to engage in manual labor by half-heartedly pruning a willow tree that grew beside the road. After his first stab at the tree he drew back in complete shock. The willow bled! Coming from the mark left by the knife were not just a few drops, but a large enough quantity to splash on Pierre's arms and hands. Pierre immediately thought he was injured, but he could find no wound on his arms or hands. After a moment of bewilderment, he stabbed at the tree once more--and again the tree bled.
At about that time Pierre's wife, who was on her way to church, drew near and saw the blood covering her husband's arms. Thinking he was seriously injured, she hurried to help him. While she searched for a possible injury, Pierre excitedly related what had taken place. Thinking to calm him, she took the knife and struck the tree, but nothing happened. More agitated than before, Pierre snatched the knife from his wife and cut off a small branch. The tree bled even more profusely than before.
A neighbor, Louis Caillet, was passing by at that time and was called over by the agitated Pierre, who was now thoroughly frightened. Despite repeated efforts, Louis Caillet could not produce even a trace of blood. It was obvious blood only appeared at the hand of the heretic.
Neighbors passing by and other villagers became aware of the marvel, and as though with one voice they agreed that the prodigy was a warning for Pierre to convert and, instead of giving public scandal, he should observe the laws of the Church.
There was also the law of the Province to contend with. Having gone contrary to the law by working on the feastday, Pierre was summoned to court. Testimony was heard from witnesses who had seen Pierre in the act of pruning the tree. The prodigy of the blood was likewise mentioned. As a result, Pierre received a fine for his disobedience of the law. The transcript of this hearing is kept in the Provincial Archives in Grenoble.
When Church authorities heard of the case and the prodigy of the blood from the willow, they also took action. A tribunal of churchmen was gathered for a formal inquiry, as ordered by the Bishop The testimony of Pierre was taken, as well as that of witnesses. In the end it was decided that Pierre had received a severe warning from Heaven.
Pierre took the decision to heart and was seen from time to time at the willow tree in profound prayer. Some of those who saw here were friends of the Calvinist movement; they were unmoved, and even threatened bodily harm should he abandon Calvinism. For this reason, Pierre resisted his return to the Catholic Church for seven long years--until Our Lady herself intervened.
While Pierre was working in his fields on the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25 of the year 1656, he looked toward a small hillock called the Espinouse, or the Thornhill. There he saw a Lady clothed in white, wearing a blue mantle. Over her head was a black veil that partially hid her face. As the Lady advanced toward him, Pierre thought that she was lost and was coming to him for directions. Suddenly, displaying amazing speed, the Lady was standing next to him.
With a heavenly sweetness the lady addressed Pierre: "A Dieu soi-tu, mon ami!" ("God be with you, my friend!"
For a moment the sweet sound of the voice and the beauty of the woman caused Pierre to hesitate. The Lady again spoke, "What is being said about this devotion? Do many people come?"
"Yes, many people come," Pierre replied."
Seeming satisfied with Pierre's reply the Lady continued, "Where does that heretic live who cut the willow tree? Does he not want to be converted?"
When Pierre mumbled a vague answer, the Lady asked, "Do you think I do not know that you are the heretic?" Then, in a more serious tone, the vision warned, "Realize that your end is at hand. If you do not return to the True Faith, you will be cast into Hell. But if you change your beliefs, I shall protect you before God. Tell people to pray to advantage, not to neglect the source of graces which God in His mercy has made available to them."
Pierre was overwhelmed with remorse and moved slightly away toward his oxen. Realizing his rudeness he turned back, but the Lady had moved away and was already near the Thornhill. Running after her, Pierre pleaded with her to stop and listen to his apology and his plea for help. The Lady stopped and turned. By the time Pierre caught up with her he noticed that she was suspended several feet in the air and was slowly fading from sight. Realizing that he had been granted a vision of the Blessed Virgin, he fell to his knees, and while sobbing uncontrollably, he pledged a complete reform.
A few months later, on the eve of the Assumption, Pierre contracted a serious illness. The Augustinian Prior of Vinay heard his confession and accepted him back into the Church. Remembering that the prodigy had occurred on the Feast of the Annunciation, Pierre completed his conversion by receiving the Holy Eucharist on the Feast of the Assumption. Pierre's conversion influenced many others to return to the True Faith, including his son and five daughters, as well as many Protestants and Calvinists.
The Lady's words: "Realize that you end is at hand . . ." were realized five weeks later, when Pierre Port-Combet died. In accordance with his final wish, he was buried at the bottom of the willow tree.
With the approval of the directors of the Propagation of the Faith in Grenoble, the Reverend Fais, the parish priest of Vinay, helped Mme. de la Croix buy the field where Pierre had spoken to Our Lady. In due time, on the site of the apparition, a chapel was built which was dedicated to Our Lady of Good Meeting. Soon another even larger church was built at the site of the willow. This was dedicated to Our Lady of the Willow Tree. A statue sculptured according to Pierre's description was enshrined which soon attracted countless pilgrims.
Unfortunately, during the French Revolution terrorists from Grenoble pillaged and desecrated the sanctuary. The highly regarded statue of Our Lady was taken from its niche and hacked to pieces. These pieces were recovered by some valiant women who hid them until religious freedom was secured. Also saved was a portion of the willow tree that had been stored in a decorative box in the oratory.
Following the revolution, devotion to Our Lady of the Willow was revived. The Oblates of Mary Immaculate were given charge of the sanctuaries and in 1856, the second centenary of the apparition, Pope Pius IX decreed a solemn jubilee and a papal crowning for September 8. For this celebration more than 30,000 people and 400 priests attended. Another crowning was ordered by the same pontiff in 1873.
The meeting between Our Lady and Pierre is depicted on a large wall painting in the chapel of Our Lady of Good Meeting. Between this chapel and the Thornhill, where Our Lady left him, a specially marked path approximately 400 yards long indicates the route taken by Pierre when he ran after the apparition.
The church built where the willow once grew was raised to the dignity of a minor basilica by Pope Pius XI on March 17, 1924. here is found the once-mutilated state of Our Lady, and beneath her altar, the casket which contains the piece of the willow tree. Pierre's grave is at the foot of the altar. The casket containing a piece of the willow is located at about the same place where it formerly grew.
In the basilica, near the statue of Our Lady, are countless ex-votos. Of all the miracles of healing worked as a result of prayer before this image, more than 100 are said to be undoubtedly genuine since they had been witnessed and sworn to by reliable people who testified under oath and affixed their names to written documents.
The shrines are located in the town of Plantees, five miles from Vinay. During the year, but especially on feastdays of Our Lady of the Willow, March 25 and September 8 and 9, pilgrims wind their way from Vinay, up the terrain to Plantees to the shrine containing the image of Our Lady of the Willow Tree. (Joan Carroll Cruz, Miraculous Images of Our Lady, TAN Books and Publishers, 1993, pp. 104-108.)
His Excellency Bishop Daniel L. Dolan spoke in a recent sermon delivered at Saint Gertrude the Great Church in West Chester, Ohio, of this remarkable love of Our Lady for the soul of just one heretic who was steeped in the evils of the dark world of Calvinism. His Excellency also related the story of a Parisian bookbinder in the Nineteenth Century who had been given the task of re-binding a book containing the records of Notre Dame de l'Osier. The young bookbinder, who was not practicing the Faith, was so taken with story of the apparition and of the miracles that he took, against his company's polices, the book home with him to read, asking for the privilege of delivering the book personally to the Shrine of Notre Dame de l'Osier in Plantees, a distance of some 360 miles. The young bookbinder, who had a chronic disease, reformed his life and had a holy death.
Our Lady sought the conversion of one Calvinist, Pierre Port-Combet, warning him that he would be sent to Hell if he did not convert. Our Lady sought the conversion of one Jewish man, Alphonse Ratisbonne, appearing to him on January 20, 1842, as she does on the Miraculous Medal. Our Lady cares very much about the conversion of non-Catholics to the Catholic Church. Hers is not a generic message of "Christian hope" that could be delivered by Billy or Franklin Graham. Hers is a message of unvarnished Catholic truth: that non-Catholics risk the very fires of Hell itself if they do not convert to the true Faith.
Such a message is not proclaimed by the counterfeit church of conciliarism, which goes to great length to show its "esteem" for the "ecclesial communities" and its sign of "fraternal friendship" for those in "other" religions. True esteem and true friendship for others are founded in willing their good, the ultimate expression of which is the salvation of their immortal souls to the true Church, not in reaffirming them in their false religions, which have the power to save no one at all. Countless saints, starting with the Apostles themselves, for whom Our Lady prayed on Pentecost Sunday, gave up their lives rather than shirk the performance of the Spiritual Works of Mercy by seeking out the lost sheep with urgency. Other saints risked their lives to do so.
Today is the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, the Patron of the Universal Church. May he, the foster-father of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and the Chaste Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, help us to follow Our Lady's example of seeking the eternal good of all of those whom God's Holy Providence places in our paths each day. We should carry a good supply of Green Scapulars to distribute to those who are in need of Our Lady's special help to return or to convert to the Faith, those also who are without the true sacraments, even though they may not realize it, because they are in the barrenness of the structures of the counterfeit church of conciliarism. Saint Joseph is willing to assist us in our efforts to follow His Ever-Virginal Spouse's great zeal for the conversion of souls. We must rely ever more devotedly on his protection, placing his patronage just behind that to Our Lady by means of her Most Holy Rosary.
O Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in thee all my interests and desires. O thou Saint Joseph, do assist me by thy powerful intercession, and obtain for me from thy divine Son all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that, having engaged here below thy heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of fathers. O Saint Joseph, I never weary contemplating thee, and Jesus asleep in thy arms; I dare not approach while He reposes near thy heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me, and ask Him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath. Saint Joseph, Patron of departing souls, pray for me. Amen!
May Saint Joseph help us to call upon the Mother of God, His own Ever-Virginal Spouse, to be zealous for souls, staring with our own, making acts of 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, remembering these words given us to pray by Our Lady herself through the Fatima seers in 1917:
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins! Save us from the fires of Hell! Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need. [This is, of course, the correct rendition of this prayer.]
Sacrifice yourselves for sinners and say many times, especially when you make some sacrifice: "O Jesus, it is for Thy love, for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary."
Yes, for the conversion of sinners, starting with ourselves. Sinners, including us, must be saved from the fires of Hell. May we seek out Our Lady on a daily basis so that she does not have to come running after us. May we invoke the patronage of her Most Chaste Spouse, Good Saint Joseph. May we, by clinging to true bishops and true priests in the catacombs who make no concessions to conciliarism or to the nonexistent legitimacy of its false shepherds who refuse to seek with urgency the conversion of non-Catholics to the Faith, help to plant a few seeds by virtue of the graces won for us on Calvary by the shedding of every single drop of the Most Precious Blood of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and that flow into our hearts and souls through the loving hands of Our Lady, the Mediatrix of All Graces, for the conversion of all men and all nations to the true Faith, the one and only foundation of personal and social order, the one and only means of human salvation.
Isn't it time to pray a Rosary now?
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
Vivat Christus Rex! Viva Cristo Rey!
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us.
