Lions at the Ready

by Thomas A. Droleskey

The lions are being readied to gnaw believing Catholics to pieces. All manner of draconian measures, passed under the aegis "hate crime" legislation, have been passed in Canada to curb criticism of abortion and perverse behavior in violation of the Sixth and Ninth Commandments. The European Union has done so for its own member states. Various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at the United Nations are pressing for a formal recognition of the "rights" of those engaged in perverse vice. Efforts are being made by Talmudic Jewish rabbis, many of whom are Freemasons, and Father Hans Kung, among others, to create a One World Religion, embodied in a supra-denominational organization that would aim at "coordinating" efforts for "mutual cooperation."

The attacks of those who hate Our Lord and the truths He deposited solely to the Catholic Church for their safekeeping and infallible explication are on the increase in our own country. Dr. Bernard Nathanson demonstrated in both The Abortion Papers and Aborting America that he and other pro-aborts deliberately made the Catholic Church the "villain of the piece" in the 1960s in their efforts to promote baby-killing under cover-of-law. Hollywood, which is the generic name one uses to describe the entirety of the "entertainment" industry, which has long been the preserve of adherents of the Talmud and their Masonic lodge brothers who hate the Holy Name of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, has gotten increasingly bolder in recent decades, especially with the demise of the Legion of Decency in 1966, when it became the National Catholic Office for Motion Pictures. Sadder still is how Catholics continue to support Hollywood by patronizing its motion pictures and watching its television programming and listening to the rot of what is called its "music."

The attacks upon the Catholic Church, however, are not limited to private individuals and/or to the corporate concerns of anti-Catholics in the popular culture. The overt attacks against the Church and against all believing Catholics is spreading to government itself. Sure, there have been subtle attacks against the Faith in the military, where it is considered to unacceptable in some instances to mention the Holy Name of the Divine Redeemer in public prayer. There have been court cases brought by municipalities and by the Anti-Catholic Liberation Union (otherwise known as the American Civil Liberties Union) to ban the singing of Christmas carols and of Nativity scenes in public places. There have been bills introduced and court decisions rendered to attack various moral truths explicated by the Catholic Church. Yes, indeed. Now, however, the attacks are directed at the Church by elected officials just as much as anti-Catholic bigots in Canada and Europe have been attacking her.

The following article from LifeSiteNews.com details the violent hatred of the bigots who serve on the San Francisco City Council, protesting the Vatican's efforts to stop the practice of various Catholic Charities offices in this nation from participating in government-sponsored programs to place children up for adoption in the "homes" of those steeped in unrepentant acts of perversion:

SAN FRANCISCO, March 22, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In one of the most startling attacks on the Catholic Church coming from a governmental body in the United States in half a century, the governing body of the city of San Francisco - the Board of Supervisors - voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a non-binding resolution blasting the Catholic Church for its opposition to homosexual adoption.

While many city's residents agree with the Church's stand against homosexual adoption, the resolution stated "It is an insult to all San Franciscans when a foreign country, like the Vatican, meddles with and attempts to negatively influence this great city's existing and established customs and traditions, such as the right of same-sex couples to adopt and care for children in need."

The city supervisors levelled an ad hominem attack on former San Francisco Archbishop William Levada, who has been appointed to head the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), one of the most senior posts in the Church.  " Cardinal Levada is a decidedly unqualified representative of his former home city, and of the people of San Francisco and the values they hold dear,'' the resolution stated. 

The supervisors also demonstrated their childishness as they attempted another dig at the Cardinal by indicating in the resolution that the CDF was once known as the Office of the Inquisition.  "That the Board of Supervisors urges Cardinal William Levada, in his capacity as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican (formerly known as Holy Office of the Inquisition), to withdraw his discriminatory and defamatory directive that Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of San Francisco stop placing children in need of adoption with homosexual households," reads the resolution.

The resolution attacked the teaching of the Catholic Church that homosexual adoption does "violence" to children since they would be placed in an environment that is not conducive to their full human development.  The resolution blasted the teaching as "hateful and discriminatory rhetoric (that) is both insulting and callous, and shows a level of insensitivity and ignorance which has seldom been encountered by this Board of Supervisors.''

Demonstrating their own profound ignorance, at least in terms of biological realities, the supervisors contend, "Same-sex couples are just as qualified to be parents as are heterosexual couples."

Concluding, the board urged current San Francisco "Archbishop Neiderauer and the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of San Francisco to defy all discriminatory directives of Cardinal Levada."

So much for a "healthy secularity," huh?

An article I wrote five months ago, Not in Good Standing With God, discussed the grossly immoral nature of placing children for adoption in the "homes" of "couples" steeped in unrepentant acts of moral perversion in violation of the Sixth and Ninth Commandments. There is no need here to review the critique of this demonic practice, although I do urge those who have not read the earlier article to do so in order to respond to the illogic of the emotionally-based arguments on this subject that are made by family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers and other acquaintances.

The purpose of this commentary is to discuss the fact that such an inflammatory expression of anti-Catholicism, which was once common in our Protestant and Judeo-Masonic land, is going to increase before God Himself brings a stop to it. Thus, I recommend most highly that everyone who reads this site get a copy of Father A.J. O'Reilly's Nineteenth Century masterpiece, The Martyrs of the Roman Coliseum, which was reprinted by TAN Books and Publishers in 1987. Excerpts from this book have been quoted in articles on this site before. One excerpt at present from it will help to demonstrate how each of us must be ready to suffer for our Faith from the hands of the secularists who run the civil State far, fare more than we may have suffered already.

At the time Claudius was Caesar, he issued a new and most impious edict to the whole world, that the Christians should offer sacrifice to the gods or be put to death. He ordered his presidents and judges to carry out his law, that he might destroy the the worship of the Christians; he enjoined on them, moreover, that those consenting to the sacrifice should be considered worthy of great honour, while non-conformists should be treated with the utmost cruelty. In order to manifest the earnestness of his impious law, this Emperor Claudius held sacrifices in the Temple of Apollo, and at the same time ordered the soldiers to seize all who were known to be Christians, men and women, and by dint of terror and direful tortures force them to sacrifice to the gods.

There were then malignant men who ardently desired to destroy the Christian worship; and coming to a certain church, they found the blessed Prisca, praying. She was of noble blood; her father had been thrice consul, and was exceedingly rich. This holy child was in her seventh year, and was adorned with the grace of god and the most perfect purity of morals. The ministers of the Emperor said to her: "Our Emperor Claudius has commanded you to sacrifice voluntarily to the gods?" The blessed Prisca said with a joyful heart" "First let me enter the holy universal Church, that I may commend myself to my Lord Jesus Christ, and then we will go in peace. It is necessary that, in the name of our Lord, I confound your unworthy Emperor, and assist in the triumph of Jesus. And returning to the church, she completed her prayers.

Having finished her petition, she went with them to the Emperor. the ministers, entering into the apartments of Claudius, said to him: "This girl is willing to obey the commands of your majesty." On hearing this he rejoiced exceedingly, and ordered her to be brought into his presence. When she was brought into the palace before him, he said: "Thou art great, O god Apollo! and glorious above all the gods, who has brought me this illustrious virgin, so beautiful and with such good dispositions." Then turning to blessed Prisca, he said" "I have arranged to have you brought to me, to make you my mistress, and the sharer in the power of my kingdom." To this Prisca said: "But I will sacrifice without blood, and only to the immaculate God, my Lord Jesus Christ."

The Emperor, hearing these things, and not understanding their meaning, ordered her to be led to the Temple of Apollo that she might sacrifice to him. The holy virgin being ordered to enter the temple, said with a cheerful countenance to the Emperor: "Do you also enter, and all the priests of Apollo, that you may see how the omnipotent and immaculate Lord is pleased with the sacrifices of His faithful." The Emperor ordered all who had gathered round to watch what she was going to do.

Blessed Prisca said: "Glory be to Thee, O glorious Father! I invoke Thee, I implore Thee, cast down this motionless and dumb idol, the vile emblem of falsehood and corruption; but do Thou, O Lord, hear me, a sinner, that this Emperor may know how vain is the hope he has placed in his idols, and that he ought to adore no other god but Thee alone."

When she had prayed thus, there was immediately a great earthquake, so that the whole city was shaken; the statue of the god shook, and fell to the ground; in like manner the fourth part of the temple was destroyed, and overwhelmed a multitude of people, together with the priests of the idol.

The Emperor was terrified, and fled. Prisca said to him: "Stay, Emperor, and assist; your Apollo is broken to pieces, and you may now gather up the fragments, moreover, his priests are destroyed in the same ruin; let him come now and assist them."

And the demon who dwelt in the idol cried out with a loud voice: "O virgin Prisca! handmaid of the great God who reigns in heaven, thou who keepest His commandments and hast stripped me of my habitation!--I have lived here for sixty-seven years, and under Claudius Caesar twelve. Many martyrs have come and have not exposed me. Having under me ninety-three other most impious spirits, I order each of them to sacrifice to me daily fifty souls of men. O Emperor, persecutor of the Christians! thou hast found a holy soul, through whom thou wilt finish they reign in disgrace." These words were spoken by a loud voice and great lamentation; terrible darkness surrounded those who were present, and they went away in great trepidation and doubt.

The Emperor, not understanding that it was by the divine power that the idol had been overthrown, ordered her to be buffeted on the face; and when the executioners had beaten her for some time, they lost their strength and cried out: "Woe to us sinners! surely we suffer more than this girl: she i snot hurt, and we are in pain. We beseech thee, O Emperor, to have her taken from us." But the Emperor, enraged against them, ordered the face of the blessed Prisca to be beaten still more. Looking towards heaven, the holy virgin said--

"Blessed art Thou, O Lord Jesus Christ! for Thou givest eternal peace to those who believe in Thee." And when she had said this, she was surrounded with a bright light, and a voice from heaven was heard saying--

"Daughter, be of good courage and fear nothing, for I am the God whom thou invokest, and I will never abandon thee."

After these things the Emperor was enraged almost to madness.

The next day, sitting before his tribunal, the Emperor said: "The that wicked little sorceress be brought in, that we may see some more of her charms."

When she was brought before him, he said to her: "Will you consent to live with me, and sacrifice to the gods?"

But she firmly replied: "Cease, most impious of men, and son of a satanic father! Are you not ashamed to insult a helpless girl and ill treat her thus, when you know she will never consent to sacrifice to your idols?"

Then the Emperor in a fury ordered her to be stript and to be beaten with whips. The child's body appeared as white as snow, and so bright was the bright light that issued from her, that the eyes of the beholders were dazzled. Whilst they were beating her, the holy virgin said: "I have cried with my voice to the Lord, and He heard me in the combat of my passion."

The Emperor, hearing her pay thus, said: "Do you think you will seduce me with your magic?"

But blessed Prisca answered: "Thy father Satan is the prince of all darkness; he loves fornicators and embraces magicians." The Emperor then ordered her to be beaten with rods, but the Saint, hearing this new punishment, smiled and said: "O unjust and impious man, enemy of God and inventor of evils! you are too blinded to know the blessings you are procuring for me from the Eternal Creator."

Many attempts were made to kill Saint Prisca before she did indeed become a martyr for the Faith. As is recorded in The Martyrs of the Roman Coliseum:

Then the Emperor, enraged beyond measure, ordered her to be led outside the city to be beheaded. The holy martyr Prisca, rejoicing said: "O Lord Jesus Christ, Redeemer of all, I praise Thee, I adore Thee, I beseech Thee, I implore Thee, who hast liberated me from all the evils intended for me. Save me now, O Lord Jesus Christ, with whom there is no acceptation of persons; perfect me in the confession of Thy name; order me to be received into Thy glory, that I may happily escape the evils by which I am surrounded; and reward the impious Claudius according to his works towards Thy helpless handmaid!" And having said this she turned towards the executioners and addressed them thus: "Fulfil the orders you have received.: And thus did the blessed Prisca end her life by the sword; and a voice was heard from heaven, saying: "Because thou hast fought for My name, Prisca, enter into the kingdom of heaven with all My saints.: And when this was said, the executioners fell and their faces and died.

Then it was announced to the Bishop of Rome by a Christian who watched in concealment, how they led the blessed Prisca along the Ostian Way, to about the tenth milestone, and there beheaded her, and took away her life. The Bishop, having heard this, went with him to the place he mentioned, and they found her body between two eagles, once at her head and the other at her feet, guarding it, lest the beasts should touch it. There was a dazzling light round her head, and her face smiled in the Holy Spirit. Then the Bishop himself and his companion dug a grave, and buried her in the spot.

When the Emperor heard all these things, he was struck the same day with terrible grief in his heart, and like a rabid dog ate his own flesh, and groaning and trembling, he cried: "Have pity on me, O God of the Christians! I know I have transgressed Thy precepts, O Christ, and blasphemed Thee; I have persecuted Thy name, and have ungratefully sinned against Thee; Thou rewardest me as I have desired." He expired, convulsed and writhing in agony, and a terrible voice was heard saying, "Enter, Emperor, into the furnace of hell; to to exterior darkness, for gloomy places of pain are prepared for thee." There was a great earthquake, and there believed that day, of those who were in Rome, on account of the voice that was heard from heaven, more than five thousand, not counting women and children. the martyrdom of the blessed Prisca took place on the 18th day of January.

Much more sophisticated means of torture and punishment await us if Russia is not consecrated by a pope with all of the world's bishops to Our Lady's Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. The fury of the Roman emperors of yore will seem tame in comparison to the fury of those are who supportive of and/or steeped in unrepenant acts of perversity, especially from the ranks of baptized Catholics who are immersed in or supportive of this sin, among others, including supporting the taking of innocent preborn life under cover-of-law.

Our Lady told Sister Lucia that entire nations would be annihilated if the consecration of Russia was not done. Much as ancient Rome was laid waste as a result of its embrace of moral decadence and the worship of the bloated State (as the populace was diverted by all of the bread and circuses), so will the supposedly "sophisticated" West, including the United States of America suffer a similar fate if the consecration is not done before it is too late. War clouds are gathering over Iran at present, prompting the Russians and the Communist Chinese to rattle sabers about defending that country if the United States commences military actions there. This should not be taken lightly. The day of reckoning for mankind's hatred for the Catholic Church--and for how many of the bishops and priests and consecrated religious have joined the legions assaulting the Church by promoting the very thing that caused Our Lord to suffer in His Sacred Humanity on the wood of the Holy Cross, sin--may be at hand sooner than we think.

In the meantime, however, we remain steadfast in prayer during this season of Lent, keeping close to the Blessed Sacrament and to the Mother of God, especially by means of her most Holy Rosary. We must foster a devotion to the martyrs of the early Church as they lived in times eerily similar to our own today. We must get to Confession frequently, perhaps even once a week, so as to be ready to die at any moment. All manner of lions, those who are invisible agents of the devil and those who are quite visible but who may not understand whose bidding it is that they are doing, are waiting to devour us. We must make sure to enfold ourselves into the loving embrace of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, being careful to make reparation for our own sins and those of the whole world at all times. And we must pray for those who hate the Church, hoping for the day when her adversaries will become like Saul of Tarsus, ardent defenders of her rights who are willing to die for her rather than to seek to crush her, the Mystical Bride of Jesus Christ rather than the men and women who persist in their dying breaths as followers of  the ignominious path trod by the likes of Nero and Diocletian and Trajan and Herod and Hitler and Stalin and Mao and countless others eternal torments beyond all telling.

Vivat Christus Rex!

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us.

Saint Gabriel the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Prisca, pray for us.

All the Holy Martyrs of Rome, pray for us.

Saint Philomena, pray for us.

Saints Fabian and Sebastian, pray for us.

Saint Tarcisius, pray for us.

Saint Lucy, pray for us.

Saint Agatha, pray for us.

Saint Agatha, pray for us.

Saint Dorothy, pray for us.

Saint Maximiliam Mary Kolbe, pray for us.

The English Martyrs, pray for us.

Blessed Jacinta, pray for us.

Blessed Francisco, pray for us.

Sister Lucia, pray for us.