Seeking to Follow the Example of Saint Nicholas, Not That of the "Santa Clauses" Who Have Taken Us Over the Moral Cliff

by Thomas A. Droleskey

As I have tried to tell you over the years until I have gotten blue in the face, doing so in hundreds upon hundreds of articles and in the eight part video series that I recorded prior to the farce of naturalism that unfolded thirteen months ago, that is, on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 (see A Case Against Obama and Romney, part 1, A Case Against Obama and Romney part 2, and A Case Against Obama and Romney part 3, A Case Against Obama and Romney, part four, A Case Against Obama and Romney, part five, A Case Against Obama and Romney, part six, A Case Against Obama and Romney part seven and A Case Against Obama and Romney, part eight), one of the chief differences between the organized crime family of the naturalist "left" and the members of their false opposite in the organized crime family of the naturalist "right" is that the partisans of the false opposite of the naturalist "left" make no compromises when it comes to the false principles that they support.

Caesar Barackus Obamus Ignoramus is forever taking the hapless careerists of the Republican Party leadership in the United States House of Representatives to the political woodshed by forcing them to knuckle under to his demands for "fairness" in the Federal tax code even though this is nothing other than a slogan designed to mask the reality of caesar's plan.

Yes, Barack Hussein Obama/Barry Soetoro desires to complete the transformation of the socio-politico-economic-cultural framework of the United States of America into the mould of the Eurosocialism that has so worked well in such countries as Greece, Spain and Lebanon to create a cradle-to-grave system of entitlements that enslave most people a pawns of the apparatchiks of the civil state. The reigning caesar is absolutely committed to the realization of this goal. He brooks no opposition. He takes no prisoners. He will not compromise. He believes that he is a personal repository of truth, caring not if his hubris is recognized by a few naturalists in the chattering class who have as of yet refused to play ball with the self-anointed secular messias and figure of Antichrist that he represents.

As will be noted in part five of my series on Evangelii Gaudium, which will be published tomorrow, Saturday, December 7, 2013, the Feast of Saint Ambrose and the Vigil of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Barack Hussein Obama/Barry Soetoro has found an ally in his quest to achieve "income distribution" by means of the confiscatory taxing powers of the government of the United States of America: Jorge Mario Bergoglio, about whom he spoke in the most glowing terms yesterday, Thursday,  December 5, 2013, an Advent Ferial Day and the Commemoration of Saint Sabbas:

So the basic bargain at the heart of our economy has frayed. In fact, this trend towards growing inequality is not unique to America’s market economy. Across the developed world, inequality has increased. Some of you may have seen just last week, the Pope himself spoke about this at eloquent length. “How can it be,” he wrote, “that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?”

But this increasing inequality is most pronounced in our country, and it challenges the very essence of who we are as a people. Understand we’ve never begrudged success in America. We aspire to it. We admire folks who start new businesses, create jobs, and invent the products that enrich our lives. And we expect them to be rewarded handsomely for it. In fact, we've often accepted more income inequality than many other nations for one big reason -- because we were convinced that America is a place where even if you’re born with nothing, with a little hard work you can improve your own situation over time and build something better to leave your kids. As Lincoln once said, “While we do not propose any war upon capital, we do wish to allow the humblest man an equal chance to get rich with everybody else.” (Remarks by the Caesar on Economic Mobility.)

Barack/Barry and Jorge/Francis are joined at the hip as statists and redistributionists, which is why the latter will embrace the latter with great warmth and joy when they meet for the first time in person.

Then again, Barack Hussein Obama/Barry Soetoro already has been embraced with great warmth and joy by a conciliar "pontiff," namely, Joseph Ratinger/Benedict XVI, which is why there is absolutely little "daylight between the Antipope Emeritus and his more vulgar, profane and popular successor, Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Let me refresh your memories about the Obama/Soetoro-Ratzinger/Benedict meeting on July 10, 2009 in the Apostolic Palace:

Pope Benedict XVI welcomed American President Barack Obama to the Vatican today, and the two discussed world issues addressed at the Group of Eight summit.

As they met, Mr Obama told the Pope: "It's a great honor; thank you so much."

The two sat down at a desk in the papal library and began discussing the G8 summit which concluded that morning in L'Aquila, Italy. The summit focused on the economic crisis, climate change and global tensions.

Pope Benedict told the president: "You must be tired after all these discussions."

The president replied that the meetings marked "great progress" and "something concrete". The private meeting lasted more than 30 minutes.

At the end of the meeting, Pope Benedict told the president: "A blessing on all your work and also for you." (Benedict XVI meets Obama - Catholic Herald Online; also see A "Blessing" on a Murderer and His Work.)

Two believers in one world governance.

 

There will be even a warmer embrace given Obama/Soetoro by Bergoglio/Francis when they meet for the first time. After all, Kindred Spirits of the New World Order do love to embrace each other.

Barack Hussein Obama/Barry Soetoro is intent on stealing more and more money from the taxpayers and to issue more and more illegal "executive orders" to circumvent the fact that the lower house of the Congress of the United States of America, the House of Representatives, is in the control of the members of the organized family of the false opposite of the naturalist "right." Jorge Mario Bergoglio will give him nothing but encouragement in this regard as "justice" come before such "Pharisaical" little things such as "rules" and "outdated" traditions, meaning that the words of the Constitution of the United States of America that are designed, at least in theory, to prevent the concentration of power in but one branch government can be ignored if the demands of a quasi-Marxist concept of "justice" would be thwarted by being so small-minded.

Although the subject of a different commentary at a different time, James Madison words in The Federalist, Number 47, have as little meaning to Barack Hussein Obama/Barry Soetoro as, say, the decrees of the [First] Vatican Council on Papal Primacy and Papal Infallibility do for Jorge Mario Bergoglio:

The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny (James Madison, Federalist No 47.)

Madison, a fire-breathing anti-Catholic who had a founding hatred for Christ the King, explained in the very next sentence of The Federalist, Number 47, that such a concentration of power would not be possible in the government that was being created by the Constitution whose ratification he was attempting delegates to the State of New York ratifying convention to support:

Were the federal Constitution, therefore, really chargeable with the accumulation of power, or with a mixture of powers, having a dangerous tendency to such an accumulation, no further arguments would be necessary to inspire a universal reprobation of the system. I persuade myself, however, that it will be made apparent to every one, that the charge cannot be supported, and that the maxim on which it relies has been totally misconceived and misapplied. (James Madison, Federalist No 47.)

What Madison did not realize is that men would come over the course of time to have no more respect for the words of a mere Constitution than he had for the Divinely inspired words of Sacred Scripture. Absent the Social Reign of the King He mocked and reviled, Christ the King, as It must be exercised by His Catholic Church, men and their nations must full prey over the course of time into tyranny, if only by increments, as the "people" are lulled to sleep by sweet-sounding words and promises of a "better life" by means of government redistribution under the slogans of "fairness," "equality" and "charity," to point of being complete prisoners of the ever-controlling caesars. In other words, the Constitution has been Utterly Defenseless Against Itself from the very beginning.

Unlike the careerist members of the organized crime family of the naturalist "right," the partisans of the false opposite of the naturalist "left" are not afraid to take firm, outspoken and consistent stands in support of one moral evil under cover of the civil law after another. Professional "leftists" do not permit themselves to be deterred in pursuit of evil by focus groups by taking positions on issues such as the chemical and surgical assassination of the innocent preborn (see Only So Much Tolerance In The Republican Big Tent, Herods To The Naturalist Right, Herods To The Naturalist Left and Your "Lesser Evil" Of 2008 Says to Leave Baby Killing Alone) that many Republicans said before and after the 2012 election were "divisive," a mantra that has increased throughout this year, 2013. The lefties and pinkos and weirdos who constitute the organized crime family of the naturalist "left" are loud and they are in the face of anyone who will listen to them, knowing full well that their system of indoctrination that includes America's concentration camps and the mass media (entertainment, news, advertising) have taken full advantage of the anti-Incarnational errors of Modernity that were let loose as a result of the Protestant Revolution against the Social Reign of Christ the King has worked exceedingly well to convince nearly half of the citizens of voting age of this country that they, the pro-death and pro-perversity advocates, are in the "mainstream" of American life while anyone and everyone who opposes them are "extremists."

Professional naturalists in the organized crime family of the naturalist "right" are petrified of any charge of extremism on "social issues" that would never be considered "open for debate" in a land whose citizens are duly submissive to the sweet yoke of the Social Reign of Christ the King as It must be exercised by the Catholic Church. Petrified. Truly petrified. Look at the extent to which Willard Mitt Romney went during his miserable excuse of a campaign last year to boast of the fact that he believes in what he refers to as "legal abortion" in the usual "hard cases" plus what he calls "the health of the mother"  (see He's Just A Mormon and Without Any Rational Foundation). Remember, if you will be so kind, the desire on the part of latter-day disciples of Machiavelli in that organized crime family of the "right" to plot and scheme and maneuver to get rid of the likes of United States Representative Todd Akin (R-Missouri) (see Karl Rove: Self-Anointed Political Godfather.)

Not so with the leftists. They support unrestricted baby-killing on demand without any fear of offending "moderate" or "swing" voters. The support special "rights," including that of marriage itself, for those engaged in unnatural acts of perversion in violation of the Sixth and Ninth Commandments knowing full well that popular support for this unspeakable abomination is growing every year and that it will only be a matter of time, if God does not intervene before then with a direct chastisement upon this nation for its promotion of sin under cover of the civil law and throughout the nooks and crannies of popular culture, before their hapless opponents in the organized crime family of the "right" drop all mention of "traditional marriage. These proponents of moral evil now have a "papal" enabler in the person of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who overlooks support of moral evils as long as those in civil government are "for the poor" by means of taking more and more money from the taxpayers to fund government programs whose principal raison d'etre is to redistribute money into the pockets of administration appointees, who apportion amounts to "supporters" in various Saul Alinksy-inspired "community organizing" groups.

The United States of America went over the "moral cliff" from its very beginning (see America's "Debt Clock" Began Ticking On July 4, 1776), exporting its anti-Incarnational errors and its founders' hatred for Christ the King to Our Lady's dear country, Mexico, soon thereafter (see  Then, Now and Always: Viva Cristo Rey!, part one, Then, Now and Always: Viva Cristo Rey!, part two, Then, Now and Always: Viva Cristo Rey!, part three, Then, Now And Always: Viva Cristo Rey!, part four and Then, Now And Always: Viva Cristo Rey!, part five), and engaging in one amoral policy after another in its two hundred thirty-six years of existence. 

I  mean, how can a country not go over the "fiscal cliff" after it has plunged in the abyss of decadence and corruption that was prophesied so well by Pope Gregory XVI in Mirari Vos, August 15, 1832, as a direct result of unbridled freedom of speech, freedom of press and freedom of religion?

This shameful font of indifferentism gives rise to that absurd and erroneous proposition which claims that liberty of conscience must be maintained for everyone. It spreads ruin in sacred and civil affairs, though some repeat over and over again with the greatest impudence that some advantage accrues to religion from it. "But the death of the soul is worse than freedom of error," as Augustine was wont to say. When all restraints are removed by which men are kept on the narrow path of truth, their nature, which is already inclined to evil, propels them to ruin. Then truly "the bottomless pit" is open from which John saw smoke ascending which obscured the sun, and out of which locusts flew forth to devastate the earth. Thence comes transformation of minds, corruption of youths, contempt of sacred things and holy laws -- in other words, a pestilence more deadly to the state than any other. Experience shows, even from earliest times, that cities renowned for wealth, dominion, and glory perished as a result of this single evil, namely immoderate freedom of opinion, license of free speech, and desire for novelty.

Here We must include that harmful and never sufficiently denounced freedom to publish any writings whatever and disseminate them to the people, which some dare to demand and promote with so great a clamor. We are horrified to see what monstrous doctrines and prodigious errors are disseminated far and wide in countless books, pamphlets, and other writings which, though small in weight, are very great in malice. We are in tears at the abuse which proceeds from them over the face of the earth. Some are so carried away that they contentiously assert that the flock of errors arising from them is sufficiently compensated by the publication of some book which defends religion and truth. Every law condemns deliberately doing evil simply because there is some hope that good may result. Is there any sane man who would say poison ought to be distributed, sold publicly, stored, and even drunk because some antidote is available and those who use it may be snatched from death again and again? (Pope Gregory XVI, Mirari Vos, August 15, 1832.)

We have gone from an acceptance of the religiously indifferentist civil state to an acceptance of material self-seeking being the principal raison d'etre of human existence to an acceptance of increasingly more immodest and indecent styles of dress to an acceptance of the frustration of the conception of babies as the natural end of the privileges proper to the married state to an acceptance of surgical baby-killing in at least some circumstances, if not on-demand for any reason whatsoever, to passive resignation in the face of so-called "lesbian wedding" that took place in the chapel of the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, in 2012:

The U.S. Military Academy's Cadet Chapel at West Point hosted its first same-sex marriage Saturday.

Penelope Gnesin and Brenda Sue Fulton, a West Point graduate, exchanged vows in the regal church in a ceremony conducted by a senior Army chaplain.

The ceremony comes a little more than a year after President Obama ended the military policy banning openly gay people from serving.

The two have been together for 17 years. They had a civil commitment ceremony that didn't carry any legal force in 1999 but had longed to formally tie the knot.

The couple live in New Jersey and would have preferred to have the wedding there, but the state doesn't allow gay marriage.

"We just couldn't wait any longer," Fulton said.

Guests at the wedding posted photos on Twitter while it was under way and afterward. Fulton said the Cadet Chapel on the campus at West Point was a fitting venue.

"It has a tremendous history, and it is beautiful. That's where I first heard and said the cadet prayer," Fulton said.

Fulton said that when she requested the West Point chapel, she was told that none of the chaplains who preside there come from a denomination that allowed them to celebrate a gay marriage. Their marriage was officiated by a friend, Army Chaplain Col. J. Wesley Smith of Dover Air Force Base.

Fulton, a veteran and the communications director of an organization called OutServe — which represents actively serving gay, lesbian and bisexual military personnel — confirmed in an e-mail to USA TODAY Friday night: "We will be the first same sex couple to wed at the Cadet Chapel at West Point." (West Point chapel hosts first same-sex marriage.)

Where was the outrage? There was none. An increasing number of Americans, including many Catholics, are perfectly happy with such travesties as signs of "social progress." Many are willing to vote in favor of Mortal Sins that cry out to Heaven for vengeance (see Do You Hear The People Sing Of Mortal Sin?).

If people are willing to scratch below the surface and avoid superficial conclusions about events in a world that has been thrown upside down by the mutually reinforcing errors of Modernity and Modernism, they would find understand that we are calling over the fiscal cliff precisely because the world went over the moral cliff when the Social Reign of Christ the King was overthrown as a result of the Protestant Revolution and the subsequent rise and and institutionalization of the welter of naturalism errors can be categorized collectively as Judeo-Masonry.

Obama/Soetoro is prevailing at this time precisely as a result of the fact that his brand of naturalism must be triumphant, if only by sheer force, over the haphazard collection of clueless souls that constitute his supposed "opposition" in the organized crime family of the naturalist "right," composed of men and women who believe that "their time will come" later if they "compromise" now. This is illusory.

There is one and only means to combat all forms of naturalism, Catholicism.

This truth has never been accepted by most Catholics in the United States of America throughout the course of its history, and the lords of conciliarism, having made their "reconciliation" with the anti-Incarnational errors of Modernity that are the very foundation of the modern civil state, including the United States of America, have now "baptized" the thoroughly false, blasphemous belief that some kind of generic "religion" can fight and defeat "irreligion," a contention that was condemned and mocked by Pope Pius XI in Mortalium Animos, January 6, 1928:

Is it not right, it is often repeated, indeed, even consonant with duty, that all who invoke the name of Christ should abstain from mutual reproaches and at long last be united in mutual charity? Who would dare to say that he loved Christ, unless he worked with all his might to carry out the desires of Him, Who asked His Father that His disciples might be "one." And did not the same Christ will that His disciples should be marked out and distinguished from others by this characteristic, namely that they loved one another: "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another"? All Christians, they add, should be as "one": for then they would be much more powerful in driving out the pest of irreligion, which like a serpent daily creeps further and becomes more widely spread, and prepares to rob the Gospel of its strength. These things and others that class of men who are known as pan-Christians continually repeat and amplify; and these men, so far from being quite few and scattered, have increased to the dimensions of an entire class, and have grouped themselves into widely spread societies, most of which are directed by non-Catholics, although they are imbued with varying doctrines concerning the things of faith. This undertaking is so actively promoted as in many places to win for itself the adhesion of a number of citizens, and it even takes possession of the minds of very many Catholics and allures them with the hope of bringing about such a union as would be agreeable to the desires of Holy Mother Church, who has indeed nothing more at heart than to recall her erring sons and to lead them back to her bosom. But in reality beneath these enticing words and blandishments lies hid a most grave error, by which the foundations of the Catholic faith are completely destroyed. (Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos, January 6, 1928.)

As the lords of Modernism in the Occupy Vatican Movement have convinced Catholics that it is not necessary to reject the errors of Modernity and that it is not necessary to plant the seeds for the conversion of non-Catholics and of their nations to the true Faith, outside of which there is no salvation and without which there can be no true social order, Catholics have found it much easier than ever before to believe in false saviours (politics, politicians, political parties, political ideologies, political philosophies, athletes, entertainers, musicians, talk show hosts, etc.) as the means by which they understand, if not "solve," all social problems. Angelo Roncalli/John XXIII's aggiornamento has thrown open wide the doors to the world and all of its errors and, as a consequence, Catholics flooded out of those door into the world and now look to almost anything but Catholicism as the means to guide their lives.

This "reconciliation" with the errors of Modernity by the lords of Modernism in the Occupy Vatican Movement, combined with the sacramentally barren liturgical rites that they have promulgated in the name of "renewal without rupture," have accustomed Catholics to lives of ease and comfort that the world was beckoning them to embrace for so long.

Exterior forms of penance?

Ah, a practice that "belongs to another era in the history of the Church" (cf. General Instruction to the Roman Missal, 2000, Number 15.)

Mortification?

Oh my, a sign of possible masochism (yes, I was told by Dr. Leonard Krinsky, the secular Jewish psychologist who examined me in 1979 for the Diocese of Rockville Centre that my concept of the priesthood as the sacerdos was preconciliar and that my desire to live a priestly life of prayer, penance, self-denial and mortification were "possible signs of masochism, something with which Jorge Mario Bergoglio would concur very heartily.)

Eschewing popular culture?

Nothing other than Jansenism.

Thus it is that the lion's share of Catholics all across and up and down the vast expanse of the ecclesiastical divide worship at the altars of various false saviours, including those in the realm of the circus of midget naturalists that is electoral politics. Those who fall to the "left" of the naturalist divide believe that the government exists quite indeed to give them one entitlement after another in the name of "fairness," viewing various naturalist figures such as the reigning caesar as real-life versions of the fictional "Santa Claus," whose image as the fat-bellied, red-nosed man with a long white beard was refined and popularized by Coca-Cola advertising campaigns in the 1920s and 1930s (see Coca-Cola and the History of Santa Claus), dispensing all manner of "toys" to them for which they do have to pay and that will provide them with endless joys, well, endless for at least a time until they start clamoring for more toys. 

Who cares about the Baby Jesus?

Who cares about a country that is heading over the fiscal cliff because it long ago went over the moral cliff?

Who cares the horror of personal sin?

Who cares about preparing for the preparing properly for the annual celebration of the Nativity of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on Christmas Day?

Santa Claus is coming to town, and he's bearing gifts for those who have been "nice" to him, which, in contemporary terms, means obeying the figures of Antichrist in the realm of the civil state and obeying the figures of Antichrist who dispense all manner of "presents" in the forms of false doctrines and abominable liturgies in the realm of the counterfeit church of concilairism.

We must be careful not to lead our children into believing in any of the fables of Modernity, including that of Santa Claus, who is meant to become the focus of children's lives at this time of the year, the "Holiday Season" (see As Went Niatirb, So Goes Acirema of course, in order to take the focus off of any and all supernatural preparation for Christmas Day, on which we are to give special thanks to Christ the King for His becoming Man in Our Lady's Virginal and Immaculate Womb at the Annunciation and for his Sacred Nativity as He was born in humility, anonymity and poverty in the cold of the night in the cave in Bethlehem, warmed by the breath of the barn animals who were stabled there (regardless of what the now-retired Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI believes; see Does This Man Give Any Thought To His Particular Judgment?).

Saint Nicholas of Myra, whose feast we celebrate today, was a Successor of the Apostles who had a generous, loving heart in the pattern of the Most Sacred Heart of the Good Shepherd Himself, Christ the King, but who was also a firm and unequivocal foe of the heretic Arius and his heresy, Arianism.

The account of this great saint's life as found in the Blessed Jacobus de Voragine's The Golden Legend is what we should read to our children, not Clement Clarke Moore's '"A Visit from Saint Nicholas," in order to teach our children about Saint Nicholas's unfailing devotion to the cause of dogmatic truth, something that must inspire them to be as courageous as he was in this time of apostasy and betrayal as they grow up with figures of Antichrist all around them. It is appended below for your own meditation on this great feast day.

According an Athenian monk named Damaskinos, Saint Nicholas was imprisoned, albeit for a brief time, after he had slapped Arius at the Council of Nicea:

"The emperor was sitting on this throne, flanked by 159 bishops to his left and 159 to his right. Arian was presenting his views with great vigor and detail. As Saint Nicholas observed the scene, the bishops listened to Arius in complete silence without interrupting his discourse. Outraged and prompted by his saintly vigor, he left his seat and walked up to Arius, faced him squarely and slapped his face.

"At this, the assembly was shocked. Arius's supporters turned to the emperor, asking that he intervene and punish Nicholas. They said, 'Oh Just One, tell us, can it be fair that in your very presence someone should be permitted, without hindrance, to assault another? If he has anything to say in rebuttal, by all means let him have his say. But if he is not sufficiently learned to make a proper argument, then it were better if he remain in his seat, quietly, and listen to others who are prepared to state their case in words.'

'Arius himself spoke directly to the emperor, 'Should anyone who has the temerity to hit me, in from of Your Majesty, remain unpunished?' Emperor Constantine replied, 'Indeed, there is a law which forbids anyone to lift his hand in violence in the presence of the emperor and it specifies that his hand be cut off. However, it is not up to me, in this in Assembly, to act upon it. Instead, Your Holinesses, should make the decision in this case; I leave it to your judgment, whether and how this act is to be punished.'

"The bishops conferred with each other, and when they came to a decision, they said to the emperor, 'Your Majesty, the bishop of Myra has acted wrongfully. We all saw it happen and attest to it. We therefore ask your permission to let us strip him of his clerical garments, shackle him, and place him under guard as a prisoner. In this way, he shall not be permitted to participate in the proceedings of the Council for the rest of the deliberations. Once the synod is completed, a final judgment in his case may be made.'

"As a result, that evening, Nicholas was made a prisoner in another wing of the palace. He was placed in a jail-like room, without his bishop's mantle and shackled on hand and foot. However, during the night he was visited by Jesus [and His] Mother. They observed Saint Nicholas in his cell and said, 'Nicholas, why are you imprisoned?' And Saint Nicholas said, 'Because of my love for you." First they freed him from his shackles. And then Jesus said, 'Take this! and he gave him a volume of the Holy Scripture. Then [Mary] went away, returned, and brought him his bishop's garments, so  that he might clothe himself with appropriate dignity. At peace, he studied the Holy Book through the night.

"The next morning, a jailer came to bring him bread, saw that Nicholas was no longer shackled, that he was clothed in the garments of his position, an that he was studying the Scriptures in the cell. Even his stole was in one hand, while he held the book with the other. News of this miraculous event was quickly brought to the emperor. He asked that Nicholas be freed, and when the two men met, the emperor asked the bishop's forgiveness (Ebon, 34-35)." (As found in Joe Wheeler and Jim Rosenthal, St. Nicholas: A Closer Look at Christmas, published by Nelson Reference and Electronic, a Division of Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 2005, pp. 46-47.)

 

That's the Saint Nicholas we should follow, not the false "Santa Clauses" of the false opposites of Modernity or the false "Santa Clauses" who have given away the Holy Faith in the name of "aggiornamento" an who have given away her moral authority to various "world governing" bodies (see Finishing Off The Overthrow of the Papal States).

The readings for Matins as found in the Divine Office for today's feast provide us with additional inspiration of a saint of true Catholic charity, starting with a love for God and the integrity of His Sacred Deposit of Faith:

Nicolas was born at the famous city of Patara in Lycia. His parents obtained him from God by prayer, and the holiness of his life was marked even from the cradle. When he was at the breast he never would suck more than once on Wednesdays and Fridays, and that always after sunset, though he sucked freely on other days. This custom of fasting he never broke through during his whole life. While he was still a young man he lost both his father and mother, after which he gave his whole property away to the poor. One particular example is given of his Christian charity. There was a certain needy man in the city who had three marriageable daughters, for whom he could not get husbands, and so thought to make them harlots. When Nicolas heard of it, he went to the house by night and threw in by the window such a sum of money as made a dowry for one of them. This he did a second and a third time, and thus by his charity they were honourably given in marriage.

When he had given himself entirely to God he set forth for Palestine, that he might see the Holy Places, and worship therein. During this pilgrimage he embarked once on board a ship when the sky was clear and the sea calm, but he foretold a great storm, which afterwards arose and raged until the sailors were afraid; and then the saint by prayer stilled the tempest. After he had returned home, and his holy life was known to all men, God bade him go to Myra, which is the chief city of Lycia, at a time when the Bishop had just died and the Bishops of the Province were called together to choose a successor. While they deliberated, they received a warning from heaven to choose that Nicolas who should first come into the church in the morning. In obedience to that warning, Nicolas was seized at the door of the church, and with universal consent consecrated Archbishop. In his great office he was an unceasing model of purity, as he had always been, of gravity, of regularity in prayer, of watching, of abstinence, of charity, of hospitality, of meekness in exhortation, and of sternness in rebuke.

He was the comforter of widows and orphans by money, by advice, and by labour. He was the deliverer of the oppressed, so mightily, that it is related that the Emperor Constantine once unjustly condemned three Tribunes to death, and these unhappy men called upon Nicolas, though living and absent, to save them, who yet appeared in a vision to the Emperor, and forced him by threats to set them free. When the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian published their edict against Christianity, Nicolas did not cease to preach the truth at Myra, wherefore he was seized by the soldiers of the Emperors, carried away from his See, and thrown into prison, where he remained until the accession of Constantine. This Prince set him free, and he returned to Myra. He betook himself to the first Council of Nice, where he was one of the 318 Bishops who condemned the heresy of Arius. He returned thence to his Bishopric, and, not long after, became aware of the approach of death. When his last moment was come, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and, when he saw the Angels coming to meet him, he began to recite the thirtieth Psalm, In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust, and when he had said, Into thy hands I commend my spirit, he passed to the heavenly Fatherland. His body was finally removed to Bari in Apulia, where it is kept with great fame and honour. (Matins for the Feast of Saint Nicholas.)

The prayer composed by Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B., for this feast day is very relevant to our own days of apostasy and betrayal:

Holy pontiff Nicholas, how great is thy glory in God's Church! Thou didst confess the name of Jesus before the proconsuls of the world's empire and suffer persecution for His name's sake; afterwards thou wast witness to the wonderful workings of God, when He restored peace to His Church; and a short time after this again, thou didst open thy lips, in the assembly of the three hundred and eighteen fathers, to confess with supreme authority the Divinity of our Saviour Jesus Christ, for whose sake so many millions of martyrs had already shed their blood. Receive the devout felicitations of the Christian people throughout the universe, who thrill with joy when the think of thy glorious merits. Help us by thy prayers during these days when we are preparing for the coming of Him, whom thou didst proclaim to be consubstantial with the Father. Vouchsafe to assist our faith and to obtain fresh fervor to our love. Thou now beholdest face to face that Word by whom all things were made and redeemed; beseech Him to permit our unworthiness to approach Him. Be thou our intercessor with Him. Thou hast taught us to now Him as the sovereign and eternal God; teach us also to love Him as the supreme benefactor of the children of Adam. It was that tender compassion for the sufferings of they fellow-men, which made all thy miracles to be so many acts of kindness: cease not, now that thou art in the company of the angels, to have pity on us and to succour our miseries.

Stir up and increase the faith of mankind in the Saviour whom the Lord hath sent them. May this be one of the fruits of thy prayers, that the divine Word may be no longer unknown and forgotten in this world, which He has redeemed with His Blood. Ask for the pastors of the Church that spirit of charity, which shone so brilliantly in thee; that spirit which makes them like their divine Master, and wins them the hearts of their people.

Remember, too, O holy pontiff, that Church of the east which still loves thee so fervently. When thou wast on this earth, God gave thee power to raise the dead to life; pray now, that the true life, which consists in faith and unity, may return once more and animate that body which schism has robbed of its soul. By thy supplications, obtain of God that the sacrifice of the Lamb, who is soon to visit us, may be again and soon celebrated under the cupolas of St. Sophia. May the sanctuaries of Kiev and Moscow became resanctified by the return of the people to unity. May the pride of the crescent be humbled into submission to the cross, and the schismatic be brought to acknowledge the power of the keys of St. Peter' that thus there may be henceforth neither Scythian, nor barbarian, but one fold under one Shepherd. (As found in Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B., The Liturgical Year.)

We must not be distracted by the side shows of naturalism or conciliarism. We must serve as champions of Christ the King through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, especially by praying as many Rosaries each day as our state-in-life permits.

What are we waiting for?

Viva Cristo Rey! Vivat Christus Rex!

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us!

 

Saint Joseph, Patron of Departing Souls, pray for us.

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us.

Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.

Saint John the Evangelist, 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 Nicholas of Myra, pray for us.

See also: A Litany of Saints

Appendix A

The Life of Saint Nicholas

by Blessed Jacobus de Voragine, O.P., The Golden Legend

Nicholas is said of Nichos, which is to say victory, and of laos, people, so Nicholas is as much as to say as victory of people, that is, victory of sins, which be foul people. Or else he is said, victory of people, because he enseigned and taught much people by his doctrine to overcome vices and sins. Or Nicholas is said of Nichor, that is the resplendour or shining of the people, for he had in him things that make shining and clearness. After this S. Ambrose saith: The word of God, very confession, and holy thought, make a man clean. And the doctors of Greece write his legend, and some others say that Methodius the patriarch wrote it in Greek, and John the deacon translated it into Latin and adjousted thereto many things.

Nicholas, citizen of the city of Patras, was born of rich and holy kin, and his father was Epiphanes and his mother Johane. He was begotten in the first flower of their age, and from that time forthon they lived in continence and led an heavenly life. Then the first day that he was washed and bained, he addressed him right up in the bason, and he would not take the breast nor the pap but once on the Wednesday and once on the Friday, and in his young age he eschewed the plays and japes of other young children. He used and haunted gladly holy church; and all that he might understand of holy scripture he executed it in deed and work after his power. And when his father and mother were departed out of this life, he began to think how he might distribute his riches, and not to the praising of the world but to the honour and glory of God. And it was so that one, his neighbour, had then three daughters, virgins, and he was a nobleman: but for the poverty of them together, they were constrained, and in very purpose to abandon them to the sin of lechery, so that by the gain and winning of their infamy they might be sustained. And when the holy man Nicholas knew hereof he had great horror of this villainy, and threw by night secretly into the house of the man a mass of gold wrapped in a cloth. And when the man arose in the morning, he found this mass of gold, and rendered to God therefor great thankings, and therewith he married his oldest daughter. And a little while after this holy servant of God threw in another mass of gold, which the man found, and thanked God, and purposed to wake, for to know him that so had aided him in his poverty. And after a few days Nicholas doubled the mass of gold, and cast it into the house of this man. He awoke by the sound of the gold, and followed Nicholas, which fled from him, and he said to him: Sir, flee not away so but that I may see and know thee. Then he ran after him more hastily, and knew that it was Nicholas; and anon he kneeled down, and would have kissed his feet, but the holy man would not, but required him not to tell nor discover this thing as long as he lived.

After this the bishop of Mirea died and other bishops assembled for to purvey to this church a bishop. And there was, among the others, a bishop of great authority, and all the election was in him. And when he had warned all for to be in fastings and in prayers, this bishop heard that night a voice which said to him that, at the hour of matins, he should take heed to the doors of the church, and him that should come first to the church, and have the name of Nicholas they should sacre him bishop. And he showed this to the other bishops and admonished them for to be all in prayers; and he kept the doors. And this was a marvellous thing, for at the hour of matins, like as he had been sent from God, Nicholas arose tofore all other. And the bishop took him when he was come and demanded of him his name. And he, which was simple as a dove, inclined his head, and said: I have to name Nicholas. Then the bishop said to him: Nicholas, servant and friend of God, for your holiness ye shall be bishop of this place. And sith they brought him to the church, howbeit that he refused it strongly, yet they set him in the chair. And he followed, as he did tofore in all things, in humility and honesty of manners. He woke in prayer and made his body lean, he eschewed company of women, he was humble in receiving all things, profitable in speaking, joyous in admonishing, and cruel in correcting.

It is read in a chronicle that, the blessed Nicholas was at the Council of Nice; and on a day,as a ship with mariners were in perishing on the sea, they prayed and required devoutly Nicholas, servant of God, saying: If those things that we have heard of thee said be true, prove them now. And anon a man appeared in his likeness, and said: Lo! see ye me not? ye called me, and then he began to help them in their exploit of the sea, and anon the tempest ceased. And when they were come to his church, they knew him without any man to show him to them, and yet they had never seen him. And then they thanked God and him of their deliverance. And he bade them to attribute it to the mercy of God, and to their belief, and nothing to his merits.

It was so on a time that all the province of S. Nicolas suffered great famine, in such wise that victual failed. And then this holy man heard say that certain ships laden with wheat were arrived in the haven. And anon he went thither and prayed the mariners that they would succour the perished at least with an hundred muyes of wheat of every ship. And they said: Father we dare not, for it is meted and measured, and we must give reckoning thereof in the garners of the Emperor in Alexandria. And the holy man said to them: Do this that I have said to you, and I promise, in the truth of God, that it shall not be lessed or minished when ye shall come to the garners. And when they had delivered so much out of every ship, they came into Alexandria and delivered the measure that they had received. And then they recounted the miracle to the ministers of the Emperor, and worshipped and praised strongly God and his servant Nicholas. Then this holy man distributed the wheat to every man after that he had need, in such wise that it sufficed for two years, not only for to sell, but also to sow. And in this country the people served idols and worshipped the false image of the cursed Diana. And to the time of this holy man, many of them had some customs of the paynims, for to sacrifice to Diana under a sacred tree; but this good man made them of all the country to cease then these customs, and commanded to cut off the tree. Then the devil was angry and wroth against him, and made an oil that burned, against nature, in water, and burned stones also. And then he transformed him in the guise of a religious woman, and put him in a little boat, and encountered pilgrims that sailed in the sea towards this holy saint, and areasoned them thus, and said: I would fain go to this holy man, but I may not, wherefore I pray you to bear this oil into his church, and for the remembrance of me, that ye anoint the walls of the hall; and anon he vanished away. Then they saw anon after another ship with honest persons, among whom there was one like to Nicholas, which spake to them softly: What hath this woman said to you, and what hath she brought? And they told to him all by order. And he said to them: This is the evil and foul Diana; and to the end that ye know that I say truth, cast that oil into the sea. And when they had cast it, a great fire caught it in the sea, and they saw it long burn against nature. Then they came to this holy man and said to him: Verily thou art he that appeared to us in the sea and deliveredst us from the sea and awaits of the devil.

And in this time certain men rebelled against the emperor; and the emperor sent against them three princes Nepotian, Ursyn, and Apollyn. And they came into the port Adriatic, for the wind, which was contrary to them; and the blessed Nicholas commanded them to dine with him, for he would keep his people from the ravin that they made. And whilst they were at dinner, the consul, corrupt by money, had commanded three innocent knights to be beheaded. And when the blessed Nicholas knew this, he prayed these three princes that they would much hastily go with him. And when they were come where they should be beheaded, he found them on their knees, and blindfold, and the righter brandished his sword over their heads. Then S. Nicholas embraced with the love of God, set him hardily against the righter, and took the sword out of his hand, and threw it from him, and unbound the innocents, and led them with him all safe. And anon he went to the judgment to the consul, and found the gates closed, which anon he opened by force. And the consul came anon and saluted him: and this holy man having this salutation in despite, said to him: Thou enemy of God, corrupter of the law,. wherefore hast thou consented to so great evil and felony, how darest thou look on us? And when he had sore chidden and reproved him, he repented, and at the prayer of the three princes he received him to penance. After, when the messengers of the emperor had received his benediction, they made their gear ready and departed, and subdued their enemies to the empire without shedding of blood and sith returned to the emperor, and were worshipfully received. And after this it happed that some other in the emperor's house had envy on the weal of these three princes, and accused them to the emperor of high treason, and did so much by prayer and by gifts that they caused the emperor to be so full of ire that he commanded them to prison, and without other demand, he commanded that they should be slain that same night. And when they knew it by their keeper, they rent their clothes and wept bitterly; and then Nepotian remembered him how S. Nicholas had delivered the three innocents, and admonested the others that they should require his aid and help. And thus as they prayed S. Nicholas appeared to them, and after appeared to Constantine the emperor, and said to him: Wherefore hast thou taken these three princes with so great wrong, and hast judged them to death without trespass? Arise up hastily, and command that they be not executed, or I shall pray to God that he move battle against thee, in which thou shalt be overthrown, and shalt be made meat to beasts. And the emperor demanded: What art thou that art entered by night into my palace and durst say to me such words? And he said to him: I am Nicholas bishop of Mirea. And in like wise he appeared to the provost, and feared him, saying with a fearful voice: Thou that hast Iost mind and wit, wherefore hast thou consented to the death of innocents? Go forth anon and do thy part to deliver them, or else thy body shall rot, and be eaten with worms, and thy meiny shall be destroyed. And he asked him: Who art thou that so menaces me? And he answered: Know thou that I am Nicholas, the bishop of the city of Mirea. Then that one awoke that other, and each told to other their dreams, and anon sent for them that were in prison, to whom the emperor said: What art magic or sorcery can ye, that ye have this night by illusion caused us to have such dreams? And they said that they were none enchanters ne knew no witchcraft, and also that they had not deserved the sentence of death. Then the emperor said to them: know ye well a man named Nicholas? And when they heard speak of the name of the holy saint, they held up their hands towards heaven, and prayed our Lord that by the merits of S. Nicholas they might be delivered of this present peril. And when the emperor had heard of them the life and miracles of S. Nicholas, he said to them: Go ye forth, and yield ye thankings to God, which hath delivered you by the prayer of this holy man, and worship ye him; and bear ye to him of your jewels, and pray ye him that he threaten me no more, but that he pray for me and for my realm unto our Lord. And a while after, the said princes went unto the holy man, and fell down on their knees humbly at his feet, saying: Verily thou art the sergeant of God, and the very worshipper and lover of Jesu Christ. And when they had all told this said thing by order, he lift up his hands to heaven and gave thankings and praisings to God, and sent again the princes, well informed, into their countries.

And when it pleased our Lord to have him depart out this world, he prayed our Lord that he would send him his angels; and inclining his head he saw the angels come to him, whereby he knew well that he should depart, and began this holy psalm: In te domine speravi, unto, in manus tuas, and so saying: Lord, into thine hands I commend my spirit, he rendered up his soul and died, the year of our Lord three hundred and forty- three, with great melody sung of the celestial company. And when he was buried in a tomb of marble, a fountain of oil sprang out from the head unto his feet; and unto this day holy oil issueth out of his body, which is much available to the health of sicknesses of many men. And after him in his see succeeded a man of good and holy life, which by envy was put out of his bishopric. And when he was out of his see the oil ceased to run, and when he was restored again thereto, the oil ran again.

Long after this the Turks destroyed the city of Mirea, and then came thither forty- seven knights of Bari, and four monks showed to them the sepulchre of S. Nicholas. And they opened it and found the bones swimming in the oil, and they bare them away honourably into the city of Bari, in the year of our Lord ten hundred and eightyseven.

There was a man that had borrowed of a Jew a sum of money, and sware upon the altar of S. Nicholas that he would render and pay it again as soon as he might, and gave none other pledge. And this man held this money so long, that the Jew demanded and asked his money, and he said that he had paid him. Then the Jew made him to come tofore the law in judgment, and the oath was given to the debtor. And he brought with him an hollow staff, in which he had put the money in gold, and he leant upon the staff. And when he should make his oath and swear, he delivered his staff to the Jew to keep and hold whilst he should swear, and then sware that he had delivered to him more than he ought to him. And when he had made the oath, he demanded his staff again of the Jew, and he nothing knowing of his malice delivered it to him. Then this deceiver went his way, and anon after, him list sore to sleep, and laid him in the way, and a cart with four wheels came with great force and slew him, and brake the staff with gold that it spread abroad. And when the Jew heard this, he came thither sore moved, and saw the fraud, and many said to him that he should take to him the gold; and he refused it, saying, But if he that was dead were not raised again to life by the merits of S. Nicholas, he would not receive it, and if he came again to life, he would receive baptism and become Christian. Then he that was dead arose, and the Jew was christened.

Another Jew saw the virtuous miracles of S. Nicholas, and did do make an image of the saint, and set it in his house, and commanded him that he should keep well his house when he went out, and that he should keep well all his goods, saying to him: Nicholas, lo! here be all my goods, I charge thee to keep them, and if thou keep them not well, I shall avenge me on thee in beating and tormenting thee. And on a time, when the Jew was out, thieves came and robbed all his goods, and left, unborne away, only the image. And when the Jew came home he found him robbed of all his goods. He areasoned the image saying these words: Sir Nicholas, I had set you in my house for to keep my goods from thieves, wherefore have ye not kept them? Ye shall receive sorrow and torments, and shall have pain for the thieves. I shall avenge my loss, and refrain my woodness in beating thee. And then took the Jew the image, and beat it, and tormented it cruelly. Then happed a great marvel, for when the thieves departed the goods, the holy saint, like as he had been in his array, appeared to the thieves, and said to them: Wherefore have I been beaten so cruelly for you and have so many torments? See how my body is hewed and broken; see how that the red blood runneth down by my body; go ye fast and restore it again, or else the ire of God Almighty shall make you as to be one out of his wit, and that all men shall know your felony, and that each of you shall be hanged. And they said: Who art thou that sayest to us such things? And he said to them: I am Nicholas the servant of Jesu Christ, whom the Jew hath so cruelly beaten for his goods that ye bare away. Then they were afeard, and came to the Jew, and heard what he had done to the image, and they told him the miracle, and delivered to him again all his goods. And thus came the thieves to the way of truth, and the Jew to the way of Jesu Christ. A man, for the love of his son, that went to school for to learn, hallowed, every year, the feast of S. Nicholas much solemnly. On a time it happed that the father had do make ready the dinner, and called many clerks to this dinner. And the devil came to the gate in the habit of a pilgrim for to demand alms: and the father anon commanded his son that he should give alms to the pilgrim. He followed him as he went for to give to him alms, and when he came to the quarfox the devil caught the child and strangled him. And when the father heard this he sorrowed much strongly and wept, and bare the body into his chamber, and began to cry for sorrow, and say: Bright sweet son, how is it with thee? S. Nicholas, is this the guerdon that ye have done to me because I have so long served you? And as he said these words, and other semblable, the child opened his eyes, and awoke like as he had been asleep, and arose up tofore all, and was raised from death to life.

Another nobleman prayed to S. Nicholas that he would, by his merits, get of our Lord that he might have a son, and promised that he would bring his son to the church, and would offer up to him a cup of gold. Then the son was born and came to age, and the father commanded to make a cup, and the cup pleased him much, and he retained it for himself, and did do make another of the same value. And they went sailing in a ship toward the church of S. Nicholas, and when the child would have filled the cup, he fell into the water with the cup, and anon was lost, and came no more up. Yet nevertheless the father performed his avow, in weeping much tenderly for his son; and when he came to the altar of S. Nicholas he offered the second cup, and when he had offered it, it fell down, like as one had cast it under the altar. And he took it up and set it again upon the altar, and then yet was it cast further than tofore and yet he took it up and remised it the third time upon the altar; and it was thrown again further than tofore. Of which thing all they that were there marvelled, and men came for to see this thing. And anon, the child that had fallen in the sea, came again prestly before them all, and brought in his hands the first cup, and recounted to the people that, anon as he was fallen in the sea, the blessed S. Nicholas came and kept him that he had none harm. And thus his father was glad and offered to S. Nicholas both the two cups.

There was another rich man that by the merits of S. Nicholas had a son, and called him: Deus dedit, God gave. And this rich man did do make a chapel of S. Nicholas in his dwellingplace; and did do hallow every year the feast of S. Nicholas. And this manor was set by the land of the Agarians. This child was taken prisoner, and deputed to serve the king. The year following, and the day that his father held devoutly the feast of S. Nicholas, the child held a precious cup tofore the king, and remembered his prise, the sorrow of his friends, and the joy that was made that day in the house of his father, and began for to sigh sore high. And the king demanded him what ailed him and the cause of his sighing; and he told him every word wholly. And when the king knew it he said to him: Whatsomever thy Nicholas do or do not, thou shalt abide here with us. And suddenly there blew a much strong wind, that made all the house to tremble, and the child was ravished with the cup, and was set tofore the gate where his father held the solemnity of S. Nicholas, in such wise that they all demeaned great joy.

And some say that this child was of Normandy, and went oversea, and was taken by the sowdan, which made him oft to be beaten tofore him. And as he was beaten on a S. Nicholas day, and was after set in prison, he prayed to S. Nicholas as well for his beating that he suffered, as for the great joy that he was wont to have on that day of S. Nicholas. And when he had long prayed and sighed he fell asleep, and when he awoke he found himself in the chapel of his father, whereas was much joy made for him. Let us then pray to this blessed saint that he will pray for us to our Lord Jesu Christ which is blessed in secula seculorum. Amen. (The Life of S. Nicholas.)