Selling the Rope, 2007

by Thomas A. Droleskey

God knows from all eternity into which particular country we will be born and spend our lives. He Who is Omnipotence knows also who will emigrate from one country to another, seeking to become a naturalized citizen of his adopted land. No matter whether we are born or naturalized as a citizen of a particular country, the Catholic Church teaches us that we are to love our country. This love is not an expression of nationalism, which is a violation of the First Commandment, seeking to idolize a nation's myths and alleged "powers" about the true Faith, and it is not a matter of sentimentality ("my country right or wrong"). True love of one's nation seeks her good, which is her Catholicization.

It is important once again, therefore, to refer to this quote from a Sixteenth Century cardinal, Silvio Antoniano, that was included by Pope Pius XI in Divini Illius Magistri, December 31, 1929:

The more closely the temporal power of a nation aligns itself with the spiritual, and the more it fosters and promotes the latter, by so much the more it contributes to the conservation of the commonwealth. For it is the aim of the ecclesiastical authority by the use of spiritual means, to form good Christians in accordance with its own particular end and object; and in doing this it helps at the same time to form good citizens, and prepares them to meet their obligations as members of a civil society. This follows of necessity because in the City of God, the Holy Roman Catholic Church, a good citizen and an upright man are absolutely one and the same thing. How grave therefore is the error of those who separate things so closely united, and who think that they can produce good citizens by ways and methods other than those which make for the formation of good Christians. For, let human prudence say what it likes and reason as it pleases, it is impossible to produce true temporal peace and tranquillity by things repugnant or opposed to the peace and happiness of eternity

 

A Catholic loves his country with a view to promoting its ability to pursue the common temporal good in light of man's Last End, as has been noted many times on this site in the quote from Paragraph Three of Pope Saint Pius X's Vehementer Nos, February 11, 1906. It was Pope Saint Pius X who reiterated this point in Singulari Quadam, September 24, 1912:

No matter what the Christian does, even in the realm of temporal goods, he cannot ignore the supernatural good. Rather, according to the dictates of Christian philosophy, he must order all things to the ultimate end, namely, the Highest Good. All his actions, insofar as they are morally either good or bad (that is to say, whether they agree or disagree with the natural and divine law), are subject to the judgment and judicial office of the Church

 

Pope Leo XIII explained in Sapientiae Christianae, January 10, 1890, that our love of country, like all other loves in this passing world, is secondary to our love of God as He has revealed Himself exclusively through His true Church:

Now, if the natural law enjoins us to love devotedly and to defend the country in which we had birth, and in which we were brought up, so that every good citizen hesitates not to face death for his native land, very much more is it the urgent duty of Christians to be ever quickened by like feelings toward the Church. For the Church is the holy City of the living God, born of God Himself, and by Him built up and established. Upon this earth, indeed, she accomplishes her pilgrimage, but by instructing and guiding men she summons them to eternal happiness. We are bound, then, to love dearly the country whence we have received the means of enjoyment this mortal life affords, but we have a much more urgent obligation to love, with ardent love, the Church to which we owe the life of the soul, a life that will endure forever. For fitting it is to prefer the good of the soul to the well-being of the body, inasmuch as duties toward God are of a far more hallowed character than those toward men.

Moreover, if we would judge aright, the supernatural love for the Church and the natural love of our own country proceed from the same eternal principle, since God Himself is their Author and originating Cause. Consequently, it follows that between the duties they respectively enjoin, neither can come into collision with the other. We can, certainly, and should love ourselves, bear ourselves kindly toward our fellow men, nourish affection for the State and the governing powers; but at the same time we can and must cherish toward the Church a feeling of filial piety, and love God with the deepest love of which we are capable. The order of precedence of these duties is, however, at times, either under stress of public calamities, or through the perverse will of men, inverted. For, instances occur where the State seems to require from men as subjects one thing, and religion, from men as Christians, quite another; and this in reality without any other ground, than that the rulers of the State either hold the sacred power of the Church of no account, or endeavor to subject it to their own will. Hence arises a conflict, and an occasion, through such conflict, of virtue being put to the proof. The two powers are confronted and urge their behests in a contrary sense; to obey both is wholly impossible. No man can serve two masters, for to please the one amounts to contemning the other.

As to which should be preferred no one ought to balance for an instant. It is a high crime indeed to withdraw allegiance from God in order to please men, an act of consummate wickedness to break the laws of Jesus Christ, in order to yield obedience to earthly rulers, or, under pretext of keeping the civil law, to ignore the rights of the Church; "we ought to obey God rather than men." This answer, which of old Peter and the other Apostles were used to give the civil authorities who enjoined unrighteous things, we must, in like circumstances, give always and without hesitation. No better citizen is there, whether in time of peace or war, than the Christian who is mindful of his duty; but such a one should be ready to suffer all things, even death itself, rather than abandon the cause of God or of the Church

 

It is our love of and submission to the Catholic Faith in all aspects of our lives that defines the essence of a good citizen of a particular country. Individual Protestants may do an excellent job of identifying and critiquing various problems, such as the surrender of American national sovereignty to multinational corporations that are heavily invested in Red China and to transnational trade and security organizations, providing a great deal, if not the lion's share, of the hard, empirical documentation of the nature and extent of these problems. Protestants do not understand, however, that the problems of the world in which we live are the direct result of Protestantism and its rejection of the authority of the Catholic Church, which was created by Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ upon the Rock of Peter, the Pope, to instruct and to sanctify all men in all nations until the end of time and her Divinely-instituted right to serve as the ultimate check upon the abuse of the exercise of civil power when the good of souls demands her motherly intervention. Protestantism contends that the individual is supreme in the spiritual realm, which means that the individual is supreme in the temporal realm, rejecting the authority of the Catholic Church in both the spiritual and temporal realm as "tyrannical."

The Protestant view of the world, however, ignores the historical fact that the tyranny of absolute monarchs arose in Europe as a result of its own overthrow of the Social Reign of Christ the King, meaning that the likes of King Henry VIII in England could rule in a savage manner without any regard for the possibility of having his country subjected to an interdict by the Pope or by an order similar to that which required King Henry II to be scourged at the tomb of the man, Saint Thomas a Becket, who was murdered after he, Henry II, indicated that he would like to be rid of "this mettlesome priest." Indeed, a great deal of the disparity between rich and poor in industrialized nations today is the result of Henry's efforts to consolidate his political power following his break with Rome by seizing the lands that belonged to Catholic monasteries and convents, eventually forcing the poor, whose families had farmed those lands for generations by paying a tithe of the yield of the property that had been allotted to them, off of those lands to fend for themselves in cities. Protestantism is directly responsible for the social problems of Modernity by rejecting the necessity of man's submission to the authority of the Catholic Church, both individually and collectively in civil society.

The individualist foundation of Protestantism is what has led to the proliferation of Protestant sects, which number over 33,000, and thus contributed mightily to the rise and the subsequent influence of the naturalism of Judeo-Masonry as the "civilized," "humanitarian" response to conflicts over matters of doctrine among competing sects of Protestants. Pope Leo XIII described this perfectly in Humanum Genus, April 20, 1884:

Now, the fundamental doctrine of the naturalists, which they sufficiently make known by their very name, is that human nature and human reason ought in all things to be mistress and guide. Laying this down, they care little for duties to God, or pervert them by erroneous and vague opinions. For they deny that anything has been taught by God; they allow no dogma of religion or truth which cannot be understood by the human intelligence, nor any teacher who ought to be believed by reason of his authority. And since it is the special and exclusive duty of the Catholic Church fully to set forth in words truths divinely received, to teach, besides other divine helps to salvation, the authority of its office, and to defend the same with perfect purity, it is against the Church that the rage and attack of the enemies are principally directed.

In those matters which regard religion let it be seen how the sect of the Freemasons acts, especially where it is more free to act without restraint, and then let any one judge whether in fact it does not wish to carry out the policy of the naturalists. By a long and persevering labor, they endeavor to bring about this result -- namely, that the teaching office and authority of the Church may become of no account in the civil State; and for this same reason they declare to the people and contend that Church and State ought to be altogether disunited. By this means they reject from the laws and from the commonwealth the wholesome influence of the Catholic religion; and they consequently imagine that States ought to be constituted without any regard for the laws and precepts of the Church. .  . .

But the naturalists go much further; for, having, in the highest things, entered upon a wholly erroneous course, they are carried headlong to extremes, either by reason of the weakness of human nature, or because God inflicts upon them the just punishment of their pride. Hence it happens that they no longer consider as certain and permanent those things which are fully understood by the natural light of reason, such as certainly are -- the existence of God, the immaterial nature of the human soul, and its immortality. The sect of the Freemasons, by a similar course of error, is exposed to these same dangers; for, although in a general way they may profess the existence of God, they themselves are witnesses that they do not all maintain this truth with the full assent of the mind or with a firm conviction. Neither do they conceal that this question about God is the greatest source and cause of discords among them; in fact, it is certain that a considerable contention about this same subject has existed among them very lately. But, indeed, the sect allows great liberty to its votaries, so that to each side is given the right to defend its own opinion, either that there is a God, or that there is none; and those who obstinately contend that there is no God are as easily initiated as those who contend that God exists, though, like the pantheists, they have false notions concerning Him: all which is nothing else than taking away the reality, while retaining some absurd representation of the divine nature.

When this greatest fundamental truth has been overturned or weakened, it follows that those truths, also, which are known by the teaching of nature must begin to fall -- namely, that all things were made by the free will of God the Creator; that the world is governed by Providence; that souls do not die; that to this life of men upon the earth there will succeed another and an everlasting life.

When these truths are done away with, which are as the principles of nature and important for knowledge and for practical use, it is easy to see what will become of both public and private morality. We say nothing of those more heavenly virtues, which no one can exercise or even acquire without a special gift and grace of God; of which necessarily no trace can be found in those who reject as unknown the redemption of mankind, the grace of God, the sacraments, and the happiness to be obtained in heaven. We speak now of the duties which have their origin in natural probity. That God is the Creator of the world and its provident Ruler; that the eternal law commands the natural order to be maintained, and forbids that it be disturbed; that the last end of men is a destiny far above human things and beyond this sojourning upon the earth: these are the sources and these the principles of all justice and morality.

If these be taken away, as the naturalists and Freemasons desire, there will immediately be no knowledge as to what constitutes justice and injustice, or upon what principle morality is founded. And, in truth, the teaching of morality which alone finds favor with the sect of Freemasons, and in which they contend that youth should be instructed, is that which they call "civil," and "independent," and "free," namely, that which does not contain any religious belief. But, how insufficient such teaching is, how wanting in soundness, and how easily moved by every impulse of passion, is sufficiently proved by its sad fruits, which have already begun to appear. For, wherever, by removing Christian education, this teaching has begun more completely to rule, there goodness and integrity of morals have begun quickly to perish, monstrous and shameful opinions have grown up, and the audacity of evil deeds has risen to a high degree. All this is commonly complained of and deplored; and not a few of those who by no means wish to do so are compelled by abundant evidence to give not infrequently the same testimony.

Moreover, human nature was stained by original sin, and is therefore more disposed to vice than to virtue. For a virtuous life it is absolutely necessary to restrain the disorderly movements of the soul, and to make the passions obedient to reason. In this conflict human things must very often be despised, and the greatest labors and hardships must be undergone, in order that reason may always hold its sway. But the naturalists and Freemasons, having no faith in those things which we have learned by the revelation of God, deny that our first parents sinned, and consequently think that free will is not at all weakened and inclined to evil. On the contrary, exaggerating rather the power and the excellence of nature, and placing therein alone the principle and rule of justice, they cannot even imagine that there is any need at all of a constant struggle and a perfect steadfastness to overcome the violence and rule of our passions.

Wherefore we see that men are publicly tempted by the many allurements of pleasure; that there are journals and pamphlets with neither moderation nor shame; that stage-plays are remarkable for license; that designs for works of art are shamelessly sought in the laws of a so-called verism; that the contrivances of a soft and delicate life are most carefully devised; and that all the blandishments of pleasure are diligently sought out by which virtue may be lulled to sleep. Wickedly, also, but at the same time quite consistently, do those act who do away with the expectation of the joys of heaven, and bring down all happiness to the level of mortality, and, as it were, sink it in the earth. Of what We have said the following fact, astonishing not so much in itself as in its open expression, may serve as a confirmation. For, since generally no one is accustomed to obey crafty and clever men so submissively as those whose soul is weakened and broken down by the domination of the passions, there have been in the sect of the Freemasons some who have plainly determined and proposed that, artfully and of set purpose, the multitude should be satiated with a boundless license of vice, as, when this had been done, it would easily come under their power and authority for any acts of daring.

What refers to domestic life in the teaching of the naturalists is almost all contained in the following declarations: that marriage belongs to the genus of commercial contracts, which can rightly be revoked by the will of those who made them, and that the civil rulers of the State have power over the matrimonial bond; that in the education of youth nothing is to be taught in the matter of religion as of certain and fixed opinion; and each one must be left at liberty to follow, when he comes of age, whatever he may prefer. To these things the Freemasons fully assent; and not only assent, but have long endeavored to make them into a law and institution. For in many countries, and those nominally Catholic, it is enacted that no marriages shall be considered lawful except those contracted by the civil rite; in other places the law permits divorce; and in others every effort is used to make it lawful as soon as may be. Thus, the time is quickly coming when marriages will be turned into another kind of contract -- that is into changeable and uncertain unions which fancy may join together, and which the same when changed may disunite.

With the greatest unanimity the sect of the Freemasons also endeavors to take to itself the education of youth. They think that they can easily mold to their opinions that soft and pliant age, and bend it whither they will; and that nothing can be more fitted than this to enable them to bring up the youth of the State after their own plan. Therefore, in the education and instruction of children they allow no share, either of teaching or of discipline, to the ministers of the Church; and in many places they have procured that the education of youth shall be exclusively in the hands of laymen, and that nothing which treats of the most important and most holy duties of men to God shall be introduced into the instructions on morals.

Then come their doctrines of politics, in which the naturalists lay down that all men have the same right, and are in every respect of equal and like condition; that each one is naturally free; that no one has the right to command another; that it is an act of violence to require men to obey any authority other than that which is obtained from themselves. According to this, therefore, all things belong to the free people; power is held by the command or permission of the people, so that, when the popular will changes, rulers may lawfully be deposed and the source of all rights and civil duties is either in the multitude or in the governing authority when this is constituted according to the latest doctrines. It is held also that the State should be without God; that in the various forms of religion there is no reason why one should have precedence of another; and that they are all to occupy the same place.

 

This is the reality of the anti-Incarnational world in which we live, a world where even a lot of traditionally-minded Catholics believe that there is some kind of non-denominational or inter-denominational way to retard this or that social or evil and/or to oppose the surrender of American national sovereignty to multinational corporations, each of which has its own corporate interests at heart rather than the best interests of the United States of America, and transnational organizations, which are part of the well-organized effort to effect a system of One World Governance by means of a piecemeal surrender of various aspects of a nation's autonomy (currency, trade, social policy, passports, environmental laws). This piecemeal surrender of national sovereignty has happened to a very large extent with the European Union, which had its origins with the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951 before "evolving" into the European Economic Community (more commonly known as the Common Market) in 1957. Powers have shifted from member states to the European Union, resulting in the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, which ratified the concept of a supra-national government for most of the countries of Europe. Those who think that non-denominationalism or inter-denominationalism or some form of naturalism will stop the powerful Judeo-Masonic forces responsible for the global surrender of national sovereignty are, to put it as mildly and charitably as possible, badly mistaken.

President George W. Bush, for example, who comes from a long line of internationalists with close ties to the international banking and corporate communities, is already in negotiations with the President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, and the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, to use the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as the means of incrementally moving the three most populous and geographically extensive countries of North America in the direction of a "North American Union," which would use a single currently, the Amero (as opposed to the Euro used by the European Union), at some point in the future. Most citizens are completely unaware of the negotiations taking place to surrender more and more of American national sovereignty to multinational corporations and transnational organizations, diverted by their bread and circuses and impaired by an attention span of about twelve seconds when it comes to matters of substance that have a direct bearing on their own country's national identity and security.

A critical part of the surrender of American national sovereignty is being played by a Red Chinese holding company, Hutchison-Whampoa, which has been hired by the Country of Panama to operate the Panama Canal. Hutchison-Whampoa, which is viewed by the infallibly non-astute or willfully corrupt members of the Bush Administration's Department of Defense as a "legitimate business" that is not controlled by the Red Chinese government, has been given the contract to monitor traffic along the NAFTA Superhighway, Interstate 35, which runs from Laredo, Texas, to Duluth, Minnesota (passing through San Antonio, Texas, the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, Metroplex, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Wichita, Kansas, Kansas City, Missouri, Des Moines, Iowa, and the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota). Here is the story from World Net Daily:

By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Radio sensing stations to track traffic and cargo up and down the I-35 NAFTA Superhighway corridor are being installed by Communist China, operating through a port operator subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa, in conjunction with Lockheed Martin and the North America's SuperCorridor Coalition, Inc.

The idea is that RFID chips placed in containers where manufactured goods are shipped from Communist China will be able to be tracked to the Mexican ports on the Pacific where the containers are unloaded onto Mexican trucks and trains for transportation on the I-35 NAFTA Superhighway to destinations within the United States.

NASCO, a trade association based in Dallas, Texas, has teamed with Lockheed Martin to use RFID tracking technology Lockheed Martin developed for the U.S. Department of Defense's projects in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as at U.S. military stations throughout the world.

Communist China has a central position in applying the RFID technology on I-35, given Hutchinson Port Holdings' 49 percent ownership of Savi Networks, the Lockheed Martin subsidiary that will get the job of placing the sensors all up and down the NAFTA Superhighway.

Nathan Hansen, a Minnesota attorney, has archived on his blog a series of NASCO documents obtained under a Minnesota Data Practices Act.

Among these documents released by Hansen is a Letter of Intent between NASCO and Savi Networks which details how NASCO and Lockheed Martin intend to implement NAFTRACS.

The letter calls for Savi Networks to establish RFID sensors along the I-35 NAFTA trade corridor, with tracking designed to begin at Manzanillo and Lázaro Cárdenas, and include "inland points of data capture" positioned at Laredo, San Antonio, Dallas, Kansas City, the Ambassador Bridge, and Winnipeg.

Data captured by the RFID sensors would be sent to a data collection center that NASCO has named "The Center of Excellence."

The Center of Excellence data collection center will be integrated into Lockheed Martin's militarized Global Transport Network Command and Control Center that is installed and operating at the Lockheed Martin Center for Innovation or "Lighthouse" facility in Suffolk, Virginia.

Lockheed Martin's GTN was developed for the U.S. Department of Defense as an electronic system used to support supply shipments and defense logistics to U.S. armed forces deployed worldwide.

GTN is operated by the U.S. Transportation Command at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois.

In releasing to the public the NASCO internal documents, Hansen characterized NASCO's Total Domain Awareness as "an Orwellian nightmare," commenting that, "At least Orwell's tyrants had the dignity to be creative with the names of their various maniacal bureaucracies."

NASCO documents describe Total Domain Awareness as the ability to "automatically gather, correlate, and interpret fragments of multi-source data," including data received from radar, Automatic Identification System shipboard radar, Global Positioning System, open source data including weather reports, military intelligence data, law enforcement data, bioterrorism data, plus video surveillance and security cameras.

Hansen comments about the NASCO Total Awareness Domain that, "Truly, a major defense contractor tracking our every move here in our own country is undoubtedly a threat to our liberties."

As WND has previously reported, Hutchison Port Holdings owns 49 percent of Savi Networks, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin's wholly-owned subsidiary Savi Technology.

A contract signed with NASCO authorizes Savi Networks to place a system of RFID sensors along the entire length of I-35 to track RFID equipped containers which travel the I-35 NAFTA Superhighway, including those Communist Chinese containers that enter the continent through the Mexican ports of Manzanillo and Lázaro Cárdenas.

The Federal Highway Administration website is currently archiving a slide show presentation by Tiffany Melvin, NASCO’s executive director, containing a discussion of the North American Facilitation of Transportation, Trade, Reduced Congestion and Security, designed to track containers along I-35 with Savi RFID technology and to provide the information to "various federal and state DOT (Department of Transportation) participants."

Hutchison Ports Holding operates the ports at Manzanillo and Lázaro Cárdenas, as well as both ends of the Panama Canal.

Savi Technology spokesmen refused to return WND calls after messages were left at the company for three consecutive days. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57190

 

The government of the United States of America has been busily fulfilling Vladimir I. Lenin's very accurate statement about the greed of capitalists:

Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them

 

This has been so with respect to "trade" with Red China ever since the Shanghai Communique that was entered into by then President Richard Milhous Nixon and Red Chinese Premier Chou-en-Lai on February 28, 1972. American corporations have been outsourcing manufacturing jobs once located within the United States of America (and/or creating new jobs for goods that have been developed in the past thirty years that were never made in the United States of America) and then selling the goods back here in the United States. This is what is responsible for an American trade deficit with Red China that has reached, believe it or not, a staggering level of $117 billion dollars in the first six months of calendar year 2007! FTD - Statistics - Country Data - U.S. Trade Balance with China. 

One American presidential administration after another of both major political parties, enabled by members of both Houses of Congress of both major political parties, have contributed to this economic nightmare. The Clinton administration even authorized the Loral Corporation, whose chief executive office, Bernard Schwartz, was a major contributor to the Clinton re-election campaign in 1996 and to the Democrat Party, to transfer sensitive nuclear missile technology to the Red Chinese. Lobbyists, including, Charlie Yah Lin Trie, Wang Jun, Johnny Chung, and James Riady, tied to the Red Chinese government were permitted to have access to the White House of President William Jefferson Blyth Clinton (the "Chinagate" scandal). We will probably never know the full extent of the treachery that Chinagate represented until Red Chinese missiles start attacking the United States of America one day. The administration of President George W. Bush, whose father, George Herbert Walker Bush, authorized then National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft to go to Red China just three months after the Tiananmen Square massacre, toasting the butchers of Beijing in the process, has engaged in his own odious sellouts to Red China (as have been documented in the Howard Phillips Issues and Strategies Bulletin over the last six years, seven months).

Most Favored Nation trading status was granted to Red China repeatedly by presidential administrations and Congresses despite its use of virtual slave labor, the documentation provided by longtime concentration camp prisoner Harry Wu of the dissecting of live human beings, held as prisoners in concentration camps (laogai), to provide "fresh" organs on the international black market of human organs, forced abortion, forced sterilization, the one-child-per-family policy, and the systematic arrest and torture of Catholic bishops and priests and lay people in the underground Church in Red China, outrages about which no American president has ever uttered a single, solitary word. Nothing matters except profit for the multinational corporations, whose American officials keep politicians of both major political parties in the United States of America quite happy to do their bidding for them by contributing most generously to their campaigns and foundations. It doesn't hurt the Red Chinese cause that a number of the members of the House and Senate have stock portfolios containing investments in companies and corporations that are involved most heavily in Red China's economy.

The surrender of American national sovereignty, which involves the undermining of her national security and her economic stability, is but a logical consequence of a world where men are possessed of the Lutheran strain of Protestantism, believing themselves "assured" of their salvation and that they are not required to proceed in a strictly moral way at all times in worldly matters, or are devoid of all religious sensibilities, being motivated solely by the amorality of naturalism and its realpolitik (that is, the conducting of business on the basis of self-interest according to what the world is really like without regard for the binding precepts of the Divine positive law and the natural law as they have been entrusted by Our Lord Himself to the Catholic Church for their safekeeping and infallible explication). Men who believe that they cannot lose their salvation and/or who are simply drunk with power--and who are backed by powerful economic interests in the array of forces that compose Judeo-Masonry--will never yield their claim to power.

While efforts to document the surrender of American national sovereignty are useful for the historical record, it is most mistaken to believe that this or that organizational effort not founded in desire to restore the Catholic City and unsupported by a Rosary Crusade to stop the forces of naturalism in their tracks will ever work. Such efforts will always fail. Always. It is impossible to fight the forces of naturalism and secularism with naturalism and secularism. One can only fight the forces of evil today as they have ever been fought since the first Pentecost Sunday: with Catholicism. Period.

God cares very much about national sovereignty. He specifically told Don Alfonso Henriques to fight for the independence of Portugal in the Twelfth Century, instructing Don Alfonso to place marks of His Five Wounds on the Portuguese flag, where they remain to this very day. Don Nuno Alvares Pereira preserved Portuguese independence in the Fourteenth Century, using supernatural means to do so:

To his military valor Nuno joined a profound Christian piety. He nourished special devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament and to the Virgin Mary; he assisted at two Masses every day, and three on Saturdays and Sundays. He went often to confession, and to Communion on Christmas, Easter, Pentecost and the feast of the Assumption. In honor of Our Lady he fasted on every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, as well as on the vigils of her feasts, even when they were days of battle. On his banner were depicted the sacred images of the Crucifixion, Our Lady, and the two patrons Of knighthood, St. James and St. George. Before battle he prepared his soldiers spiritually, exhorting them to trust in God and having them receive the sacraments. He attributed his stupendous victories to the help of God through the intercession of Our Lady. At Valverde, in the thick of the battle, when victory seemed unattainable, Nuno was found on his knees between two rocks, with hands raised up in the act of prayer.

He manifested his gratitude to Our Lady by making frequent pilgrimages to Marian sanctuaries and building churches in her honor. Thus, at Nuno's expense, the churches of Vila Viçosa, Souzel, Portel, Monsaraz, Mou-rao, fivora, Camarate were erected. All of them were dedicated to the Virgin Mary, as was the magnificent temple of Carmel in Lisbon, later destroyed by the earthquake of 1755. He also built a chapel to the Virgin Mary and to St. George exactly where his banner had stood during the battle of Aljubarrota. At Estremoz he completed the construction of a temple of Our Lady of the Martyrs, begun by King Ferdinand. Finally, bound up with the name of Nuno are the monastery and church of St. Mary of Victory, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture in Portugal and better know by the name of Batalha, ordered built by Don John I to commemorate the victory of Aljubarrota and to fulfill a vow made on the field of battle.

After the death of his wife in 1387, Nuno constantly refused to enter into a second marriage. Military engagements had made him live far from home ever since 1383; yet, according to the testimony of Portuguese historians, he always gave the example of an unsullied life and never tolerated any licentiousness among his soldiers. He was always very generous in assisting the needy of every kind. When definite peace had been reestablished with Castile, Nuno distributed a great part of his immense possessions to his comrades in arms. In 1415 he took part in the Portuguese expedition to Ceuta; and then on Aug. 15, 1423, to the wonder and surprise of the whole country, Nuno abandoned all his remaining possessions and was clothed in the Carmelite habit in the convent of Lisbon, which had also been established and endowed by him. He chose the status of the so-called Oblates and dedicated himself to the most humble tasks of the convent.

He took the name Brother Nuno of St. Mary. Only the intervention of the prince, Don Edward, son of King John I, was able to prevent him from actualizing his desire to betake himself to another convent far from Portugal, so that he could avoid the frequent visits of illustrious citizens. He also expressed the desire of begging publicly for his daily food, but his superiors and the same prince Edward did not allow him this. He died in 1431 /the same year as St. Joan of Arc/, probably on April 1, after eight years of a life completely dedicated to prayer and penance. His funeral was a most solemn celebration, with the participation of the entire royal court. He was buried in the Carmelite church of Lisbon.

The repute for holiness which Nuno already enjoyed during life increased marvelously after his death because of the multiplication of wonders and graces received by the faithful at his tomb. A list of these prodigies was quickly compiled and became know in Portuguese literature as The Book of the Miracles of the Holy Constable. King Edward had a silver lamp, which burned continuously, placed on Nuno's tomb. The visits to his tomb increased to such an extent that after a short while authentic pilgrimages were organized, in which the spontaneous devotion of the faithful at times assumed the character of religious-profane manifestations, with songs of popular verses exalting the virtues of the “Holy Count.” The public and ecclesiastical cult attributed to the servant of God increased constantly. His feast was celebrated on one of the first days of November. However, the date of dedication of his first altar is not known.  NUNO OF ST. MARY (Nuno Alvares Pereira, The Holy Constable, 1360-1431)

 

As is demonstrated in this wonderful article about Don Nuno Alvares Pereira, God seeks to protect the national sovereignty by military means that are supported by Catholic motives and Catholic prayer as the principal motive for love of one's country. Saint Joan of Arc was raised up by God Himself to fight in this manner for the sovereignty and independence of France. Pope Saint Pius V urged the people of Rome to pray Our Lady's Most Holy Rosary ceaseless to support the combined Christian fleets in their battle against the Mohammedan Turks in the Bay of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. King John Sobieski of Poland used Our Lady's Most Holy Rosary to defend the sovereignty and independence of Vienna, and thus of Europe, from yet another attack by the Mohammedan Turks, this time at the Gates of Vienna on September 12, 1683. And although The Philippines would be overrun by the cruel American invaders in 1898, who introduced Protestantism and Freemasonry to this Catholic country, prayers to Our Lady of the Rosary turned back an effort by Dutch Calvinists to invade The Philippines in 1646:

Sculpted by a non-Catholic Chinese artist who was later converted through the intercession of the Blessed Mother, the image of Our Lady of the Rosary was commissioned in 1593 by the Spanish Governor of the Philippines. Luis Perez Dasmarinas, who wanted the statue to memorialize both his deceased father and his own regime. The statue was entrusted to the Dominicans in Manila and was enshrined in Santo Domingo Church, where it received an outpouring of love and devotion.

Fifty-three years later, in March, 1646, while Spanish invaders were still governing the islands and were outright enemies of the Dutch, the people were shocked to learn that a fleet of five Dutch war ships was bearing down on Manila. Carrying the triple threat of conquest, pillage and Dutch Protestantism, the enemy had chosen a tim when Spanish warships were unavailable for defense.

Two commercial galleons, "The Rosary" and "The Incarnation," were donated by their owners and were quickly outfitted in preparation for battle. While sailing into position for the confrontation, the men prayed the Rosary and dedicated themselves to La Naval, Our Lady of the Rosary.

The five Dutch ships were well-equipped with canons, firearms and trained seamen; the two Spanish-Filipino cargo ships were poorly fitted with a few guns. At the end of the day it seemed unbelievable that the Dutch fled the area while the defenders of the city returned home in glory, praising Our Lady for her protection.

For the next four months the two cargo ships patrolled the waters, then, in July, they discovered that they had been trapped in a narrow strait by not five, but seven Dutch ships. Since their position did not afford a proper angle for battle, they prayed and waited. Fearful that they would be attacked, they vowed that if they were victorious they would pilgrimage barefoot to the Church of Santo Domingo to thank Our Lady of the Rosary. Through the intercession of La Naval, the two cargo ships were apparently unseen in the fading sunset since the Dutch ships turned toward Manila without firing on them. The two cargo ships then gave chase and closed in. At sunrise the next day the Dutch retreated in disgrace. As soon as the victors arrived home, they gratefully fulfilled their vow.

After the next battle the people of Manila began to call the cargo ships "the galleons of the miracle." After the fourth confrontation and victory the name was confirmed. Yet a fifth time the Dutch fleet appeared for battle. Anxious to defend their honor and restore their pride, the Dutch resolved to win at any cost. The advantage was definitely theirs when they found the two cargo ships anchored with the wind against them. Unable to move, the new cargo ships fought where they were and defeated the enemy so badly that they limped away, never to return.

Our Lady of the Rosary and the men of her two cargo ships defatted 15 well-equipped warships.

This victory at Manila is similar in many respects to the great naval victory at Lepanto, which was also credited to the intervention of Our Lady and the power of her Holy Rosary. In both instances Our Lady miraculously defended and granted victory to their seamen who placed their trust in her.

Sixteen years after the successful defense of Manila, an Ecclesiastical Council was convened in Cavite to study the unusual aspects of the five naval victories. The Council consisted of theologians, canonists, and prominent religious. On April 9, 1662, after studying all the written testimonies of the participants and eyewitnesses, the Council declared that the victories were:

granted by the Sovereign Lord through the intercession of the Most Holy Virgin and devotion to her Rosary, that the miracles be celebrated, preached and held in festivities and to be recounted among the miracles wrought by the Lady of the Rosary for the greater devotion of the faithful to Our Most Blessed Virgin Mary and her Holy Rosary.

 

This decree was signed by all eight members of the Ecclesiastical Council. (Joan Carroll Cruz, Miraculous Images of Our Lady: 100 Famous Catholic Portraits and Statues, TAN Books and Publishers, 1993, pp. 367-369.)

 

A similar miracle had been wrought by God through the hands of Saint Rose of Lima in 1606 (whose life will be reviewed in an article on this site on her feast day, Thursday, August 30, 2007):

Saint Rose is most famous for her penances, done not for their own sake, but as pure expressions of her love for Jesus and vicarious satisfaction for souls dear to Him. Her love found other means of expression, as well. Rose prayed long hours for her beloved Archbishop Turibius, himself a saint, in his trials, and beseeched God for the conversion of the Peruvian Indians, who were still practicing pagan religions. She was taught to make herbal medicines and took great delight in distributing these remedies to long lines of the sick poor of Lima. 

It is natural that one with Rose’s pure love of God seek a religious vocation, but for a time even this good desire seemed to be frustrated. She discerned that it was not God’s will that she enter a cloister. A short time later she received a sign in answer to prayer that she was to be a Dominican tertiary and live at home, like Saint Catherine of Siena. At age 20 she made her profession in the Third Order of Saint Dominic. 

It was at this time that perhaps the most spectacular of Rose’s miracles occurred when Dutch pirates invaded Lima’s harbor and defeated the Peruvian fleet. Due to the Reformation, they intended not only to loot the city but also to desecrate churches. The women, children and religious of Lima took refuge in the churches. In the church of Santo Domingo, Rose stirred them all to prayer. It is said that as pirates burst into the church, they were confronted with the terrifying spectacle of a young girl ablaze with light, holding a monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament. They turned away and fled to their ships which sailed away.  St. Rose of Lima: Follower of Dominic and Spouse of the Heart of Christ

 

Although God permits evil to be visited in the lives of all individuals and of nations so that they can prove themselves faithful to Him by the patient bearing of Crosses and their steadfast reliance upon His Most Blessed Mother for the needs in times of trial, it is also true that nations committed to the pursuit of evil without regard for the Deposit of Faith that He has entrusted to His true Church will be punished severely, possibly by their disappearing from the very face of this earth. No amount of fundraising letters or electoral straw polls or articles can save a nation that presides over the surgical dismemberment of over one million preborn children a year and which funds the chemical assassination of countless millions of others both domestically and internationally, to say nothing of other horrific evils that are protected under cover of law and celebrated in every aspect of popular culture in the name of the false "god" of "civil liberty."

As mentioned two days ago, God saved the city of Ninive because it repented at the preaching of Jonas. He has saved various Catholic countries because of the devout prayers of Catholics, especially by means of His Most Blessed Mother's Most Holy Rosary. The only way to save American national sovereignty, you see, is for the United States of America to convert to the Catholic Faith and thus cease doing the evils that it promotes in the name of "civil liberty" under its religiously indifferentist Constitution and then to make earnest reparation for its crimes against God and man, both of which are staggering to behold. How many souls have been taken out of the true Church in The Philippines alone, for example, as a result of the American introduction of Protestantism and Freemasonry during the years of its occupation prior to World War II and for a short time thereafter? How many souls have been influenced by the rot of American motion pictures and "music" and "fashions," most of which have been of the time that Our Lady warned Jacinta Marto before she died would lead many souls to Hell?

While it is indeed true that capitalists are selling the rope with which the Red Chinese Communists will hang the United States of America one day, the failure to mobilize Catholics to pray for the conversion of this nation falls at the doorstep of Americanism and its subsequent triumph in the counterfeit church of conciliarism by means of the "Second" Vatican Council and its aftermath. The counterfeit church of conciliarism supports, although with varying degrees of qualifications on some issues now and again, transnational organizations. The counterfeit church of conciliarism believes that secularism can be opposed by inter-denominational efforts, including those involving Talmudic Jews and Mohammedans. This makes it very difficult, therefore, for the average Catholic to know, no less to pray for, that they have the responsibility to pray for the conversion of all men and all nations to the true Church, outside of which there is no salvation.

Those of us in the catacombs have a responsibility to help others to know that true love of one's nation seeks its Catholicization in all aspects of her national life without any exceptions whatsoever. We have a responsibility to do extra penances for our own sins and those of the whole world, especially for those of our own country, offering these penances to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary. And we have a responsibility to make Our Lady's Most Holy Rosary known and loved and used for the conversion of men and nations to Christ the King and to herself, Our Immaculate Queen, which was a very important part of the life's work of today's saint, Saint Joseph Calasanctius.

We must think supernaturally, not naturally, at all times. We must pray Our Lady's Rosary with confidence, wear the Brown Scapular as a sign of our being under Our Lady's mantle, wear the Miraculous Medal to remind us that she is the Mediatrix of All Graces, and enslave ourselves to Jesus through her Immaculate Heart.

The path to world peace runs through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, something that Our Lady told us in her Fatima apparitions. Isn't it time that we stop believing in naturalism and start explaining to people that without a widespread and public devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary that the United States of America is doomed.

Isn't it time to pray Our Lady's Most Holy Rosary right now?

All to you, Blessed Mother. All to your Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, we love you. Save souls!

Viva Cristo Rey! Vivat Christus Rex!

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and the hour of our death. Amen.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us.

Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.

Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Gabriel the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Raphael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Joseph Calasanctius, pray for us.

Pope Saint Zephyrinus, pray for us.

Saint Louis IX, King of France, pray for us.

Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, pray for us.

Saint Bartholomew, pray for us.

Saint Philip Benizi, pray for us.

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us.

Saint John Eudes, pray for us.

Saint Hyacinth, pray for us, pray for us.

Saint Agapitus, pray for us.

Saint Helena, pray for us.

Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.

Saint Clare of Assisi, pray for us.

Saint Athanasius, pray for us.

Saint Irenaeus, pray for us.

Saints Monica, pray for us.

Saint Jude, pray for us.

Saint John the Beloved, pray for us.

Saint Francis Solano, pray for us.

Saint John Bosco, pray for us.

Saint Dominic Savio, pray for us.

Saint  Scholastica, pray for us.

Saint Benedict, pray for us.

Saint Joan of Arc, pray for us.

Saint Antony of the Desert, pray for us.

Saint Francis of Assisi, pray for us.

Saint Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.

Saint Bonaventure, pray for us.

Saint Augustine, pray for us.

Saint Francis Xavier, pray for us.

Saint Peter Damian, pray for us.

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, pray for us.

Saint Lucy, pray for us.

Saint Monica, pray for us.

Saint Agatha, pray for us.

Saint Anthony of Padua, pray for us.

Saint Basil the Great, pray for us.

Saint Philomena, pray for us.

Saint Cecilia, pray for us.

Saint John Mary Vianney, pray for us.

Saint Vincent de Paul, pray for us.

Saint Vincent Ferrer, pray for us.

Saint Athanasius, pray for us.

Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, pray for us.

Saint Isaac Jogues, pray for us.

Saint Rene Goupil, pray for us.

Saint John Lalonde, pray for us.

Saint Gabriel Lalemont, pray for us.

Saint Noel Chabanel, pray for us.

Saint Charles Garnier, pray for us.

Saint Anthony Daniel, pray for us.

Saint John DeBrebeuf, pray for us.

Saint Alphonsus de Liguori, pray for us.

Saint Dominic, pray for us.

Saint Hyacinth, pray for us.

Saint Basil, pray for us.

Saint Vincent Ferrer, pray for us.

Saint Sebastian, pray for us.

Saint Tarcisius, pray for us.

Saint Bridget of Sweden, pray for us.

Saint Gerard Majella, pray for us.

Saint John of the Cross, pray for us.

Saint Teresa of Avila, pray for us.

Saint Bernadette Soubirous, pray for us.

Saint Genevieve, pray for us.

Saint Vincent de Paul, pray for us.

Pope Saint Pius X, pray for us

Pope Saint Pius V, pray for us.

Saint Rita of Cascia, pray for us.

Saint Louis de Montfort, pray for us.

Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich, pray for us.

Venerable Pauline Jaricot, pray for us.

Father Miguel Augustin Pro, pray for us.

Francisco Marto, pray for us.

Jacinta Marto, pray for us.

Juan Diego, pray for us.

Father Maximilian Kolbe,M.I., pray for us.

 

The Longer Version of the Saint Michael the Archangel Prayer, composed by Pope Leo XIII, 1888

O glorious Archangel Saint Michael, Prince of the heavenly host, be our defense in the terrible warfare which we carry on against principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, spirits of evil.  Come to the aid of man, whom God created immortal, made in His own image and likeness, and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil.  Fight this day the battle of our Lord, together with  the holy angels, as already thou hast fought the leader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his apostate host, who were powerless to resist thee, nor was there place for them any longer in heaven.  That cruel, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil or Satan who seduces the whole world, was cast into the abyss with his angels.  Behold this primeval enemy and slayer of men has taken courage.  Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the Name of God and of His Christ, to seize upon, slay, and cast into eternal perdition, souls destined for the crown of eternal glory.  That wicked dragon pours out. as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity.  These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the Immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on Her most sacred possessions. In the Holy Place itself, where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck the sheep may be scattered.  Arise then, O invincible Prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and give them the victory.  They venerate thee as their protector and patron; in thee holy Church glories as her defense against the malicious powers of hell; to thee has God entrusted the souls of men to be established in heavenly beatitude.  Oh, pray to the God of peace that He may put Satan under our feet, so far conquered that he may no longer be able to hold men in captivity and harm the Church.  Offer our prayers in the sight of the Most High, so that they may quickly conciliate the mercies of the Lord; and beating down the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, do thou again make him captive in the abyss, that he may no longer seduce the nations.  Amen.

Verse: Behold the Cross of the Lord; be scattered ye hostile powers.

Response: The Lion of the Tribe of Juda has conquered the root of David.

Verse: Let Thy mercies be upon us, O Lord.

Response: As we have hoped in Thee.

Verse: O Lord hear my prayer.

Response: And let my cry come unto Thee.

Verse: Let us pray.  O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we call upon Thy holy Name, and as suppliants, we implore Thy clemency, that by the intercession of Mary, ever Virgin, immaculate and our Mother, and of the glorious Archangel Saint Michael, Thou wouldst deign to help us against Satan and all other unclean spirits, who wander about the world for the injury of the human race and the ruin of our souls. 

Response:  Amen.