Guiding teaching of the Church in regards
to Holy Crusade against Russian Communists
- as taught by the Catechism of the Council of Trent, His Holiness Pope Pius XI, Pope Pius XII
and Doctor of the Church St. Thomas Aquinas
These following quotes come from publications about Pope Pius XII, which were used
by this author in his publication on this website The KGB murder of Pius XII.
Please read the following carefully in light of the false and heretical pacifistic "new doctrines" coming from the mouth of those who don't serve God and His Church but the devil instead....
If they would serve God and His Church, they would be publishing this themselves....
Holy Crusade against Russian Communism - as it is imminent today - and as the Church has always taught...
Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas - whether unbelievers can have dominion over the faithful:
This above means that if you do not fight against Communism, which you know is coming, as Russia has not been and will not be consecrated to Our Lady's Immaculate Heart [God does not hear apostates and heretics, because if this was the case then the world itself would have been already Divinely converted Catholic for over 26 years as the Pope John Paul II has "consecrated" the World to Our Lady's Immaculate Heart for the first time in 1984,
but the world is not Catholic today, rather the complete opposite.....], so if you do not fight against Russian Communism, you will be disobedient to the Church and thus to God, which is a mortal sin....
Those who say that Communism collapsed are nothing but liars and communists themselves, if they promote such falsehood using their God given authority, thus they are knowingly deceiving the Catholic faithful and pulling them into a blind submission.....to Russian led Communism, i.e. the reign of the Antichrist, and thus into a blind submission to the devil himself....this is how serious it is....
The teaching of the Church, which, for example, is presented in great clearness by the
Holy Council of Trent - Catechism [Translated in 1829 by Rev. Fr. J. Donovan, professor,
&C. Royal College, Maynooth, U.K., published by the Catholic Publication Society, NY, NY, pages 203 - 204 - in regards to the Sacrament of Penance, our satisfaction to God for our sins]:
"Of the great efficacy of penance we may form some idea, if we reflect that it arises
entirely from the merits of the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ; it is his passion that imparts to our good actions the two-fold quality of meriting the rewards of eternal life, so that a cup of cold water given in his name shall not be without reward, and, also, of satisfying for our sins.
Nor does this derogate from the most perfect and superabundant satisfaction
of Christ, but, on the contrary, renders it still more conspicuous and illustrious;
the grace of Jesus Christ appears to abound more, inasmuch as it communicates
to us not only what he alone merited, but also what, as head, he merited and
paid in his members, that is, in holy and just men.
This it is that imparts such weight and dignity to the good actions of the pius
Christian; for our Lord Jesus Christ continually infuses his grace into the devout
soul united to him by charity, as the head to the members, or as the vine through
the branches, and this grace always precedes, accompanies and follows our good
works : without it we can have no merit, nor can we at all satisfy God.
Hence it is that nothing seems wanting to the just : by their works done by
the power of God, they fulfill the divine law, as far as is compatible with our present condition, and can merit eternal life, to the fruition of which they shall
be admitted, if they depart this life adorned with divine grace: "He, "says the Redeemer [St. John IV : 13 - 14], "that shall drink of the water that I will give
him, shall not thirst for ever; but the water that I will give him shall become
in him a fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting.
In satisfaction two things are particularly required; the one, that he who satisfies be in the state of grace, the friend of God : works done without faith and charity
cannot be acceptable to God : the other, that the works performed be such as are of
their own nature painful or laborious.
They are a compensation for past sins, and, to use the words of St. Cyprian [Lib.
1. Epistle 3, post. med.], "the redeemers, as it were, of sins, " and must, therefore,
be such as we have described.....
It does not, however, always follow that they are painful or laborious to those who
undergo them : the influence of habit or the intensity of divine love frequently
renders the soul insensible to things the most difficult to be endured.
Such works, however, do not therefore seize to be satisfactory : it is the privilege of
the children of God to be so inflamed with his love, that whilst undergoing the most cruel tortures for his sake, they are either entirely insensible to them, or at least bear them not only with fortitude but with the greatest joy..."
His Holiness Pope Pius XI in his encyclical Firmissimam Constantiam "Catholic Action
Plan for Mexico - Mexico's religious situation", [about the Russian organized communist persecution of the Church in Mexico] published March 28, 1937, gave the following guiding principles to all Catholics [taken from the book 'Social Wellsprings", Imprimatur Moses E. Kiley, Archbishop of Milwaukee, The Bruce Publishing Company, 1942, pg. 376, 385]:
[pg. 376]
"Well known to Us, and a cause of great consolation to Our paternal heart, Venerable Brethren, is the constancy displayed by you, by your priests, and by
the great body of Mexican Catholics in ardently professing the faith and opposing the impositions of those who vainly imagine they cannot accomplish reforms for the good of the people except by combating religion of the majority of the citizens.
-----
Unfortunately the enemies of God and Christ have succeeded in overcoming many lukewarm and timid souls who, though still adoring God in the intimacy of their conscience, yet cooperate materially at least in the de-Christianization of a people whose most numerous and illustrious glories are owing to their Christian religion. And to this action they are driven through human respect or the fear of temporal evils....
In contrast to these apostasies and weaknesses, which afflict Us profoundly,
We regard as all the more praiseworthy and meritorious the resistance to evil,
the perseverance in the Christian life, and the frank profession of their faith practiced by such great numbers of the faithful.
----
[pg. 385]
....it must be admitted that for Christian life to develop itself it must have recourse to external and sensible means; that the Church, being a society of men, cannot exist or develop if it does not enjoy liberty of action, and that its members have
the right to find in civil society the possibility of living according to the dictates of their consciences.
Consequently, it is quite natural that when the most elementary religious and civil liberties are attacked, Catholic citizens must not resign themselves passively to renouncing those liberties.
Notwithstanding, the revindication [ed. note - honorable successful re-installment] of these rights and liberties can be, according to the circumstances, more or less opportune, more or less energetic.
You have more than once recalled to your faithful that the Church protects peace and order, even at the cost of grave sacrifices, and that it condemns every unjust insurrection or violence against constituted powers.
On the other hand, among you it has also been said that, whenever these powers arise against justice
and truth even to destroying the very foundations
of authority, it is not to be seen how those citizens
are to be condemned who unite to defend themselves and the nation, by licit and appropriate means, against those who make use of public power to
bring it to ruin.
His Holiness Pope Pius XI is doing just that, quoted by Luis Carreras in his brilliant book about the 1936 Spanish Holy Crusade against Communism "The glory of martyred Spain" [Imprimatur Lionel Can. Evans, Vicar General, Westminster, U.K. March 7, 1939, Eng. translation Burns, Oates & Washbourne Ltd., publishers to the Holy See, London 1939, chapter Epilogue, pg. 192 - 193]:
"For the first time in history", said Pius XI, "we are witnessing a cold, calculated and meticulously prepared campaign against all that is divine. And, confronted with so grave a peril to the Faith and to Christian civilization, Christendom has summoned its moral forces to save them......
Communism can never be vanquished by political and military means alone; religion must arm both States and individual souls, in the spiritual and the social sense, for the defense and restoration
of justice and righteousness in the nations.
Catholicism is the one true obstacle
to the triumph of Communism."
His Holiness Pope Pius XI gave the Spanish Holy Crusade His blessing during his speech
to a group of Spanish refugees on September 14, 1936 at Castel Gandolfo [The Catholic Mind Publication, Vol. XXXV, No. 10, May 22, 1937, 53 Park Place, NY, NY]:
"Our Benediction, above any mundane consideration, goes out in a special manner to all those who
have assumed the difficult and dangerous task
of defending and restoring the rights and honor
of God and of religion, which is to say the rights
and dignity of conscience, the prime and the most solid basis for all human and civil welfare."
Pope Pius XII stated the following in regards to a war in self-defense - Holy Crusade
["The Pope speaks" written by Michael Chinigo, Pantheon Books, NY, NY, 1957,
pages 325 - 327]:
"We, as head of the Church, have up to now avoided, just as We did
in previous cases, calling Christendom to a crusade.
We can, however, call for full understanding of the fact that, where religion is a vital living heritage, men do look upon the struggle unjustly forced on them by their enemy as a crusade.
If unpleasant realities force Us to set forth the terms of the struggle in clear language, no one can properly accuse Us of favoring the stiffening of opposing blocs, and still less of having in some fashion abandon that mission of peace which flows from Our apostolic office.
Rather, if We kept silence We would have to fear the judgment of God.
....
We are convinced that today, too, in face of an enemy determined to
impose on all peoples, in one way or another, a special and intolerable
way of life, only the unanimous and courageous behavior of all who love
the truth and the good can preserve peace, and will preserve it.
-----
Present day conditions, which find no counterparts in the past, should be clear to
everyone. There is no longer room for doubt concerning aims and methods which
rely on tanks, when these latter noisily crash over borders, sowing death in order
to force civilian peoples into a pattern of life they explicitly detest; when,
destroying, as it were, the stages of possible negotiation and mediation, the threat
is made of using atomic weapons to gain certain demands, be they justified or not.
It is clear that in the present circumstances a situation may arise in a nation
wherein, after every effort to avoid war has been expended in vain, war - for
effective self-defense and with the hope of favorable outcome against unjust
attack - could not be considered unlawful.
Pope Pius XII in his radio message on the occasion of The Crowing of Our Lady of Fatima,
May 13, 1946 said the following [Brother Frere Michel of the Sainte Trinite, "The Whole Truth about Fatima" (later "TWTF"), Vol. III, pg. 97]:
"In this decisive hour of history, just as the kingdom of evil, deploying an infernal
strategy, uses every means and unleashes all its forces to destroy faith, morals, and
the kingdom of God; so also the children of light, the children of God must
make use of everything, and all be employed in defending them, if we
do not want to witness a ruin infinitely more grave and more disastrous than all
the material ruins accumulated by the war.
In this battle there can be neither neutral nor the undecided. What is needed is a
Catholicism which is enlightened, convinced, without fear, a Catholicism of faith
and action, of feelings and works, in private as well as in public...
Pius XII also on June 11, 1939 received General Franco and 3000 of the Spanish Crusaders in
the Vatican, on this occasion the Pope spoke to them these words [Doc. Pont. 1939, pg. 124 -
125, quoted in "TWTF", Vol. II, pg. 776 - 777]:
"Welcome, leaders, officers and soldiers of Catholic Spain, you,
our dearest children who have given your Father immense consolation.
We are happy to see in you proven, courageous and loyal defenders
of your country's faith and civilization.
As We said to you in Our radio message, you 'have known how
to sacrifice yourselves even unto heroism for the
defense of the inalienable rights of God and religion'.
As We see you before us, covered with the glory
acquired by your Christian valor, our thoughts go
especially to your companions who fell on the field of battle.....
....And God has willed that this magnificent thought spring up
from your heart, which is generous with two great loves:
the love of religion, which guarantees for you eternal happiness of
the soul, and the love of country, which procures for you honorable
well-being in the present life.
These two loves kindled the fire of enthusiasm in
you and finally assured the brilliant triumph of
Christian ideal and victory....
...We grant you, you and the people you bear in your thoughts or in
your hearts, the Generalissimo and his faithful collaborators....your
families and all the faithful of Catholic Spain, Our apostolic blessing...."
His Eminence Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli [later His Holiness Pope Pius XII],
in his 1938 speech during the 34th Eucharistic Congress in Budapest, Hungary
[from the 1959 book "Pope Pius XII" by His Eminence Richard Cardinal Cushing,
Daughters of St. Paul, Boston, MA, pg. 32].
"Lined up against us is a new and sad front of fighters who raise their clenched fists of the anti-Christ in menacing defiance against Heaven and everything that is sacred to us....who urge that only when we brake loose from the Gospel of Christ we will find prosperity.
Following them marches the colorless army of those who allow themselves to drift along on the turbid waves of indifference until they are engulfed and carried away by the current of the day, and thus finally become accomplices in the progress of unbelief and in the fight against Jesus Christ.....
Insensible to religious values, blind arrogance has slackened and finally broken the bonds that define man's duties in terms of eternal principles, without offering anything in place of those bonds but an enervated law of morality that has no foundation....
The leaders of atheistic communism are trying to blanket the earth with
a violent revolution ....but all efforts to stave off this calamity will be fruitless unless
the spirit of justice and love enters again into the hearts of men and unites them
in brotherly love....."
What we need in an inner reformation of each individual member of society...As
long as those who face each other in this struggle have not absorbed the spirit of
Bethlehem, the example of Nazareth, the doctrine of the Sermon on the Mount and
Christ's cry: 'I have compassion on the crowd', just so long will all official decrees
and all human attempts to settle differences be doomed to failure.
......There arises to our lips a Credo that is no longer as in the days of peace,
a quiet confession, but rather, a war song befitting these days of battle,
a war song, vigorous and fervent."
Teaching of St. Thomas
Aquinas - Summa Theologica
(Benziger Bros. edition, 1947)
Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province
Objection 1: It seems that vengeance is not lawful. For whoever usurps what is God's sins.
But vengeance belongs to God, for it is written (Dt. 32:35, Rm. 12:19): "Revenge to Me, and I
will repay." Therefore all vengeance is unlawful.
On the contrary, We should look to God for nothing save what is good and lawful. But we are
to look to God for vengeance on His enemies: for it is written (Lk. 18:7): "Will not God revenge
His elect who cry to Him day and night?" as if to say: "He will indeed." Therefore vengeance
is not essentially evil and unlawful.
I answer that, Vengeance consists in the infliction of a penal evil on one who has sinned.
Accordingly, in the matter of vengeance, we must consider the mind of the avenger. For if his intention is directed chiefly to the evil of the person on whom he takes vengeance and rests there, then his vengeance is altogether unlawful: because to take pleasure in another's evil belongs to hatred, which is contrary to the charity whereby we are bound to love all men.
Nor is it an excuse that he intends the evil of one who has unjustly inflicted evil on him, as neither is a man excused for hating one that hates him: for a man may not sin against another just because the latter has already sinned against him, since this is to be overcome by evil, which was forbidden by the Apostle, who says (Rm. 12:21): "Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good."
If, however, the avenger's intention be directed chiefly to some good, to be obtained by means of the punishment of the person who has sinned (for instance that the sinner may amend, or at least that he may be restrained and others be not disturbed, that justice may be upheld, and God honored), then vengeance may be lawful, provided other due circumstances be observed.
Reply to Objection 1: He who takes vengeance on the wicked in keeping with his rank and position does not usurp what belongs to God but makes use of the power granted him by God. For it is written (Rm. 13:4) of the earthly prince that "he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." If, however, a man takes vengeance outside the order of divine appointment, he usurps what is God's and therefore sins.
Objection 2: Further, he that takes vengeance on a man does not bear with him. But we ought
to bear with the wicked, for a gloss on Cant 2:2, "As the lily among the thorns," says: "He is not
a good man that cannot bear with a wicked one." Therefore we should not take vengeance on
the wicked.
Reply to Objection 2: The good bear with the wicked by enduring
patiently, and in due manner, the wrongs they themselves
receive from them: but they do not bear with them as to
endure the wrongs they inflict on God and their neighbor.
For Chrysostom [*Cf. Opus Imperfectum, Hom. v in Matth.] says:
"It is praiseworthy to be patient under our own
wrongs, but to overlook God's wrongs is most wicked."
Objection 3: Further, vengeance is taken by inflicting punishment, which is the cause of
servile fear. But the New Law is not a law of fear, but of love, as Augustine states (Contra
Adamant. xvii). Therefore at least in the New Testament all vengeance is unlawful.
Reply to Objection 3: The law of the Gospel is the law of love, and therefore those who do
good out of love, and who alone properly belong to the Gospel, ought not to be terrorized
by means of punishment, but only those who are not moved by love to do good, and who,
though they belong to the Church outwardly, do not belong to it in merit.
Objection 4: Further, a man is said to avenge himself when he takes revenge for wrongs
inflicted on himself. But, seemingly, it is unlawful even for a judge to punish those who
have wronged him: for Chrysostom [*Cf. Opus Imperfectum, Hom. v in Matth.] says:
"Let us learn after Christ's example to bear our own wrongs with magnanimity, yet not to suffer God's wrongs, not even by listening to them." Therefore vengeance seems to be unlawful.
Reply to Objection 4:
Sometimes a wrong done to a person reflects on God and the
Church: and then it is the duty of that person to avenge the
wrong.
For example, Elias made fire descend on those who were come to seize him (4 Kgs. 1);
likewise Eliseus cursed the boys that mocked him (4 Kgs. 2); and Pope Sylverius
excommunicated those who sent him into exile (XXIII, Q. iv, Cap. Guilisarius).
But in so far as the wrong inflicted on a man affects his person, he should bear it patiently
if this be expedient. For these precepts of patience are to be understood as referring to
preparedness of the mind, as Augustine states (De Serm. Dom. in Monte i).
Objection 5: Further, the sin of a multitude is more harmful than the sin of only one: for it is
written (Ecclus. 26:5-7): "Of three things my heart hath been afraid . . . the accusation of a city,
and the gathering together of the people, and a false calumny." But vengeance should not be
taken on the sin of a multitude, for a gloss on Mt. 13:29,30, "Lest perhaps . . . you root up the
wheat . . . suffer both to grow," says that "a multitude should not be excommunicated, nor
should the sovereign." Neither therefore is any other vengeance lawful.
Reply to Objection 5: When the whole multitude sins, vengeance
must be taken on them, either in respect of the whole multitude---thus the
Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea while they were pursuing the children of Israel
(Ex. 14), and the people of Sodom were entirely destroyed (Gn. 19)---or as regards part
of the multitude, as may be seen in the punishment of those who worshipped the calf.
Sometimes, however, if there is hope of many making amends, the severity of vengeance
should be brought to bear on a few of the principals, whose punishment fills the rest with
fear; thus the Lord (Num 25) commanded the princes of the people to be hanged for the sin
of the multitude.
On the other hand, if it is not the whole but only a part of the multitude that has sinned,
then if the guilty can be separated from the innocent, vengeance should be wrought on them: provided, however, that this can be done without scandal to others; else the multitude should be spared and severity foregone. The same applies to the sovereign, whom the multitude follow.
For his sin should be borne with, if it cannot be punished without scandal to the
multitude: unless indeed his sin were such, that it would do more harm to the multitude,
either spiritually or temporally, than would the scandal that was feared to arise from his
punishment.
Whether vengeance should be wrought by means of punishments customary among men?
Objection 1: It seems that vengeance should not be wrought by means of punishments customary among men. For to put a man to death is to uproot him. But our Lord forbade
(Mt. 13:29) the uprooting of the cockle, whereby the children of the wicked one are signified. Therefore sinners should not be put to death.
On the contrary, These punishments are fixed by the divine law as appears from what we
have said above (FS, Question [105], Article [2]).
I answer that,
Vengeance is lawful and virtuous so far as it tends to the prevention of evil.
Now some who are not influenced by motive of virtue are prevented from committing sin,
through fear of losing those things which they love more than those they obtain by sinning,
else fear would be no restraint to sin. Consequently vengeance for sin should be taken by
depriving a man of what he loves most.
Now the things which man loves most are life, bodily safety, his own freedom, and
external goods such as riches, his country and his good name.
Wherefore, according to Augustine's reckoning (De Civ. Dei xxi), "Tully writes that the laws recognize eight kinds of punishment": namely, "death," whereby man is deprived of life; "stripes," "retaliation," or the loss of eye for eye, whereby man forfeits his bodily safety; "slavery," and "imprisonment," whereby he is deprived of freedom; "exile" whereby he
is banished from his country; "fines," whereby he is mulcted in his riches; "ignominy,"
whereby he loses his good name.
Reply to Objection 1: Our Lord forbids the uprooting of the cockle, when there is fear lest the wheat be uprooted together with it. But sometimes the wicked can be uprooted by death, not only without danger, but even with great profit, to the good. Wherefore in such a case the punishment of death may be inflicted on sinners.
Objection 2: Further, all who sin mortally seem to be deserving of the same punishment.
Therefore if some who sin mortally are punished with death, it seems that all such persons
should be punished with death: and this is evidently false.
Reply to Objection 2: All who sin mortally are deserving of eternal death, as regards future
retribution, which is in accordance with the truth of the divine judgment. But the punishments of this life are more of a medicinal character; wherefore the punishment of death is inflicted
on those sins alone which conduce to the grave undoing of others.
Objection 3: Further, to punish a man publicly for his sin seems to publish his sin: and this
would seem to have a harmful effect on the multitude, since the example of sin is taken by
them as an occasion for sin. Therefore it seems that the punishment of death should not be
inflicted for a sin.
Reply to Objection 3: The very fact that the punishment, whether of death or of any kind that
is fearsome to man, is made known at the same time as the sin, makes man's will avers to sin:
because the fear of punishment is greater than the enticement of the example of sin.
St. Thomas Aquinas says this:
Whether Five Expressions of Will Are Rightly Assigned to the Divine Will
[Vol. I, Q. 19 Art. 12, pt. 4] [Ed. note - these 5 expressions of will are prohibition, precept, counsel, operation and permission.]
Objection 4:
Further, evil happens in more ways than good, since good happens in one way,
but evil in all kinds of ways, as declared by the Philosopher (Ethic. ii. 6) [Ed. note - Aristotle is the Philosopher named by St. Thomas], and Dionysius (Div. Nom. iv. 22). It is not right therefore to assign one expression only in the case of evil - namely, prohibition - and two - namely, counsel and precept - in the case of good.
[Ed. note - again, please consider the present time heretical teaching applied in
the statement ".....It is also permitted to cooperate with such unjust laws, provided that there is no sin involved if it were considered the lesser evil and the most prudent thing to do.... " - and that it is mentioned here in the objection #4 as a possibility of applied Divine Will, which we should strive to do and to fulfill.....!!!]
St. Thomas Aquinas replies in general to all 4 objections:
I answer that .... precept, counsel, and prohibition are called the will of God is
clear from the words of Matth. vi. 10: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
That permission and operation are called the will of God is clear from Augustine
(Enchir. 95), who says: "Nothing is done, unless the Almighty wills it to be done, either by permitting it, or by actually doing it."
Reply to objection 4:
All evil of sin, though happening in many ways, agrees in being out of harmony with the divine will. Hence with regard to evil, only one expression is assigned, that of prohibition.
On the other hand, good stands in various relations to the divine goodness,
since there are good deeds without which we cannot attain to the fruition of that goodness, and these are the subject of precept; and there are others by which we attain to it more perfectly, and these are the subject of counsel.
Or it may be said that counsel is not only concerned with the obtaining of greater good; but also with the avoiding of lesser evil.....
To discredit the false prophets of false peace, as for example the self-proclaimed [always "humble"] visionaries of modern times claim to be, I can quote from the brilliant book
"The Graces of Interior Prayer" by Fr. August Poulain [English translation published by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co. LTD, London 1910] the following passage about modern times political prophets:
"Nothing is easier than to invent political prophecies in this way.
[Ed. note - he gave example of one before this quote].
It is only necessary to announce the advent of great misfortunes to be followed by extraordinary deliverances. These statements can be put about without fear, for no one can prove the contrary.
[Ed. note - this is in general terms, our task to prove such fraud and contradiction seems to be successful].
A suspicious character in modern political
prophecies is the fact that they never lead us to withstand wicked men, and never suggest any
serious manner to resist them....
Ed. note - The Fatima Crusader and others suggest the use of prayer
and penance only against Russian communism, but never fighting the Bolsheviks with weapons and to the death.......some even call such honest effort "a search for
strange practices.....paving the way for Satan....." - we can show the contrast to this wicked anti-Catholic "doctrine" on the example of the call for prayer by St. Pius V in the case of
the Lepanto Christian victory against the Muslims - the faithful were called to pray for the victory - and alas, God gave it to them on the battlefield !!!! - but they had to do the fighting themselves or otherwise it wouldn't work .....what an example for us today - but yet, we
are taught (ordered) to do the contrary [as Fr. Le Roux teaches (see his article “Quo Vadis Domine”) that : “God invites us to participate in His sufferings in peace..“], even by silence, on part of the Church, about the present and imminent Russian communist enslavement threat....
Fr. Poulain continues:
Some even predict that the world is to change suddenly, by a miracle.
"A new era" is on the point of appearing, everyone will become holy in an instant. The conclusion drawn from such predictions is that we should fold our arms and wait.
Since God is to do everything, and makes a point in proclaiming it in advance, it would be an indiscretion and foolishness on our part to wish to help Him and anticipate His appointed hour.
Let us then go on doing nothing !
This is a convenient doctrine.
St. Thomas Aquinas teaches this about martyrdom in Summa Theologica:
......it belongs to fortitude to strengthen man in the good of virtue, especially
against dangers, and chiefly against dangers of death, and most of all against
those that occur in battle.
Now it is evident that in martyrdom man is firmly strengthened in the good of
virtue, since he cleaves to faith and justice notwithstanding the threatening danger of death, the imminence of which is moreover due to a kind of particular contest with his persecutors.
Hence Cyprian says in a sermon (Ep. ad Mart. et Conf. ii): "The crowd of onlookers wondered to see an unearthly battle, and Christ's servants fighting erect, undaunted in speech, with souls unmoved, and strength divine."
Wherefore it is evident that martyrdom is an act of fortitude; for which reason
the Church reads in the office of Martyrs: They "became valiant in battle"
-----
........of all virtuous acts martyrdom is the greatest proof of the perfection
of charity: since a man's love for a thing is proved to be so much the greater, according as that which he despises for its sake is more dear to him, or that
which he chooses to suffer for its sake is more odious.
But it is evident that of all the goods of the present life man loves life itself most,
and on the other hand he hates death more than anything, especially when it is
accompanied by the pains of bodily torment, "from fear of which even dumb
animals refrain from the greatest pleasures," as Augustine observes (Q83, qu. 36).
And from this point of view it is clear that martyrdom is the most perfect of
human acts in respect of its genus, as being the sign of the greatest charity,
according to John 15:13: "Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay
down his life for his friends."
-----
.......martyrs are so called as being witnesses, because by suffering in body unto
death they bear witness to the truth; not indeed to any truth, but to the truth which
is in accordance with godliness, and was made known to us by Christ: wherefore
Christ's martyrs are His witnesses. Now this truth is the truth of faith.
Wherefore the cause of all martyrdom is the truth of faith.
But the truth of faith includes not only inward belief, but also outwardprofession, which is expressed not only by words, whereby one confesses the
faith, but also by deeds, whereby a person shows that he has faith, according to
James 2:18, "I will show thee, by works, my faith."
Hence it is written of certain people (Titus 1:16):
"They profess that they know God but in their works they deny Him."
Thus all virtuous deeds, inasmuch as they are referred to God, are professions of
the faith whereby we come to know that God requires these works of us, and
rewards us for them: and in this way they can be the cause of martyrdom.
For this reason the Church celebrates the martyrdom of Blessed John the Baptist,
who suffered death, not for refusing to deny the faith, but for reproving adultery.
-----
A Christian is one who is Christ's. Now a person is said to be Christ's, not only through having faith in Christ, but also because he is actuated to virtuous deeds by the Spirit of Christ, according to Romans 8:9, "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His"; and again because in imitation of Christ he is dead to sins, according to Galatians 5:24, "They that are Christ's have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences."
Hence to suffer as a Christian is not only to suffer in confession of the faith, which is done by words, but also to suffer for doing any good work, or for avoiding any sin, for Christ's sake, because this all comes under the head of witnessing to the faith.
And a quote from Pope Pius XII - this is about whether he read the 3rd Secret of Fatima
- and it is clear, by other corresponding facts and his own anti-communist actions opposing
these Russian communist criminals and warning, for many years to come, the Church children
what to do about it, that not only Pius XII has read the 3rd secret, contrary to what now the
"Fatima experts" would assert, but His Holiness wanted to make it known to the Catholic
faithful.....and as we now know, it was not meant to be....
This quote below is a clear confirmation that Pius XII did read the 3rd Secret of Fatima.
It comes from His Eminence Richard Cardinal Cushing who in his book "Pope Pius XII",
pg. photo comment section quotes one sentence from Pius XII on the day of his death on
October 9, 1958 to the people who were kneeling at his bed:
"Pray!
Pray that this regretful situation
for the Church will soon end...."
This comes at the time when there was absolutely no visible or even foreseen danger to the Church - that is the Church was still visibly doing her functions as she has always done....
Why would, if he didn't read the 3rd Secret, Pope Pius XII say something so alarming as this ?
He read it and had to pay the ultimate price for it.....
But the most important command we all have to obey, comes from God Himself:
he that shall kill by the sword must be killed by the sword.
Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
And the last quote comes from Sister Lucia dos Santos, the Fatima seer, and it is most fitting
to include it here - specially to warn those who would dare to oppose, misrepresent, lie about and also continue to remain in silence about this Russian communist enslavement threat - and all those also who would dare, in front of God Almighty and His Church, to proclaim they will not defend God and His Church against His enemies in battle when they come to destroy, desecrate and put the Catholic faithful under the satanic yoke of communism, to all these I'd like to dedicate the following quote ["TWTF", Vol. I, pg. 181]:
[Taken from Sister Lucy's memoirs...ed. note]:
As Our Lady spoke these last words [ed. note - the Fatima apparition on July 13, 1917], She opened Her hands once more, as She had done during the two previous months.
The rays of light seemed to penetrate the earth, and we saw as it were a sea of fire. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in huge fires, without weight or equilibrium, amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear.
[It must have been this sight which caused me to cry out, as people say they heard me].
The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and unknown animals, black and transparent like burning coals.....
[More quotes will be added soon....]
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