Castel Gandolfo

The Popes throughout the centuries have retired to Castel Gandolfo in order to get
away from the heat of Rome. We are retiring in a certain respect from now until after
Thanksgiving in order to rest and prepare to return to the work of the Lord. And when
We return We will e doing things much differently.
!aint Paul warns us" #$now also this% that% in the last days% shall come dangerous
times. & 'aving an appearance indeed of godliness% ut denying the power thereof. (ow
these avoid.)
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+t is possile to appear holy to the world% and yet e unholy. ,esus warns"
#-eware of false prophets% who come to you in the clothing of sheep% ut inwardly they
are ravening wolves.)
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/f the ,ansenists it was said that they were pure an angels% ut
proud as devils. +n other words they put on the outward appearances of piety and
morality% ut inwardly they were full of the vice of pride.
0ice often puts on the clothing of virtue in order to deceive. We can fool others
as did the Pharisee. #The Pharisee standing% prayed thus with himself" / God% + give thee
thanks that + am not as the rest of men% e1tortioners% un2ust% adulterers% as also is this
pulican. + fast twice in a week" + give tithes of all that + possess.)
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The pharisee
appeared pious and may have even fooled himself with his empty piety. 4eep down%
though% the pharisee was impious and we can e impious as well.
There are many prolems in the world today. +t is easy to ecome Pharisaical and
to focus on the great evils surrounding us% which we readily re2ect. We do not participate
in aortions or irth control% whereas many around us do. We re2ect homose1uality and
do not consider it an alternative lifestyle% while many around us do. 0irtue does not
consist 2ust in re2ecting and even fighting against sin. 0irtue consists in positively living
a life in total conformity with the will of God.
!aint Paul also warns us" #$now also this% that% in the last days% shall come
dangerous times. & lovers of pleasures more than of God")
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We all have our pet sins%
ut do we attempt to overcome them and plant the opposite virtues in our lives6 Today it
is easy to appear virtuous in comparison with the rest of the world% ut God does not
2udge us against the rest of the world. God has laid down a simple set of rules for us to
follow% and it is a pass or fail proposition. We can all pass% ut will we put forth the
effort6 !alvation has always taken effort.
!aint Paul tells us" #And e not conformed to this world7 ut e reformed in the
newness of your mind% that you may prove what is the good% and the acceptale% and the
perfect will of God.)
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+t is ovious we should not conform ourselves to the immorality
surrounding us today. 'owever% consider these words applied 2ust as much in the Ages
of 9aith% when the world was Catholic and the grosser vices were not acceptale even to
the worldly. And yet% the saints have always condemned worldly thinking% especially
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+ Timothy 3"*%8
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:atthew ;"*3
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Luke *<"**=*.
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+ Timothy 3"*%5
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Romans *.".
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when they found it among the outwardly pious. /utward piety is worthless% if our heart
is in the wrong place.
+n Psalms we read" #!ave me% / Lord% for there is now no saint" truths are
decayed from among the children of men. They have spoken vain things every one to his
neighor" with deceitful lips and with a doule heart have they spoken. :ay the Lord
destroy all deceitful lips% and the tongue that speaketh proud things. Who have said" we
will magnify our tongue" our lips are our own. Who is Lord over us6)
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This sounds like
a description of our own times. And so% where are the saints6 !ome say the greatest
saints will live in the Great Apostasy. We are living in the Great Apostasy% praying and
working for it to end.
9riends% all of us are called to e great saints. :ediocrity has always een
rewarded y eternal misery. This is no time for mediocrity. This is a time for heroism.
All are called to e true heroes. ,esus tells us" #he that shall persevere unto the end% he
shall e saved.)
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This is a time% which calls for heroic virtue and self=denial. We may
not e called to the heroic penances of the saints of old. We are not called to eat only one
meal a day on fast days as Christians did in the Ages of 9aith. The penances of today are
simpler. We must e ready to go against the tide of the world. !aint Augustine says"
#wrong is wrong% even when everyone is doing it and right is right% even if no one is
doing it.) We must e ready to e on the side of right and the truth% even if we are all
alone. !aint Augustine also tells us that at times the Church was reduced to a single
faithful person in /ld Testament times. ,ust as it was once Athanasius contra mundum%
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we must e ready to have the whole world against us.
,esus tells us" #And you shall e hated y all men for my name? s sake. -ut he that
shall endure unto the end% he shall e saved.)
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Aes we must e ready to e hated y all%
including those who are most dear to us. #And a man? s enemies shall e they of his own
household.)
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The attle is tough and after spending decades in the attle it is time for Cs
to regroup.
!aint -ernard wrote to a former inferior% who ecame Pope DEugene +++F" # What
then is a hard heart6 +t is a heart which is not torn y remorse% nor softened y affection%
nor moved y entreaties7 which does not yield to threats% ut is hardened y scourges. +t
is ungrateful for kindnesses% faithless in counsel% cruel in 2udgment% shameless in
disgrace% without sense of fear in the midst of danger% inhuman in things human% heedless
in things divine7 it forgets the past% neglects the present% does not look on to the future. +t
is a heart emptied of all the past e1cept wrongs it has suffered% which lets slip all the
present% which has no forecast of the future% no preparation to meet it% unless perchance it
e with a view to gratifying its malice. And% that + may riefly sum up the mischief of
this dreadful plague% it is a heart which neither fears God nor respects man.)
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Psalms **"*=8
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:atthew *B"..
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Athanasius against the world.
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:ark *3"3. #And you shall e hated y all men for my name? s sake" ut he that shall persevere unto
the end% he shall e saved.) :atthew *B"..
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:atthew *B"3>
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4e Consideratione page *;
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This is a terrile form of heart disease% one that has destroyed many souls over the
centuries and is destroying illions today. !aint -ernard had 2ust given Pope Eugene the
following soering warning" #(o one ever got his heard heart cured unless God haply
took pity on him% and% according to the prophet% removed his heart of stone and gave him
a heart of flesh. DEGechial 3>".>" ?And + will give you a new heart% and put a new spirit
within you" and + will take away the stony heart out of your flesh% and will give you a
heart of flesh.?F) 'ard heartedness is incurale without the intervention of Almighty
God.
:any years ago We read this from the Prophet ,eremias" #:any pastors have
destroyed my vineyard" they have trodden my portion under foot% they have changed my
delightful portion into a desolate wilderness. They have laid it waste% and it hath
mourned for me. With desolation is the land made desolate% ecause there is none that
considereth in the heart. The spoilers are come upon all the ways of the wilderness% for
the sword of the Lord shall devour from one end of the land to the other end thereof"
there is no peace for all flesh.)
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The land is made desolate% ecause there are none who
consider in their hearts. We realiGed this applied to the form of prayer called mental
prayer% which the !aints tell us is essential to salvation. +n fact% years after first making
this connection% We read that !aint Alphonsus had made the e1act same connection%
applying this verse to the necessity of mental prayer.
Three weeks ago We wrote a piece% descriing the manner of men God is calling
to the priesthood. These men are out there% ut are they answering the call6 +n this piece%
We also descried the virtues reHuired of the ordinary Christian. These virtues are a
minimum for salvation in /ur opinion. 'ow many have taken these words to heart6 /ne
ma2or ostacle to the salvation of souls today is that of indifference. +ndifference has
permeated everyone?s thinking. -ut let us look at where indifference has gotten us6 Evil
triumphs when good men do nothing% and evil is triumphing.
Also today% many get distracted fighting the tentacles of the octopus rather than
going to the root of the prolem. The prolems of today will not e cured y Rosary
rallies or protests in front of aortion clinics. (o% we must go to the root of the prolem%
indifference which leads to hard heartedness. The saying is that charity egins at home%
and this is where our work must egin% in our own hearts.
/n the 9easts of !aints 9elicitas and Perpetua% 4om Gueranger writes" #Aou and
countless other martyrs have won victory for the faith7 and that faith is now ours7 we are
Christians. -ut there is a second paganism% which has taken deep root among us. +t is
the source of that corruption which now pervades every rank of society% and its own two
sources are indifference% which chills the heart% and sensuality% which induces cowardice.
'oly martyrs pray for us that we may profit y the e1ample of your virtues% and that the
thought of your heroic devotedness may urge us to e courageous in the sacrifices which
God claims at our hands.)
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Aout the same time 'enry Edward Cardinal :anning warned" #The first sign or
mark of this coming persecution is an indifference to truth. ,ust as there is dead calm
efore a whirlwind% and as the waters over a great fall run like glass% so efore an
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,eremias *."*=*.
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The Liturgical Aear 0olume +0% pages 3..=3
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outreak there is a time of tranHuillity. The first sign is indifference. The sign that
portends more surely than any other the outreak of a future persecution is a sort of
scornful indifference to truth or falsehood.)
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Cardinal :anning Huoted !aint 'ippolytus% descriing the time that is 2ust now
ending" #The Churches shall lament with a great lamentation% for there shall e offered no
more olation% nor incense% nor worship acceptale to God. The sacred uildings of the
churches shall e as hovels7 and the precious ody and lood of Christ shall not e
manifest in those days7 the Liturgy shall e e1tinct7 the chanting of psalms shall cease7
the reading of 'oly !cripture shall e heard no more. -ut there shall e upon men
darkness% and mourning upon mourning% and woe upon woe. Then% the Church shall e
scattered% driven into the wilderness% and shall e for a time% as it was in the eginning%
invisile% hidden in catacoms% in dens% in mountains% in lurking=places7 for a time it shall
e swept% as it were% from the face of the earth.)
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:uch more can e said aout the current crisis% ut this is not /ur purpose here.
Rather /ur purpose here is to inspire people to take the remedy against spiritual heart
disease. +n fact% We are retiring for this very purpose /ur own self. 'ardness of heart is
far more common than people would elieve. We are surrounded y the two prolems
4om Gueranger warns aout% indifference and sensuality. We recommend all 2oin with
Cs in a serious e1amination of conscience.
We recently read that the Little 9lower% Therese of Liseiu1 never refused God
anything from the age of three. Let us ask ourselves what God is asking of us. Are we
refusing 'im or not6
And there is one thing all of us need to do now% and that is improve our prayer
life. +n :ary in 'er !capular Promise Dpage *@5F we read that !aint Therese of Lisieu1
says" #+s not the apostolate of prayer higher% as one might say% than that of preaching6
'ow eautiful is our vocationI +t is for us% it is for Carmel to preserve the ?salt of the
earth.? & The Creator of the universe awaits the prayer of one poor little soul to save a
multitude of others% redeemed like her at the price of 'is -lood.) We need to e these
little souls. This is /ur plan in the foundation We are working on. We wish to uild a
powerhouse of prayer% which will petition God to shower the world with graces which
will move us toward the universal conversion. And we can all pray from where we are
at.
#And he cometh to his disciples% and findeth them asleep% and he saith to Peter"
What6 Could you not watch one hour with me6 Watch ye% and pray that ye enter not into
temptation. The spirit indeed is willing% ut the flesh weak.)
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Aes% our flesh is weak.
#-ut the foolish things of the world hath God chosen% that he may confound the wise7 and
the weak things of the world hath God chosen% that he may confound the strong.)
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We
ask all to spend an hour a day in serious prayer. +t may e a sacrifice% ut consider the
enefits. +s an hour too much to ask6 There is a ook of sermons written for laymen that
recommends giving ten percent of our time to prayer. This would e a kind of tithe. That
would e two hours and twenty=four minutes a day. There are some% who have this much
time free. Those with large responsiilities% though% do not have this kind of time.
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The Present Crisis of the 'oly !ee% page 55
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+id. page 8B
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:atthew .>"5B=5*
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+ Corinthians *".;
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Today is the feast of the Transfiguration% when ,esus was transfigured efore
Peter% ,ames and ,ohn. Let us transform our own lives. Let us ecome the great saints
God is calling each and every person reading this to e.
,esus% ,esus% ,esus% end the Great Apostasy.
Pope :ichael
August >% .B*5

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