"LET not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me." John 14:1
I have had a week to reflect on the election of Papa Francesco. I must say in all honesty that I let my heart be troubled when he first appeared on the balcony. I had very mixed emotions. I suppose it was because I have been praying so earnestly that the next papacy would pick up where Benedict XVI left off. I have prayed for a restoration of an authentic "Sensus Catholicus" and attainment of a Roman spirit (romanità) to permeate the holy, Roman Church once more.
As a traditionalist, I have no illusions. I made a promise to refrain from any commentary about our new holy father. I promised that I would watch, pray and offer sacrifices on his behalf to wait and see. I’m going to be 47 and I have never had any illusions since the death of Paul VI. I remember some words of Archbishop Lefebvre at the election of John Paul II in 1978 that gave many reason for hope. He stated that the Church in Poland was still "very traditional". I prayed then and trusted that the newly elected pontiff would restore order and a sensus catholicus to the Church. However, his papacy was despite his personal sanctity a very big disappointment for me.
I may have pondered (briefly) a possible return of tradition when I was overtaken with the notion that perhaps men such as Cardinal Burke or Cardinal Ranjinth (or miracle of miracles Bishop Athanasius Schneider) might have a chance of becoming pope. I underestimated the strong current within the church against tradition. I do not know for certain but wager that this current within the Church seeks a continuity with the last 40+ years rather than with what existed previously. It is the past 50 years such Churchmen would seek to commemorate and canonize rather than clarify the difficulties of Vatican II through a "new syllabus" as called for by Bishop Schneider (and others) a few years ago. I fear we shall no doubt continue to see a canonization of Vatican II and its' spirit....in the "year of faith" and beyond. I was further disturbed at the joy raised among known enemies of the Church at the election of Cardinal Bergoglio (Hans Kung among others). I immediately thought of some of Anne Catherine Emmerich's prophecies when enemies of the Church sought to carry out their own will regarding the future of the Church but as Anne Catherine Emmerich wrote, "Such was to be the new Church…But God had other designs…” 33 "Such was the new church to be, and it was for it that he had set fire to the old one; but God designed otherwise….” 36 http://www.catholicrevelations.org/PR/bl%20anna%20maria%20katarina%20emmerick.htm
As a traditionalist, I have no illusions. I made a promise to refrain from any commentary about our new holy father. I promised that I would watch, pray and offer sacrifices on his behalf to wait and see. I’m going to be 47 and I have never had any illusions since the death of Paul VI. I remember some words of Archbishop Lefebvre at the election of John Paul II in 1978 that gave many reason for hope. He stated that the Church in Poland was still "very traditional". I prayed then and trusted that the newly elected pontiff would restore order and a sensus catholicus to the Church. However, his papacy was despite his personal sanctity a very big disappointment for me.
I may have pondered (briefly) a possible return of tradition when I was overtaken with the notion that perhaps men such as Cardinal Burke or Cardinal Ranjinth (or miracle of miracles Bishop Athanasius Schneider) might have a chance of becoming pope. I underestimated the strong current within the church against tradition. I do not know for certain but wager that this current within the Church seeks a continuity with the last 40+ years rather than with what existed previously. It is the past 50 years such Churchmen would seek to commemorate and canonize rather than clarify the difficulties of Vatican II through a "new syllabus" as called for by Bishop Schneider (and others) a few years ago. I fear we shall no doubt continue to see a canonization of Vatican II and its' spirit....in the "year of faith" and beyond. I was further disturbed at the joy raised among known enemies of the Church at the election of Cardinal Bergoglio (Hans Kung among others). I immediately thought of some of Anne Catherine Emmerich's prophecies when enemies of the Church sought to carry out their own will regarding the future of the Church but as Anne Catherine Emmerich wrote, "Such was to be the new Church…But God had other designs…” 33 "Such was the new church to be, and it was for it that he had set fire to the old one; but God designed otherwise….” 36 http://www.catholicrevelations.org/PR/bl%20anna%20maria%20katarina%20emmerick.htm
God is in control. God certainly has other plans and designs. God will not allow the wills of carnal, misguided men to destroy His Church. They may think they have had their say and that they have the upper hand but this is an illusion. The enemies of the Church within her bosom might falsely believe that they shall have a Church in their own image and likeness. A church they have sought to create for decades. "But God has other designs"
I was greatly edified to read on another blog the visit of the Pilgrim Virgin of Fatima to the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires and her recption by Cardinal Bergoglio some years ago. I read that Papa Francesco prays 15 decades of the most holy rosary every day and has a deep devotion to Our Lady. I read also with great joy that Father Nicholas Gruner "the Fatima priest" received letters from Cardinal Bergoglio. This gives me great reason to hope that perhaps Papa Francesco will be the pope to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In fact Antonio Ruffini the stigmatist who died in 2010 said as much. We can (and should) pray for this intention. The 100th anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady at Fatima, Portugal is fast approaching. A friend wrote me these insightful lines this past week in this regard:
the hundredth anniversary of the Fatima apparitions approaches. We know what happened to the King of France after exactly one hundred years of failing to carry out the Consecration of France to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as Our Lord requested in another so-called ‘private apparition’ — to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1689. King Louis was guillotined and France descended into a revolutionary bloodbath that changed the whole world for the worse.”
And we know too what happened to the Jesuits in the 18th century when they failed to promote the revelations of the Sacred Heart that had first been conveyed to St Claude la Colombiere.
We must pray a great deal for the holy father. There is a very praiseworthy endeavor put forth by the Latin Mass Society to present a "Spiritual Bouquet" to the holy father. You can follow this link and fill it out and either send it by email or post it to the address. We have great reason for hope but we must pray very much!
http://www.lmschairman.org/2013/03/spiritual-bouquet-for-pope-francis.html
"Blessed be God in all things," or, as Father Solanus Casey used to say, "Blessed be God in all His designs." Thank you, Triregnun, for this useful and very helpful meditation.
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