FROM THE NATIONAL DIRECTOR of the Marian Movement of Priests
May 4, 2002 First Saturday
Greetings in this month of Our Lady!
My apologies for the long delay in updating my page. Much has happened
in
the Church, and I now want to share a few thoughts with you concerning
these events as seen in light of Our Lady's messages to Fr. Gobbi.
The Church is now facing a grave scandal and, as I have been telling
the
many persons who have called, all of this was prophesied by Our
Blessed
Mother many years ago when she told us that Satan had entered the
Church
and would attempt to destroy it:
"Satan has succeeded in entering into the Church, the new
Israel of
God. He has entered there with the smoke of error and sin, of the loss
of
faith and apostasy, of compromise with the world and the search for
pleasure. During these years, he has succeeded in leading astray
bishops
and priests, religious and faithful." (495e) "My times have arrived. I
also
foretold to you the great crisis which would take place in the Church,
because of the great apostasy which has entered into her, caused by an
ever
wider diffusion of errors, by her interior division, by opposition to
the
Pope and by the rejection of his Magisterium. This most beloved
Daughter of
mine must live the hours of her agony and of her sorrowful passion.
She
will be abandoned by many of her children. The impetuous wind of
persecution will blow against her, and much blood will be shed, even
by my
beloved sons." (529jk)
We must not, however, let ourselves be crushed by this. Jesus suffered
an
ignominious agony and death on the Cross to redeem man. On the third
day, he
rose from the dead and conquered evil and death forever. The Church,
the
Mystical Body of Christ, is called to go through this same agony and
death,
but it will rise more resplendent than ever. We have the assurance and
promise that the jaws of death will never prevail against the Church.
In the
end, Satan will be bound and cast into Hell forever where he will no
longer
be able to tempt the people of God.
The final chapter is being played out, and our only recourse is prayer,
fasting and uniting our sufferings with those of Jesus. We must beseech
Heaven to spare our brothers and sisters who are abandoning the Church
because of the small number of priests who have caused scandal. Judas
was
one of among twelve who betrayed Our Lord. Relatively speaking, that
computes to a rather large percentage. On the other hand, as reported
by
many newspapers and other media outlets, the known percentage of
Catholic
priests who have been found guilty of pedophilia and sexual abuse is
less
than 2%. The fault does not lie with the institution of the Church,
but
rather with individuals within the Church who have betrayed their vow
of
celibacy. These men who have been affected share in the priesthood,
but
they are not THE PRIESTHOOD. Certainly, the other eleven apostles must
have
felt extreme anguish over the fact that one of their own had betrayed
Jesus; nevertheless, they remained faithful in spite of their fear. So
too,
we must not let the transgressions of a few shake our faith. We must
continue to be faithful to the one, true, holy, Catholic and apostolic
Church. Its founder is sinless and holy, and so is his Church. The
holiness
of the Church is not affected by the sinfulness of its members. We
have the
assurance, from Jesus Himself, that His Church will stand firm to the
end.
These are the years when our faith, our Church and our world will be
shaken
to their very roots. There will be great confusion, division, lack of
discipline and persecution of the faithful remnant.
".The lack of faith is spreading among its very shepherds, and
the
flock is being stricken by the impetuous wind of apostasy. Errors are
being
spread, taught and followed; the sects are multiplying everywhere. Who
will
still remain firm in the faith in Jesus and his Church?" (586mn)
Will we remain faithful in spite of the grave scandals in the Church
which
we so love? Will we remain faithful to the Gospel and to the
Magisterium of
the Church when it will no longer be politically correct to do so?
Will we
remain faithful to the sacraments when everyone around us will have
abandoned them for whatever reason? All these things are allowed by
God as
a means of purification, for both the Church and the people of God.
Will we
run away like the apostles did when Jesus was arrested? Rather, be
firm in
your faith like John and the holy women at the foot of the Cross.
"I am a sorrowful Mother, as I see the Church, my dearly
beloved
Daughter, prostrate beneath the cross of a most painful agony. How many
deny
and betray her! How many abandon and condemn her! How many revile and
crucify her! Among these are even some of my beloved sons: bishops and
priests who repeat and renew the deed of Judas who betrays, or that of
Peter who denies, or of the Apostles who flee out of cowardice. You
are
called to be the new Johns, who remain with me beneath the cross upon
which
the Church is again being crucified and immolated for the salvation of
the
world." (535efg)
We cannot avoid the purification since it must, of necessity, come
about to
cleanse the Church and the people of God. For this reason, the focus of
our
prayer at this time should be for the protection of the souls who are
in
jeopardy of "abandoning ship." Satan likes nothing more than to see his
work
of destruction take root among those who are allowing the scandals to
ruin
their faith in the Church. We must pray that the least number of our
brothers and sisters will experience a shipwreck in faith. Let us heed
the
words of St. Frances de Sales:
"Those who commit these types of scandals are guilty of the
spiritual equivalent of murder by destroying other people's faith in
God by
their terrible example. But I'm here among you to prevent something
far
worse for you. While those who give scandal are guilty of the
spiritual
equivalent of murder, those who take scandal - who allow scandals to
destroy their faith - are guilty of spiritual suicide." (St. Frances
de
Sales.on the scandal caused by so many of his brother priests)
The Remedies: Consecration and Cenacles
Once again, I wish to remind you of the two powerful remedies which Our
Lady
has offered us for these times. For twenty-five years, by means of her
messages to Fr. Gobbi, Our Lady has been inviting us to enter into the
safe
refuge of her Immaculate Heart by means of our consecration. Also, she
has
urged us to gather in cenacles of prayer which act as lightning rods to
protect us from the chastisement. I invite you, therefore, to form
cenacles
of prayer as Our Lady has requested. I urge each one of you to join a
cenacle or to begin one of your own, to pray ardently for our priests.
The
Adversary with his many tentacles knows that, in attacking the
shepherds,
the sheep will disperse. Now more than ever, we need to implore Our
Mother's assistance in the present situation in which we find
ourselves,
and the means she offers us as a protection against confusion and
apostasy
are consecration to her Immaculate Heart and the cenacles of prayer.
At Fatima, in 1993, she said:
"I have wanted you here, to tell you that you must now all
enter
right away into the safe refuge of my Immaculate Heart. Just as Noah,
in the
name of the Lord, called into the ark those who were to be saved from
the
flood, so now must you, my littlest child, in the name of your heavenly
Mother, call into the refuge of my Immaculate Heart those who must be
protected, defended and saved from the great trial which has now come
for
the Church and for all humanity. .My Church will be shaken by the
violent
wind of apostasy and unbelief, as he who sets himself against Christ
will
enter into its interior. For this reason, from my shrine at Fatima, I
renew
today the pressing invitation for you to take refuge in me, through
your
consecration to my Immaculate Heart, and to multiply everywhere the
cenacles of prayer, which I have asked of you, cenacles of priests, of
little children, of youth, and cenacles within families." (489c,e,h)
Information about forming a cenacle of prayer
<http://www.mmp-usa.net/cenacle.htm?> can be found on our website. You
may
also use our online order form to request a copy of the booklets,
"Cenacles
of the Marian Movement of Priests," and "The Spiritual Power of My
Cenacles."
Our Mother - Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate
How blessed we are to have Our Lady as Mother and Advocate. Let us turn
to
her, in this month of May, and implore her powerful intercession. In
the
messages to Fr. Gobbi, she tells us that she will be able to unleash
the
great power given her by God to crush the head of Satan only when she
will
be acknowledged by the Church in all of her roles - as Co-redemptrix,
Mediatrix and Advocate.
"Until I am acknowledged there where the Most Holy Trinity has
willed me to be, I will not be able to exercise my power fully, in the
maternal work of co-redemption and of the universal mediation of
graces.
For this reason, as the battle between me and my Adversary entered its
decisive phase, he tried by every means to obscure the mission of your
heavenly Mother." (201f)
For more information, I invite you to follow the link to the document
by Dr.
Mark Miravalle, "Our Mother, Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix, Advocate,
<http://www.mmp-usa.net/redemp_med.htm?submit=Co-redemptrix,%2BMediatrix%2Ba
nd %2BAdvocate>" which we have posted on our website. Copies of this
booklet
are also available from our Headquarters.
Let us join together in praying for the needs of the Church and the
people
of God. We implore Our Lady to work great prodigies during this month
of
May.
V./ Mary, Our Mother
R./ Show us your power.
Be assured that I remain united in prayer with all of you in this time
of
difficulty and confusion for the Church.
With God's peace and blessing,
Rev. Albert G. Roux