Dear TIA,

I appreciate your clarification concerning the Eastern Orthodox "schismatic" vs. "heretic" designations. Perhaps it is time for us Catholics to be clearer when referencing them, as the past courtesies you have mentioned have born no fruit. Instead, they now only serve to confuse Catholics, Eastern and Western, making them more open to error from within. The faithful will have to do this clarifying, as the current Catholic Hierarchy has moved decidedly in favor of "Orthodox" errors in several ways. Please allow me to repeat your list of the Schismatic Church, with just a few of their practical applications in the anti-Catholic Progressivist Church:

1. The pre-Filioque creed in Eastern Catholic Rites: the "allowance" made by Pope John Paul II for the Eastern Catholics to recite the Creed without the necessary clarification concerning the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son. This is a gross and perverted distortion concerning the revealed nature of God.

Fruits of this distortion have been highlighted most articulately by Mr. Guimarães, in his article "Married Priests? They Are Here" from which I quote Mr. Guimarães' reference to the "writings of some progressivists who define the act of 'amoration' - the sexual act - as the best reflection of the Trinitarian life." This same concept was contained in the fifth chapter of Family and Human Procreation released by the Pontifical Council for the Family on June 6, 2006, wherein is presented the theological theme "that the family is an image of the Trinity."

Sacred Scripture, however, represents family (i.e. marriage: husband, wife, and child) in the nuptial relationship between Christ and his Church not as the relationship among the persons of the Blessed Trinity. This is an important element of the heresy in question, requiring the clarification in the Creed for the faithful of the true procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son. It is the denial of this truth by Schismatics that lies behind such modern perversions as the "two become one flesh" applied to the Incarnation (i.e. the blasphemy of the Father and Holy Spirit generating the Son).

Part of this has shown itself in the past work of a very popular New Order author who refers to the Holy Spirit in the feminine. It leads to common-life distortions which have elevated a wife to the place of her husband, errors that elevate the dignity of marriage to surpass that of virginity - even to equal the dignity of the priesthood, hence the married clergy, first introduced in the East though condemned at the Council of Nicea.

In a final irony, showing the "Orthodox Church" to be built on sand, they do not even uphold the true Catholic teaching on the indissolubility of marriage, thus having distorted an ensemble of Catholic teachings with this one heresy.

2. The rejection of Limbo: This in essence is the logical conclusion of those Schismatics who reject the dogma concerning the Immaculate Conception. This Catholic dogma, by affirming the exception to the rule regarding the soul of Our Lady, makes it clear that all other men are conceived in a different state. This state is stained black and devoid of grace, leaving man in need of a cleansing. Without such grace they are barred from eternal life. Denial of this is the necessary formula of a false universalist church, which erroneously proclaims the unbaptized to be partakers of the supernatural life as members of the body of Christ.

3. The rejection of the Catholic Papacy: which, as it must, immediately allows those who leave the protection of the Holy See to fall into ruin, through error, heresy, and corruption. This explains the current cognitive dissonance since Vatican II, which allows the infallible papal proclamations across two millennia to be ignored in favor of the fallible opinions of some few who have fallen.

Thank God for those who convert to the Catholic Faith

Thank God for the bravery of those who convert to the Faith in these times! I would like to be of encouragement to the person recently writing to TIA as a potential convert from a Schismatic Church. I offer this after having been a member of an Eastern Catholic parish for many years:

A. Many of the customs and devotions you are familiar with are not "Orthodox," they are orthodox, that is, they are Catholic. If you choose to embrace the sublime beauty of the Latin Rite, please do not abandon altogether customs that are legitimately Catholic, yet Eastern, as they are a most glorious, majestic expression of the Catholic Faith of our Greek Fathers.

B. Unfortunately, most Eastern Catholic Rites in the U.S. are now suffering the same demise as did the Latin Rite over the past several decades. Their tenacious support of the Holy See against Schismatics and Communists in the past has not been continued against the same revolution inside the Church. There is at least one Redemptorist Order in the UK that courageously trains and ordains priests in Apostolic Rites, Latin and Byzantine to minister to our persecuted Catholic brethren abroad. A link to pertinent information follows: http://www.redemptorists.org.uk/red/index.htm Perhaps with our support, we can help prevent the demise of truly orthodox Eastern Catholic Churches in the U.S. as well. If any still exist, I am sad to say I have not found them.

C. An excellent resource for Catholic devotions is the Raccolta, with attention to using a pre-1960's version.

D. Perhaps you may miss some Byzantine devotions and customs as I do, such as the reception of Holy Communion for my infants and small children. I am comforted having learned of a small child who Pope St. Pius X was said to have viewed as a sign to issue his decree Quam singulari in 1910. Catholics should read his decree.

What a beautiful story to be appreciated by all. It is about a young child known as "Little Nellie of Holy God." She was a Latin Rite Catholic, and no one knows where she learned to pray to "Holy God," which is typically an Eastern designation. She died at the age of four, having been baptized and confirmed, and having received Our Lord in Holy Communion thirty-two times. The Latin Rite Bishop who confirmed her, approved the following prayer for her canonization:

O Jesus, Divine Friend of little children, we thank Thee for the signal graces Thou didst confer upon Thy holy Servant, Little Nellie, by inspiring her with such great devotion to Thy Sacred Passion and such ardent love of Thy Blessed Eucharist. Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the fulfillment of Thy designs regarding Thy loving little servant, for Thy greater glory and for the sanctification of souls.

We adore Thee, O Jesus, ever present in the Blessed Sacrament; we pray that Thy Sacred Presence may be honored daily more and more; that the little ones, whom Thou desirest to come to Thee, may frequently approach Thy Holy Table.

O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine.
     Sincerely in Christ and His Most Holy Mother,

     Dr. Pamela Dettman

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