Stags, Peacocks & ‘Lucifer’s Popes’

Dear Marian,

I wish God's blessings on this Christmas to you and yours, Atila, and all at your wonderful site which is truly a Catholic beacon in the wilderness for my wife Margaret, me, and my family.

Keep telling the Truth Who is Christ without compromise, which I know you will for the sake of His Kingdom not of this world.

The devotion that you have to the Blessed Virgin reminds me of my dear late mother, Regina Marie Morella, who would not go to bed without saying her Marian Novena prayers every night without fail. My mother basically brought me up as I lost my dad to Leukemia when he was 41 and I was 10 in 1957. I think of him a lot, how he missed seeing his grandchildren and great grandchildren. He was a good man, just a simple cement truck driver, who tried to live the Catholic Faith as best he could, like my mom who was a nurse.

God is good to have given me such wonderful parents, and Catholic friends like you.

All the best, in Christ Jesus, Holy Mary, and Dear Saint Joseph, the Holy Family on this Christmas Day,

     Always your friend,

     Gary Morella

TIA,

Regarding your posting on the symbolism of the stag, I thought you would like to know that the dama-dama stag – a unique species that had lived only in Rhodes for many centuries - is a symbol of the beautiful island. Many say this deer was brought to Rhodes by the Crusaders, they have perfectly proportionate body and antlers.

Here is a picture of statues of the stags at the port of Rhodes.

      M.D., Brazil

Dear TIA,

I was informed that the body of Saint Bernadette is decomposing!

An attempt to open her hands and change her clothes was made unsuccessfully on several occasions by the modern nuns. They eventually succeeded and now her body is decaying.

How shocking!!!

May God forgive us all...

     God reward you for your fantastic website. Yours is the best!

     M.W., Ireland

TIA readers,

For those who would like to send greetings to Fr. Stephen Somerville, who is recovering from a heart operation, he can be reached at the following address:


Fr. Stephen Somerville
Providence Health Care Center
3276 St. Clare Ave. E
Toronto ON M1L 1W1
CANADA

He would enjoy hearing from his friends and past parishioners.

     A.C.

TIA,

I enjoyed reading this article on tennis shoes, a bit. Still trying to see how subversive this practice is.

Anyway, I wanted to note that in a lot of the modern cases the shoes are actually skateboard ("skate") shoes. I'm mentioning, as I'm a skateboarder - though generally they're all athletic/sport shoes.

     P.J.H.

Dear TIA,

I was reading your very nice article on the peacock. I recalled my recent encounter with this beautiful bird.

I was awakened up one morning by a shrieking animal that sounded like it was stuck in a thicket. I went outside to look and see what was making such noise. I knew if it kept up the sound it surely would be found and probably eaten by a larger animal. I live on the edge of a slope that is dense with vegetation. Coyotes, bobcats, and mountain lions do roam nearby.

My small porch is a good observation point. I did not see anything but heard the shrieking. I am familiar with the peacock sound, but this did not sound like one. As the warm sun began to rise, the noise stopped. I sat outside and enjoyed this new day. Suddenly, the creature shrieked right behind and below me quite close on the other side of the fence.

It was a peacock and there were two of them. It was the first time in this location I have had such visitors.

     In Our Mother,

     P.J.

TIA,

In this link there is a probable explanation for the Great Flood

Peace,

Frank Rega - Fiat Voluntas Tua

Dear TIA,

You published a letter that included this:

“Not Christ's popes, but Lucifer's popes control the Vatican today with their minions. These evil men know God, but they do not care. They are completely dedicated to Lucifer.”

Would it not have been better to have published this as a piece of hate mail, as it is hateful towards the Church? Or is it the position of TIA that using the worst language of the most hateful Protestant controversialists to describe recent popes is an expression of Traditional Catholicism?

Please explain.

     In Christ,

     B.B.


The Editor responds:

Dear B.B.,

At TIA we believe that the qualification by one of our readers of the present day Popes as “Lucifer’s Popes” is strong, indeed. But did not Our Lady of La Salette employ an analogous language when, referring to our times, she said that “Rome will become the seat of the Antichrist”? We do not believe that Our Lady was favoring Protestantism when she spoke those words. She was trying to vaccinate Catholics against the poison coming from Rome.

Also Our Lord called St. Peter “Satan,” when he tried to induce Him not to fulfill His Mission (Matt 16:23). This was also very strong, indeed, but it was not Protestant, it was the pure truth.

The point at stake is to know whether the Popes nowadays are being faithful to their mission or are betraying it. If the latter case is true, they actually are carrying out the work of the worse enemies of the Church.

Are not the conciliar Popes making every effort possible to adapt the Church to the ideals of Luther? Yes, they are: there are thousands of examples proving it. So, if in the past the Protestant controversialists hated the Popes because they were Catholics, now they should love them because they are destroying the Catholic Church.

Should Catholics also love this destructive effort? Or should they resist it and save the Church? We believe we should resist it and fight for the restoration of Holy Mother Church, for the victory of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Although very rarely do we at TIA use this strong language in referring to the conciliar Popes, in conscience we cannot say that it is baseless to do so or to chastise one of our readers for using it.

     Cordially,

     Atila S. Guimarães