NFP Before Vatican II
Natural Family Planning (NFP) is a way that many Catholics today space-out births of children based on their economic, social or medical reasons. Unfortunately, many Catholics also use NFP to decide when they are "done" having children, often based on lifestyle-preferences more than "grave reasons," as required by the Catholic Church. On the other hand, some traditional Catholics today erroneously believe NFP didn't exist before Vatican II. Pope Pius XII spoke about this aspect of the matrimonial-contract in an Address to Midwives on 29 October 1951. A small segment of his talk is copied below. His words are in italics and my commentary is found in orange-bold. The Bonum Prolis The matrimonial contract, which confers on the married couple the right to satisfy the inclination of nature, constitutes them in a state of life, namely, the matrimonial state. Now, on [...]
VLX 135: Mt 22:23-33. “The God of the Living”
- Why Is Celibacy Higher Than Marriage: https://www.padreperegrino.org/2023/06/celibmarr/
The Most Destructive Line in the New Catechism
Keep in mind as you read this blog post that the new Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) released in 1992 is not infallible. There are significant errors in the CCC, including the constant flip-flopping of the death penalty as I discussed in yesterday's video. In fact, Pope John Paul II never claimed it was infallible upon its release. He simply said it was a "sure norm." But he still released a highly-defective catechism. On the other hand, Pope Clement XIII said that the 16th century Roman Catechism of Trent (RCT) contains "that teaching which is the common doctrine of the Church, from which all danger of doctrinal error is absent." No other catechism released by the Church has ever been said to be free of all "doctrinal error." The death penalty in the new CCC is a big problem. But [...]
RCT 23: Special on Levels of Infallibility
What are the five infallible parts of the teaching of the Catholic Church? What are the six levels of theological certainty according to Ludwig Ott? *** Where does donor money go? https://www.padreperegrino.org/2023/05/donormoney/
QuickPod: The Opposite of Prepping
Baptism is the only sacrament absolutely necessary to salvation. If you were put in a gulag for thought crimes against wokeness, would you be able to live without the sacraments? Many saints had to do just that, just like St. Maximilian Kolbe. Of course, I hope we all have the sacraments up to and including our own death beds. But if not, we need to practice living in sanctifying grace for the rest of our lives, even if we were to never meet another priest again.
“The Pill” Kills More Than Surgicals
This post is not about the morning-after pill or RU-486. Rather, it is about the much more common form of birth control, frequently referred to as "The Pill." We will be looking at all forms of Hormonal Birth Control (HBC) and combined estrogen-progestin oral contraceptives (COC.) How does HBC and COC work? WebMD explains the three methods in which most HBCs and COCs function: "Hormonal contraceptives (the pill, the patch, and the vaginal ring) all contain a small amount of estrogen and progestin hormones. These hormones inhibit your body's natural hormones to prevent pregnancy in a few ways. Hormonal contraceptives usually stop the body from ovulating. They also change the cervical mucus to make it difficult for the sperm to go through the cervix and find an egg. They can also prevent pregnancy by changing the lining of the womb [...]
Pilgrimage as a Life of Penance
It hath also seemed good to the holy Synod, to subjoin, to the preceding doctrine on penance, the following on the sacrament of Extreme Unction, which by the Fathers was regarded as being the completion, not only of penance, but also of the whole Christian life, which ought to be a perpetual penance.—Council of Trent, Chapter 14, On the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, Second Session. The key words I want to focus on from Trent above is that "the whole Christian life...ought to be a perpetual penance." Why does this sound distasteful to even traditional Catholics? First, even good Catholics today tend to see Christianity through a post-Protestant-revolt lens. One of the aspects of this is that when we hear the word "repentance," we tend to think of shame in regards to ethics instead of a relationship. For the Protestant [...]
TCE 49: The Truth About Trafficking
With "Sound of Freedom" now released, many people are excited to join the anti-trafficking movement. Here's some of the obstacles and miracles to expect in the long haul. Links: - Agape Int'l: https://aimfree.org/child-trafficking/ - Trafficked by her Dad: https://www.padreperegrino.org/2022/05/slavery1/ - Avodah collective recovery home: https://www.avodahcollective.org - Catholic Charities *themselves* found trafficking: https://youtu.be/-M0Lw_-Nik4 - Trafficking hotline: https://humantraffickinghotline.org/en/contact
Remedies to Self-Centeredness in the Spiritual Life
Many of you already know that the best remedy to self-centeredness in the spiritual life is to do the corporal works of mercy {to feed the hungry; to give drink to the thirsty; to clothe the naked; to harbor the harborless; to visit the sick; to ransom the captive; to bury the dead.} However, since many of you already know that, I want to discuss some other remedies in this post. When I was a charismatic before becoming a traditionalist, I was discerning a good group of Franciscans in the Bronx. (I still consider them quite faithful and evangelical, so this isn't a now I've moved on blogpost.) One of the friars used to admit (in a half-joking, half-serious manner) how he would get mad if another friar borrowed his Liturgy of the Hours. Why would one friar get [...]
You Cannot Be a “Schismatic” For Keeping the Faith
Archbishop Viganò recently wrote: The sensitivity that Bergoglio shows towards idols and false religions is second only to the contempt he has for the true God and the one Church. On the one hand, he receives notoriously blasphemous artists in the Sistine Chapel and supports the LGBTQ+ sect which publicly vilifies Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin; on the other hand he expresses “indignation” over a Koran burned by those who are exasperated by the Mohammedan invasion imposed by the New World Order he promoted. A crucifix dipped in urine is worth a papal audience full of smiles and a “thumbs up;” the Pachamama thrown into the Tiber arouses deploration. One wonders of which “church” he can be considered “pope:” certainly not the Catholic one. Bergoglio and his sect, enslaved to woke ideology, take the errors of Vatican II to [...]