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THE CATHOLIC STUDIES COLLECTION

Bob Stanley’s “The Catholic Treasure Chest” (PDF)
Down To Earth Answers To Virtually All Your Heavenly Questions.
English – On the Web
Spanish – On the Web

How To Pray the holy Rosary (PDF)
Which Mysteries to pray on what day – “Handy Cheat Sheet” (PDF)

The Rosary and the Scapular are inseparable

Brown Scapular:
Procedure for Blessing and Investiture – Latin and English

Key Components of Catholic Doctrine and Prayer

Overcoming the World, the Flesh and the Devil,
In and Through Our Lord Jesus Christ (PDF)
A beautifully illustrated “advanced course” on Christianity that provides
critical insights into what Christians believe, how they practice, and why.

Living the Catholic Life (PDF)
The Keys To Personal Holiness and Peace. Fully Illustrated.

The “Peculiar” Theology of Our Redemption in Jesus Christ (PDF)
How the death of Christ at the hands of man
served to reconcile sinful man with God. Fully illustrated.

A Basic Course In Catholic Apologetics (PDF)
The theological art and science of presenting, explaining and justifying
the Catholic faith to atheists, agnostics, deists, skeptics, critics, pagans,
believers, unbelievers, politicians, judges, the ignorant,
the arrogant, and the confused.

The Supernatural Relationship
Between Christ’s Passion, the Mass and Holy Communion (PDF)
A Profound Study of the Source and Summit of Our Catholic Faith.
Fully illustrated.

How I obtained a Plenary Indulgence,
freeing my friend’s soul from Purgatory,
while fulfilling my Sunday Mass obligation
– all in about two hours

All About Sin, Death, Purgatory and Indulgences (PDF)

Anointing of the Sick, Last Sacraments, and the Apostolic Pardon

To Tell You the Whole Truth (PDF)
A Complete, Concise and Understandable
Basic and Advanced Course In Catholicism.

Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma (PDF)
The Scholarly Collection and Explanation
of Virtually All Authentic Catholic Truths.

The Sources of Catholic Dogma by Denzinger (PDF)
A great work which traces the development of doctrine and Dogma
in the Catholic Church from its earliest times.
On-line version

A Thoroughly Catholic Bible Study Course For You and Yours (FREE)
From Bob Stanley’s “The Catholic Treasure Chest”

e-Sword Electronic Bible Study Software
Download powerful Bible study software,
along with your choice of a number of different Bibles,
commentaries, dictionaries and other helpful resources.
All at no charge.

A Laymen’s Guide To ALL the Books of The Holy Bible (PDF)

A Laymen’s Guide To ALL the Books of The Holy Bible (PDF)
Every book of the Bible is briefly summarized and explained
in this handy guide that will most certainly provide a better
and more complete understanding of all the Sacred Scriptures.
Recently added: The Scriptural Basis of the Nicene Creed
and all the Biblical References to The Blessed Virgin Mary.

The “Classic” Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible(PDF)
The Traditional, Original, English Language Catholic Bible .

The Venerable Haydock Bible Commentary (PDF)
Because the Plain Text of the Bible Does Not Always Mean
What People Might Think it Means.

The Ignatius Study Bible and Commentary (PDF)
A More Modern “Take” On the Holy Spirit Inspired,
Written Word of God.

How the Blessed Hope of Eternal Life In Our Lord, Jesus Christ
Is Faithfully Expressed Through Our Enthusiastic,
Grace-Empowered Participation In the Work, Worship,
Sacraments and Devotions of the Holy Catholic Church

SUITABLE for FRAMING!
Great Confirmation gift.
Excellent aid to evangelization.

Download the article for Free on a single,
illustrated 8.5X11 page – PDF

The Catholic Bible Dictionary (PDF)
A Comprehensive Guide To All Those Strange,
Biblical Places, Names and Terms.

The CIS Faith Formation Course (Interactive)
by The Knights of Columbus – On the Web
A comprehensive, interactive, free of charge, Catholic course
utilizing condensed study lessons and test-taking, resulting in
an overall achievement score and printed, course completion certificate.

*** All the resources shown are available without cost ***

The CIS Course and e-Sword are Web based.
The Catholic Treasure Chest is available
in both PDF and Web formats.
All the others utilize the industry standard PDF file format.

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A “basic primer” on Christianity that explains what Christians believe and why they believe it

90 Minute DVD Is Also Available for $20.00 – free shipping

Download and/or View the Complete 6-Part Course
In Your PDF File Reader

Overcoming the World, the Flesh and the Devil,
In and Through Our Lord Jesus Christ
is recommended for anyone who wants to learn more
about the essential tenets of Christianity,
as well as the unique, temporal and spiritual efficacies
of The Holy Catholic Church.

The complete, SIX-PART PRESENTATION
is available to view here, on-line, at absolutely no cost,
in the popular, easy to use and easy to view,
full color, PDF file format.

View and/or Download Each Part Separately, Below:

PART ONE:
The primeval events
that resulted in the Fall of Man

PART TWO:
The totally gratuitous
saving works of God

PART THREE:
Why we venerate
the Blessed Virgin Mary

PART FOUR:
The mystery
of our redemption
revealed

PART FIVE:
The spiritually vital mission
of the Holy Church

PART SIX:
Our personal identity
in Jesus Christ

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For detailed information on a wide range of Catholic topics
visit Bob Stanley’s The Catholic Treasure Chest

The way God works

Complete Study Here (PDF)

From the Fall of Man until Jesus Christ, Satan kept the whole world in bondage, by the power of death.

The devil scourging the Church 

Hebrews 2:14-15  Therefore because the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he (Jesus) also himself in like manner hath been partaker of the same: that, through death, he might destroy him who had the empire of death, that is to say, the devil: And might deliver them, who through the fear of death were all their lifetime subject to servitude.

It would seem as though
the Power of Death
(which Jesus called “The Gates of Hell”)
has very powerfully, returned.

The only solution: Matthew 16:18  And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Yet, the whole world cowers in the face of a virus. Cardinals and Governors publicly insult God and denigrate our faith. We see idolatrous worship in the high places and rampant heresies from the Pope. The doors of the Universal (Catholic) Church are locked and the Sacraments have been made unavailable; all of this on top of decades of priestly abuse and deadly scandals; not to mention the grievous sins of all the laity.

It’s as if our very access to the Tree of Life has been deliberately, cut off.

Part of Saint Faustina’s message of Divine Mercy is that there would come a day when God would find it expedient to turn back from mercy, to wrath.

Let’s all hope and pray we’re not yet that far along!

This Easter, send your bishop a video of you placing money in the collection basket.

Virtual Mass. Virtual offering.

Fair and just!

And if things ever get back to normal:
A dollar a week, until they squeak!

Then, watch all the low-lifes, perverts, thieves, heretics and idolaters run,
like the devil!

A shout out to Father VF for the idea
And to Les Femmes – The Truth for the com box

Real, holy, just, powerful and perfect feminism. Nothing like what we all too often encounter today.

With the Blessed Mother, it isn’t, “Hold my beer…”, it’s, “Hold My Baby….” handing off the baby Jesus to a nearby angel, the Blessed Virgin Mary contends with and handily defeats the devil, according to God’s grace. Illumination taken from the Taymouth Hours, circa ARSH 1325.  Courtesy of Ann Barnhardt’s Catholic Website. Enjoy!

Maybe the “apple” was covered with chocolate?

Monsignor Charles Pope takes a closer look at the events leading up to The Fall of Man.

A current-day case of apparent demonic activity and subsequent exorcism in Gary, Indiana

Read more to see what actually transpired and why the handling of these types of things is best left to the experts.

Question for top Catholic Church clerics: Why the obsession with all things “pastoral”?

by Doug Lawrence

From the sound of things, a person might get the impression that no one in the Catholic Church, prior to 1965, knew anything at all about the proper care and guidance of souls. Of course, that is totally wrong!

The real issue is how the Catholic Church should continue to conduct itself, going forward – whether the church should be IN the world but not OF the world: “If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”
(John 15:19)

Or whether the Church should “knuckle under” to the influences of the world, the flesh and the devil: “Having an appearance indeed of godliness but denying the power thereof…” (2 Timothy 3:5)

The Definition of PASTORAL – from the Merriam Webster On-line Dictionary:

: of or relating to the spiritual care or guidance of people
who are members of a religious group

: of or relating to the pastor of a church

Being “pastoral” is not rocket science. The Catholic Church has been blessed with many generations of great pastors. Being pastoral is nothing new. So what are these “obsessively pastoral” modernist clerics trying to say?

In a recent interview, the new head of the USCCB, Archbishop  Joseph Kurtz made the following comments:

Francis’ “primary word is mercy,” said the archbishop, and this emphasis on mercy comes from a deep awareness of his own shortcomings and imperfections. His humility is also the fruit of this awareness, and Archbishop Kurtz identified the pope’s genuine humility as being key to his widespread popularity: “It’s holy and it’s very beautiful. But it’s also very engaging … He seems to remind people of Jesus.”

Throughout our conversation, Archbishop Kurtz kept returning to one particular facet of Pope Francis’ message that appears to have resonated deeply within him: the importance of “accompanying the person.” Pope Francis does not call us to ignore sin entirely… 

Isn’t that special! 

Saint John Vianney, Master Pastor and Patron of Priests,
please pray for the men who presently lead our church.

Pride, “Change” and the Revolution

The Revolution is a movement of spirit having its taproot and energy in the devil, the spirit of hate, murder, atheism, apostasy, and ‘this world only’ naturalism, materialism, pantheism, and spiritualism. The Revolution is war against the supernatural Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which in the words of Marx’s anarchist comrade Bakunin, are the “cursed and fatal principle of authority.”

The sentiment of the Revolution is satanic pride: movement of spirit having its taproot and energy in the devil, the spirit of hate, murder, atheism, apostasy, and ‘this world only’ naturalism, materialism, pantheism, and spiritualism. The Revolution is war against the supernatural Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which in the words of Marx’s anarchist comrade Bakunin, are the “cursed and fatal principle of authority.”

“….which spurns subjection to any master whatever, whether of divine or human origin.” (Bakunin, Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age, Fr. Seraphim Rose, p. 63)

The nature of the Revolution is the antithesis of authentic Christian faith. Whereas Christian faith is joy, patience, love, truth, humbleness, perseverance, submission in all things to the Will of God and blessed eternal life in Paradise (earth perfected), the Satanic counterfeit is full of hatred, rebelliousness, burning envy and covetousness against man and God, ingratitude, mockery, doubts, lies, revulsion, blasphemy, thoughts of murder and eternal life in Hell.

Fueled by monstrously inflated pride and dissatisfaction with self, the world, society, and God the Father Almighty, it devotes its’ infernal energy toward“change,” or as Marx put it, toward the wholesale destruction of the Christian-based Old Order and the establishment of a religiously pantheist, totalitarian world order because:

“The idea of God is the keynote of a perverted civilization. It must be destroyed.” (Karl Marx, Marx and Satan, p. 59)

Read more

Pope Francis demonstrates his ability to speak clearly, when he wants to.

“There is a temptation – I would like to say it is thus for everyone , even for me , for everyone – a temptation that the devil likes very much: that against unity, when hidden dangers work directly against the unity of those who live and work in the Vatican – and the devil tries to create internal war, a kind of civil war and spiritual, is it not? It is a war that is not waged with the weapons that we recognize: it is a war waged with the tongue.”

“We ask St. Michael to help us in this war : never speak ill of each other, never open your ears to gossip. And if [one hears] someone gossiping, stop him! [Say] , ‘Here there can be none of that: walk out of St. Anne’s Gate. Go outside and talk there! Here you cannot!’ That’s it, isn’t it? The good seed yes: speak well of one another , yes, but [do not sow the poison seed] of gossip.”

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What is a Catholic required to believe?

In the chaos that has followed the Second Vatican Council, it is necessary that the faithful have a correct understanding Papal Infallibility, as well as its limitations, lest the understandably confused or scandalized Catholic be led into error in one direction or the other.

The Charism:

Infallibility is a negative charism (gratia gratis data) that prevents the possibility of error.  It is not to be confused withinspiration, which is a positive divine influence that moves and controls a human agent in what he says or writes; nor is it to be confused with Revelation, which is the communication of some truth by God through means which are beyond the ordinary course of nature.  Infallibility pertains to the safeguarding and explanation of truths already revealed by God.  Since infallibility is only a negative charism, it does not inspire a pope to teach what is true or even defend revealed truths, nor does it “make the pope’s will the ultimate standard of truth and goodness” (2), but simply prevents him from teaching error under certain limited conditions.  During an address given at the First Vatican Council, Bishop Grasser, who was referred to as “the most prominent theologian at the Council”, said the following:

“In no sense is pontifical infallibility absolute, because absolute infallibility belongs to God alone, Who is the first and essential truth and Who is never able to deceive or be deceived. All other infallibility, as communicated for a specific purpose, has its limits and its conditions under which it is considered to be present. The same is valid in reference to the infallibility of the Roman Pontiff. For this infallibility is bound by certain limits and conditions…”

The conditions for Papal Infallibility were subsequently defined by the First Vatican Council as follows:

“We teach and define as a divinely revealed dogma that when the Roman pontiff speaks ex cathedra, that is, when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church, he possesses, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed his Church to enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals”.

Here we see that the divine assistance is present only when a pope, (a) using his supreme apostolic authority (b) defines a doctrine, (c) concerning faith and morals, (d) to be held by the universal Church.  If any of these conditions are lacking, infallibility is not engaged and error is possible.

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Editor’s note: The first Vatican Council was never officially brought to a close, so technically, Vatican II was merely an extension of Vatican I. Yet those who ratified Vatican II never even mentioned the still open and unfinished Vatican I. If that sounds confusing to you, you have plenty of company.

We know that God is not the author of confusion. That leaves only two other choices: Man and/or the devil!

Four ways the devil “makes” you do it

One of the key elements in any contest is to understand the tactics of your opponent and to recognize the subtleties of the strategy or moves they may employ. In the spiritual battle of life we need to develop some sophistication in recognizing, naming, and understanding the subtleties of common tactics of the Devil.

A 2011 book by Fr. Louis Cameli, The Devil You Don’t Know is of great assistance in this matter. Having read it recently, I think it would be of value to reflect on four broad categories of the Devil’s tactics that Fr. Cameli analyzes.

While the four categories are Fr. Cameli’s, the reflections here are largely my own, but surely rooted in Fr. Cameli’s excellent work, so recently read by me. I recommend the work highly to you where these categories are aptly and fully described more than my brief reflection here can do.

And thus we examine four common tactics of the devil

After the Second Vatican Council, the dogma of the devil’s existence became an ’embarrassing part of doctrine’.

Satan’s “no” to God

It’s time for Catholics especially who have been perhaps too eager to buy into too many of the promises and doctrines of modern science, to become reacquainted with the reality of evil.

Just as morality is not a flexible system based on the Masonic conception of “tolerance”; evil, temptation and the devil are not merely convenient mechanisms used to illustrate the concepts of right and wrong to children.

While it’s increasingly fashionable to have a hearty laugh at the simplistic and outdated beliefs of those forefathers in the Faith removed from us by less than a century, all Catholics must be very careful to faithfully retain those doctrinal elements central to the Faith; most especially Original Sin, evil, and the temptations of a very real, very powerful devil.

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You are of your father the devil: and the desires of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning: and he stood not in the truth, because truth is not in him.

Yesterday, while Texas pro-lifers were singing, “Amazing Grace” abortion backers began chanting “Hail, Satan!” 

John 8:44 You are of your father the devil: and the desires of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning: and he stood not in the truth, because truth is not in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof.

Text, photos, video

1935 Movie – Dante’s Inferno – with Spencer Tracy. A very scary vision of hell – complete with updated sound effects.

Watch the chilling 8-minute clip on You Tube

Thanks to Bob Stanley from The Catholic Treasure Chest for the tip.

A foolproof way of staying the hell out of there:

Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved:
but he that believeth not shall be condemned. 

Baptismal Promises

V. Do you reject Satan?
R. I do.

V. And all his works?
R. I do.

V. And all his empty promises? 
R. I do.

V. Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth? 
R. I do.

V. Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, and was buried,
rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?
R. I do.

Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
R. I do.

V. God, the all-powerful Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
has given us a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit
and forgiven all our sins. May he also keep us faithful
to our Lord Jesus Christ for ever and ever.

R. Amen.

John 3:3-5 Jesus answered and said to him: Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (4) Nicodemus saith to him: How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born again? (5) Jesus answered: Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Diabolical Disorientation

“Diabolical disorientation is when a person is disoriented by various tricks of the devil. These diabolical tricks are not simply a kind of possession portrayed on television and in the movies. The devil, the purveyor of diabolical disorientation, manages often to give the targeted person a perception quite different from reality and yet the person so diabolically disoriented is convinced what he thinks is the truth when it is actually a lie.

The devil disorients individuals by making them think that because of their wealth and successes, they are being blessed by God, when, at the same time, they are committing sin, cheating and lying, and are hurling themselves headlong into hell. Even worse than diabolical disorientation of an individual, is the disorientation of a whole society, which insults and ignores God and His Mother . . .

The diabolical disorientation we are talking about here is the disorientation of Catholics who think they are serving God, but embrace beliefs and practices which are gravely contrary to what the Church always taught and practiced. This disorientation has been produced in individuals and in large segments of the Catholic population, by the devil.”

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Don’t play with the devil, because you will lose!

A GENERAL RULE: Don’t play with the Devil.

As soon as one knows that it comes from the devil, it must be rejected without any discussion. Check to see if God would suggest the thought, if not, it’s from the devil! Don’t entertain it.

“Playing with the devil” is tarrying with a thought that one knows to be not good, and thus from the devil. Woe to him who consents to dialogue with the devil (who is much stronger than we). Eve succumbed because she “played” with the devil. Instead of cutting him short, she started to discuss the temptation with him. The devil finished by making her fall.

Saint Bernard wrote: “Nobody becomes suddenly bad.” Know that it has not happened all of a sudden. For a long time, they have played with the devil.

If you play with the devil, you will lose. Don’t entertain “what if” bad thoughts. Reject it as soon as you perceive it’s a bad thought or you will fall little by little. He proposes little sins first.

The devil tries to put our minds at ease when we are in sin or are about to sin. The good angels do the opposite. We must not help the devil but must help disturb the conscience of those living in sin. Don’t put them at ease. We must not help the devil give them a false peace.

People today are very external and active. They don’t know how to be quiet, how to think about life. Beware of too much activity that keeps the mind from thinking, keeps us from internal thoughts. True peace of mind does not come from the devil.

The good angel will give reasons why an idea is bad.

The devil uses our situation against us. Are we tired, sick, have evil friends, etc. Beware of “if” or “maybe” proposals and thoughts.

God also uses good friends and sends us lights. Pay attention to influences. Distinguish between good influences and bad or evil influences. Keep the good and reject the evil.

The devil moves the passions since he cannot move the will. He however wants our will. So he moves our passions: sadness, anxiety, etc. Don’t play with it. Say no to sadness. God always gives peace of mind when good is selected.

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The deliberately ambiguous language inserted into various Vatican II documents infects the Church just like malware and viruses infect a computer.

by Doug Lawrence

The ambiguous language inserted into various Vatican II documents provides more than ample room for errant interpretations of divine truth, inducing many to follow the world, the flesh and the devil, rather than Jesus Christ and the authentic teachings of his Catholic Church.

And as is often the case with computer malware, many who are infected have no idea that anything out of the ordinary is actually occurring.

Hence, anything produced  much after 1950 (bibles, catechisms, books, pamphlets, liturgies, school curricula,  religious art … even the design of churches)  should be the subject of intense scrutiny by faithful Catholics … whether such things are accompanied by a bishop/pope’s imprimatur … or not.

Not surprisingly, religious art and architecture produced during the same period typically suffers from a similar lack of beauty and divine truth.

The only sure “cure” for such a faith malady
is a return to the unadulterated truth
of earlier church documents and practices,
which were not subject
to these types of liberal, modernist flaws. 

This is not to say that everything produced by the Catholic Church after 1950 is in error. It’s not. But it’s hard for most people to know what’s true and what’s not. So be careful, give everything it’s due diligence … including the personal opinions of priests and bishops … and don’t forget to worship, receive the sacraments, study and pray.

Otherwise, you may be all too easily deceived.

A reliable “touchstone” that would be very useful for the identification, illumination and verification of authentic Catholic truth would be the documents of the Council of Trent.

Vatican II Documents

Council of Trent Documents

Why Francis may turn out to be a great Pope.

The Devil has absolutely no defense against abject, radical humility.

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