Category: Spiritual Instructions

Many years ago, when I was running the Vatican in Exile, I noticed that the most important section, that on becoming a saint, was rarely visited.  In response I compiled the Road to Heaven.  If you visit the website now, you will find that our primary focus is becoming a saint.  The reason is simple, only spiritual people will understand these things as Saint Paul says: “But the sensual man perceiveth not these things that are of the Spirit of God; for it is foolishness to him, and he cannot understand, because it is spiritually examined.”  [1 Corinthians 2:14]  And so the main focus is helping people to become spiritual, so that you can understand what is truly going on.

If you come to my site, you will find it is being modified.  First of all, I am always writing a book, actually probably several.  However, this project has been underway for decades, but has not come together.  However, I have many research documents, which I am posting.  They are not well organized yet, but I don’t want to wait to make this information available to people.

As I am putting this together, a story comes to my mind.  About five and a half years ago, it came on my heart I need to read something new on prayer.  And so I looked for books on prayer, but found I had read most of them in my library.  (I hadn’t read one of them, but I did not come across it.  This is the danger of a 3,000+ book library.)  I was about to pick one up and reread it, when I went to the grocery store one day.  I took a different route home for some reason and found that the Rescue Mission warehouse sale was open, so I stopped by.  Until this day, they never have had books.  I stopped in and they had books and apparently some Traditionalist had dropped their library on them.  I picked eighteen books at six for a dollar, when I realized, I have cold food in the truck.  So I headed home and put the food away and looked at the books.  I decided to go back the next day and ended up with eighteen more books.  Among them was Prayer The Key to Salvation.  The Holy Ghost works in many ways.  As I continue this project I will tell a few stories of how the Holy Ghost has brought me to things I needed to know, when I needed to know them.  It is quite possible the Holy Ghost has brought you here to teach you something.  I am praying for you, although I do not even know who you are.

From the Sermons of St. Gregory of Nazianzus (Patriarch of Constantinople)

What were the Machabees For it is under their name that the Festival at which you are this day assembled is kept. It is true that many persons do not hold them in honour, because they fought before the coming of Christ nevertheless they deserve to be venerated by all men, for they bore themselves bravely and faithfully in defence of the laws and ordinances of their people. They that underwent martyrdom before Christ came, what would not have been their deeds, if they had suffered persecution after He came, and had had before them for a pattern the Death which He embraced for the sake of man’s salvation With no example to lead them, their bravery was what it was had they had the example before their eyes, would they not have gone down with double nerve to the battle There is a mystic and subtle idea, which seemeth very likely to me and to all lovers of God, that none of those who were crowned with martyrdom before Christ came, could have been so, unless they had had faith in Christ.

Last Sunday We sent out a devotion written by Father Francis Dominic. As We celebrate 29 years in the papacy, We realize that the only truly sincere Christians are those who God has brought through the wall of fire, Father talked about. Father wrote: “Everyone has to come through that wall of fire is he is to become part of the True Church. That fire will burn up all his earthly ambitions, and his desire to live for himself.” We realized three and a half decades ago, that to be a true Catholic, one must come through this trial; this wall of fire. The Psalmist (16:3) says: “Thou hast proved my heart, and visited it by night, thou hast tried me by fire: and iniquity hath not been found in me.”

Saint Alphonsus is of the opinion that everyone must go through this trial. During this trial, he advises recourse to prayer, but warns us not to expect any sensible devotion. “We have nothing to do but say to the Lord: O Lord help me! O Lord help me!” When We were first considering this and found Saint Alphonsus’ explanation, We named it the Dark Night of the Great Apostasy, a trial all must come through in order to be sincere Catholics in these days of apostasy. Saint Alphonsus says: “Until we have come through that storm, which for the most part comes over all, let none of us think himself secure.” In fact, We pray that God will bring all of you through this wall of fire successfully, for the Church greatly needs all who read this to become sincere members of the Church militant.

Saint Alphonsus concludes: “And it is certain that he who with the help of divine grace is victorious in such a combat finds afterwards a double calm and peace in his vocation.” God is calling you to come through the wall of fire. Those of us on God’s side of the wall are praying for you. We are here to help you, to console and to guide you.

Proverbs (17:3) tells us: “As silver is tried by fire, and gold in the furnace: so the Lord trieth the hearts.” A time of trial of hearts is coming upon us. Throughout the last sixty years of trial, the persecution has been one of words and corruption of doctrine, rather than one of blood. In the decades prior to the usurpation of the Papacy by the second Antipope John XXIII in history in 1958, Catholics for the most part had become quite lax. For a century people have been compromising with the world, as We have often related and decried. Many who claim the name of Catholic, but do lie, (Apocalypse 3:9) are Catholic in name only, living a life worse than a pagan. Indeed, we should know better. We have the Sacred Scriptures. We have the writings of the Fathers of the Church and of many other saints. And yet, very few are ready to give themselves completely and without any reserve to Almighty God.

We have spoken of the contrast between three types of Catholics, spiritual, carnal and sensual. (I Corinthians 2:11-3:5) When people see the nay sayers on the outside of the wall of fire, criticizing those very few of us the inside, they do what the sensual man does, as the Douany notes: “he who measureth divine mysteries by natural reason, sense, and human wisdom only.” How can so few be right and the rest of the world wrong. In Our latest Pope Speaks, we discuss another time, when one man and his family were right, and the rest of the world wrong. (https://www.vaticaninexile.com/july_2019_noah.php) Saint Augustine observed that right is right, even if no one is doing it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it. Just as there was no safety in numbers, when the flood waters rose at the time of Noah, there is no safety in numbers today. Saint Augustine also observed that there were times in the Old Testament, where the Church was reduced to one faithful person.

The Lord then told them, “I will be to [Jerusalem-the Church], saith the Lord, a wall of fire round about: and I will be in glory in the midst thereof.” (Zechariah 2:5) We belong on the Lord’s side of the wall of fire. Let us pray that the Lord will lead us through the wall of fire onto His side.

“And Peter began to say unto him: Behold, we have left all things, and have followed thee. Jesus answering, said: Amen I say to you, there is no man who hath left house or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, Who shall not receive an hundred times as much, now in this time; houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions: and in the world to come life everlasting.” (Mark 10:28-30) Yes, we may lose those who we thought were our friends. True friendship never ends, so a friendship that ends must not have been true. We may lose contact with family members. When we adhere to the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, we will find that truth has a very ugly daughter, hatred. The Enemy (Ephesians 6:12) only hates Jerusalem, the true Church. He does not hate the imitations, but as the sewer of discord encourages them to deceive the elect. (Matthew 24:24)

“Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (II Corinthians 6:2) Today is the day to walk towards the wall of fire, and ask God to bring you through it. We are praying this day and for you.

With Our Apostolic Blessing on this, the 29^th anniversary of Our election as Pope,

Michael by the grace of God, Pope.

Dear friends,
This morning, We are considering several things Father Francis Dominic has written about Daniel, the Prophet. As We return to the consideration, We find several important points marked, and would like to share them with you. Tomorrow We will return to the wall of fire and Our thoughts after twenty-nine years in the Papacy.
Daniel was a young man, when he came into the service of Nabuchodonosor, about seventeen years old. Father Francis asks us to take Daniel, Sidrach, Misach and Abdenago as role models, saying: “Lord, I don’t have to do foolish things like other young people do. I want to follow the examples of these men who lived in humility and the fear of God right from their youth.” Let us ask ourselves a serious question: “Am I following the examples of the Saints, especially the martyrs? Or, am I following the examples of the worldly?” Consider this question well. Saints have come through the wall of fire, Scripture talks about, and Father discussed yesterday.
In another consideration from Father, he refers us to Daniel 1:11-15: “And Daniel said to Malasar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Ananias, Misael, and Azarias: Try, I beseech thee, thy servants for ten days, and let pulse be given us to eat, and water to drink: And look upon our faces, and the faces of the children that eat of the king’s meat: and as thou shalt see, deal with thy servants. And when he had heard these words, he tried them for ten days. And after ten days their faces appeared fairer and fatter than all the children that ate of the king’s meat.” In Butler’s Lives of the Saints, we often read that the saints ate pulse. Do you know what pulse is? Or are we more interested in eating the king’s meat? A footnote in the Douay tells us that pulse is peas, beans and such like. Pulse is simple nutritious food, which is eaten in order to give us strength to continue in prayer and not to tickle our pallet.
After telling us this story, Father says: “God is looking for people who will boldly confess their faith, and not keep their light hidden underneath a bed.” Jesus says: “Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house.” (Matthew 5:15) We have discussed this in the past. Today many of us are not willing to stand for the truth and take the ridicule of the world. Instead, we light our candle and hide it under a bushel basket or as Father says, underneath the bed. Stop and think about that for a moment. If you light a candle and put it under the bed, what is going to happen? The bed will catch on fire. When we hide our light under the bed, we have a spiritual fire hazard.
Father then tells us: “God is looking for men who will not seek their own, who are not interested in anything for themselves and who are willing to lose their lives for Him, if necessary. Daniel was only 17 years old. Even today, God can choose a 17-year old youth and make him a prophet and empower him to take a stand for Him.” God can take you, right now, and make use of you for His service. God will put you to work in His service, if you turn your life completely over to Him, right here and right now.
God, what do you want me to do? Lord, give me the ability to see your will and the strength to do it, no matter what it may cost me. I consecrate myself completely to you right here and right not. Lead me wherever you want me to go.
Oremus,
+Michael pp

Father Francis Dominic wrote the other day:
In Zechariah 2:1-13 the prophet “lifted up his eyes, and saw, and behold a man, with a measuring line in his hand. And he said: Whither goest thou? and he said to me: To measure Jerusalem, and to see how great is the breadth thereof, and how great the length thereof.” (vs 1-2)
This vision symbolizes man determining the strength of the Church by the number of its members. But the Body of Christ in reality, has only one membership list – the Book of Life. And the Lord teaches us here how to really measure the Church.
Another angel comes and tells Zechariah, “And behold the angel that spoke in me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him. And he said to him: Run, speak to this young man, saying: Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls, by reason of the multitude of men, and of the beasts in the midst thereof.” (3-4) This was a smaller group of people without a wall,(other translations say towns, villages without a wall) and they were thinking, “Who will come and join this despised group of ours? The other Jews are all living so comfortably in the North, in Babylon. But here we are, a small, despised group trying to build God’s temple. Who is interested in what we are doing?”
The angel came to encourage them and said, “Don’t worry. People from here and there will hear about you and will come and join you one day. Today you may be small. All of God’s work starts very small. But if God can find leaders who will stay true and not compromise His principles, then even if they are small, one day from north, south, east and west those who have a hunger for godliness and reality, will gradually hear of your group, and come and join you because they will recognize that God is in your midst and that you have life.” (read vss 6-11)
The Lord then told them, “I will be to [Jerusalem-the Church], saith the Lord, a wall of fire round about: and I will be in glory in the midst thereof.” (Zechariah 2:5). Everyone has to come through that wall of fire if he is to become a part of the True Church. That fire will burn up all his earthly ambitions and his desire to live for himself. Only then can he become a part of the Body of Christ. Those in the True Church have been baptized, they have been confirmed, they are doing all the right things outwardly, but if they have not walked through that wall of fire and allow it to purge out Self. They would lose their life. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For he that will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25)
Picture a city surrounded by a wall of fire. How can you enter that city? Only by going through the wall of fire. Everything that can be burnt will be burnt up by God as you enter through that wall. Only what cannot be burnt will go through the fire. “Our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). “Which of you can dwell with devouring [consuming] fire?” (Isaiah 33:14).
And then God goes on to say, “I will be the glory in the midst thereof.” (vs 5) If we want the glory of God to be in the Church, then we must allow Him to be a wall of fire around the Church. The two go together. If you say that God’s standards are too high and you throw water on the fire, then God’s glory will not be in the Church either. When the wall of fire goes away, the glory goes away too. The most important thing in a Parish is not how traditional it is but have its members gone through the wall of fire. Do they have the glory of God. Among them. If those two things are there, right doctrine and right Tradition will follow. If those two things are not there, mere Doctrine and Tradition alone are useless.

“Binding and loosing” is a phrase which comes from the rabbis. It refers to the authority to make decisions binding on the people of God.
This authority includes interpreting and applying the Word of God and admitting people to and excommunicating them from the community of faith. For the Jews this meant the community of Israel. For Christians this means the Church.
In Matthew 16:19 Jesus gives this authority over his Church to Peter: “whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.”
In Matthew 18:18, he gives the power to all the apostles: “Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven.”
What the Apostle Peter possessed as an individual, the apostles as a whole possessed as leaders of the Church.
And so we continue to read in Matthew 18:19:
“Again I say to you, that if two of you shall consent upon earth, concerning any thing whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by my Father who is in heaven.”
The word translated “consent” or in other translations “agree” in verse 19, is the Greek word sumphoneo, from which our English word “symphony” is derived. Jesus was referring in these verses to a unity among the Apostles, that would be like a musical symphony. Symphony implies a deep harmony of spirit between those apostles and their successors. Symphony implies a deep harmony of spirit between those Bishops, their successors and their Pope. When the Church is like the symphony produced by a well-conducted orchestra, then (Jesus said) their prayers and their leadership will have such authority that anything they asked for would be granted.
The reason why such a Church could exercise the ‘binding and loosing authority’ was explained by Jesus: “For”, He said, “where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Christ the Head is present with all His authority in the midst of such a Church, and therefore the powers of Hell can never stand against it.
One reason why the Church described in The Acts of the Apostles knew the reality of this authority was because Peter our first Pope and the other apostles together had this harmony.
“All of these (Peter and the other apostles) were persevering with one mind in prayer”….. “And all they that believed, were together….And continuing daily with one ACCORD in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house”…… And they (the apostles and other believers)…..”with one accord lifted up their voice to God”……(Acts 1:14; 2:44,46; 4:24).
Because they were integrated into one spiritual Body under the authority of Christ and His representative here on earth, they could exercise the Lord’s authority in prayer. They were not highly educated, they had no social influence and no financial backing, yet they turned the then-known world upside down for Christ.
Today Satan ridicules the efforts of a disunited Church that says they speak for God but are full of adultery and unnatural affections of all sorts. We have liars, gossipers, hypocrites and lovers of this world flooding our Parishes. Those that call themselves the Church have for a foundation, not the Word of God but a humanistic, modern philosophy that does not and can not avail against Satan.
The Church needs to know again the reality of being one Body united.
A symphony that includes Sacred Scriptures, Apostolic Tradition, and Church’s Magisterium, together playing harmonious music that is conducted by the Holy Spirit, and played for God the Fathers honor and glory!
A Church properly related to each other, growing in love for one another and living in obedience to God is the greatest threat to the kingdom of the Devil on earth. Satan dreads nothing else as much as that. Let us make it our prayer that the Lord will help us to live each day in the light of the glorious truth of the Body. As more and more Catholics throughout the world begin to understand and to live by this truth, we shall assuredly see the Church, though small in number, restored to her pristine glory, an instrument in God’s Hands to rout the forces of darkness and a channel of blessing to a needy world. (Written by a friend)