Francisco against Spain and America: The Black Legend

With so many insults, dishonors and vituperations: it is known that he who dishonors and defames one person commits a sin, and even more so he who defames many, and much more so he who defames a republic or a nation (...) I do not know why las Casas wants to condemn a hundred people for the actions of one; and why he wants to attribute to a thousand people what has been done by ten; and he defames all those who have been here and are still here...

Fr. Toribio de Benavente, Historia de los indios de la Nueva España, Herederos de J. Gili, Barcelona, 1914, pg. 270.

In the year of our Lord 1555, a humble Franciscan friar from Tlaxcala sent a letter to the Emperor Charles I of Spain. This epistle, the Letter from Fray Toribio de Motolinía to Emperor Charles V, is one of the most extraordinary historical documents ever written. It is the absolute refutation of the Black Legend about the Evangelization of America and contains the greatest epic conceived against the hypocrite and liar Las Casas, written by none other than Brother Toribio de Benavente, called Motolinía “the poor” by the Indians, one of the first Twelve apostles who evangelized Mexico and a tireless defender and evangelizer of its natives.

Today the atrocious shadow of the Black Legend rises again against Spain and its American sisters, a mixture of guilty ignorance, falsehoods and political use to subdue them. But the surprise is that one of the greatest promoters is a Catholic, Hispanic-American and Spanish-speaking pope: Francisco, to make matters worse with the name of the largest evangelizing order on the American continent. Today it is necessary to hear again and bring to our days these testimonies of the past to dissolve the darkness of lies and for the light of truth to shine because our future, the future of all of us, depends on it.

The Black Legend, a neo-colonial instrument

 that there is no human man of any nation, law or condition that reads them, who does not incur mortal abhorrence and hatred and considers all the inhabitants of this New Spain to be the most cruel, most abominable, most unfaithful and detestable people in all the nations under heaven and this is where the writings that are written without charity and that come from a spirit alien to all piety and humanity end up. --Br. Toribio de Benavente, Op. cit. , pg. 269

The mountain of falsehoods poured out about Spain and America is not innocent. Its promoters know this well, as they have not ceased to propagate them since the 16th century despite the fact that today Spain is nothing more than a name which is a shadow of what it was and that the American nations are sunk, demoralized and enslaved. However, the mere idea of ​​a revival of the old Catholic Monarchy along with its civilization frightens the globalist powers, heirs of the German Protestant revolt and the Anglo-Saxon plutocratic empire. Although we do not remember it, they well remember that the Spanish Empire was about to put an end to those new Carthages of Mammon and Baal. Like Cato the Censor, they shout Hispaniae delendae sunt! and they want to sow salt and sulfur in our history and culture so that there is not even the slightest possibility of rebirth of the true Christian West as they try to do with Russia, her East.

The key is given to us by Motolinía himself, who even foresaw its future consequences: "...de las Casas denounces them in writing and in print: well, how can a Spanish nation with its prince who tomorrow will be disgraced by a daring person? Will the Indians and other nations read?” (p. 264). Today it has already happened and not only among others are we the most hateful and abominable nations on earth and that is why we are happy to wear chains, we lash ourselves and, above all, it makes us want to be others, in that kind of slow motion suicide of our own degradation. America dreaming of having been colonized by Anglos and Gabachos or in that artificial paradise that was pre-Columbian hell, and Spain breaking into pseudo-nations and falling into voluntary servitude.

Sentence: Spain does not deserve to live.

This is what the American nations have fallen into, believing they were colonies and slaves when they were free and kingdoms, and Spain, daughter and heir of Rome, mother of towns and cities, evangelizer of the world, believes itself to be the refuse of the world, the refuse of humanity, paragon of monsters.

For this to be propagated by the Pope and his collaborators, knowing their lies and falsehood, they have no choice but to call him... Francisco the Pharisee, to some I say white and to others black.

I marvel at how Your Majesty (...) have been able to suffer for so long a man so tiresome, restless and importunate, boisterous and argumentative in matters of religion, so restless, so poorly raised, so insulting and harmful and so restless (...) For a few canons that de las Casas heard, he dares a lot, and his disorder seems very great and his humility little; He thinks everyone makes mistakes and only he gets it right...

Br. Toribio de Benavente, op. cit ., pg.260

What can we say about a man who goes beyond saying this...

“We are children of a great conscience. Because the work of Spain in America, more than a company, was a Mission. A mission of the Spanish people who poured into these lands with the best they had: their culture and their faith. Mission of the conquerors who in fifty years traveled the continent on foot, founding towns and mixing, without fear, with the Indians.”

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Speech on May 27, 1975 on the occasion of National Day at the University of El Salvador

to go on to state this other thing...?

The Bicentennial of that cry for independence of Latin America. That was a cry born from the awareness of lack of freedoms, of being squeezed, plundered, subjected to the circumstantial conveniences of the powerful in power.?

Francisco, Speech on July 7, 2015 in the Bicentennial Park of Quito

Not to mention his constant request for forgiveness for the evangelization of America and even for invented crimes such as the graves of murdered indigenous children in Canada. What are we doing, Francisco? Could it be that you are changing your discourse according to your worldly interests and conveniences? Of course, where are the major denunciations of the massacres of Christians in Africa, the Middle East, and India? Silence. Where is the philippics against world plutocracy and its tyrannical plans? Dialogue and hugs with Rothchild. Where is the condemnation of the oppression of China's martyrdom church? Secret agreements with Xi. “A dead moro, great spear”, as they say in my land. This is today's stuff, not fake antiques from yesteryear. The dead neither answer nor threaten, fuel the monkey even if you defame saints, entire nations, to the Church itself and to God himself. With the powerful of today there is no caulking but incense.

And what can we say about the bunch of nonsense, imbecilities, very politically correct, historical inventions, nonsense and nonsense that is contained in that delusional Vatican document called: Joint note on the “Doctrine of discovery” of the Dicastery for Culture and Education and the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development , published with the consent of the pontiff?

It is so cool to cite Sublimis Deus of 1537! But they forget that in 1497 the enslavement of the Indians was prohibited, that in 1504 Isabel la Católica granted them full citizenship rights in her Testament, which had the status of law of the Kingdom, and that the Laws of Burgos of Fernando the Catholic date from 1512. Now, I do not know why the Protestant powers or Gallican France would be interested in the granting of those lands discovered by the Vicar of Christ for their evangelization when the doctrine of predestination gave greater rights over those countries, not to mention the lack of finicky of all the ancient empires without so much justifying talk. But the pearl of self-righteousness and hypocrisy is this: ““The Church is also aware of the fact that the content of these documents has been manipulated for political purposes by competing colonial powers, to justify immoral acts against indigenous populations (…) . ” The Popes of the Renaissance were political fools: the Borgias, Farnese, Medici... who didn't know anything or, worse, didn't want to.

By the way, since they are a bunch of idiots or, worse, unscrupulous manipulators, they do not believe that this alleged doctrine of discovery was already refuted and destroyed by the School of Salamanca in the 16th century at its bases, and also with Saint Thomas and not with Boff. Of course, admitting it would be the collapse of politically correct theories and the end of the pretense of breaking with the Church of the past that so many liberationist priests, so many modernist theologians, so many progressive bishops, so many synodal conferences and so many globalist popes want to sell us.

We only have one question left to ask and that is

What have you done, what have you done of any use?

showing that he loves a lot (...) and that he only wants to defend and favor them more than anyone else; He spent very little time here if he wasn't carrying them and tiring them.

Br. Toribio de Benavente, op. cit . pg. 261

Talk and slander, nothing and smoke, death and slavery. A lot of denunciation, a lot of lying forgiveness, a lot of defamation against the thousands of friars, priests, lay people, kings, governors and it does not reach their heels. Motolinía was persecuted for forty years for his defense of the Indians while he evangelized thousands. The Religious friars and other orders, the civil authorities and the people made Christ known, baptized and catechized, erected churches, eliminated practices such as cannibalism, sacrifices, mistreatment of women and abortion, built hospitals, established and built schools, made roads, promoted agriculture, livestock and manufacturing, defended justice and law, created culture and unparalleled beauty, saved languages ​​and cultures. And you dare to insult them, to spit on their memory,

What have you done? What have they have done? Hypocrites who look at the speck of another's eye and at your beams. You scream hysterically about the alleged massacres of the past but you remain silent when you organized militias and terrorist groups that bloodied all of Latin America for your totalitarian revolutionary dreams. You furiously attack the American nations with your pret-a-porter indigenism of a university that atomizes countries and leaves them at the mercy of multinationals and globalitarians. You kill the only hopes of rebirth of our people, of their unity and of our history with the applause of plutocrats and hawks. And, above all, you destroy the Faith that gives life in abundance, that redeems every man and elevates him to be an adopted son of God, restoring the worst of paganism and the tyrannies of yesteryear. Motolinía foresaw it well because you are burdening them and tiring them with your madness and pettiness.

You cannibalize the Church, so I'm not surprised that your sympathies go to the anthropophagous cults instead of their victims...

Conclusion

Only the truth sets us free; Motolinía's entire letter is a demand from the truth, asking that all abuse be given by name and date. America, Spain and the Church are sick with lies, a poison that kills the soul. The Popes were not confused when they called Ibero-America the Continent of Hope, which with its lights and shadows is the only living germ of Christianity, since the only culture that frontally opposed destructive modernity was the Hispanic culture in the West. Our mere shadow fills modernity with panic and fear. That is why it tries to divide and destroy us, defame our past, sow our future possibilities with sulfur and destroy us forever, so that it does not rise again as the katejón that it was and that it can be again. It is in our hands, with the help of God, that it not achieve it, no matter by who, including Francis and his Court of Miracles in search of World Cup chaplaincy.

Our Lady of Christendom Pilgrimage: Covadonga

Oviedo to Covadonga: July 2023

Next Pilgrimage: July 27-29 2024

Cardinard Gerhard Müller: Bishop Strickland Should Not Resign

Cardinal Gerhard Müller: “Yes, it is terrible what is being done to Bishop Strickland, an abuse of office against the divine right of the episcopate. If I could advise Bishop Strickland..."

Rome (kath.net) Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, responded exclusively to kath.net press inquiries about the events surrounding Bishop Joseph Strickland, Diocese of Tyler (US state of Texas). Background: Bishop Strickland is a faithful, popular and scandal-free bishop who is currently rumored to be being forced to resign by Pope Francis.

Yes, what is being done to Bishop Strickland is terrible, an abuse of the divine right of the episcopate.

If I could advise Bishop Strickland, he should definitely not resign because then they could wash their hands in innocence.

According to the commandment of justice, a bishop can only be deposed by the Pope if he is guilty of something bad (heresy, schism, apostasy, a crime or totally unpriestly behavior), for example the pseudonym that insults God and cheats people of their salvation -Blessing of people of both or the same sex in extramarital relationships.

Arbitrary removal as bishop of a diocese in which a bishop is appointed by Christ Himself as its own shepherd undermines the authority of the Pope, as has historically happened with the undignified office haggling under the Avignonese Papacy (This loss of trust was one of the main reasons for the separation of Reformation Christianity from the Catholic Church and its hatred of the Pope, who, with his arbitrary actions, had put himself in God's place).

According to Catholic teaching, the Pope is by no means the Lord of the Church, but rather, as Christ's representative for the universal Church, the first servant of his Lord, who had to say to Simon Peter, who had just been destined to become the rock of the Church: “Get behind me (Italian Indietro, the true indietrismo), because you have in mind not what God wants, but what people want” (Mt 16:23).

The Pope has no authority from Christ to bully and intimidate good bishops modeled on Christ the Good Shepherd who, in accordance with the episcopal ideal of Vatican II, sanctify, teach and lead the flock of God in the name of Christ, just because they are false friends denounce these good bishops to Francis as enemies of the Pope, while heretical and immoral bishops can do whatever they want or who bother the Church of Christ every day with some other stupidity.

N.B. Bishop Strickland says he will not resign.

Below (from the August 22, 2023 Pastoral Letter) is a summary of the doctrinal points of the Bishop's Summer Pastoral Letters which are intended to clarify any doctrinal confusion present in the Church, especially in light of the upcoming conclusion of the Synod on Synodality in Rome.

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As your spiritual father, I feel it is important to reiterate the following basic truths that have always been understood by the Church from time immemorial, and to emphasize that the Church exists not to redefine matters of faith, but to safeguard the Deposit of Faith as it has been handed down to us from Our Lord Himself through the apostles and the saints and martyrs. Again, hearkening back to St. Paul’s warning to the Galatians, any attempts to pervert the true Gospel message must be categorically rejected as injurious to the Bride of Christ and her individual members.

1. Christ established One Church—the Catholic Church—and, therefore, only the Catholic Church provides the fullness of Christ’s truth and the authentic path to His salvation for all of us.
2. The Eucharist and all the sacraments are divinely instituted, not developed by man. The Eucharist is truly Christ’s Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, and to receive Him in Communion unworthily (i.e. in a state of grave, unrepentant sin) is a devastating sacrilege for the individual and for the Church. (1 Cor 11:27-29) 
3. The Sacrament of Matrimony is instituted by God. Through Natural Law, God has established marriage as between one man and one woman faithful to each other for life and open to children. Humanity has no right or true ability to redefine marriage. 
4. Every human person is created in the image and likeness of God, male or female, and all people should be helped to discover their true identities as children of God, and not supported in a disordered attempt to reject their undeniable biological and God-given identity. 
5. Sexual activity outside marriage is always gravely sinful and cannot be condoned, blessed, or deemed permissible by any authority inside the Church. 
6. The belief that all men and women will be saved regardless of how they live their lives (a concept commonly referred to as universalism) is false and is dangerous, as it contradicts what Jesus tells us repeatedly in the Gospel. Jesus says we must “deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him.” (Matt 16:24) He has given us the way, through His grace, to victory over sin and death through repentance and sacramental confession. It is essential that we embrace the joy and hope, as well as the freedom, that come from repentance and humbly confessing our sins. Through repentance and sacramental confession, every battle with temptation and sin can be a small victory that leads us to embrace the great victory that Christ has won for us. 
7.  In order to follow Jesus Christ, we must willingly choose to take up our cross instead of attempting to avoid the cross and suffering that Our Lord offers to each of us individually in our daily lives. The mystery of redemptive suffering—i.e. suffering that Our Lord allows us to experience and accept in this world and then offer back to Him in union with His suffering—humbles us, purifies us, and draws us deeper into the joy of a life lived in Christ. That is not to say that we must enjoy or seek out suffering, but if we are united to Christ, as we experience our daily sufferings we can find the hope and joy that exist amidst the suffering and persevere to the end in all our suffering. (cf. 2 Tim 4:6-8)

In the weeks and months ahead, many of these truths will be examined as part of the Synod on Synodality. We must hold fast to these truths and be wary of any attempts to present an alternative to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or to push for a faith that speaks of dialogue and brotherhood, while attempting to remove the fatherhood of God. When we seek to innovate upon what God in His great mercy has given us, we find ourselves upon treacherous ground. The surest footing we can find is to remain firmly upon the perennial teachings of the faith.

Regrettably, it may be that some will label as schismatics those who disagree with the changes being proposed. Be assured, however, that no one who remains firmly upon the plumb line of our Catholic faith is a schismatic. We must remain unabashedly and truly Catholic, regardless of what may be brought forth. We must be aware also that it is not leaving the Church to stand firm against these proposed changes. As St. Peter said, “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (Jn 6:68) Therefore, standing firm does not mean we are seeking to leave the Church. Instead, those who would propose changes to that which cannot be changed seek to commandeer Christ’s Church, and they are indeed the true schismatics.

I urge you, my sons and daughters in Christ, that now is the time to make sure you stand firmly upon the Catholic faith of the ages. We were all created to seek the Way, the Truth and the Life, and in this modern age of confusion, the true path is the one that is illuminated by the light of Jesus Christ, for Truth has a face and indeed it is His face. Be assured that He will not abandon His Bride.

September 19, 2023 Letter on Matrimony and Holy Orders
The Summer 2023 Pastoral Letters from Bishop Strickland

De Modo Studendi: St. Thomas Aquinas on Studiousness

Here is an explanation of the letter from St. Thomas on the way to study.

How should we study? It is very interesting to see that the Angelic Doctor, the Doctor who amongst human beings is one of those who had gotten the closest to the angels, starts by saying that if we want to learn something we must start with the little streams and not throw ourselves in the sea:

“Ut per rivulos, non statim in mare, eligas introire, quia per faciliora ad difficiliora oportet devenire–because it is wise to work upward from the easier to the more difficult.”

We have to start with little things. Yes, knowledge starts with humility. And humility is, I may say, the truth, the reality. We are not angels. We certainly have an intelligence because we have a soul, a spirit, but this spirit is deeply connected to the body. More than that, the way reality will come to our intelligence will be in a very, very special way: it has to go through the body, through the senses. The angels have infused knowledge. They have a way to know things which is totally different from human beings. And so if we want to know something, we have to start with the most evident, the most simple things. And any kind of educational program has to follow this. This is evident. But we see especially in modern thinking, modern philosophy, this tendency of human pride to pretend to go through other ways. And so the modern thinkers have finished by enclosing the human intelligence in itself. They have gone even further and have pretended that, finally, it's my intelligence which creates the world–which is obviously a total craziness.

St. Thomas is first going to give us advice about focusing on what we want to know. Avoid dispersion. It is true, our intelligence has an almost infinite capacity to know. We can add and add and add knowledge. But we are like a kind of bottle. If the contents are quasi infinite, we have to go through a little hole. We cannot know everything at the same time. And so, St. Thomas will tell us that we have to stay in our room. We must not go out:

“Cellam frequenter diligas si vis in cellam(1) vinariam introduci. Love to stay in your own room, the place where you study, if you want to come one day into the wine cellar,” which, of course, is heaven, finally.

“Nihil quaere penitus defactis aliorum. Never pry into other people's business.”

Take care of yourself, you have enough to learn. There are plenty of things which are totally useless. All this gossiping about what others do, just forget that if you want to really know what you have to know.

“De verbis et factis saecularium nullatenus te intromittas. Don't throw yourself into worldly things.” Don't care, once again, about the world and worldly things.

“Discursus super omnia fugias. Fly away from these disputes,” we may say, “these endless discussions.” (2)

“Non respicias a quo audias, sed quidquid boni dicatur, memoriae recommenda. Don't concentrate on the personality of the speaker, but treasure up in your mind anything profitable he may happen to say.”

It's a very important principle. We have the tendency to accept what comes from, let's say, a good person. We must remember that knowledge may come also (especially when we speak of human knowledge) through other persons. This could be a little bit in contradiction with another principle which is very, very important in the principles given by St. Thomas; it's the second one:

“Conscientiae puritatem amplectere. Cherish purity of conscience.”

We know that St. Thomas had a very special temptation while he was a young man. He had just entered religion and his brother and the family, which was not happy with this, kidnapped St. Thomas. He was, so to say, more or less put in prison and there the brother tried to send bad girls to St. Thomas to really corrupt him, and St. Thomas reacted very logically against this temptation. After having fought, he fell asleep and an angel came with a very special cincture, and from this time on St. Thomas had no temptation of the flesh. And it is very clear when we read the teaching of St. Thomas that he makes a very special link between purity of heart and clarity of knowledge. And on the other hand, he will say that if somebody's throwing himself in the dirt of the world, he will finish by being stupid. He will end up in stupidity.

Of course, there are many degrees there. But there is a link, my dear Brethren, my dear Children, there is a very important link between your moral life and what you know, your knowledge, the way your intelligence works. That does not mean that if you are pure of heart you will know all the sciences. What is natural remains at the natural level. But it means that you will have the knowledge which brings you to heaven. And the good Lord will give you through another channel the light and knowledge which lead to heaven. Our Lord said to His Apostles: “The Holy Ghost shall teach you everything, all that I have taught you.” The Holy Ghost gives to the soul, communicates to the soul in the state of grace the higher knowledge which is not of this earth, which is, of course, of the Faith. And if we want to have this knowledge which is the highest, which is to know about God, about our end, we need to foster more than anything this purity of conscience.

What is very interesting when we read this letter of St. Thomas is that he is not only speaking of purity.
“Omnibus te amabilem exhibe. Show yourself amiable, affable, gentle, to everybody.”

Be kind. Practice charity. St. Thomas is giving us as a means to knowledge the practice of charity. He's also going to say that:

“Nemini te multum familiarem ostendas, quia nimia familiaritas parit contemptum. We should not show too much familiarity, because familiarity breeds contempt.”

“Sanctorum et bonorum imitari vestigia non omitas. Don't forget to imitate the examples of the saints and of the good.”

Isn't it surprising to see all this advice which is totally linked with the moral life. And St. Thomas is insisting on this level too, if we want to know and to know better. We have to remember all these connections between the virtues. All the virtues are linked together, and this is more than ever true on the level of the supernatural level of grace. And we know that all these virtues with grace grow together. That means if we grow in charity, at the same time God is going to make us grow in faith. If we grow in faith, at the same time we will grow in hope, in justice, in charity. They are all linked and connected. It is not the same with defects, but nevertheless we can understand that if we don't care about advancing, of straining towards perfection, we will not get to knowledge as perfectly as we are expected to.
“Ea quae legis et audis, fac ut intelligas. What you hear and what you read, take care to understand.”

If you leave in your mind things in doubt, if they are not clear to you, you will not remember them. They will just stay there foggy, and you will not go ahead.

“De dubiis te certifica–and if you have something which leaves you in doubt, take care to resolve this doubt.”

“Et quidquid poteris in armariolo mentis reponere satage–and take care to put in the drawers of your mind all that you can.” Make use of your memory. Remember. Be attentive.

“Altiora te ne quaesieris” That's the last advice. “Don't look for things which are too high for you.”
Stay in your place. This is the best way to go ahead.

“Ilia sequens vestigia, frondes et fructus in vinea Domini Sabaoth utiles, quandiu vitam habueris, proferes et produces. Haec sectatus fueris, ad id attingere poteris, quod affectas. By following this path, you will throw out leaves and bear serviceable fruit in the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts all the days of your life. If you stick to these counsels, you will reach the goal of your desires.”

If you follow this advice given by St. Thomas, you will reach this knowledge, you will follow St. Thomas, a saint. He is one of the brightest intelligences which the Catholic Church enjoys. At the time of the Council of Trent two books were put on the altar during this council: the Holy Scripture and his Summa. And Pope Leo XIII, who insisted on reviving the teaching of St. Thomas in the 19th century, said that every article of the Summa, which is just one of the many books he wrote but the best known article–and there are about 3,000 of these articles in the Summa–is a miracle.

We know that when he had a problem, when he had a difficulty, St. Thomas went to the tabernacle to get the answer. Well, he even went into the tabernacle, which is, of course, something we can just admire and not imitate. He did put his head into the tabernacle! we may say, to be as close as possible to our Lord. Of course, that's the physical expression, but which says a lot. Be close to God. Be close to the Word of God. The Word of God is our Lord Jesus Christ. Word means knowledge. God Who knows Himself–that's Jesus: He is Science. He wants to communicate to us this science which saves. He wants to communicate to us what He knows of God, which is the highest knowledge, which is the one which, if we know it, we know everything, and if we don't have it, we know nothing.

So let us go today to St. Thomas, and let us ask him for his intercession that we may follow this imitation, that we may at the same time, of course, form our reason, our intelligence in this knowledge which God wants us, which He wants you to learn! He wants you to know! And first of all He wants you to know Himself. So let us ask St. Thomas that we may go through all the steps of human knowledge, of the knowledge of the Faith, to one day the highest knowledge, which is to see God as He is in heaven; at the same time linked, bound, with this knowledge, that we may practice all the virtues and especially the virtues towards our neighbor and towards ourselves so that we may all one day be saved and enjoy eternal happiness. Amen.  --SSPX Bishop Fellay

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Plinthos Notes

(1) The “wine cellar” (cellam vinarium) in Precept #6 is a quotation from the Vulgate rendering of Song of Songs 2:4, “introduxit me in cellam vinariam ordinavit in me caritatem” (He brought me into the wine cellar, he ordered charity in me). This little idea, which in the Hebrew is closer to “house of wine” and dynamically, “banquet hall,” becomes important in Medieval spiritual reading of the Song.

(2) This is a common mistranslation of the text. "Discursus" means meandering, a running to and fro, an aimless running about. In the broadest sense the sense is to avoid above all vain distractions, since studiousness consists in fixing the mind on one thing and not on many things. Avoid, above all, we could say, the internet, the world-wide-web, social media, every manner of distraction, frivolity and curiosity, which are the greatest enemy of study.

In his Apology for the Religious Orders (Liber contra Impugnantes Dei Cultum et Religionem, 10) St. Thomas says this about the evils of "wandering about" ("discursus"): 

Response: But, we must note that the Sacred Scripture blames three classes of men who wander about. The first class consists of those whose restless and changeable class disposition causes them to roam hither and thither, and whose journeys produce no fruit.The second class is composed of those who travel about in hopes of material profit. The third class is formed of those whose journeys are undertaken from some evil motive, and to accomplish some sinful end. Of all these three orders of men, St. Jude writes: woe to them! For they go the way of Cain, and abandon themselves to Balaam’s error for the sake of gain, in which is shown their intention of doing harm. These are blemishes on your love-feasts, while they feast with you without fear, feeding themselves. They are waterless clouds carried along by the winds: which touches upon their concupiscence impelling their motion; autumn trees without fruit, which shows that they roam fruitlessly from fickleness (Jude 1:11–12). By these words is typified the unfruitfulness of journeys which are undertaken through frivolous motives.

Ad 1: The Apostle blames the men of whom we have been speaking for the levity, or inordinate desires, which cause them to travel abroad. The Gloss says that the words of St. Jude refer to those who seek food by unworthy means or inquisitive disquiet.

Ad 2: St. Augustine, when he speaks of monks, who, although they bear no commission, are never settled, never quiet, means that their journeys are undertaken from frivolous or avaricious motives. This is clear by the context, wherein he blames them for running about in quest of lucre.

Ad 3: The words quoted from Mark 6 and Luke 10 plainly allude to men whose inordinate desires induce them to run from house to house in hopes of being supplied more abundantly with food by one family than by another.

Ad 4: The text of Isaiah 30:7 warns us against that inconstancy of mind, which tempts the man whose soul does not rest in God, to flit from one object to another, finding rest in none. The words, in their literal sense, refer to the Jews who, not satisfied with the divine assistance accorded to them, desired to go down into Egypt to seek protection from the Egyptians.

Ad 5: The words quoted from Jeremias are likewise a warning against that love of wandering about which arises from lightness of mind. This appears by the context, these people have loved to move their feet. For, they who move easily, delight in motion. And the Gloss, on this passage, explains the movement of the feet to mean movement of the affections.

Respondeo: Sciendum tamen quod discursus tripliciter in sacra Scriptura vituperatur: uno modo quando ex inconstantia mentis procedit vel animi levitate, et hoc praecipue accidit in illis qui sine aliquo fructu discurrunt; uno modo quando ex inconstantia mentis procedit vel animi levitate, et hoc praecipue accidit in illis qui sine aliquo fructu discurrunt; alio modo quando ex concupiscentia terrenorum ad lucra quaerenda discurritur; tertio modo quando incitantur malitia ad aliqua mala procuranda. Et de his tribus habetur in canonica Iudae 11–12: vae illis qui in via Cain abierunt et errore Balaam mercede effusi sunt, in quo ostenditur intentio nocendi; hi sunt in epulis suis maculae, convivantes sine timore, semetipsos pascentes, nubes sine aqua quae a ventis circumferuntur, in quo tangitur concupiscentia impellens ad motum; arbores autumnales infructuosae, in quo ostenditur quod ex levitate sine fructu discurrunt.

Ad 1: Quod ergo Apostolus arguit quosdam de inquietudine, discursum ex levitate procedentem reprehendit, vel etiam ex concupiscentia, quod patet ex hoc quod in Glossa subiungitur: qui foeda cura pastum sibi quaerebant per curiosam inquietudinem.

Ad 2: Similiter quod dicit Augustinus quosdam monachos nusquam fixos, nusquam missos, nusquam stantes, nusquam sedentes, arguit eorum discursum ex levitate procedentem; vel potius ex cupiditate, unde subiungit quod propter lucrum quaerendum discurrebant, et in hoc reprehensibiles erant.

Ad 3: Quod etiam dicitur Marc. VI, 10 et Luc. X, 7 manifeste prohibet discursum de domo in domum, idest de hospitio in hospitium: ad quod frequenter concupiscentia inducit, ut scilicet contingit in illis quibus ea quae habent non sufficiunt lautiora quaerentes, unde de domo in domum discurrunt.

Ad 4: Quod autem dicitur Isai. XXX, 7 pertinet ad animi levitatem per quam homo qui in Deo fixus non est ad diversa discurrit in quibus quietem invenire possit; unde hoc ad litteram dicitur contra Iudaeos qui divino auxilio non contenti in Aegyptum descendere volebant ut aegyptiorum patrocinio salvarentur.

Ad 5: Similiter quod dicitur Ier. XIV, 10 ad discursum ex levitate procedentem referendum est, quod patet ex hoc quod dicit: qui dilexit movere pedes suos; eis enim qui ex levitate moventur, hoc ipsum quod circueunt appetibile videtur: unde Glossa exponit ibi motum pedum de motu affectuum.

St. Thomas Aquinas, An Apology for Religious Orders, ed. Fr. John Procter, Sands and Co.: London, 1902, 268-270.

Parfum for Men

Here are the different categories of perfumes for men, with the different concentration of fragrance in each type.

It is strange that pure perfume (parfum) and eau de parfum (EDP) may have the same concentration of 15-20%. The fact that they overlap means that there probably are many parfums which are actually only eau de parfum in their concentration, but at the much higher price parfum price.

U.S. Surgeon General: "Our Epidemic of Lonliness and Isolation"

The U.S. Surgeon General has issued an Advisory.

"Our Epidemic of Lonliness and Isolation 2023. The U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community."

Going to Church is an essential--vitally necessary--human activity. It is the present day encounters of men with Jesus Christ. Just as men had to personally encounter Jesus Christ on earth to obtain a miracle, so men must become members of His Church, the Catholic Church, to seek salvation, and go to Church.

The Catholic religion requires social interaction among its members, and it is primarily through the ministry of priests (in persona Christi) in the seven sacraments. The in-person social interaction of the Catholic sacramental life is vital for the health of the members of the Church. That health and salvation includes the well-being of Catholics on earth and does not end with death. The Christian life in Christ ensures eternal life. That is what "salvation" (salus) means; it means health. The greatest solution and safeguard to the epidemic of lonliness is Catholic divine worship: social interaction with Jesus Christ Himself, in the life and activity of the Church, especially daily Mass and worthy Holy Communion, being fed daily by Christ with the Body and Blood of Christ. Frequent confession is also essential to that worthy Communion.

This is the theology of "communionum sanctorum." Man needs to receive the sacraments in the Church of Jesus Christ in order to receive and to thereby be in union with God--Jesus Christ--and to thereby live a truly human life in the communion of saints: with the Church militant (on earth), the Church suffering (in purgatory) and the Church triumphant (in heaven). Holy Communion is necessary for life!

That is what the word "communion" means. It means union of persons, principally union of men with God is holy worship and holiness of life. Personal daily relationship is the essence of the true religion of Christ and of our Catholic faith. Essential activity! The most essential/necessary activity!

Do not let any man deceive you into thinking that there is any other more important activity than that of Catholic worship, or that Catholic worship is ever dispensable. No government, no health official, no authority on earth can eliminate the need that man has for Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Every one needs to worship God in the person of Jesus Christ. That is vital. It is the essence of our Catholic faith! We need to be touched by God and we need to touch God, and we do that most normally in the living of the Catholic sacramental life.

Thank you Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy for acknowledging the social aspect of that vital need for Jesus Christ in ordinary Catholic piety and the unity of believers in the practice and living of the Catholic faith.