by Thomas Michael and David Rodríguez
Read Part 1 here.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in The Fatima Crusader Issue 128 (Winter 2021). Ongoing news from the Vatican clearly indicate the crisis within the Church has only worsened since its printing. It is reasonable to conclude that God is permitting grave evils within the Church (and world) to open our eyes, urging all Catholics to respond with fidelity and obedience to Our Lady of Fatima. Her Message of prayer, penance, and reparation – Her Immaculate Heart – is the world’s only solution.
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Cracks in the Walls of the Church Militant
Through her excruciating ordeal, Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified learned quite a bit about the activities of demons. She remarked, “The devil is like the wind; he can get through the smallest cracks.” Thus, if given even the slightest opportunity to infiltrate, the devil will make his way through tiny fissures. Therefore, great vigilance is required. “Windows and doors” to the ‘spirit of the world’ must be sealed, lest the devil be allowed a point of entry. And like the wind, he sometimes enters forcefully, but at other times subtly.
In calling the Second Vatican Council, Pope John XXIII reportedly said it was time to “throw open the windows of the Church and let the fresh air of the spirit blow through,” contending that the Church was too “stuffy” and needed to look to the world. The world – which is opposed to Christ (cf. Jn 1:10-11) – was called to act as leaven upon the Church Militant!
Years later, reflecting on the aftermath of the Council, Pope Paul VI said, “Through some mysterious crack – no, it’s not mysterious – through some crack, the smoke of satan has entered the Sanctuary.” As a result of this opening, it appears that the devil, like the wind, made his way into the Church. Dare we say that the Church Militant is, in a sense, “possessed” at the present moment?
Recall the famous ‘vision’ of Pope Leo XIII from October 13, 1884 (33 years to the day before the Miracle of the Sun). In a dialogue echoing the Book of Job, the devil requested and received from Christ more power and time (~100 years) to work towards the destruction of the Church. To prevent this evil, Pope Leo commanded that the Prayer to Saint Michael should be said after every Low Mass. Pope Paul VI regrettably and disastrously rescinded this decree. Today, as insane as it sounds, there are some bishops and priests who actively prohibit the recitation of this prayer after Mass.
In the 1950s, former Communist Party activist Bella Dodd testified that communist agents had reached high positions of ecclesial power with the aim of undermining the Church. Credible evidence exists that many prelates have been, and may still be, members of freemasonic organizations. Father Malachi Martin wrote that satanic rituals were performed within the Vatican in the 1960s so as to enthrone satan therein. Pope John Paul II permitted an idol to be worshipped on the very altar of a Catholic church during the 1986 Assisi ‘Prayer for Peace’ event. And then, just before the ‘outbreak’ of COVID-19 and repressive lockdowns, Pope Francis permitted pagan worship of a demonic Amazonian idol in the Vatican Gardens and in Saint Peter’s Basilica!
This is only a short catalog of diabolical activities, but are not these actions alone more than sufficient to allow the Church Militant to fall under the power of a strong diabolical influence? And yet, by God’s omnipotence and eternal wisdom, He could still maintain His Mystical Body in a supernaturally pure and immaculate state. Yes, this is a great mystery and we thank God for providing Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified as a type of our present state of affairs, for indeed it strengthens our faith in this time of great confusion and unprecedented crisis.
Hallmarks of Possession
Let us consider some basic hallmarks of demonic possession, and whether these same attributes are being observed en masse within the Church Militant today. When a person is possessed, demons have a certain control over physical activities of the body, producing unusual external acts by the possessed person.
If we look at the Church Militant, externally she does not seem to be acting “herself.” Just as a possessed man’s normal way of being is suppressed, the Church’s most perfect external manifestation has also been suppressed. Her most ancient Rite of Mass, which Saint John Henry Newman called the most venerable of all rites and the most beautiful thing on this side of Heaven, is being violently attacked by Francis and his close advisors in the episcopacy. They have now expressed the explicit intent of eliminating the Church’s most ancient and venerable Rite, despite its Apostolic origins and immutable protection by the Council of Trent and Pope St. Pius V’s bull Quo Primum (1570).
Call to mind the Gerasene demoniac mentioned in the Gospels who violently attacked himself and stripped himself of his clothing. After the Council, churches violently stripped bare their altars and sanctuaries, and the clergy and religious threw off their traditional religious garb. Following Bergoglio’s motu proprio, it’s as if the Church Militant is stripping herself of her very life.
Our Lord promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church. Did He not also promise that He and the Holy Ghost will remain with and guide the Church for all ages? Did Our Lady not promise that in the end, Her Immaculate Heart will triumph? If, amidst this great trial and suffering akin to possession, Catholics remain faithful to the Church, they will also share in the victory and glory that is destined to come with the great Marian age of renewal and peace. For just as after the Little Arab’s forty days of possession had ended, an angel from Heaven took possession of her person, so too will the Church experience a heavenly age of great renewal and peace after this present trial finally comes to an end.
Another hallmark of the demonic is blatant dishonesty. During a possession, demons often speak lies through the mouth of the possessed, not only for the sake of blaspheming God, but also to create confusion. From pulpits the world over, many lies and false doctrines are being preached. Among other things, sins against God have been replaced with sins against ‘Mother Nature.’ Perennial and immutable moral teachings on things like the death penalty are being abandoned; yet, Communion for the divorced and “remarried” is tolerated and even encouraged. Now the “covidian religion” of masks, jabs, social distancing, and lockdowns, supersedes the Gospel and Divine Revelation.
When gauging the number of demons who wreak havoc on the priesthood today, we might even say they are “legion, for [they] are many.” Some demons are described in the Bible as “impure spirits,” which explains the failings against chastity of so many clergy and consecrated religious. Furthermore, false religions have received implicit approval several times at ‘interfaith’ prayer meetings, the Assisi meetings being among the most egregious. Just as demons cause confusion and division, so has the papacy in these unhappy times.
Demons frequently coax a possessed person into committing acts of self-harm. With COVID lockdowns and vaccine passports, the faithful have been deprived of the healing remedies of the Sacraments, in most cases with the explicit approval and encouragement of the local bishop. We might imagine this as an example of a possessed Church Militant doing what it can to maim the members of her body.
Learn from the Saints Who Serve as Types
To counter false notions and fears, let us again turn back to the example of Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified. Recall that in the case of the possession of the Little Arab, her soul was preserved from any and all stain of sin. Thus, she was sinless and unblemished in spite of what was occurring externally. While demons were controlling her body and even speaking through her very mouth, her soul and true identity remained untouched. Blasphemy may have come out of her mouth, and violence committed by her hands, but it was the demons who moved her mouth and body, and her soul was in no way complicit; thus, her innocence remained.
If she does serve as a type, then her experience could analogously apply to the Church Militant. While the Church’s material and external elements may be within the reach of demonic infiltration and sinful men, in its essence the Church remains untouched and unblemished. The Catholic Church is – and will always be – the perfect, faithful, and spotless Bride of Christ. Her four marks will perpetually remain: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. And she will always be the sole and exclusive religion willed by God, through which alone mankind can find salvation and the forgiveness of sins. This remains true even when we are unable to perceive the Church’s holiness with our human reason and senses. Faith is required! And we are at present undergoing a great test of faith.
Consider what would have happened if the Little Arab had despaired and given up hope despite Our Lord’s promise that her soul would remain untouched? She may not have been saved, and she would not have ultimately been exalted for four days by the angel from Heaven for her victory over the demons.
How much worse would it be for a faithful Catholic to give up hope during this time of a seeming Church possession, when we have a much surer and infallible guarantee of final victory for the Church than the Little Arab did for herself? A private vision of Our Lord, even if authentic, does not carry the same degree of surety as does Christ’s public infallible decrees found in Scripture – not to mention the dogmas of the Catholic Church.
What Do We Do?
So, what is a faithful Catholic to do in these times of diabolic confusion and ostensible possession? It is clear that something is wrong, and has been for decades. The smoke of satan has entered the Sanctuary. Is one to despair and leave the Church? Ought one to jump off of Noah’s Ark amidst the stormy seas? Is one to doubt the infallible truths of the Faith? Of course not! In possessing someone, the devils have the end goal of convincing the person to give up hope, to despair, to believe God has abandoned them, and ultimately to commit suicide. So, too, does the devil wish to cause despair, loss of faith, and self-destruction among Catholics via defection from the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
Reflect upon St. Matthew’s narration of Jesus calming the sea (Mt 8:23-27). It is by God’s design that this event is immediately preceded by Jesus coming into Peter’s house (the Church) to heal and to exorcise demons (vv. 14-17) and is immediately succeeded by the exorcism of the Gerasene demons (vv. 28-32). Christ lay asleep in the boat during the storm, yet remained in full control of the vessel’s progress and safety. So, too, Christ the King remains in complete control of the Church Militant and of all events on earth right now. He is waiting for the perfect occasion to calm the diabolical storm – namely, via the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Our Lord promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church. Did He not also promise that He and the Holy Ghost will remain with and guide the Church for all ages? Did Our Lady not promise that in the end, Her Immaculate Heart will triumph?
If, amidst this great trial and suffering akin to possession, Catholics remain faithful to the Church, they will also share in the victory and glory that is destined to come with the great Marian age of renewal and peace.
For just as after the Little Arab’s forty days of possession had ended, an angel from Heaven took possession of her person, so too will the Church experience a heavenly age of great renewal and peace after this present trial finally comes to an end.