Mystery of a Pontificate: Saintly Pope Reigned During 'Release' of Dark Spirits (Pius IX)

Spirit Daily ^ | n/a | n/a

[Pyro7480]

...It was the conclusion of one famous exorcist in Germany that "since the pontificate of Pius IX, the Church has entered into a period of severe persecutions.

"The militant Church has to suffer a twofold evil: externally, through the persecution of her enemies, and interiorly, through the corruption of her members," he said, basing his ideas on what spirits were commanded to reveal. "And since Pius IX ascended the throne, this twofold tendency is constantly increasing. The cause of this heavy burden laid upon the Church is due, according to the confessions of the demons, to the unusually strong and numerous invasion of diabolical spirits upon this earth."

...A very holy man, Pius IX was born on May 13, 1792, with a childhood filled with an intense religious life and mortifications. He was especially known for his Marian and Eucharistic devotions. It is said that St. Vincent Pallotti predicted he would become Pope... which indeed occurred.

Indeed, as one biography points out: "It is astounding how fearlessly he fought, in the midst of many and severe trials, against the false liberalism which threatened to destroy the very essence of faith and religion. In his Encyclical 'Quanta Cura' of 8 December, 1864, he condemned sixteen propositions touching on errors of the age. This Encyclical was accompanied by the famous 'Syllabus errorum,' a table of eighty previously censured propositions bearing on pantheism, naturalism, rationalism, indifferentism, socialism, communism, freemasonry, and the various kinds of religious liberalism."

Beatified in September of 2000, Pius spent part of his pontificate in exile and was the one who proclaimed the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin as a dogma of the Church. Perhaps this helped spur the attack -- or blunted it....

[Pyro7480]

Read the full article at the link above. I don't know much about the Spirit Daily website, but since the full article seems to point to a positive viewpoint towards Medjugorje, I think care should be taken when reading the full article.

That being said, I've come to greatly admire Pope Blessed Pius IX. I've read two biographies that were written recently, and I've come to ask for his intercession daily in my "mini-litany."

I recently won an auction on eBay of a photograph of Blessed Pius. It came on the mail on Monday. It apparently dates from the 1870s, according to the dealer. I've found the same photograph on Catholic Forum's gallery for Blessed Pius IX, so between that and its appearance, I think it is legitimate. It looks like this:

Blessed Pius IX, pray for us!

[Pyro7480]

Catholic ping!

[trisham]

Interesting article. I'm curious, though about this: but since the full article seems to point to a positive viewpoint towards Medjugorje, I think care should be taken when reading the full article.

I confess to being in the dark about this. Is it frowned upon by the Church?

[Pyro7480]

BTTT

[Pyro7480]

It is not approved by the Church at all.

[trisham]

I found this:

"5) As the local bishop, I maintain that regarding the events of Medjugorje, on the basis of the investigations and experience gained thus far, throughout these last 25 years, the Church has not confirmed a single 'apparition' as authentically being the Madonna. The fact that during these 25 years there has been talk of tens of thousands of 'apparitions' does not contribute any authenticity to these events, which according to the words of our current Pope, whom I encountered during an audience on February 24 this year, commented that at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith they always questioned how all these 'apparitions' could be considered authentic for the Catholic faithful.

"They particularly do not seem to be authentic when it is known beforehand that these so-called 'apparitions' will occur:

http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=7070

[Maeve]

How my grandfather loved Blessed Pius IX. It was such a happy time when Pope John Paul the Great raised him up in 2000.

My late brother was born on the same day as Pius IX which is the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. Reading this makes me also think of my brother which has become such a joyful thought to me and not one that makes the well of grief open up again. God is so very good to us!

All of us are holding you in our prayers, Pyro. I have asked the holy souls of my family who have gone from this world to intercede for you as well. That is a lot of souls on your side, Pyro -- going back to the family of St. Columba from whom we come.

[Maeve]

My grandfather would say it is better to focus on those apparitions approved by the Church like Fatima, Lourdes, La Salette, and back to Walsingham.

I am personally very interested in the partially approved Our Lady of America apparitions of Sr. Mary Ephrem in the USA. Her bishop was her confessor and gave intial approval to the messages from the appartion. It is bizarre to me that something like that apparition is so little known among Americans and Canadians, but everyone knows about these others in far off lands.

[trisham]

Do you live here in the US?

[Maeve]

I was born in Calcutta, India. I used to live in the US (Connecticut, Boston, Chicago, Dallas). My husband's work has taken us to Alberta, Canada now.

[Pyro7480]

All of us are holding you in our prayers, Pyro.

Thank you so much Maeve. Speaking of which, I must thank you all again for your prayers. They have been great appreciated, and I know they have been helpful.

I mentioned in my recent post on my calling that I was unemployed. I have now been hired, and I had my first day yesterday. It's part-time (24-36 hours a week), but it has a good hourly wage, and it's within walking distance of my house. I credit St. Joseph's intercession and all of your prayers for this development. Thanks again! May God bless you and keep you all the days of your life!

[Maeve]

St. Joseph the Worker is mighty!

We believe that as the previous millennium was in many ways a millennium of Our Lady, we are now at the beginning of a millennium when we will grow in knowledge, love, and gratitude of/with/for St. Joseph of Nazareth.

[Maeve]

I should also tell you that I lived in Ireland for quite a while.

[Pyro7480]

How my grandfather loved Blessed Pius IX. It was such a happy time when Pope John Paul the Great raised him up in 2000.

I'm guessing this was "history_matters"? It was your mother's thread about his holy death and how you prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet that helped me get interested in the Divine Mercy devotion, which realy reinvigorated my faith life back in 2002.

My late brother was born on the same day as Pius IX which is the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima.

I guess I didn't pay attention that when I read those biographies! That's an amazing "coincidence" (my mom says that word is just another name for God when He wishes to remain anonymous). I still remember your brother Vincent every Monday at the Miraculous Medal novena at my parish, though I am confident that he is already in Heaven.

[OpusatFR]

"I confess to being in the dark about this. Is it frowned upon by the Church?"

There is a lot of controversy.
http://unitypublishing.com/Apparitions/MedjugorjeIndex.html

It have pretty open mind about things, but I tend to follow the Bishop's discernment.

[Maeve]

Now I'm in tears. Thank you, my dear friend.

I love what your mother said about God remaining anonymous.

[Pyro7480]

We believe that as the previous millennium was in many ways a millennium of Our Lady, we are now at the beginning of a millennium when we will grow in knowledge, love, and gratitude of/with/for St. Joseph of Nazareth.

I think that is why St. Joseph appeared at Fatima with the Christ Child on the day of the Miracle of the Sun.

Also, the "Favorite Prayers to St. Joseph" booklet by TAN Books has an account in it about a 16th-Century prophecy by Isidore of Isolanis, "a pious Dominican" who prophesied that "[w]e are inclined to believe that toward the end of time God will overwhelm St. Joseph with glorious honors. If in the past ages, during the storms of persecution, these honors could not be shown to St. Joseph, we must conclude that they have been reserved for later times."

[Maeve]

What a keen insight, Pyro. That had never crossed my mind.

Yes, I had that prophecy in mind!

[livius]

St. Joseph is indeed wonderful. Ite ad Iosephum!

[trisham]

Thank you. I read a couple of the articles. Very interesting.