In the 1960's, a French Catholic nurse, Marie Carre, attended an auto-crash victim who was brought into her hospital in a city she purposely does not name. The man lingered there near death for a few hours and then died. He had no identification on him, but he had a briefcase in which there was a set of quasi-biographical notes. She kept these notes and read them, and because of their extraordinary content, decided to publish them. The result is this little book, AA-1025-The Memoirs of an Anti Apostle, about a Communist who purposely entered the Catholic priesthood (along with many, many others) with the intent to subvert and destroy the Church from within.

This little book, his strange yet fascinating and illuminating set of biographical notes, tells of his commission to enter the priesthood, his various experiences in the seminary, and the means and methods he used and promoted to help effect from within the auto-dissolution of the Catholic Church.

Absorbing and compelling reading from beginning to end, The Memoirs of an Anti Apostle is must reading for every Catholic today and for all who would understand just what has happened to undermine the Catholic Church since the 1960's. No one will read this book without a profound assent that something just like what is described here must surely have happened on a wide scale in order to have dis-rupted the life of the Catholic Church so dramatically.

An 'easy read' paperback that you will have a hard time putting down once you pick it up!

ADDENDUM - 11/14/06

The Confessions of a Communist Agent On The Attempt to Destroy the Roman Catholic Church from Within

I. Introduction.

This is the story of a Communist agent who infiltrated into the Catholic Church in 1938, went to the Seminary, became a Priest who wielded enormous power behind the scene, participated in the Second Vatican Council, and without the intervention of Pope Paul VI himself he would have destroyed its works. He succeeded, however, in fostering the adoption of ambiguous Council documents which laid the ground work for future experiments by unsuspecting Prelates and Priests. These experiments based on the "Spirit of the Council" are destroying the 2,000-year Traditions of the Church, leading the Catholic faithful on the road to the Great Apostasy, and preparing the Church for the election of the Anti-Pope and for the reception of the coming Anti-Christ. He stated: "'The Spirit of the Council' has become for me a master-trump." The reader should observe that many harmful changes that the agent proposed have been implemented, some in direct disobedience to the the Pope, at the local dioceses throughout the world.

This agent had no name, only a code number AA-1025 given by the Russian Secret Police, meaning the Anti-Apostle number 1025. There had been 1024 agents like him before him. By now there must have been at least several thousands of them in the Catholic Church. Some must have risen to the rank of Archbishop and Cardinal, many of whom could have been heads of Departments in the Curia (Papal government) and religious Congregations. No wonder the 2000-year Traditions of the Church are being slowly demolished and replaced by heresies like Modernism, Arianism, Pelagian, Protestantism, Atheism, Liberation Theology. Nevertheless, Our Lord stated: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18).

Further, Our Lord promised: "Behold, I am with you all days, even unto the consummation of the world." (Matthew 28:20). This should be understood literally, i.e. Our Lord Jesus Christ is living really and truly among the Catholic faithfull in His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity every day on the Altar in the Mass and in all Tabernacles until the end of the world, even during the persecution of the Church by the Anti-Christ. One can cite many Eucharistic miracles throughout centuries to prove this. One of the most famous miracles if that of Lanciano, Italy in 8th century. There, the Host turned into flesh and wine blood. The Eucharistic flesh of Lanciano was examined by Dr. Linoli and Dr. Bertelli in Siena, Italy in 1971. They concluded that the flesh was striated muscular tissue of the myocardium (heart wall) of human origin, and the blood was of type AB. (cf. Joan Carroll Cruz, Eucharistic Miracles, Rockford, Illinois: Tan Books, 1987). The latest miracle was wrought through Julia Kim, a Korean housewife and a stigmatist. On October 31, 1995, Julia visited the Vatican and attended a Mass said by Pope John Paul II. At Communion, she received the Consecrated Host which immediately turned into live flesh and blood on her tongue. This was winessed by the Pope. Its was also witnessed by Msgr. Paik who testified that as the Sacred Host was turning into Flesh and Blood, it also became larger and formed the shape of a heart. This was the 12th Eucharistic miracle that Julia experienced. The 11th was in Naju, South Korea, on September 22, 1995 when the Sacred Host also turned into live Flesh and Blood on her tongue during a Mass celebrated by Bishop Roman Danylak from Toronto, Canada. (For color photos and video of these miracles, write or call Mary's Touch By Mail, P.O. Box 1668, Gresham, OR 97030, Phone: (503) 669-8443, Fax: (503) 669-7023.)

As Our Lord said: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." (Luke 21:33). Thus, the Church will never be destroyed as has been hoped by its enemies but always survive in her faithful remnant.

The Agent died in the hospital after a car accident. The nurse (Marie Carre) who attended him found the memoirs in his brief case. After she read it, she decided to publish the memoirs for the world to know why the Catholic Church has been undergoing destructive changes to the lament of its faithful. The English translation is published under the title AA 1025, The Memoirs of an Anti-Apostle by Marie Carre.

Why Are Catholic Bibles Different?

by Deacon Paul Carlson

Our New Testament canon is identical to that of the Protestants other than some minor translation differences. Our difference lies in the contents of the Old Testament where we have Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch and additions to Esther and Daniel. These books were called apocryphal by the Protestants and deuterocanonical (Second canon) by the Catholics.This has its roots among the Jews back in the three centuries before the beginnings of the Christian Church.

There were two groups of Jews in those days. The Palestinians who worshipped in the temple, used the Hebrew Scripture (Masoretic text), and maintained a separatist religion in which contact with gentiles and Samaritans was prohibited. They had distilled 613 laws from the Torah which governed their conduct.

The other group, a majority, were the Hellenized Jews of the diaspora who lived away from Palestine. The largest centers were found in Rome, Babylon, and Alexandria, Egypt and other major cities of the Mediterranean basin. They were Greek speaking, worshipping in synagogues, and had reduced the law into three demands: circumcision, observing the Sabbath, and abstention from pork. However they also had developed a high moral code centered in the ten commandments.
Origin of the Septuagint (LXX)

During the second temple period more and more of the Diaspora had abandoned the use of Hebrew in their synagogues using Greek instead. Three centuries BCE the Jews at Alexandria asked and received permission from the high priest in Jerusalem to translate the Hebrew Bible into Greek. This was done over the next centuries and finally included the deuterocanonical books as well which they revered and read in their synagogues. This Greek Bible used by the Jews of the Diaspora was called the Septuagint (LXX).

It is most interesting that the codices of the LXX do not isolate the deuterocanonical books as a group but mixes them in with the prophets and the writings indicating that there was no awareness that they were thought to be later or foreign to an already existing Hebrew canon. It is also significant that some of these books were found in the Dead Sea Scrolls of Qumran.

In the early second century the LXX was, like the Church thrown out of the synagogue and Greek speaking Jewish Orthodoxy was supplied with a different text minus the deuterocanonicals, and was subservient to the authority of the Hebrew text and the Pharisaic scribes and Rabbis.
The Church adopts the Septuagint

When Christianity moved out of its Palestinian matrix into the Greek speaking pagan world the LXX became its Bible. Paul

This is an editorial written by an American citizen, published in a Tampa newspaper He did quite a job; didn't he? Read on, please!

IMMIGRANTS,
NOT AMERICANS,
MUST ADAPT.
I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we
are offending some individual or their culture. Since the
terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, we have experienced a surge
in patriotism by the majority
of Americans. However, the dust from the attacks had
barely settled when the "politically correct! " crowd began
complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was
offending others.


I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against
anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to America. Our
population is almost entirely made up of descendants of
immigrants. However, there are a few things that those who
have recently come to our country, and apparently some born
here, need to understand. This idea of America being a
multicultural community
has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national
identity. As Americans, we have our own culture, our own
society, our own language and our own lifestyle. This culture
has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and
victories by millions of men and women who have sought
freedom.

We speak ENGLISH, not Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese,
Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you
wish to become part of our society, learn the language!


"In God We Trust" is our national motto. This is not some
Christian, right wing, political slogan.. We adopted this
motto because Christian men and women, on Christian
principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly
documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the
walls of our schools. If God
offends you, then I suggest you
consider another part of the world as your new home, because
God is part of our culture.


If Stars and Stripes offend you, or
you don't like Uncle Sam, then you
should seriously consider a move
to another part of this planet. We
are happy with our culture and have
no desire to change, and we really
don't care how you did things where
you came from. This is


OUR COUNTRY,
our land, and our lifestyle. Our First Amendment gives every
citizen the right to express his opinion and we
will allow you every opportunity! to do so. But once you are
done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our
pledge, our national motto, or our way of life, I highly
encourage you
take advantage of one other great American freedom,
THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.
It is Time for America to Speak up
If you agree -- pass this along;
if you don't agree -- delete it!



AMEN

Sister Lucy, the last surviving seer of Fatima, passed from this life on February 14, 2004 at the age of 97 years. Our Lady's Fatima Apostolate deeply mourns her passing along with many millions of other faithful friends of Our Lady. We take special comfort in remembering that Our Blessed Lady promised Sister Lucy that they would meet again in Heaven. We urge you to join us in prayer for the repose of Sister Lucy's soul and for the continuation of the work to which she dedicated her life. Please check back soon for more on the passing of Sister Lucy.

About this work and its Author

Father Arnold Damen was born in the province of North Brabant, Holland, on March 20, 1815. He was admitted to the Society of Jesus, November 21, 1837, and was one of the band of young novices brought over to this country by Father De Smet, renowned Jesuit missionary to the American Indians.

In his illustrious career, which spanned some fifty years of apostolic work before his death on January 1, 1890, Father Damen and his companions conducted missions in nearly every principal city of the United States. He is said to have been more widely known in this country, and at one time to have exercised personally a greater influence than any bishop or priest in the Catholic Church. Little wonder, for by his majestic presence and force of eloquence, Father Damen as a missionary rose to a success that surpassed anything ever before-----or since-----known in America.

The fiery apostolic zeal of this beloved and pious priest can only scarcely be measured by the twelve thousand conversions to Catholicism for which he was responsible, often receiving as many as sixty or seventy souls into the Church in one day. For it must be noted, too, that in the midst of all this remarkable labor, he also managed to found and to organize the great Jesuit institutions of Chicago that stand today as monuments to his holy memory.

What explains the inspiring achievements of Father Damen? As one writer expressed it, "He cared nothing for applause or criticism. He was working to save souls." In other words, his noble accomplishments were the fruits of immense charity. That is, charity in the truest sense: He loved God and his fellow man so much that he would spare no energy or effort that was necessary to wrest a soul from the spiritual error and darkness which would bring about its eternal loss. And to this saintly Jesuit, such was the certain fate always and everywhere present outside the one true Church.

Father Damen preached in an age quite recent to our own, when Catholics not only still universally believed but lived by the infallibly declared, immutably constant dogma of the Faith: Outside the Church there is no salvation. This was, in fact, his whole creed and teaching, by which he effectively converted so many.


We are pleased to reprint Father Damen's compelling sermon, "The One True Church," unedited, exactly as it was first published shortly after his death in 1890.
In so doing, we have two purposes: One is to recall to our fellow Catholics of whatever rank or dignity within the Church that the unequivocal belief in the doctrine on salvation is not only essential to the recovery of the Faith from the grave errors which now corrupt it, but it is the inseparable mark of the true Church Militant. The second and all important purpose, of course, is to encourage Catholics to place this imperative message in the hands of non-Catholics. By so doing, all of you who help in such apostolic labors will be continuing the blessed work of the venerable priest, Arnold Damen.



The One True Church

"He that believeth and is Baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be condemned."-----Mark xvi. 16

I.

MY DEARLY BELOVED CHRISTIANS:-----From these words of our Divine Savior, it has already been proved to you, that faith is necessary for salvation, and without faith there is no salvation; without faith there is eternal damnation. Read your own Protestant Bible, 16th verse of St. Mark, and you will find it stronger there than in the Catholic Bible.

Now, then, what kind of faith must a man have to be saved? Will any faith do? Why, if any faith will do, the devil himself will be saved, for the Bible says the devils believe and tremble.

It is, therefore, not a matter of indifference what religion a man professes; he must profess the right and true religion, and without that there is no hope of salvation, for it stands to reason, my dear people, that if God reveals a thing or teaches a thing, He wants to be believed. Not to believe is to insult God.

Doubting His word, or believing even with doubt and hesitating, is an insult to God, because it is doubting His Sacred Word. We must, therefore, believe without doubting, without hesitating.

I have said, out of the Catholic Church there is no Divine faith-----can be no Divine faith out of that Church. Some of the Protestant friends will be shocked at this, to hear me say that out of the Catholic Church there is no Divine faith, and that without faith there is no salvation, but damnation. I will prove all I have said.

I have said that out of the Catholic Church there can be no Divine faith. What is Divine faith? When we believe a thing upon the authority of God, and believe it without doubt, without hesitating. Now, all our separated brethren outside of the Catholic Church take the private interpretation of the Bible for their guide; but the private interpretation of the Bible can never give them Divine faith.

Let me, for instance, suppose for a moment, here is a Presbyterian; he reads his Bible; from the reading of his Bible he comes to the conclusion that Jesus Christ is God. Now, you know this is the most essential of all Christian doctrines-----the foundation of all Christianity. From the reading of his Bible he comes to the conclusion that Jesus Christ is God; and he is a sensible man, an intelligent man, and not a presumptuous man. And he says: "Here is my Unitarian neighbor, who is just as reasonable and intelligent as I am, as honest, as learned, and as prayerful as I am, and, from the reading of the Bible, he comes to the conclusion that Christ is not God at all. "Now," says he, "to the best of my opinion and judgment, I am right, and my Unitarian neighbor is wrong; but, after all," says he, "I may be mistaken! Perhaps I have not the right meaning of the text, and if I am wrong, perhaps he is right, after all; but, to the best of my opinion and judgment, I am right and he is wrong."

On what does he believe? On what authority? On his own opinion and judgment. And what is that? A human opinion-----human testimony, and, therefore, a human faith. He cannot say positively, "I am sure, positively sure, as sure as there is a God in Heaven, that this is the meaning of the text." Therefore, he has no other authority but his own opinion and judgment, and what his preacher tells him. But the preacher is a smart man. There are many smart Unitarian preachers also, but that proves nothing; it is only human authority, and nothing else, and, therefore, only human faith. What is human faith? Believing a thing upon the testimony of man. Divine faith is believing a thing on the testimony of God.

II.

The Catholic has Divine faith, and why? Because the Catholic says: "I believe in such and such a thing." Why? "Because the Church teaches me so." And why do you believe the Church? "Because God has commanded me to believe the teaching of the Church; and God has threatened me with damnation if I do not believe the Church, and we are taught by St. Peter, in his epistle, that there is no private prophecy or interpretation of the Scriptures, for the unlearned and unstable wrest the very Scriptures, the Bible, to their own damnation."

That is strong language, my dear people, but that is the language of St. Peter, the head of the Apostles. The unlearned and unstable wrest the Bible to their own damnation! And yet, after all, the Bible is the book of God, the language of inspiration; at least, when we have a true Bible, as we Catholics have, and you Protestants have not.

But, my dearly beloved Protestant friends, do not be offended at me for saying that. Your own most learned preachers and bishops tell you that, and some have written whole volumes in order to prove that the English translation, which you have, is a very faulty and false translation.

Now, therefore, I say that the true Bible is as the Catholics have it, the Latin Vulgate; and the most learned among the Protestants themselves have agreed that the Latin Vulgate Bible, which the Catholic Church always makes use of, is the best in existence; and, therefore, it is, as you may have perceived, that when I preach I give the text in Latin, because the Latin text of the Vulgate is the best extant.

III.

Now, they may say that Catholics acknowledge the Word of God; that it is the language of inspiration; and that, therefore, we are sure that we have the Word of God; but, my dear people, the very best thing may be abused, the very best thing; and, therefore, our Divine Savior has given us a living teacher, that is to give us the true meaning of the Bible.


And He has provided a teacher with infallibility; and this was absolutely necessary, for without this-----without infallibility we could never be sure of our faith. There must be an infallibility; and we see that in every well-ordered government, in every government-----in England, in the United States, and in every country, empire and republic, there is a Constitution and a supreme law.

But you are not at liberty to explain that Constitution and supreme law as you think proper, for then there would be no more law if every man were allowed to explain the law and Constitution as he should think proper.

Therefore, in all, governments there is a supreme judge and supreme court, and to the supreme judge is referred all different understandings of the law and the Constitution. By the decisions of the supreme judge all have to abide, and if they did not abide by that decision why, my dear people, there would be no law any more, but anarchy, disorder and confusion. [Father Damen means so long as the law does not violate the natural law, written in the hearts of all men.-----CT]

Again, suppose for a moment that the Blessed Savior has been less wise than human governments, and that He had not provided for the understanding of His Constitution, and of His Law of the Church of God. If He had not, my dear people, it would never have stood as it has stood for the last eighteen hundred and fifty-four years. He has then established a Supreme Court, a Supreme Judge in the Church of the
Living God.

IV.

It is admitted on all sides, by Protestants and Catholics alike acknowledged, that Christ has established a Church; and, strange to say, all our Protestant friends acknowledge, too, that he has established but one Church-----but one Church-----for, whenever Christ speaks of His Church, it is always in the singular. Bible readers, remember that; my Protestant friends, pay attention. He says: "Hear the Church,"-----not hear the Churches-----"I have built My Church upon a rock"-----not My Churches.

Whenever He speaks, whether in figures or parables of His Church, He always conveys to the mind a oneness, a union, a unity. He speaks of His Church as a sheepfold, in which there is but one shepherd-----that is the head of all, and the sheep are made to follow his voice; "other sheep I have who are not of this fold." One fold, you see. He speaks of His Church as of a kingdom, in which there is but one king to rule all; speaks of His Church as a family in which there is but one father at the head; speaks of His Church as a tree, and all the branches of that tree are connected with the trunk, and the trunk with the roots; and Christ is the root, and the trunk is Peter and the Popes, and the large branches are the bishops, and the smaller branches the priests, and the fruit upon that tree are the faithful throughout the world; and the branch, says He, that is cut off from that tree shall wither away, produce no fruit, and is only fit to be cast into the fire-----that is, damnation.

This is plain speaking, my dear people; but there is no use in covering the truth. I want to speak the truth to you, as the Apostles preached it in their time-----no salvation out of the Church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

V.

Now, which is that Church? There are now three hundred and fifty different Protestant Churches in existence, and almost every year one or two more are added; and besides this number there is the Catholic Church.

Now, which of all these varied Churches is the one Church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? All claim to be the Church of Jesus.

But, my dear beloved people, it is evident no Church can be the Church of Jesus except the one that was established by Jesus. And when did Jesus establish His Church? When? When He was here upon earth. And how long ago is it that Christ was upon earth? You know our Christian era dates from Him. He was born many centuries ago. That is an historical fact admitted by all. He lived on earth thirty-three years. That was about nineteen centuries before our time. That is the time Christ established His Church on earth. Any Church, then, that has not existed thus long, is not the Church of Jesus Christ, but is the institution or invention of some man or other; not of God, not of Christ, but of man.

Now, where is the Church, and which is the Church that has existed thus long? All history informs you that is the Catholic Church; she, and she only among all Christian denominations on the face of the earth, has existed so long. All history, I say, bears testimony to this; not only Catholic history, but Pagan history, Jewish history and Protestant history, indirectly.

The history, then, of all nations, of all people, bears testimony that the Catholic Church is the oldest, the first; is the one established by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

If there be any Protestant preacher who can prove that the Catholic Church has come into existence since that time, let him come to see me, and I will give him a thousand dollars. My dear preachers, here is a chance of making money-----a thousand dollars for you.

Not only all history, but all the monuments of antiquity bear testimony to this, and all the nations of the earth proclaim it. Call on one of your preachers and ask him which was the first Church-----the first Christian Church. Was it the Presbyterian, the Episcopalian, the Church of England, the Methodist, the Universalist or the Unitarian?

And they will answer you it was the Catholic Church.

But, my dear friend, if you admit that the Catholic Church is the first and oldest-----the Church established by Christ-----why are you not a Catholic? To this they answer that the Catholic Church has become corrupted; has fallen into error, and that, therefore, it was necessary to establish a new Church. A new Church, a new religion.

And to this we answer: that if the Catholic Church had been once the true Church, then she is true yet, and shall be the true Church of God to the end of time, or Jesus Christ has deceived us.

Hear me, Jesus, hear what I say! I say that if the Catholic Church now, in the nineteenth century, is not the true Church of God as she was 1854 years ago, then I say, Jesus, Thou hast deceived us, and Thou art an impostor! And if I do not speak the truth, Jesus, strike me dead in this pulpit-----let me fall dead in this pulpit, for I do not want to be a preacher of a false religion! .....>

Heaven is a glorious and wonderful place. How do we know? Well, because Jesus, the Father and Holy Spirit make Their dwelling there! We have no idea nor can our human minds conceptualize the magnificance of Heaven! Jesus told the Apostles (and us) that He goes to prepare a place for us, so that where He is, there we may be also. The Holy Trinity, our God, is perfect in all ways. So is everything in Heaven. In order for us to enter there, so too, we must be made perfect.

Jesus died for our sins. He reconcilled us to the Father by His suffering and crucifixion, without which, we would have no hope of ever entering into Heaven. Now in confession, as long as we are contrite in our hearts (and we may be able to fool the priest, but we cannot fool God who sees into our souls!), we are forgiven. However, there is still a "payment" for that transgression that must be appeased. Even though our sins are forgiven, we still have to be made pure to enter into Heaven.

Just like a child that, by accident or not, breaks a neighbors window. We take the child to the neighbor to apologize. The child is forgiven, but told that he must repay the neighbor for the broken glass. If there was no consequence for the child, what would he learn from this? The obvious answer is that he'd learn that he can do anything and just say "SORRY" and all's well in the world. Well it doesn't work like that on earth and it doesn't work that way in Heaven either.

We want what's best for our children and this includes instilling values. As a responsible parent, we would want the child to learn to be more careful and realize that actions DO have consequences, even when we're legitimately sorry. So, even though we are sorry for 'breaking the glass', we still need to pay for the window. This is where Purgatory comes in.



Purgatory is a kind of 'holding tank' where we wait until we are perfected enough to enter into Heaven. Because we must be made perfect to enter, we must undergo some 'payback' for our actions here on earth. We are told it's a place of suffering, not unlike hell, except that no one ever leaves hell and those in purgatory know that in time, they WILL enter into Heaven.

From everything I've read and discusses in these past years of researching, it seems the most severe form of suffering we encounter in purgatory (or hell for that matter) is the separation from God. The souls in purgatory cannot do anything for themselves to lessen their time. They are totally dependent on those left here on earth to offer prayers, small sacrifices and Masses to alleviate thier sufferings and make Heaven that much closer for them.

It's imperative not to forget our dead! When I was a little girl, before I went to school, my dear mother taught me a short prayer and said how important it was to say it every day upon waking: "All for the honor and glory of God and the suffering souls in purgatory." She lovingly explained to me that in this way, we offer all our actions for the whole day to honor God and relieve the suffering of those in purgatory without even thinking about it.

Having Masses said for the dead is a wonderful way to remember and help our dear departed relatives and friends. There are many organizations that will say Masses for much less than parish Churches if money is a problem. Perpetual Masses can be obtained for $5 or $10. Several ministeries also offer keepsake items for a donation as well.



Now, the above is what is said about purgatory. However, with absolutely no one to answer to, God does what He wants, right? *smiles* ... God is the only one that can look into our hearts for the truth. Sometimes we even hide the truth from ourselves, but we can never hide it from God. I often pray for God to show me things that I may be hiding. I believe that He takes into account our motivations for our actions and in His Mercy, perhaps makes some 'adjustments' to our punishment. So does everyone go to purgatory? Only God Almighty knows. It's possible that He also considers our sufferings here on earth towards our 'perfection status' for entering Heaven.

One thing is certain however; if we truly love God (Father, Son and Holy Ghost), try our best to love one another as He loves us, follow the Church's teachings and receive the Sacraments, our Loving and Merciful God will treat us fairly and likely very generously.
Purgatory isn't something that the Catholic Church 'made up' by the way. It's rooted in Scripture and even back to the Old Testament as noted below:

The following is taken from traditio.com:

Moreover, the Jews prayed in biblical times for the repose of the souls of their deceased relatives and friends. No synagogue service was complete without the Kaddish, called "Prayers for the Dead." Following this practice of Old Testament times, the Jews of our day pray for their parents on the day of death, on the third, seventh, and thirtieth days afterward, and on the anniversary of their deaths. For the Jews believe that their dead go to a place like Purgatory, where they remain for a time and are aided by the prayers of their friends.

The real question is how Martin Luther and the Protestants that followed him can disregard not only the Old and New Testaments but also the continuous practice of the Jews from the time before the coming of Christ to our own, as well as the continuous practice of the Christian Church for fifteen hundred years? The doctrine of Purgatory is so interwoven with other doctrine and the consistent Gospel of Christ that the denial of this doctrine logically means the denial of many others and implication in heresy.

Jesus started a Church when He was here ...... He started it with 12 men. He taught them, He prayed with and for them. He made one the leader - (Simon) Peter. For almost 1500 years things were the same; one fold, one leader ... and for about 1100 or so years ... one Bible. (The Bible was first compiled in about the year 400 when the Roman Emperor, Constantine publicly condoned Christianity. There was only one Christianity at the time; which painstakingly compiled the books into the Bible ... we know them today as the Roman Catholic Church.)

Around 1500, Martin Luther (a catholic monk), thought that the Church had been wrong in some things for all that time (Particularly about 'working your way to heaven' -as HE phrased it- by doing things for others and penance, which he, unfortunately, took out of context.), so he (and a group of folks; about a third) left the Church, changed the Bible (removed some of the books) to support their beliefs and 'protested' (Hence ... Protestants). (I can't help but shudder when I think of the warnings the Bible gives for anyone changing it in any way!!!) It was discovered since, that one of the strongest reasons Luthor went against the Pope and left the True Church was to marry a nun! Not many folks know this!

9.23.08 ADDENDUM: Here's a link to a couple of factual videos jam packed with information about the REAL REFORMATION Leader's motivations and beliefs ... DON'T MISS IT!
The truth about Martin Luther's Reformation

Anyway, since then, there has been a growing number of different Protestant denominations throughout the world; all from that one break only 500 years ago. But there is still only one Roman Catholic religion, with the Mass as it was in the days of the catacombs. Divide and conquer?? Satan knows us very well. He also knows it's profitable to him if he tells 99% truth, to get in his 1% of lies. I don't believe the folks that split from the Church were bad .... obviously, their Faith was weak and they were searching. Satan saw his "in" and grabbed it. I believe these folks honestly believed that they were doing as God wished. This is not meant to discredit the Protestants in any way. However, we DO pray that they reunite to the Catholic Church so that they may have the fullness of TRUTH that is only found in Catholicism.

I think a big danger today facing folks is relativism. Satan would have us believe that as long as we don't murder, commit adultery (although he's working on that one!), steal and some other big things.... we'll be just fine ....... I don't believe this is the truth. Satan does know us well and he plays on our weaknesses. He knows we like to justify things so that we're "comfortable and relatively guilt free". It's convenient for us to change to conform to new age beliefs and societal reformations, especially if they afford us a little more leeway for sin. AH! but we can't call it SIN! ..... it's just the "new acceptable way". Oh, Satan is so devious! The Bible states clearly that we must be born again in water and the Spirit, or we won't even see the Kingdom of God. And the book of John clearly states that unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His Blood (Holy Communion, the Eucharist) you have no life in you. Unfortunately, I believe most Protestant sects have abandoned this. They have a 'commemorative' or 'symbolic' ceremony with bread and grape juice or wine, but it is not the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist that the Catholics have honored and adored since it began with the apostles. It is the TRANSUBSTANTIATION (The Roman Catholic doctrine that the whole substance of the bread and the wine changes into the substance of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, when consecrated by an ordained Priest.) that gives us the most Precious GIFT Of JESUS ... truly present in the Holy Eucharist.

Actually, I should say many Catholics take this Precious Truth and Wonderful Gift for granted today. But it should be remembered that whoever receives Communion unworthily (without serious reflection or while in serious sin), 'eats and drinks condemnation unto himself'.

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Is the End of Times near? Some think so and I'm one of them.
Ponder THIS:
2 Timothy 3
(1) But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. (2) People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, (3) without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, (4) treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (5) having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.


2 Peter 3
(2) I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. (3) First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. (4) They will say, "Where is this `coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation."


Matthew 24
(5) For many will come in my name, claiming, `I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. (6) You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. (7) Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. (8) All these are the beginning of birth pains. (9) "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. (10) At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, (11) and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. (12) Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, (13) but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.


Mark 13
(6) Many will come in my name, claiming, `I am he,' and will deceive many. (7) When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. (8) Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

Many will say ... there have always been these things since time began .. yes that's corrrect .. HOWEVER, what Jesus said was that all these things will come faster and faster and be stronger and stronger and THAT will be the beginning of the end .......... I believe we are seeing it now.

"Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation."