What People Are Commenting
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Joe Scheidler, Montalembert & Pains of Hell
Count Montalembert - Was He a Bad Man?
I want to thank you for your beautiful and truthful content. I have written to you before, received a remarkable reply, and continue to regularly and thoroughly appreciate your work.
I am writing to you to ask about the above mentioned subject, Count Montalembert, and to share my disappointment at learning he was a liberal. One of my favorite books, The Life of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, was written by him, and I append a quote of his to my signature line (see below) which I am now thinking of removing. I feel overwhelmed with sadness that he is a liberal and was the cause of confusion in Mother Church as his writing of the life of the saint, as well as the 100+ page introduction of the same text, sketching the relevant history of the time, the sketches of the lives of St. Dominic and St. Francis, and on and on, are such lovely passages, which have meant a lot to me and have formed me.
Looking back, I admit it's my love of beauty that drove me to love Ct. Montalembert, I guess, rather than any kind of intellectual argument. Looking back I suppose I knew nothing about him.
But I just can't see how someone with such noble and affectionate descriptions of Holy Mother Church, can be an enemy. I feel so disappointed and saddened. Should I remove the quote from my signature line? Please help me to understand how I may sift through so many confusing layers of meaning.
Perhaps Dr. Horvat can address the question, as a woman might understand my love of beauty and goodness, which I can't help but see in Count Montalembert's lovely histories of our grand saints.
When he speaks of walking through the ravages of Germany, ravaged by Protestants, and bemoans the condition of "dear St. Elizabeth's" various little shrines and chapels named for her, my heart is full of sadness and love for St. Elizabeth, and regret over what's happened in Protestant Europe, and a longing for the restoration of Christendom.
Now I feel so sad that this writer is also part of the problem.
May Our Lady continue to bless your efforts on the world wide web,
J.H.
"Nous sommes les fils des Croises, et nous ne reculerons jamais devant les fils de Voltaire..." [We are sons of the crusaders, and we will not recoil before the sons of Voltaire]
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TIA responds:
Dear J.H.
Thank you for your amiable words about our work.
Count de Montalembert was a controversial brilliant man who lived during a very lively ideological-political time in France. His general tendency was liberal. One could say that the three founders of Catholic Liberalism in France were Lammenais, Lacordaire and Montalembert.
However, he took many good positions such as supporting Pope Pius IX against the take-over of the Pontifical Territories; promoting the restoration of Gothic art; and promoting medieval civilization as he did in the hagiography of St. Elizabeth of Hungary and his History of the Western Monks.
The phrase you quote is one of these good things he did. He was defending the Bishops from government persecution, advocating the right to teach of the Church, although at the same time he wrongly admitted that the State, which issued from the French Revolution, also had the right to educate children and youth.
We believe you should not delete the phrase from the bottom of your correspondence.
Cordially,
TIA correspondence desk
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Mother Mariana & the Torments of Hell
I have read the Mother Mariana suffered the pains of Hell for the conversion of a religious sister.
How would that be possible? Don't the pains of Hell involve the greatest despair, which even Christ didn't suffer on the Cross? Wouldn't that make her suffering greater than Jesus' suffering?
In Christ,
T.H.
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TIA responds:
Good afternoon T.H.,
Thank you for your trust in presenting us your question.
God allows certain chosen souls to see Hell, or even suffer the pains of Hell to save the soul of another person, in order to confirm the existence of Hell and show man how terrible it is.
These private revelations can be believed or not by the faithful, but it seems wise to pay attention to those that have been approved by the Church prior to Vatican II, when strict regulations and inquiries were set in place to examine any person claiming visions or revelations
The descriptions of these visions of Hell by Saints, or the accounts of certain chosen souls like Mother Mariana who actually suffered the torments of Hell, present a picture of damnation in the most gruesome and terrifying terms, with everlasting darkness, fire and worms (thus confirming Scriptures Mt 8:12; Mk 9:47).
However, any person allowed by God to suffer certain torments of Hell in his mortal life (as in the case of Mother Mariana) does not enter despair, which comes from the pain of eternal loss. Instead he has only a temporary and finite experience of the other sufferings.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, as God and man, suffered infinitely in His Passion. Therefore, it would be impossible for the suffering of Mother Mariana, or that of any other Saint, to be greater than what the God-Man suffered in His Passion to redeem mankind.
We hope this will help you to resolve the problem.
Cordially,
TIA correspondence desk
Posted January 19, 2021
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The opinions expressed in this section - What People Are Commenting - do not necessarily express those of TIA
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I received this news right now (January 18). Please, pass it on,
H.T.
Most reading this know it's rare that I send out two e-mails in one day, but as I finished up this morning's e-mail I opened the inbox since the first one posted noted that Joe Scheidler, a Chicago pro-life legend, a national pro-life hero, and a friend of 40+ years, had been called home to his well deserved eternal reward.
Pro-Life Action League's statement posted to their web site late this afternoon.
Joe Scheidler
Joe was a mentor to so many, a thoughtful planner and leader, an indefatigable worker for our most defenseless sisters and brothers, and ever an optimist! At the same time, and more importantly, he also provided a phenomenal example as a Christian family man. His work was an outgrowth of a faith that charted his course throughout his life. He had prepared his whole adult life for this morning!
As local pro-lifers on the SpeakOut Illinois planning committee learned of Joe's death a very short time after it had occurred, Sarah Minnich, a young Southland pro-lifer who is now a regional representative for Students for Life of America, observed how much a rather famous quote from Illinois's great long time Congressman Henry Hyde applied to Joe. The quote is:
"When the time comes, as it surely will, when we face that awesome moment, the final judgment, I've often thought, as Fulton Sheen wrote, that it is a terrible moment of loneliness. You have no advocates, you are there alone standing before God - and a terror will rip your soul like nothing you can imagine. But I really think that those in the pro-life movement will not be alone. I think there'll be a chorus of voices that have never been heard in this world but are heard beautifully and clearly in the next world - and they will plead for everyone who has been in this movement. They will say to God, 'Spare him, because he loved us!'"
As I read that quote once again this morning I could only imagine that strapping man with the full head of white hair - Henry Hyde - standing right there beside that chorus of infants to embrace his friend the moment he received the Good Lord's blessing.
Pro-Life Action League's press release regarding Joe's death is here.
Eternal Life grant unto Joe oh Lord and may Perpetual Light shine upon him. May he rest in peace!
In prayer & respect for all human lives,
J. & M.R.