What People are Commenting
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Organic Society & Prayers for the Queen
Should We Pray for the Queen?
Thank you for offering me the opportunity to ask a question. I am a cradle Catholic from 1943. I love the Faith, I am saddened by devastation done to it by evil men---including popes.
MY QUESTION relates to prayers for the dead.
Recently Queen Elizabeth died— she was a Protestant and therefore a heretic who had 96 years on earth.
I have noticed so many Catholics sites giving her adulation, and rushing to pray for her soul. Even this morning I saw the SSPX offering a High Mass for her soul. I WAS STUNNED.
According to tradition, this woman was OUTSIDE the Church. Her funeral is in a Cathedral of the Church of England taken from the Catholics when they outlawed Catholicism.
I think Saints have told us it is fruitless and forbidden to pray for heretics. Am I being too severe?
Am I wrong?
Thank you for your reply on this.
P.S.
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TIA responds:
Hello P.S.,
You could add to your argument that she was the “popess” of the Anglican Sect. She was its head and highest authority.
Also, since Pope Leo XIII in his Encyclical Apostolicae curae declared null the ordinations and sacraments of the Anglicans, what follows is that this sect is not even a religion; it is reduced to nothing more than a façade of a religion. It would be more precisely defined as another English club whose goal is to give its members the pleasure to assist at solemn ceremonies, listen to good music, sing songs and meet friends.
So, Catholics should be severe with the Anglicans founded by the tyrant Henry VIII. And try to bring them to the only True Faith, which is the Catholic Faith.
But, there are other aspects that we should consider if we want to follow the advice of St. Paul – "prove everything and hold that which is good" (1 Thes 5:21). We point out some of them:
- The majority of the monarchical traditions of the English Crown remount to the time when it was Catholic. England had the fidelity
to keep those traditions alive when almost all the Catholic Monarchies were transformed into republics. Even when we have a Monarchy in Spain, which in principle is Catholic, the monarchical ceremonies of the Spanish Crown are not comparable
to the pomp and grandeur of the English ones. We need
only think of the Coronation ceremony to understand this. The Spanish “coronation”
could better be called the inauguration of the King, since he does not even wear a Crown. So, the first point is
this paradox: The traditions of a Catholic Monarchy were kept
better
by Anglican England than any other nation - either Catholic or Protestant.
- In the revolutionary world in which we live, the best symbol of Hierarchy for the public mentality is the English Monarchy, independent of its religion. All around the world, when anyone thinks of monarchy and monarch, the image that comes to mind is Queen Elizabeth II. So, there is an enormous advantage to have the English Monarchy for billions of person to be able to understand what a monarchy is. It is a great educational benefit to know how another form of government is, different from a republic. But it is also a great benefit to imagine how Heaven is, which is a Celestial Monarchy in which Christ is the King and Our Lady the Queen.
- Queen Elizabeth had the gift of showing how a very dignified Queen is
in her way of being and acting. Independent of the storms and scandals that stained other members of the Royal Family, the Queen for 70 years
hovered above them, always serene, always gentle, never oppressive, always letting people share her happiness
to be the Queen of that great people. The image that she left of herself in History is that of the Queen of England
par excellence, even more than Queen Victoria. Again, it is no longer a religious question, it is not a political question; she
has entered the History of England as a model ideal, a sort of a-temporal symbol, a metaphysical accomplishment.
- When she visited Pope John XXIII in May 1961, some organs of the press reported – we are mentioning it
from memory, we do not have the news clippings but are looking for them – that she
spoke to the Pope about converting to the Catholic Church. The progressivist John XXIII, according to the same sources, told her not to do so for the sake of ecumenism. If this is true, did she
fully accept that bad advice or did she convert and
become a Catholic privately? If she did, this would explain the strange silence regarding her last days and the lack of any photos or documents.
- When she died, rainbows appeared in the sky above Balmoral Castle in Scotland, as well as above Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace in London. Should we consider this as just a coincidence? Or see in it a sign of Heaven showing the world that she accomplished something pleasing to God? No one can give a straight answer to this question. However, when we do not have an answer and there are symptoms of something above our understanding, the normal Catholic attitude is one of respect and suspension of judgment.
We do not see anything wrong in praying for her soul. Since we do not know who is saved or condemned, Catholic doctrine teaches us we have the liberty to pray at will for any person we want and God will assign the merit of those prayers to other needy souls in the case that person was condemned.
As far as whether saying a Mass for her is possible or not, we would need to do more research on the rules of the Church. We will do it when we have some spare time. For now, what we have said is more than sufficient, we believe, to answer your question.
Cordially,
TIA correspondence desk
Top, the rainbow at Balmoral Castle when the Queen died;
center, at Buckingham Palace; bottom, Windsor Castle
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Praying for the Coming Elections
The prayer below appeared on the website Catholic Stand. I thought of you when I read it. Perhaps you would like to pass it on to your readers.
B.R.
O dearest Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy and Life, at this most critical time we entrust the United States of America to your loving care. Most Holy Mother, we beg you to reclaim our history, our culture, and our public life and institutions for the greater glory of your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Overwhelmed with the burden of our own sins and the sins of our nation, we cry to you from the depths of our hearts and seek refuge in your motherly protection. Look down with mercy upon us and touch the hearts of our people with the grace that flows from Jesus’ one sacrifice on Calvary for the sins of all men throughout history.
Open our minds and hearts to the inherent dignity and worth of human life and to the responsibilities that accompany the freedom we’ve been given as Americans. Liberate us from every falsehood that leads to the evils of abortion, human trafficking, the breakdown of families and culture, and the dissolution of the stable institutions of our society. Let the citizens of this great nation reflect and affirm the principles of the Kingdom of God rather than the values of the partisans of death, immorality, and destruction.
Give our populace the wisdom to elect public leaders of substance and virtue who will proclaim God’s Law as the foundation on which this nation was established, and to witness that He alone is the true Source of our cherished rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Make us know again with humble certainty that without Him we can do nothing (Jn 15:5).
O Merciful Mother, protect our nation from all “evil spirits in high places” (Eph 6:12) and with your supreme spiritual authority, render harmless every attack of the devil who seeks to destroy not only the sovereign welfare of this nation but our very souls.
Draw us, dear Lady, by your grace and beauty, into a new era of American leadership which cherishes and protects the dignity of life, marriage, and family in this great country and around the world. Trusting in your most powerful intercession, hear now the fervent prayers of your children as we say:
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, we fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, our Mother. To thee do we come, before thee we stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not our petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer us. Amen.
Posted October 6, 2022
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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 am a traditional Catholic and I enjoy reading your articles especially those on the Middle Ages topics.
I can see you have a section on your website on the topic of Organic Society; I am wondering please if you have any books/ hard cover copies on Organic Society/Middle Ages topics. If not, do you plan to publish anything on those topics in book form?
Many thanks,
K.F., Australia
TIA responds:
Dear K.F.,
Yes, we do have a book in our Library titled Society of Souls. You may download it for free here.
Society of Souls is a sociological/philosophical name for Organic Society.
Many articles on our website have as a presupposition that the more perfect realization of a Catholic Society took place in the Middle Ages. So, you can find medieval topics everywhere on our site, but more particularly on the pages of Saints of the Day, History, Catholic Virtues and Stories & Legends.
Cordially,
TIA correspondence desk