Catholics pray rosary in front of satanic statue put in Illinois state capitol

[Autumn-Smoke]

A group of about 40 Catholics assembled

Only 40

 

[Tis_Bearself]

40 is better than 1…or 0.
They’ll probably do it again and have more show up.

 

[Autumn-Smoke]

hope it keeps growing

 

[Sophie111]

You’re entitled to your opinion, but praying a Rosary is never a waste of time

Do verbatim quote where you believe I said any such thing

 

[Tis_Bearself]

If I were anywhere near there, I’d go down and say a couple.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Rosary is never a waste of time

Did I misunderstand something? This is a direct quote from your post above:

My prudential opinion is its a waste of time and quite counterproductive. Wiser to offer prayer and reparation at Church rather than give such silly groups pure oxygen and brilliant advertising through kneejerk and poorly thought out over reactions.

 

[Rutherford2]

We aren’t going to sit idly by while Satanists blaspheme the birth of Christ.

They should not have taken things into their own hands. These people should pray secretly and have faith in the Lord to deliver them to the Truth. [Matthew 6:6] But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

 

[0331]

‘Should not have taken things into their own hands.’

They’re praying the Rosary in public, in front of a Satanic display.

They should be commmended for their courage in the face of such a disgusting offense, especially in a culture that increasingly tolerates all sorts of godlessness and does NOT tolerate simple piety.

 

[0331]

Have you heard of the Angelic Warfare Confraternity, which was inspired by St. Thomas Aquinas? Here’s a story from their website. It seems some men were trying to tempt Thomas:

‘So one night, the brothers introduced a scantily clad prostitute into the room where St. Thomas was being held. The plan did not work as intended. Immediately, St. Thomas snatched a burning brand from the hearth, drove the woman out of the room, slammed the door behind her, and emblazoned the sign of the cross on the door with the red-hot brand. He then fell to his knees with tears of thanksgiving and prayed to be preserved in his chastity, purity, and intention to live the religious life.’

There’s a time to dialogue, and a time to fight.

 

[guanophore]

overwrought Christians

I find it curious you describe these faithful Catholics as “overwrought Christians”. I could find nothing in this article that describes them in this way.

I am glad I live in Christian society

The United States is not a “Christian Society”. On the contrary, it is rapidly falling into the corruption that was characteristic of the late Roman Empire before it fell.

Christian tolerance

Christians should never tolerate sin and evil.

their minority views would be repressed

If you ever study the history of Catholicism in the US, it will become clear that the Pilgrims came here to flee the Catholic Church, and that there has been an anti-Catholic attitude & laws here since the beginning. The plurality in our Constitution was put there to protect all those who were anti-Catholic.

it is better to build up a tolerance of
demonic activity, perhaps a little at a time, b/c when
confronted by devils, will they not go into anaphylaxis

I am not sure what you mean by “build up a tolerance” but this seems to be a counterproductive attitude toward evil.

I am also surprised that you would characterize the response as “anaphylaxis”. These are reasonable and conscientious Catholics whose love of God is provoked by mocking Him.

still worthy of respect providing they keep basic natural law.

I would argue that we need to treat people with dignity even when they are not keeping basic natural law.

But these people are not keeping basic natural law. God has put into the heart of everyone He created the ability to know Him.

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; 21 for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools; 23 and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. Romans 1

 

[guanophore]

I do not need to belittle or demonise those who find fault in the Church

I am not sure what kind of agenda you have going here, but no one has belittled or demonized anyone who is outside of the Church. It is odd that you would bring this into the discussion, because the artwork is not “finding fault in the Church” at all. Rather, it is a commentary on the Fall of Man, millenia before the Church was created.

the Church, which is still sinful and makes gross errors because,

The Church cannot sin or “make gross errors” because her Head is Christ, and she is ensouled by the Holy Spirit. It is these divine elements that keep her pure and infallible, not the human elements. The Church, like the Bridegroom, is incarnational, with human and Divine natures.

People sin, and make gross errors, but the Church does not.

Insecurity is not made secure by attacking others who make us feel insecure.

The only attack I see happening is those who are anti-Christian using the opportunity to flaunt their contradicting views.

If you cannot see how dehumanising of persons they come across

I do not. I think that these people are deceived, and do not realize they are doing the will of Satan. You may not realize it either.

Jesus has limitless compassion for those who are in the grip of the devil.

Correct. My prudential opinion is its a waste of time and quite counterproductive.

It appears this statement is a reaction to the public prayer of the Rosary in front of the "“artwork” in question.

Wiser to offer prayer and reparation at Church rather than give such silly groups pure oxygen and brilliant advertising through kneejerk and poorly thought out over reactions.

It seems you are referring to the persons responsible for placing this object as “silly groups”.

I find it surprising that you see the response of praying a Rosary to be “kneejerk and poorly thought out”. I found nothing in the article to support this perception.

As Aquinas wisely and charitably advised, “when engaging our protagonists we should interpret them as positively as possible.”

I guess “silly groups” is more positive than “deceived by the devil”.

 

[Rutherford2]

especially in a culture that increasingly tolerates all sorts of godlessness and does NOT tolerate simple piety.

There’s a time to dialogue, and a time to fight.

Stop judging and adding fuel to the burning fire. Practice Gentleness. Have faith and love them. [Matthew 5:44-45] But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father.

 

[0331]

‘Stop judging.’

Catholics are praying the Rosary in front of a Satanic display. It’s an easy issue to judge.

‘Practice gentleness.’

Satan wants to be tolerated. Do you see what is going on here? You are using the Bible to effectively support the ‘rights’ of Satanists to demonstrate in public, and to essentially accuse Catholics who pray in public of being hypocrites.

‘Adding fuel to the burning fire.’

That’s excellent imagery for this topic.

 

[Sophie111]

The United States is not a “Christian Society”. On the contrary, it is rapidly falling into the corruption that was characteristic of the late Roman Empire before it fell.

May I ask if you have ever dwelt in a country where white European Christians are not the dominant culture but a minority? Only then will you realise how Christian both the US and Britain still are despite present evils.
Do you believe the Catholic hierachy is still Christian despite the abuse crisis? Not a dissimilar issue it seems to me.

 

[Rutherford2]

+Oh my Lord, look what has the Evil One done to your poor children! My Lord, my God, look in pity upon those who worships the Evil One. But if You allow it to happen, who am I to question Your mysterious plan. With sincere tears I pray in secret for them. Lord, help them. Bring them to Your light and open their hearts to You! Not my will but Yours be done. In Jesus name. Amen.

 

[Sophie111]

I find it surprising that you see the response of praying a Rosary to be “kneejerk and poorly thought out”

Do reread my contributions with a non biased view. You will see I lauded praying the Rosary. What I opined as counterproductive to that noble response was doing so at the site and having it picked up by the Press. That is excellent free promotional material for the group they are trying to shut down. In fact, even as a Christian I would now, if I lived in the USA, like to go and visit the exhibit for myself, assess the material and make my own mind up on the matter. I am sure that is not the outcome our prayer warriors actually want…especially for younger persons equally as truth seeking and curious of other groups as I am.
I get it you think that somehow you believe that wont happen. You are entitled to your own prudential judgements no matter how objectively mistaken I believe they are. And VV.
There really is little more to say. God bless.

 

[Roseeurekacross]

Begone satan! Say it from the mountain tops. Follow the example of Jesus.

We are not to tolerate evil, we are not to tolerate satan, we are to stand up and say begone satan.
Praying the rosary in front of that modern idol, and confronting idolatry is no different to praying the rosary outside abortion clinics and confronting evil there.

Its also excellent promotional material for promoting God and rejecting evil. Stand up, speak up. If you see something , say something. Be that baptismal witness for Jesus, for God.
It doesn’t matter what country you are in, what culture you are in. God exists in every one. Catholic means universal. Evil tries to corrupt every country and every culture.

 

[Roseeurekacross]

Who cares if those people who built that idol really believe in satan or not. What matters is a bunch of Catholics went, prayed the Rosary, bore witness to God, to Jesus , to good.
And their witness is being spoken about here, their witness hit the media. Their witness has become international.
Heroic virtue I figure.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

These people should pray secretly

There’s no reason to pray “secretly” when we are praying for the common good of all. Those Catholics aren’t praying to show how holy they are, in fact a lot of people will criticize them as shown on this thread. They’re praying because it’s their right under the Constitution of the United States to express themselves in opposition to speech they don’t like (the Satanic statue is considered a form of speech in USA), and because group prayer is good and group public prayer is witnessing.

I know people not from US might not understand this, but the US has a long tradition of upholding speech rights. Many Catholics in USA think that Catholics in general are too quiet, compared to other Christian groups that often go around praying openly and publicly. When I pray a Rosary with a group on the sidewalk, or I pray a Rosary while walking through the streets with a group and we’re carrying Mary statues and banners and such, it’s not so I can get attention or get on TV. It’s to bring attention to the need for prayer and the need to listen to our Holy Mother and to show that we are not afraid to be Catholics out loud in public and we have a voice. Similar to the March for Life annually.

 

[MikeInVA]

they are not anarchistic and seem to contribute to society.

I’d say just the opposite. By choosing to display a satanic image during one of the holiest times in the Christian calendar, they are directly attacking Christians and our society.

If they do not worship Satan then they are not a religion and should not be treated as such.