Pre-V2 quotes from Pope Pius XI

[Catholic_Dude]

I was informed of an Encyclical written by Pope Pius XI, he was writing in regards to the downward turn the German/Nazi government was headed. The interesting thing is that what he was condemning 70 years ago are the same problems we face today, here is the encylical:
ewtn.com/library/ENCYC/P11BRENN.HTM
Here are some quotes from it:
13 We thank you, Venerable Brethren, your priests and Faithful, who have persisted in their Christian duty and in the defense of God’s rights** in the teeth of an aggressive paganism**. …

1. It is on faith in God, preserved pure and stainless, that man’s morality is based. All efforts to remove from under morality and the moral order the granite foundation of faith and to substitute for it the shifting sands of human regulations, sooner or later lead these individuals or societies to moral degradation. … They either do not see or refuse to see that the banishment of confessional Christianity, i.e., the clear and precise notion of Christianity, from teaching and education, from the organization of social and political life, spells spiritual spoliation and degradation. …
2. … Thousands of pens are wielded in the service of a Christianity, which is not of Christ. Press and wireless daily force on you productions hostile to the Faith and to the Church, impudently aggressive against whatever you should hold venerable and sacred. …
3. … You are told about sports. Indulged in with moderation and within limits, physical education is a boon for youth. But so much time is now devoted to sporting activities, that the harmonious development of body and mind is disregarded, that duties to one’s family, and the observation of the Lord’s Day are neglected. …
4. … If some have fallen and shown themselves unworthy of their vocation, their fault, which the Church punishes, in no way detracts from the merit of the immense majority, who, in voluntary abnegation and poverty, have tried to serve their God and their country. By their zeal, their fidelity, their virtue, their active charity, their devotion, the Orders devoted to the care of souls, the service of the sick and education, are greatly contributing to private and public welfare.
   Those who want to believe that V2 is the cause of all evil clearly dont know these problems were already in the works even as early as 1935 (if not earlier).

 

[manualman]

As usual, nobody listens to a prophet…

 

[Genesis315]

Does this sound familiar?

“The doctrines of the Fathers are despised; apostolic traditions are set at nought; the devices of innovators are in vogue in the Churches; now men are rather contrivers of cunning systems than theologians; the wisdom of this world wins the highest prizes and has rejected the glory of the cross. Shepherds are banished, and in their places are introduced grievous wolves hurrying the flock of Christ. Houses of prayer have none to assemble in them; desert places are full of lamenting crowds. The elders lament when they compare the present with the past. The younger are yet more to be compassionated, for they do not know of what they have been deprived.”

That’s from St. Basil the Great in the 4th century.

The fact of the matter is the Church has been in perpetual crisis since day one. The specific problems we have today have their roots in the Reformation, but really took off in the 18th and 19th centuries. Any cursory reading of the popes of those eras will see some major pessimism. The godless regimes of the 20th century needed a receptive environment to flourish in–it wasn’t faithful Catholics who provided such an environment–even though the nations they flourished in were once bastions of Catholicism.

The great tempest has been raging against the Church since her inception (read the epistles and see the problems they had right from the start). Many saints and popes have lamented the same things. But take hope:

Matt. 8:23 And when he entered into the boat, his disciples followed him: 24 And behold a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves, but he was asleep. 25 And they came to him, and awaked him, saying: Lord, save us, we perish. 26 And Jesus saith to them: Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith? Then rising up he commanded the winds, and the sea, and there came a great calm.

He’s on board with us

 

[Catholic_Dude]

Does this sound familiar?

“The doctrines of the Fathers are despised; apostolic traditions are set at nought; the devices of innovators are in vogue in the Churches; now men are rather contrivers of cunning systems than theologians; the wisdom of this world wins the highest prizes and has rejected the glory of the cross. Shepherds are banished, and in their places are introduced grievous wolves hurrying the flock of Christ. Houses of prayer have none to assemble in them; desert places are full of lamenting crowds. The elders lament when they compare the present with the past. The younger are yet more to be compassionated, for they do not know of what they have been deprived.”

That’s from St. Basil the Great in the 4th century.

The fact of the matter is the Church has been in perpetual crisis since day one. The specific problems we have today have their roots in the Reformation, but really took off in the 18th and 19th centuries. Any cursory reading of the popes of those eras will see some major pessimism. The godless regimes of the 20th century needed a receptive environment to flourish in–it wasn’t faithful Catholics who provided such an environment–even though the nations they flourished in were once bastions of Catholicism.

The great tempest has been raging against the Church since her inception (read the epistles and see the problems they had right from the start). Many saints and popes have lamented the same things. But take hope:

Matt. 8:23 And when he entered into the boat, his disciples followed him: 24 And behold a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves, but he was asleep. 25 And they came to him, and awaked him, saying: Lord, save us, we perish. 26 And Jesus saith to them: Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith? Then rising up he commanded the winds, and the sea, and there came a great calm.

He’s on board with us

Great Stuff