The Legion of the Holy Family

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, March 2016 Dom Prosper Gueranger Today I would like to present a beautiful mediation from Dom Prosper Gueranger contrasting Eve with Our Lady. It comes from ‘The Liturgical Year’ for the feast of the Annunciation. The Angel of Darkness “In the garden of delights there is a virgin and an angel; and a conversation takes place between them. At Nazareth a virgin is also addressed by an angel, and she answers him; but … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, February 2016 Adam & Eve are punished “But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, February 2016 The serpent enters the Garden of Eden “Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, December 2015 Male and Female He Created Them We have seen that, in the first chapter of the book of Genesis, God created man in His own likeness and image, with only two genders, male and female, and instituted marriage for the purpose of begetting sons and daughters to become heirs to the Kingdom of God. The Purpose of Sacred Scripture The second chapter of the book of Genesis gives us another account … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, December 2015 Modern Ireland’s Pharisaism Modern Ireland, has lost sight of God’s primary purpose for marriage and has become Pharisaical in putting God to the test with legalised divorce, legalised contraception, legalised ‘same-sex’ relationships which are falsely called marriages, legalised adoption of children into ‘same-sex households contrary to the best interests of those children and contrary to all the ‘fluff and burble’ of our politicians about cherishing and protecting all children, legalised murder … Read More

I am leaving today for the Rome Life Forum conference, organised by Voice of the Family The programme is as follows FRIDAY 6th MAY 8.00 Holy Mass (St Peter’s Basilica, altar of St Pius X) 8.45 Registration and coffee at Hotel Columbus 9.30 Introduction 9.45 Prof. Roberto de Mattei (Lepanto Foundation) – The Current Crisis in the Context of Church History 10.45 Matthew McCusker (Voice of the Family) – Aftermath of the Synod on the Family: The Apostolic Exhortation 11.40 … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, November 2015 The Launch of Legio Sanctae Familiae As I write this article, I have just come from the Catholic Voice / Institute of Christ the King Conference on the Family and Marriage in Limerick, where I gave a talk in the morning. One of the purposes of my talk was to launch a new organisation for families called ‘Legio Sanctae Familiae’ or ‘The Legion of the Holy Family’. The purpose of this … Read More

The Seven Founders My last article mentioned the powerful devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows, and I mentioned a little booklet that I have designed. In this article, I would like to give a brief history of how I came to produce this booklet before giving the meditations on the last three sorrows of Our Lady. Institute of Christ the King, Gricigliano In March 2012, I travelled with my wife Naomi and six of our children to the seminary of … Read More

A Powerful Devotion Today I would like to take a break from ‘Synod watch’ and look to Our Lady. I have recently produced a booklet on the simple form of the devotion to Our Lady’s Seven Sorrows, which consists in saying seven Hail Marys a day whilst meditating on each of the sorrows. The cover of the booklet features a copy of the miraculous image of Our Lady of Sorrows from Quito in Equador, and on the back are listed … Read More

I have recently been offered a half hour programme on Radio Maria Ireland.  it goes out on Friday afternoons from about 4.00pm to 4.30pm.  The programme is called ‘The Traditional Catholic Family’ and I am presenting a Catechesis on Marriage and Family as traditionally understood by the Church. You can access these talks through the Legio Sanctae Familiae link, there are three of them uploaded as of today. May God bless you John

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, October 2015 Marriage! Defending the Truth Another Humanae Vitae Moment! We have entered another ‘Humanae Vitae’ moment in the Catholic Church which does not augur well for those of us who are trying to live out, and to promote the Catholic faith. What do I mean by this? In a previous article, I outlined some of the history surrounding the release of ‘Humanae Vitae’. I explained about the commission that was set up … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, September 2015 The Catholic Church, Marriage and Homosexual Inclination This week I want to recommend a book to everyone who wants to have a clear understanding of what is going on, not just in the world, but in the Church as well. This book is not a pleasant read. In fact many chapters contain very unpleasant and sometimes disgusting information. It is not a book that I would let children near. It is … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, September 2015 Holy Catholic Marriages necessary for Society In a previous article I mentioned that the solution to the western world’s current problems, is for Catholics to become Holy. This is highlighted by the story, which is often told, that G K Chesterton was once sent the question “What’s wrong with the world today?” by a certain newspaper, and allegedly he sent back the reply “I am”. It is also my contention that … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, September 2015 Men cannot Marry Men, Women cannot Marry Women! One of the saddest developments within the Catholic Church in Ireland since the publishing of ‘Humane Vitae’ by Pope Paul VI in July of 1968 has been the growth and tolerance of dissent within Catholic circles. One of the results of this dissension from ‘Humanae Vitae’ has been the separation of sexuality and procreation and it this separation that has directly led to … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, August 2015 The Propaganda War I want to look at what I consider to be one of the saddest aspects of the ‘Catholic’ campaign for a ‘NO’ vote in the recent  referendum in Ireland which claims to allow men to marry men and women to marry women. In previous articles I have shown how prominent Catholics spoke out publicly against same-sex marriage but contradicted Church teaching in doing so. One may ask why … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, August 2015 Public Statements of Catholics that promote erroneous thinking Before looking at the statements from the previous article on the marriage referendum, I want to look at a more recent public statement, this time issued on an Irish diocesan Facebook page. Once again the diocese and the bishop are unimportant as I want to deal with the subject matter. The bishop in question was speaking about political parties collecting funds after Mass … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, July 2015 Holiness is the Solution to all of Our Problems There is one, and only one, simple solution to the problems that beset our nation today and that is for each and every one who reads these articles to become saints. I once read a definition of intelligence, I cannot remember where, which defined it as the ability to separate out into categories. At first I did not understand what it meant … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, July 2015 Two Claimants to Jurisdiction over Marriage In looking at authority, we have seen that in any given situation, or place, or time, there can be only one ultimate authority. We have also seen that a clash inevitably arises where more than one person or group claim to be that ultimate authority. We also know that in Ireland, there have been two claimants to jurisdiction concerning marriage for quite some time now, … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, June 2015 There is only ever one Ultimate Authority I want to dwell a little longer on the subject of authority and to reflect briefly on the implications for the exercise of authority in Ireland that may come about as a result of the ‘Yes’ vote in the recent marriage referendum. I am speaking of authority in the sense of the power to determine, to have jurisdiction, and the right to control and … Read More

First Published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland, June 2015 The Wisdom of the Foreigner As I begin this article I have before me a magazine, produced in Ireland, by an American couple who came to live here in 1979 to promote Natural Family Planning. As is sometimes the case, the eyes of the foreigner can see more clearly the blighted landscape that is no longer noticed by the native, because it has become all too familiar to him. This American … Read More