Traditional Marriage rallies across America mark feast day of the Immaculate Conception

Groups of volunteers for TFP-America Needs Fatima ventured into the public square to announce a powerful and positive message for traditional marriage and against homosexual”marriage,” as a most special way to celebrate and honor Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception on December 8.

(Marriage rally in Littlestown, PA. There were rallies all over the country, from Hawaii to New York.)

And what better way to celebrate Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception?

Holy Mother Church defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which means that Our Lady never was touched by the slightest stain of sin, not even original sin.

Therefore, Our Lady is the most immaculate, most pure creature of God.

Yet many people today hate this dogma. Just the idea that a being could be utterly spotless from the first moment of her existence is abhorrent to them.

For example: Imagine a man who is consumed with impurity. He gives in to his impure inclinations and is ashamed of himself as a consequence.

Imagine this man considering Our Lady, who, being the personification of transcendental purity, did not have even the least appetite for lust. He feels hatred and scorn because her virtue smashes his pride.

Furthermore, by declaring Our Lady to be so free from pride, sensuality and the desire for anything evil, the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception affirmed that She was utterly Counter-Revolutionary. This only inflames some people’s hatred of the dogma all the more.

Three Reasons the Church’s Enemies Hate The Immaculate Conception

The following text is adapted from a lecture Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira gave on June 15, 1973. It has been translated and edited for publication without his revision. Note, in this text, he uses the words Revolution and Counter-Revolution as he defined them in his book Revolution and Counter-Revolution. In this sense, the Revolution is a centuries-old process, motivated by pride and sensuality, and therefore egalitarianism and liberalism, that dominates the modern world and seeks to destroy Christian civilization. Counter-Revolutionaries are those dedicated to defeating this process and defending the rights of God. –Ed.


One of the truly Counter-Revolutionary acts of Pope Pius IX’s pontificate was the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception.

There are three reasons the definition of this dogma was especially Counter-Revolutionary and therefore hateful to the enemies of the Church.

First Reason: An Anti-Egalitarian Dogma
This dogma teaches that Our Lady was immaculate at her conception, meaning that, at no moment, did she have even the slightest stain of Original Sin. Both she, and naturally Our Lord Jesus Christ, were exempt from that rigid law that subjugates all other descendants of Adam and Eve.

Thus, Our Lady was not subject to the miseries of fallen man. She did not have bad influences, inclinations and tendencies. In her, everything moved harmonically towards truth, goodness and therefore God. In this sense, Our Lady is an example of perfect liberty, meaning that everything her reason, illuminated by Faith, determined as good, her will desired entirely. She had no interior obstacles to impede her practice of virtue.

Being “full of grace” increased these effects. Thus, her will advanced with an unimaginable impetus towards everything that was true and good.

Declaring that a mere human creature had this extraordinary privilege makes this dogma fundamentally anti-egalitarian, because it points out an enormous inequality in the work of God. It demonstrates the total superiority of Our Lady over all other beings. Thus, its proclamation made Revolutionary egalitarian spirits boil with hatred.

Second Reason: The Unsullied Purity of Our Lady
However, there is a more profound reason why the Revolution hates this dogma.

The Revolution loves evil and is in harmony with those who are bad, and thus tries to find evil in everything. On the contrary, those who are irreproachable are a cause of intense hatred. Therefore, the idea that a being could be utterly spotless from the first moment of her existence is abhorrent to Revolutionaries.

For example: Imagine a man who is consumed with impurity. When besieged by impure inclinations, he is ashamed of his consent to them. This leaves him depressed and utterly devastated.

Imagine this man considering Our Lady, who, being the personification of transcendental purity, did not have even the least appetite for lust. He feels hatred and scorn because her virtue smashes his pride.

Furthermore, by declaring Our Lady to be so free from pride, sensuality and the desire for anything Revolutionary, the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception affirmed that she was utterly Counter-Revolutionary. This only inflamed the Revolutionary hatred of the dogma all the more.

Disputing the Doctrine: A Counter-Revolutionary Struggle

Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira commented on the Immaculate Conception.

For centuries, there were two opposing currents of thought about the Immaculate Conception in the Church. While it would be an exaggeration to suggest that everyone who fought against the doctrine was acting with Revolutionary intentions; it is a fact that all those who were acting with Revolutionary intentions fought against it. On the other hand, all those who favored its proclamation, at least on that point, expressed a Counter-Revolutionary attitude.

Thus, in some way the fight between the Revolution and Counter-Revolution was present in the fight between these two theological currents.

Third Reason: The Exercise of Papal Infallibility
There is still another reason this dogma is hateful to Revolutionaries: it was the first dogma proclaimed through Papal Infallibility.

At that time, the dogma of Papal Infallibility had not yet been defined and there was a current in the Church maintaining that the Pope was only infallible when presiding over a council. Nevertheless, Pius IX invoked Papal Infallibility when he defined the Immaculate Conception after merely consulting some theologians and bishops.

For liberal theologians, this seemed like circular reasoning. If his infallibility had not been defined, how could he use it? On the contrary, by using his infallibility, he affirmed that he had it.

This daring affirmation provoked an explosion of indignation among Revolutionaries, but enormous enthusiasm among Counter-Revolutionaries. In praise of the new dogma, children all over the world were baptized under the name: Conception, Concepcion or Concepta to consecrate them to the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady.

Pius IX: Bringing the Fight to the Enemy
It is not surprising that Pius IX so adamantly affirmed Papal Infallibility. Very different from those who succeeded him, he was ever ready to bring the fight to the enemy. He did this in Geneva, Switzerland, which then was the breeding ground of Calvinism, which is the most radical form of Protestantism.

When Swiss laws changed to allow a Catholic cathedral in Geneva, Pius IX ordered that a statue of the Immaculate Conception be placed in the middle of the city, to proclaim this dogma in the place where Calvinists, Lutherans and other Protestants denied it more than anywhere else. This is an example of Pius IX’s leadership in the fight against the Revolution.

It is therefore entirely proper that all Catholics entertain a special affection for the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which is so detested by the enemies of the Church today.

Why Have the Remains of Pius IX Vanished?

Some friends in Rome have told us of the mysterious case of the disappearance of the mortal remains of Blessed Pope Pius IX

Blessed Pius IX who was beatified by John Paul II is buried in the Basilica of San Lorenzo outside the walls. Those visiting on November 25 found they could not venerate the remains since there were not there. There was no sign or official commentary as to what happened.

According to some "rumors," the remains may have been removed because of a rain storm in Rome on October 20. The rain water did cause some flooding and might have been the cause of the removal.

The story was feature on several Italian blog sites including L'associazione Luci sull'Est.
It is hoped that some news will soon be available as to the whereabouts of the venerable relics of the blessed Pope.

Let us pray that Pope Pius IX's remains will be unharmed and returned for public veneration since he was so hated by the revolutionaries of the time that, when he died, they threatened to to throw his body into the Tiber.

The picture below shows the empty relic case and the way it was before.

Fishermen Saved from Death by Praying Rosary to Our Lady of Fatima

An incredible miracle worked by Our Lady of Fatima has the entire Portuguese nation in wonderment.

The basic details of the story are that six fishermen went out to sea to fish in a boat named after the Holy Virgin of Sameiro, which is a Portuguese devotion to Our Lady.

The boat sunk suddenly and the fisherman got into a small raft and were adrift for five days in a very rough sea. Each time they saw a boat, they set off a flare, but no other boat saw them. Back at home, people started to give up on their return.

One of the fishermen said they prayed a lot to beat despair that was setting in. He said they had one pair of Rosary beads in the boat that belongs to the fishermen who is still in the hospital recovering.

We prayed a lot to Our Lady of Fatima. I prayed out loud and others prayed in silence. I have no doubt it was a miracle. "

The fisherman were finally rescued by the Air Force, almost by “accident”. A helicopter pilot said he saw a small red dot in the water and wondered what is was. It was the raft with shipwrecked fishermen who were waiting and praying to be rescued.

See video, pictures and the original article from Portugal in Portuguese:

http://www.rtp.pt/noticias/index.php?t=Seis-pescadores-salvos-depois-de-quase-60-horas-a-deriva-no-mar.rtp&headline=20&visual=9&article=505801&tm=8

http://www.abola.pt/mundos/ver.aspx?id=302097

How Can the Leading Archbishop in the U.K. Supports Civil Unions?

The Archbishop of Westminster, leading cleric in England and Wales, said the following words at a recent press conference following the Bishops' meeting:

'We would want to emphasise that civil partnerships actually provide a structure in which people of the same sex who want a lifelong relationship [and] a lifelong partnership can find their place and protection and legal provision.

Full story here:

http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2011/11/abp-nichols-civil-partnerships-provide.html