Christopher Wendt: First, His Excellency Bishop Athanasius Schneider, thank you for being with us tonight! I truly appreciate your presence. I also want to greet all the members of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Fatima and all of our guests this evening. Thank you for coming on!
Tonight’s broadcast will focus on the 10th article of the Creed: “The Forgiveness of Sins.”
Your Excellency, could you please lead us in prayer?
His Excellency: In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Pater noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra.
Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen.
In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Christopher Wendt: Just a few announcements before we begin the Catechism lesson from the Council of Trent.
One of the biggest pieces of news we have right now is that 500 people in the United States, along with about 200 people in the Philippines, are currently consecrating themselves to Our Lady according to the method of St. Louis de Montfort. The consecration will culminate on May 13th, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. His Excellency will be with us to lead that consecration.
We’re very excited about this! For those of you making the consecration, we have a special gift from His Excellency that we would love to send you. All you have to do is email us at: info@livefatima.io. Let us know that you are making the consecration, and we’ll send you the little gift.
We also have a new prayer tonight, written by His Excellency after the Pope’s consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. His Excellency will speak more about it, and we’ll pray it together for the very first time tonight. We are truly excited for this special moment.
Also, a quick note about the book we’re using for the consecration: Total Consecration, published by TAN Books. This is the one we’re following. It has now been translated into the Visayan (Cebuano) language in the Philippines. We had a translator assist us with this, and we’re thrilled about it. This translation has significantly increased participation among Filipinos over the age of 25, and it has become a very fruitful part of our apostolate.
Two more quick items before we begin:
First, we’re working on a newsletter for all of you so you can stay up to date on everything else happening in the apostolate. We plan to send that out next week.
Second, our next podcast will be in a question-and-answer format, where we’ll address some of your questions, especially those about the Pope’s consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
If you also have new questions about the persecution of the Carmelite sisters in Fairfield, Pennsylvania, or any other concerns, we’re looking forward to discussing those as well. And of course, we are eagerly anticipating making the consecration together on May 13th.
And now, without further ado, I’ll turn it over to His Excellency for our Catechism Lesson on the Forgiveness of Sins.
His Excellency: Our Lord said, “It behooved Christ to suffer and to rise again from the dead the third day, and that penance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
The preaching of the remission of sins is the task of the holy Church. So let us ask, “What is sin?”
He who wittingly and willingly transgresses one of God’s commandments is guilty of sin. Adam and Eve, in Paradise, transgressed the commandment of God. They knew it well, and no one, not even the serpent, compelled them to violate it. They were not forced to do it.
The commandments of God are principally the Ten Commandments and the precept to do works of mercy, besides all other precepts enjoined upon us in God’s name. The commandments either enjoin or prohibit certain acts. Therefore, they are divided into sins of commission and sins of omission.
As the Divine Law is for the safeguarding of the majesty of God, for our own welfare, or for the good of our neighbor, we sin in transgressing that commandment either against God, our neighbor, or ourselves. Sin is nothing but a revolt against God and disobedience to God.
The sinner throws off the yoke of God and says, “I will not serve.” He attacks God. He would feign to destroy Him, that he might no longer see and punish his transgressions. When we commit sin, we take up arms against God. We crucify God again. The Son of God had written in the Letter to the Hebrews, “by making the Redeemer’s blood of no avail for us.”
The malice of the sinner pains our Lord more deeply than all the sufferings of His Passion, just as the loss of his wages is more grievous to a working man than all the toil he has gone through. How foolish it would be for anyone in the world to offend an individual on whom his whole future happiness depends. How much more foolishly, then, do we act when we make Him our enemy whose aid is indispensable to us, for all things, at all times, and on whom our eternal salvation depends.
If your life were at another man’s mercy, would you venture to insult that man? Remember, your existence depends entirely upon the will of God and your collaboration with Him.
It is not counted as a sin if we commit an evil action of which we are ignorant, for example, through no fault of our own. Now, if our will does not consent to the evil, just as an intoxicated man was guiltless because he was not aware of the inebriating qualities of the wine, for example, if one eats meat on Friday, forgetting that it is Friday, it is not a sin. But it is quite otherwise if it is in consequence of a long, continued habit of sin that one fails to see the guilt of an action, or if one’s ignorance of its sinfulness is due to culpable negligence.
St. Gregory says, “It is one thing not to know; another, to wish not to know. For he who closes his eyes, that he may not see the truth, is a despiser of the law of God.” Evil thoughts are suggested by the devil. But if we do not consent to the evil thoughts, we commit no sin, any more than we are responsible for what we do in our dreams. We should not allow these thoughts to disquiet us, but simply put them out of our attention. But actions done with our will, most certainly, are sinful when done with full consent and freedom.
Sin is, in its essence, an unlawful turning, traversing the creature and turning away from God. The preferential turning toward creatures instead of turning toward God is the source of all sin. Earthly creatures are only a means for the attainment of everlasting happiness; they are in nowise the final end of man. It is with them as with medicines: used in moderation, they are beneficial; but used immoderately, they are injurious and a hindrance in the way of our salvation.
Therefore, God only allows us to use creatures within a certain limit, and in fact, only insofar as they are necessary or helpful to our eternal happiness. For instance, He permits us to take such nourishment as is needful for the support of nature. But God forbids excess in eating and drinking. He who uses creatures to a greater extent, or otherwise than God ordains, wanders away from God and from his final, supernatural end. He prefers transient joys to eternal happiness in God.
The sinner forsakes God, the fountain of living waters, and digs for himself broken cisterns that can hold no water. Then writes the prophet Jeremiah, “Sin is a species of idolatry.” For the sinner worships the creature in the place of the Creator. His sin is his God, his idol. By sin, men become the servants of the creature. He becomes dependent upon creatures. He is like a fish caught upon a hook and held fast by it. “Whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin,” says the gospel of Job. He is worse than a servant, for a servant can run away. But the servant of sin cannot escape from sin. He carries sin, the sin, with him wherever he goes. Sin is the only evil on earth because it robs man of the supernatural beauty of the soul. It makes him resemble the devil and brings misery upon him even while he is on earth.
We are accustomed to regarding the sufferings and contradictions of this earthly life as evils, whereas they are, oftentimes, graces. Far from separating us from God, the sufferings upon the crosses bring us nearer to God. St. John Chrysostom says, “Many consider eternal damnation to be the greatest of all evils, but for my part, I always assert that to offend Jesus Christ is a far, far greater evil.” Sin is a greater evil than the annihilation of the world, or of millions of worlds with countless inhabitants. Sin is the only real disgrace. St. Francis Xavier said, “Nothing degrades the Christian except sin.”
Through sin, the supernatural beauty of the soul is lost. As a white robe is soiled and stained if it comes into contact with the mud of the streets, so the soul loses her supernatural beauty, which consists in sanctifying grace, and contracts a hideous stain through the inordinate love of creatures. On one occasion, observing St. Francis Chantal when she was nursing a leper, who might easily transmit the disease, she answered, “I fear no leprosy, but the leprosy of sin.”
Sin renders man like the devil. “He that commits sin is of the devil,” says St. John in his first letter. They even become his children by sin the children of the devil. Our Lord said to the Pharisees in the temple, “You are of your father, the devil, and the desires of your father you will do.” Sin makes the misery of men even while he is on earth. If the heavenly bodies forsook their orbits, they would be dashed to pieces. If a train becomes derailed, a catastrophe ensues. So God’s rational creatures, the human race, are overtaken by disaster if they transgress the commandment of God, the commandment God has laid down for them. The sinner rebels against the rules of his own reason, the rules that govern the universe. For this, he has to endure the reproaches of conscience and the chastisements of God.
Let us look at the development of sin. Sin arises generally in the following manner. First of all, an evil thought comes into the mind, which in itself is not sinful. It is a temptation. Within the heart, there are two masters whose characters are diametrically opposed. What one praises, the other blames. One of these is concupiscence, and the other is conscience.
Hence, when an evil thought comes into the mind, a struggle immediately arises.
Conscience admonishes and holds us back. Concupiscence incites and urges us to evil. We can no more prevent bad thoughts from coming into the mind than an island in mid-ocean can prevent the waves from dashing on its shores. But, as the island resists the force of the breakers, so we can withstand the assaults of temptation. We must instantly turn our thoughts elsewhere by means of prayer, or the remembrance of this, or of judgment. As Holy Scripture says, “In all things, remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin,” or they may recall to mind the terrible consequences of sin. What is of the greatest importance is to turn from one thought at once. A fire just lit is easily extinguished. A disease may be arrested in its first stage. Slay your enemy while he’s young and feeble. Stifle evil thoughts at their birth; banish them the moment they present themselves.
Secondly, if evil thoughts are not instantly expelled, they awaken in the mind complacency in what is evil, and that is already a venial sin. Complacency or satisfaction in what is evil may also be a mortal sin if we willingly take pleasure in something that is evil, which is forbidden under the pain of mortal sin. The evil thoughts which the devil puts into our minds may be compared to eggs: after a period of incubation, the young bird is produced from the egg. So, sin is produced from evil thoughts if they are cherished in the breast and regarded with complacency willingly.
Forget not that God is omniscient. He sees all our faults. He knows them better than you know yourself. And on Judgment Day, everyone will be disclosed.
Third, the evil desire next arises. This is a turpitude corresponding to the debt of the sinful action toward which it is directed. An evil desire is an act of the will, or a deliberate, constant desire which proceeds from the heart, from the will. That is sin, says our Lord. Before God, the will to sin counts as the deed of sin. “He who entertains an evil desire has committed a sin already in his heart,” says our Lord. He who has consented to mortal sin is like a stag, fatally wounded by the huntsman, which, if it escapes capture, cannot escape death.
Evil desires may be compared to little worms that perforate the keel of a vessel and render it unseaworthy if they do not cause it to sink. So, evil desire is the cause of the downfall of the good and pious on their voyage to the celestial heaven, or even causes them to sink into the nethermost abyss. He who knows not how to tame his evil lust is like a rider whose horse takes flight and bolts, wrecking him through rocks and marshes, for he will be drawn into mortal sin and finally cast into hell.
Fourth, finally, comes the resolution to commit the sin, really. The evil concupiscence was merely a wish or longing for a sinful object. The resolution is a final decision to adopt the means necessary for the attainment of that object. Up to this point, the sin is still an interior sin. First, on occasion, then, if the occasion presents itself for the sin, the exterior act is committed. An exterior sin is attended by worse consequences than an interior sin. It augments the malice of the will, destroys the sense of shame, often gives scandal, brings misery, and is most severely punished by God.
A king has entrusted the defense of a fortress to his general. A messenger is then sent in disguise to this general bearing a letter in which a large sum of money is offered to him if he will surrender the fortress. Three courses of action are open to the general: either he will reject the offer and have the messenger at hand for a spy; or he may enter into negotiations with him at first, and pleasantly break them off; or he may open the gates to the enemy.
Our soul is that fortress. We are its commandant, and our adversary is the devil. He sends out envoys seeking, by all manner of promises and representations, to estrange us from God.
If we indignantly reject his advances, our loyalty to God is thereby confirmed. If we take pleasure in his suggestions, we begin to fail in fidelity to God and deserve punishment. But if we commit sin, we surrender our souls to the devil. To enter into sinning with all his satellites after mortal sin, the soul is in a state of sin. When water is once frozen, it remains a block of ice until it is melted by heat. Thus, it is with the person who falls into mortal sin. He or she continues in a state of sin until brought to repentance.
In the next step, by the repetition of exterior sins, the habit of sin, or vice, is contracted. If mortal sin is repeated many times, the habit of sin is formed. That is to say, the sinner requires a certain proficiency in wickedness, and the will is permanently inclined to evil. The Fathers of the Church point to the three instances in which Christ raised the dead as exemplifying mortal sin in its three stages: interior sin first, then exterior sin, and then the habit of vice.
He whose only sin is in his heart is like the daughter of Jairus, who was laid to rest in the house. He who commits sin outwardly is like the young man at Nain who was carried out of the city gates, while he who is given up otherwise is like Lazarus, who had lain several days already in the grave. (In the first two instances, our Lord merely bade the dead arise.) In the last, He was troubled in spirit; He bade the stone be removed and called loudly into the interior of the sepulcher. These acted to signify the great difficulty of re-awakening one who is sunk in vice to the life of the spirit.
The next step: every outward sin and every vice brings, as its own punishment, other sins and vices, of a different nature from its own kind. The grace of God departs from every man who has fallen into mortal sin. Not so with temptation. In fact, the evil enemy redoubles his efforts to bind his captive more tightly. Now, since temptation cannot be overcome without God’s grace, the sinner falls lower and lower from one sin to another. The sins which follow upon sin may therefore be called the chastisement of sin.
Holy Scripture expresses the withdrawal of grace in words such as these: “God blinded the eyes and hardened the heart of the sinner,” like Pharaoh; or “God delivered him up to a reprobate mind,” says St. Paul.
The last step: if any vice is firmly rooted in the soul, it oftentimes brings after it sins of the worst type, those that are said to cry to Heaven for vengeance. Finally, it produces complete obduracy in the sinner. He who is the slave of vice is often inspired by a bitter hatred against God and willfully and of set purpose resists the influence and action of the Holy Spirit. At last comes final impenitence, the sin against the Holy Spirit, which cannot be forgiven because it is a resistance against the forgiving action of the Holy Spirit.
So, the Church has the power to forgive sins. Not only is she preaching the remission of sins, but she possesses the power to forgive them. For all sins that precede baptism, the Church can forgive. When we first make a profession of faith and are cleansed by Holy Baptism, we receive pardon of sins entirely, so that no sin original or actual, of commission or omission, remains to be expiated, no punishment to be endured.
The grace of baptism, however, does not give exemption from all the infirmities of our nature. On the contrary, contending, as each of us must, against the motions of concupiscence which tempt us to the commission of sin, there is scarcely one among us who so vigorously resists its assaults or guards his salvation so vigilantly as to escape all wounds in this earthly life.
All sins committed after baptism are also within the power of forgiveness by the Church. It is necessary, therefore, that a power of forgiving sins distinct from that of baptism should exist in the Church. To her were entrusted the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, by which each one, if penitent, may obtain the remission of his sins, even though he were a sinner to the last day of his life.
This truth is confirmed by the authority of Holy Scripture. In St. Matthew, the Lord says to Peter, “I will give thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth shall be bound also in Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed also in Heaven.” And again: “Whatsoever you shall bind upon earth shall be bound also in Heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.” He also spoke to the other Apostles.
Further, the testimony of St. John is equally serious. As the Lord breathed on the Apostles on the day of His Resurrection, He said, “Receive the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.”
The power of the forgiveness of sins is not limited neither as to sins, to persons, nor to time. Nor is the exercise of this power restricted to particular sins. No crime, however heinous, can be committed or even conceived that the Church has no power to forgive. She can forgive all sins. Just as there is no sinner, however abandoned, however depraved, who should not confidently hope for forgiveness, provided he sincerely repents of his past transgressions.
Furthermore, the exercise of this power of the forgiveness of sins is not restricted to particular times. Whenever the sinner turns from his evil ways, he is not to be rejected. As we learn from the reply of our Saviour to St. Peter when St. Peter asked how often one should pardon an offending brother, whether seven times, “Not only seven times,” said our Lord, “but seventy times seven.”
The Church’s power of the forgiveness of sins is limited in its ministers and in its exercise. If we look to its ministers, or to the manner in which it is to be exercised, the extent of this divine power will not appear so great. For our Lord did not give the power of sacred ministry to all, but only to bishops and priests. The same must be said regarding the manner in which this power is to be exercised. Sins can be forgiven by the Church only through the Sacrament of Baptism and the Sacrament of Penance, when duly administered. The Church has received no power to remit sin in any other way than through Baptism and the Sacrament of Penance.
Hence, it follows that in the forgiveness of sins, both priests and sacraments are, so to speak, the ordinary instruments which Christ our Lord, the Author and Giver of salvation, makes use of to accomplish in us the pardon of sin and the grace of justification.
So, let us renew our faith, which we confess in the symbol of faith: I believe in the forgiveness of sins.
Christopher Wendt: Thank you, Your Excellency, for the message about the horror of sin, the degrees of sin and how it happens, and also the positive aspect of the great mercy of God for the repentant sinner. You said that even on the very last day, as long as there is a sincere desire to repent, forgiveness is possible.
We’re about ready to say the new prayer, and I was wondering if you could give a little background about the new prayer that we’re going to pray as members of the Confraternity. And after that, if you could just lead us in that prayer, then we’ll close out our broadcast today with it.
His Excellency: Yes. As you remember, we were praying a different prayer before. On March 25, before the consecration was done by Pope Francis, we would pray almost at the end of our talks, a special prayer asking God that the Pope might fulfill the request of Our Lady of Fatima: to consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart, in the manner in which she asked.
That is to say, with three specific conditions: the explicit mention of Russia, the consecration to her Immaculate Heart, and in union with all the bishops of the world. These three conditions were indeed fulfilled by Pope Francis on March 25.
Even though he also mentioned Ukraine and all members of the Church, this did not damage the consecration. On the contrary, it perfected it. Our Lady, our heavenly Mother, was surely pleased that, together with Russia, the Pope also consecrated us again to her Immaculate Heart.
So, we believe that our prayers contributed to this moment. The Lord gave the grace, and the Pope carried out this act of consecration.
Now, today in April, we are having our first meeting after that consecration. Therefore, we have a new prayer, not the one we used before, but a prayer asking the Lord, through Our Lady, for the graces attached to the triumph of her Immaculate Heart. We ask that this triumph may draw nearer, that its arrival may be hastened.
Of course, we must remember that this is not magic or automatic. That has never been God’s way. Rather, it is now our task, following the consecration, to live a life of penance and conversion beginning with ourselves, within the Church, and then spreading that conversion, penance, and spirit of reparation to the world.
We must pray for this spirit of penance and reparation to grow in the Church and in all humanity. Then, God will hasten the time of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of our heavenly Mother.
Christopher Wendt: Thank you for that. That’s wonderful. Would you close our broadcast, Your Excellency, with the prayer?
His Excellency: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
O Immaculate Heart of Mary, holy Mother of God and our tender Mother, look upon the distress in which the whole of mankind is living, due to the spread of materialism, godlessness, and the persecution of the Catholic Faith.
In our own day, the Mystical Body of Christ is bleeding from so many wounds, caused within the Church by the unpunished spread of heresies, the justification of sins against the Sixth Commandment, and the seeking of the kingdom of earth rather than the Kingdom of Heaven.
There are horrendous sacrileges against the Most Holy Eucharist, especially through the practice of Communion in the hand, and the Protestant shaping of the celebration of the Holy Mass.
Amidst these trials appeared the light of the consecration of Russia to thy Immaculate Heart by the Pope, in union with the world’s bishops.
In Fatima, thou didst request the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays of the month. Implore Thy Divine Son to grant a special grace to the Pope, that he may approve and promote the practice of the First Saturday Communion of Reparation.
May Almighty God hasten the time when Russia will be converted to Catholic unity, mankind will be granted a time of peace, and the Church will be renewed in the purity of the Catholic Faith, the sacredness of divine worship, and the holiness of Christian life.
O Mediatrix of all graces, O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and our sweet Mother, turn thine eyes of mercy towards us, and graciously hear this, our trusting prayer. Amen.
Dominus vobiscum.
Christopher Wendt: Et cum spiritu tuo.
His Excellency: Et benedictio Dei Omnipotentis: Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti,
descendat super vos et maneat semper. Amen.
Praise be our Lord Jesus Christ!
Christopher Wendt: Now and forever!
Thank you, Your Excellency! And next time, on May 13th, as I mentioned at the beginning, we will have a special Q&A broadcast. All members of the Confraternity are invited to join us.
I encourage you to begin praying this new prayer for the hastening of the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. You can find it on our website, right on the homepage. If you have any trouble locating it, just send us an email at info@livefatima.io, and we’ll be happy to assist you. We wish you all a blessed Holy Week and a joyful Easter with your families. Thank you all for joining us!
