Conversations with a Protestant

A Barrage of Truth Bombs

Those who know this Wolf well also know his tagline: “Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us, you are Our Only Hope!” And that for two reasons: the first, because she said so-”Only I can help you”, and the second, because, of the obvious malaise of both Church and State in the face of the monumental problems facing humanity (and if you cannot see the proverbial handwriting on the wall, you must have been living on Gilligan’s Island the last 50 years, and just accidentally chanced on this post). And so, every once in a while a Protestant comes along and leaves a retort similar to this one:

“Jesus Christ is our only hope and we don't need any intercessor praying for us. We need to be on our knees praying ourselves. God hears the prayers of His people as we pray in Jesus's name.”

And I usually reply along these lines:

“Our Lady of Fatima gave two requests: One is for the Communion of Reparation of the Five First Saturdays and the other is the Collegial Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by the Pope and all the bishops in union with him. Until these two requests are fulfilled, we can expect only the multiplication of evils consummating in the reign of the Antichrist.

“(Not the that the current occupant of the Chair of Peter, Pope Frantic, nor his collection of Apostate Pederast Birdbrain Cardinals that comprise the Seat of the Antichrist in Rome have any mind of heeding her requests, as did all their predecessors dating back to Pius XI... but I digress.)

“Now I do agree that ultimately, Jesus Christ is Our Only Hope and the only way Our Lady could make these requests is through the Merits He won upon the Holy Wood of the Cross as Eternal High Priest, the Sacrifice prefigured by the Old Testament from the Sacrifice of Abel to that Abraham to the Mosaic Ritual to that of Elias and etcetera.

“But Our Lady, as Co-Redeptrix, and Mediatrix of All Grace (two titles which even many "Catholics" do not understand) is the more immediate and proximate source by which we go to the Throne of Grace, just as you cannot access the source of the Primary Living Waters but must have recourse to a spring or a river, or, more immediately, for ‘modern man’, the kitchen faucet.

“But that Mary is Our Intercessor is right there in the First Chapter of the Gospel of Luke, where the Angel Gabriel says ‘Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.’, and a little further: ‘Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.’ And just a few scant verses later, as Our Lady recites what we Catholics call the "Magnificat", Our Lady exclaims: ‘And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.’

“That Mary is Our Intercessor is also plain from the Acts of the Apostles. The only place where Our Lady is mentioned is again in Chapter One: ‘All these were persevering with one mind in prayer with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.’ And why? Because the Apostles knew that had not Our Lady been there, the Holy Ghost would not have descended on Pentecost, and Holy Mother Church would never have been born, the Apostles being too cowardly to take the Deposit of Faith to the Four Corners of the Earth.

“That Our Lady came to Fatima in 1917 nobody can doubt. The Great Miracle of the Sun on October 13th of that year was seen by tens of thousands of people, and was predicted three months in advance. Our Lady came to warn us of the Abomination of Desolation, which cometh. And those who do mot persevere in the prayers of the Most Holy Rosary will surely fall, as Our Lord said ‘For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect.’

“If any Protestant makes it to Heaven, he shall realize twas Our Lady who got him there, and he shall thank her for All Eternity.”

Usually, I do not get a reply. But this time I did:

“Mary is NOT our intercessor and praying to or through Mary is useless. The verses you quote say nothing alluding to that. Mary was just a woman, used for God's purpose of bringing us Jesus. She is not to be elevated in position any more than any others, including the apostles, should be. CHRIST IS OUR ONLY INTERCESSOR. Read the Bible. When the curtain rent in two (Matt 27:51; Luke 23:45), the Old Covenant was finished and the New Covenant, with Christ as our new "High Priest" became our intercessor. No longer would Jewish priests enter the Holy of Holies to intercede for the sins of the people. Jesus took their place, interceding for us, as He continues to do today. He came so that all could have access to God, not just holy priests or members of the Sanhedrin. Faith wasn’t based on keeping rules or performance, but on believing in God’s love and being obedient to His will. And, as you can see, Mary has absolutely nothing to with this. The Christ (His only begotten Son) IS THE ONLY MEANS FOR CONNECTING WITH OUR FATHER/GOD IN HEAVEN.”

And so, Our Protestant gets a heavier dose of theology.

“Our Lord Jesus Christ taught the Twelve Apostles what we call the Deposit of Faith. The Apostles in turn were further enlightened by the Holy Ghost after Jesus Ascended into Heaven, elaborating on what Jesus had said. And that is why the Church He founded has four marks: One, Holy, Universal (The word ‘Catholic’ means Universal) and Apostolic. What we have as the Deposit of Faith, the sum total of Divine Revelation, ended with the death of St John, the last Apostle to die.

“Part of the Deposit of Faith is the intercession of Our Lady. Our Lady was not a "mere woman" any more than Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Daniel were "mere men". They were specially called by God at certain periods in Salvation History, to do Great Works in their Time. Similarly, Our Lady was born in the fullness of time. She was Immaculately Conceived- Indeed, She told Bernadette Sobrious at Lourdes: "I AM THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION".

“Our Lady is indeed our Intercessor. Recall what occurred in the Second Chapter of St Luke: ‘And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.’

“St Simeon did not limit these hearts to just the generation that would crucify Our Lord Jesus Christ, for all generations crucify Him, as per Saint Paul speaking of the reprobate: ‘And are fallen away: to be renewed again to penance, crucifying again to themselves the Son of God, and making him a mockery.’ Our Lady dwells in Eternity, at the Foot of the Cross, beside Her Son, Eternal High Priest. For, although the Sacrifice of Calvary was a Historical Event, it was also an Eternal Event. Every Catholic Mass, said by a priest of the Apostolic Succession, brings the Foot of the Cross to all Times and all Places, that we might have the Opportunity to remain with Our Lord.

“The Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was given to the Apostles after the Last Supper on Holy Thursday Evening: ‘And taking bread, he gave thanks, and brake; and gave to them, saying: This is my body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of me In like manner the chalice also, after he had supped, saying: This is the chalice, the new testament in my blood, which shall be shed for you.’ [Luke, Chapter 22: Verses 19 and 20]

“St Paul reiterates this: ‘For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye, and eat: this is my body, which shall be delivered for you: this do for the commemoration of me. In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: This chalice is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me.’

“And at every Holy Mass we find Our Lady at the Foot of The Holy Cross, interceding for us with sighs and tears we can hardly fathom or comprehend. Our Lady, at La Salette in 1850, wept before Melanie and Maximan as She foretold the woes about to come upon the world.”

And this reply ensued:

“I am sorry, but Catholicism is steeped in idolatry--revering Mary and making statues to her, etc. God can and does use any/all of us for His purposes--WITH NONE BEING GREATER THAN THE OTHER. Read the Bible without all the Catholic indoctrination. I was born and raised a Catholic and until I met my husband--simply a “Christian/Follower of Christ--I did not realize how far off the Catholic religion really was about a lot of things: man-made rules and rituals that are meaningless and even false doctrines. I encourage you to simply read the Bible, an NIV version is a reliable one, and learn for yourself, without all the clutter of Catholicism.”

Two things of note: How many Protestants I encounter are “fallen away Catholics”! And, inevitably, they will have recourse to the “authority of Scripture”. Never mind that nowhere in the Bible are any of Martin Luther’s famous four solos found: “Solo Scriptura (Scripture alone, without Tradition), Solo Deus (God alone, without recourse to Intercessors or Priests.), Solo Fide (Faith Alone and not also Sanctification through works of Penance), and Solo Gratia.(Supernatural Grace Alone and not the Actual Graces provided by environment, parents, peers, holy examples and etc.)”

And so, lastly, I thump them over the head with their Bible:

“And why did I think this conversation would lead to the Bible? Of course, I have read the Bible from cover to cover. I quote the Bible extensively. Every Word of the Bible is Inspired by the Holy Ghost, from the first verse of Genesis to the last verse of the Apocalypse. Every word in it is true. The Heavens and the Earth were created in Six Days, Noah rode out the Flood in his Ark, and all the generations from Adam to Our Lord Jesus Christ are just as they are listed in the genealogies of the gospels.

“That being said, in the Early Church, no pastor could say to his flock, as Protestant pastors are wont to do: ‘Now open your Bibles to...’ What we know as the Bible was compiled by St Jerome in about 350 AD, and canonized by the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus shortly thereafter. The Bible, meanwhile, is bigger than the Bible. In at least two places, the Apocrypha are quoted. Matthew makes reference, in Chapter 27, to a prophecy of Jeremiah concerning the Thirty Pieces of Silver with which Judas was paid to betray Our Lord. But you will look in vain throughout Jeremiah for any such quote because that quote is in the Fourth Book of Jeremiah which his Scribe, Baruch, took down, a book that never made it into the Bible. Meanwhile, St James, in his epistle, pulls from the Book of Henoch at least twice, and another source concerning the combat over the Body of Moses.

“St John wrote that Our Lord Jesus Christ said and did many more things than were recorded, and opined that the world could not hold all the books that should be written concerning them. This is what we call Apostolic Tradition, and the Books of the Bible are merely a subset of this Tradition, which has been faithfully transmitted from generation to generation by the Holy Ghost.

“Our Lord Jesus Christ said that he who does not gather with Me, scatters. And His Word is fulfilled in the multiplicity of Protestant Denominations. They argue over Infant Baptism, the Eucharist, and the Indissolubility of Holy Matrimony, just to name three. Some have accepted practices condemned by Tradition, such as abortion, sodomy, and women priests.

“Meanwhile, I do not lean on every word Pope Frantic says. Quite the contrary. The man is obviously an Apostate and Rome has become the Seat of the Antichrist. The corruption and malaise of the Vatican would appall Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin. The Abomination of Desolation has come to dwell in the Holy Place.

“And, yes, even the Catholic Church of the 1950's left a lot to be desired. Many Catholics had a Pantheon little different than the Greeks of Old. They were superstitious and had little conception of the Communion of Saints. Regards.”

And, to quote Pope Paul VI, we are pleased here to come to a conclusion.