The Fullness of Antichrist

An ancient coin with the image of Antiochus IV Epiphanes adorned with a fiery diadem.  The Greek inscription reads ΘΕΟΥ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ (King Antiochus, God Manifest, Bearer of Victory). This Old Testament tyrant was an archetype of Antichrist. 

 

Those who follow my website know that I don’t go along to get along. I’ve taken a lot of heat criticizing well-respected bishops and priests for rejecting the 1955 Missal of Pope Pius XII. I take the very unpopular position that women are not permitted by God to hold public office. I don’t agree with St. Robert Bellarmine and most theologians that occult heretics are members of the Body of the Church. [1] I don’t believe a true pope can fall into heresy ever and I don’t hold the common opinion that universal and peaceful acceptance guarantees a true pope.

I reject the Three Days of Darkness prophecy and I’m generally skeptical of apparitions and so-called miracles, exceptions would be Lourdes and Fatima. 

Truth is what matters. It brought me out of the Vatican 2 religion and keeps in the Catholic Church. 

With that being said, the following study on Antichrist is a position that I’ve held for many years. It is my own personal belief only and I’m offering it as an argument against the common opinion of almost every saint and theologian.

When we talk about Antichrist, we generally think of the last days. When and how the end of time will occur is a fascinating question. Even the Apostles’ asked Jesus, “Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the consummation of the world” (Matt. 24:3)?

The Holy Scriptures and the Roman Catechism describe what must take place before the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospel will first be preached throughout the whole world (Matt. 24:14, Mark 13:10) followed by a great apostasy and the rise of Antichrist (II Thess. 2:3).

St. John warns: 18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that Antichrist cometh, even now there are become many Antichrists: whereby we know that it is the last hour.

Notice the last hour begins with Christ, not at the end of the world. St. John continues:

22 Who is a liar, but he who denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is Antichrist, who denieth the Father, and the Son. 23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. He that confesseth the Son, hath the Father also” (I John 2:18-23)….

“And every spirit that dissolveth Jesus, is not of God: and this is Antichrist, of whom you have heard that he cometh, and he is now already in the world. 4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome him. Because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 5 They are of the world: therefore of the world they speak, and the world heareth them” (I John 4:3-5).

St. John seems to speak about Antichrist as a singular person and as a collective of men by saying it’s every spirit that makes Antichrist.

The Church has spoken very little of Antichrist. I could only find a few references. None of them say that Antichrist is one person. Most saints and theologians have concluded that Antichrist is one final individual, who stands apart from all the antichrists of history. Fr. Denis Fahey says that it is “certain” that Antichrist will be one man. Cardinal Manning also spoke of the forerunners of Antichrist. He explains how Antichrist reigns as a king and leader of the world.

Cornelius À Lapide explains in his commentary: And now already he [Antichrist] is in the world, not in person, but in spirit; that is to say, in his forerunners. This is what Paul says, “The mystery of iniquity doth already work.” (2 Thess. ii. 7.)

Lapide also explains First John 4:5 that “they” who are of the world are heretics. [2] However, St. John doesn’t refer to just heretics but everyone that desolveth Jesus. Therefore, when Antichrist speaks, the world heareth them.

Cornelius À Lapide says Antichrist is not already in the world “in person, but in spirit.” Haydock’s biblical commentary says the same, “Not in his person, but in his spirit and in his precursors.”

Perhaps, it’s more accurate to say Antichrist had not come in his fullness in St. John’s time. Why can’t all the false christs make up Antichrist? This meaning actually fits what St. John says, “every spirit that dissolveth Jesus, is not of God: and this is Antichrist, of whom you have heard that he cometh, and he is now already in the world.” 

Antichrist is coming and he’s here already. In this understanding, Antichrist in St. John’s day didn’t have all the power given to him by Satan. According to St. John in the Apocalypse, this happens when Satan is released from hell. [3]

St. Augustine speculated that Antichrist was a “mass of men” or the “Roman Empire,” based on the common opinions of his day. [4]

The Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D. references St. John to demonstrate that every heretic makes up Antichrist. [5]

The belief that Antichrist is one final individual man comes from an interpretation of St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians chapter 2. This restrictive interpretation doesn’t square well with St. John and particularly the teaching of Pope St. Pius X. I offer the following alternative interpretation. Here’s what St. Paul wrote:

“3 Let no man deceive you by any means, for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition,

4 Who opposeth, and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God. 5 Remember you not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now you know what withholdeth, that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity already worketh; only that he who now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out of the way.

8 And then that wicked one shall be revealed whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the spirit of his mouth; and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, him, 9 Whose coming is according to the working of Satan, in all power, and signs, and lying wonders. 10 And in all seduction of iniquity to them that perish: Because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. Therefore God shall send them the operation of error, to believe a lie” (II Thess. 2:3-10).

In verses 3 and 8, St. Paul says “the man of sin,” and “the son of perdition,” is the same as the “wicked one” who shall be revealed.

The son of perdition is Judas (John 17:12). However, Judas is already dead. We don’t believe in reincarnation because St. Paul condemns it in Hebrews 9:27. Therefore, St. Paul must be referring to the spirit of Judas, which is betrayal.

If St. John can mean “in spirit” when referring to Antichrist being in the world in his day, why can’t St. Paul be referring to a spirit of Judas in “son of perdition?”

We see the same types of allusions elsewhere in Scripture. The “woman” in the Apocalypse can be understood as the Blessed Virgin Mary and/or the Church. The “woman” is not necessarily just one person.

Another allusion is with Our Lord speaking about John the Baptist. Jesus says, “But I say to you, that Elias is already come, and they knew him not” (Matt. 17:12). It wasn’t literally but mystically Elias or the spirit of Elias.  The angel Gabriel had foretold to his father Zacharias, in St. Luke: “And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Lk 1:17).

The spirit of Judas is the spirit of betrayal because Christ shed his blood for the whole world, but man will betray Christ for what He did for them.

A mass of men as Antichrist is supported by Pope St. Pius X’s pivotal teaching in E Supremi, (On the Restoration of All Things in Christ), Oct. 4, 1903:

5. When all this is considered there is good reason to fear lest this great perversity may be as it were a foretaste, and perhaps the beginning of those evils which are reserved for the last days; and that there may be already in the world the “Son of Perdition” of whom the Apostle speaks (II. Thess. ii., 3). Such, in truth, is the audacity and the wrath employed everywhere in persecuting religion, in combating the dogmas of the faith, in brazen effort to uproot and destroy all relations between man and the Divinity! While, on the other hand, and this according to the same apostle is the distinguishing mark of Antichrist, man has with infinite temerity put himself in the place of God, raising himself above all that is called God; in such wise that although he cannot utterly extinguish in himself all knowledge of God, he has contemned God’s majesty and, as it were, made of the universe a temple wherein he himself is to be adored. “He sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God” (II. Thess. Ii., 2).

Pope St. Pius X declared that man does what the son of perdition (Antichrist) does in the verse that has been widely interpreted as a single person. If man does what Antichrist does, why look to Antichrist as their god if they have already made themselves as God? What’s the purpose of Antichrist? It only makes sense if Antichrist is a mass of men.

There are other reasons to believe that Antichrist is not one individual.

Consider the fact that most people don’t worship God. Yet, we are to believe the whole world (except the elect) will worship one person as their Savior and God. This is extremely far-fetched.

It’s well-known that Christians hold the belief in a final Antichrist. There are plenty of movies and books out there on the subject. If one man were to come on the scene and do super wonders and claim to be Christ, everyone will know that this is the guy to avoid. Don’t worship him, he’s bad news.

People aren’t that stupid. They’re not going to fall for one man being the Savior and God of the world. However, the world of men worshipping themselves as God is more plausible. In fact, it’s already happening and Pope St. Pius X was seeing it in his day.

Every person who makes himself the final arbiter of truth has made himself god. When men decide over and against the Word of God and the infallible teaching of the Catholic Church, they have made themselves the final arbiter of truth. The Christ they claim is not the Christ that is.

Not only is this played out in every non-Catholic religion, but it’s found in the world in general. God has given us the power to share in His creation, but man has taken it upon himself how he will apply and use it. The Natural Law is rejected and replaced for man’s wishes and desires. Artificial contraception is used in order that man can have only the pleasure of the procreative act without God’s intention for it. When the procreative act is procreative, man destroys the life. He has been waging a massive war against the unborn in order that he may be free to live as he wants. Hundreds of millions of babies have been murdered in the name of the rights of man. Now man decides his gender and attempts to change it through chemicals and medical procedures. Man looks to himself and worships.

Jesus didn’t get the whole world to worship Him with all of His signs and miracles but Antichrist does? Men today have seen the great illusionists as Harry Houdini and others. Fantastic wonders would be written off as great illusions. But man has generated fantastic and lying wonders through technology and medicine.  

Men generally hate powerful individuals. They don’t worship them, they despise them. Who’s going to make everybody wonder and be happy when everybody is so diverse in thinking?

Men today are more likely to attribute some powerful fantastic miracle worker as an alien from outer space, but not god to be worshipped.

A single individual Antichrist would be a far more likely scenario in every century before the 20^th century. Man depended on God to make it through life. But man is so technologically advanced today, that he only relies on himself to make it through life.

It would also seem that one man can’t do what Christ couldn’t, especially in a time where people today are more skeptical than ever. Therefore, it must be a collective or unit of men that makes Antichrist. Jesus taught, “He that is not with me, is against me” (Matt. 12:30). We either accept the works of Christ or we take the Mark of the Beast.

Therefore, I think the coming of Antichrist is reference to his fullness thereof. Antichrist has always been in the world to some extent, but his full power doesn’t come until Satan is released to give him that power for the final epic battle of time.

Antichrist in his fullness will be revealed by “power, and signs, and lying wonders.”

Look what man has done in the last 100 years. Man has gone from electricity and the industrial revolution to things he absolutely has no business messing with. He has harnessed nuclear power that can destroy the world a dozen times over. He can manipulate the weather.

Christ once made a great storm cease at the sound of His Voice. Now, man can create the storm.

Man has reached the highest heavens to the lowest depths. He has developed special effects technology such as 3-dimentional holograms and computer generated imagery. Both are so life-like, that it’s difficult to tell what’s real and what’s not. These holograms can even be transmitted from space.

He can do heart transplants and heal many sicknesses. He has cloned animals, plants and himself. He uses Petri dishes and test tubes to help make babies. He has genetically modified most of the foods we eat, and has even genetically modified himself. He uses animals to harvest human organs for transplants. If he’s not already been successful, he’s trying to mix humans with animals to make hybrid creatures. 

Lastly, he puts out false miracles as the Pharaoh’s magicians who were able to replicate the first four of Moses’ miracles. These false miracles were used to keep Pharaoh in his false religion and doubt God. False miracles today, keep people bound in their false religion. The false miracles of Antichrist will be preeminent to those of Pharaoh’s time. If Pharaoh’s magicians could change water into blood, fake priests could make “Eucharistic” hosts bleed.

What greater “power, and signs, and lying wonders,” can there be that man is doing now?

There’s also the power of numbers. A powerful navy in the 1500’s was one of many warships and sailors. Today, one person doesn’t rule the world but rather organizations of powerful people with all the money.

We are at point where we can’t tell who’s telling the truth about anything. Governments and their propaganda media tell you what they want you to know. Medical doctors are diametrically opposed with one another on basic medicine and medical procedures. Lawyers and judges are unjust as hell. Police will oppress the people on the order of their bosses. The military will wage war and kill innocent people out of obedience to senile, ignorant, power hungry, narcissistic, and evil politicians. The bankers always win in the end.

St. John tells us several times that Antichrist will wage a war against the Faithful and overcome them.

“7 And it [the Beast] was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. And power was given him over every tribe, and people, and tongue, and nation. 8 And all that dwell upon the earth adored him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb, which was slain from the beginning of the world” (Apoc. 13:7-8). See also Apoc. 11:7, 12:17, and 19:19.

Antichrist has already overcome. There are no more Christian nations left on earth. [6] The forest of false religions has hidden the true Church making religion look ridiculous. We are at the mercy of the godless rulers who control the government, currency, food, military, law enforcement, and even religion. There’s no where to take refuge but the Hearts of Our Lord Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Christ never said anything about one individual being Antichrist at the end of time. Rather, Jesus tells us, “many false prophets shall rise, and shall seduce many” (Matt. 24:11). “For there shall arise false christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect. Behold I have told it to you, beforehand” (Matt. 24:24-25).

Why not mention this great individual Antichrist if he were to come? It would seem that one of the great deceptions of Antichrist is that he is unrecognizable. Perhaps everybody will be looking for one man and not see that he’s many.

On the one hand, Our Lord tells us, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, nor will be” (Matthew 24:21, Mark 13:19).

We have seen the last Catholic nations dissolved after having great power and glory. We have seen the Church practically wiped off the face of the earth after having the Real Presence of Our Lord on every altar around the world. The fear of the Lord is practically absent in every man except the elect reduced down to a remnant. The loss of grace is immense. Jesus tells us, “But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved” (Matt. 24:13). He was only speaking to those who have the Faith and to maintain it through the tribulation.

On the other hand, Our Lord tells us, “38 For, as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, even till that day in which Noe entered into the ark, 39 And they did not understand until the flood came and swept them all away; even so will be the coming of the Son of Man”(Matthew 24:38-39).

“26 And as it came to pass in the days of Noe, even so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noe entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, as it came to pass in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking, they were buying and selling, they were planting and building; 29 but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 In the same wise will it be on the day that the Son of Man is revealed” (Luke 17: 26-30).

It appears that the tribulation will only be felt by the faithful Catholics. The rest of the world won’t notice a thing. It will continue down the path of destruction to the fire of hell.

If it’s true that Antichrist is a collective of men, then the world won’t see him, and he will be missed.

Two of the last three things have come to pass, the gospel has been preached to every nation and the great falling away from the Faith is now. Who and where is Antichrist?

St. Paul warned, “That you be not easily moved from your sense, nor be terrified, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle, as sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means, for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed” (II Thess. 2:2-3). Does this mean when the revolt and Antichrist is revealed, we should be terrified as if the day of the Lord were at hand? Should we even know when such a time comes?

Jesus told us, 29. And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be moved. 30. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven. And then shall all tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty” (Matt. 24:29-30). “But when these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is at hand” (Luke 21:28).

According to the previous verses, the tribulation contains the great apostasy and Antichrist’s deception of the world. If we aren’t living during this tribulation now, then how much worse can it be in light of Matt. 24:38-39 and Luke 17:26-30 and what difference would some future Antichrist really make?

For further reading on the subject which includes the identity of the false prophet, the two witnesses, the abomination of desolation, etc., see my book: The Key to the Apocalypse (lulu.com).

 

 

Footnotes:

[1] When defining the Immaculate Conception, Pope Pius IX in Ineffabilis Deus declared: Hence, if anyone shall dare — which God forbid! — to think otherwise than as has been defined by us, let him know and understand that he is condemned by his own judgment; that he has suffered shipwreck in the faith; that he has separated from the unity of the Church; and that, furthermore, by his own action he incurs the penalties established by law if he should are to express in words or writing or by any other outward means the errors he think in his heart.

Pope Pius IX makes the distinction of thinking and publicly expressing what he thinks. Thinking otherwise is occult until manifesting his thinking outwardly. Notice that thinking otherwise and he has separated from the unity of the Church. This is clearly talking about occult heresy, because he goes on with penalties for those who manifest their thinking.

Several respected theologians held that occult heretics are not members of the Church.  

[2] 5. They are of the world, &c. For heretics are not of God but of the world, because they love the riches, honours, and pleasures of the world. Whence worldly people, who care only for what is of the world, gladly hear them. “A heretic,” says S. Augustine (de util. credendi), “is he who for the sake of some temporal advantage, but especially of glory, and the pre-eminence which it gives, either brings forth or follows new and false opinions.” “All heretics,” says Tertullian, “are puffed up, all make profession of science.” “What heretic,” says S. Jerome, “does not swell with pride?” And again, S. Augustine says, “One mother, pride, hath brought forth all heresies, even as our own mother, the Catholic Church, all faithful Christians dispersed throughout the world.” Cornelius À Lapide – The Great Biblical Commentary – I John 4:5

[3] Satan, Antichrist, and ST. MICHAEL | Speray’s Catholicism in a Nutshell (wordpress.com)

[4] Augustine speculated that Antichrist was a mass of men or the Roman Empire by stating, “some think” and “others think.” CHURCH FATHERS: City of God, Book XX (St. Augustine) (newadvent.org)

[5] “This Eutyches must be judged to be extremely destitute of this mystery of the faith. Neither the humility of the mortal life nor the glory of the resurrection has made him recognise our nature in the only-begotten of God. Nor has even the statement of the blessed apostle and evangelist John put fear into him: Every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ came in the flesh is from God, and every spirit which puts Jesus asunder is not from God, and this is Antichrist.” The Council of Chalcedon – 451 A.D. – Papal Encyclicals

[6] Dignitatis Humanae of Vatican 2 declared: “The council further declares that the right to religious freedom has its foundation in the very dignity of the human person as this dignity is known through the revealed word of God and by reason itself. (2) This right of the human person to religious freedom is to be recognized in the constitutional law whereby society is governed and thus it is to become a civil right.” This religious freedom included, “In addition, religious communities are entitled to teach and give witness to their faith publicly in speech and writing without hindrance.” (DH #4) Vatican 2 is clear that religious liberty is a human right that not even the Church can prohibit. It declared that this “right” be made into constitutional law. The results were dissolving the last Catholic Nations and Catholic Constitutions around the world. The Catholic State is being declared by the Second Vatican Council as a violation of the rights of man. Countries, such as Spain and Colombia, were forced to give up their Catholic constitutions and follow this document.

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Purgatory According to the Scriptures and History

It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins (II Maccabees 12:46).

This verse tells us that sins can be forgiven after death by the intercession of prayers of those who still live.

St. Paul through the Holy Ghost tells us in the Apocalypse the defiled will not enter Heaven. [1] Yet, all good men are defiled in someway. There may be an attachment to sin even through ignorance and the punishment due to forgiven mortal sin. Men don’t always repair and make restitutions for their sins, which is a type of defilement. Therefore, a place of purgation and purification must exist in order that God’s justice and mercy apply perfectly and completely. How this works is explained in St. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians.

9 For we are God’s coadjutors: you are God’s husbandry; you are God’s building.

10 According to the grace of God that is given to me, as a wise architect, I have laid the foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 11 For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid; which is Christ Jesus. 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble: 13 Every man’s work shall be manifest; for the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed in fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If any man’s work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work burn, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. 16 Know you not, that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

17 But if any man violate the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which you are (I Cor. 3:9-17).

The “day of the Lord” is Judgment Day. The temple is man. Gold, silver, and precious stones represents good works deserving of a reward (Heaven). Wood, hay, and stubble represents venial sins, which gets burned up (Purgatory). Violating the temple is mortal sin and those that do so will be destroyed (Hell).

Mortal sins are sins unto death, and venial sins are sins not unto death (First John 5:16-17). For instance, in Matthew 5:19, Jesus states that men can commit certain sins and even teach others to commit that sin but would be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven. Other sins however, Jesus says would cause men liable to hell fire. Therefore, different types of sins have different types of punishment and this is what St. Paul describes.

Lastly, Jesus implicitely tells that Purgatory exists:

“And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but he that shall speak against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come (Matt. 12:32).”

Fr. Leo Haydock writes in his Bible commentary that St. Augustine (De Civ. 1.xxi. c. 13) and Pope St. Gregory the Great (Dial. Iv, c. 39) understood the passage to refer to Purgatory. “St. Augustine said this passage would not be true, if some sins were not forgiven in the world to come; and St. Gregory says, we are to believe from these words in the existence of the fire of purgatory, to expiate our smaller offenses, before the day of judgment. St. Isidore and Ven. Bede say the same. St. Bernard, speaking of heretics, says they do not believe in purgatory; let them then inquire of our Savior, what he meant by these words.” [2]

Fr. Cornelius à Lapide S.J. writes in his commentary, “S. Aug. (21 Civit. 24), S. Greg. (4 dialog. 39), Isidore, Bede, S. Bern., and others, quoted by Bellarmine (Lib. 2. de Purgat. sec. 4), prove from this passage, that there is a Purgatory after this life. For it would be unmeaning to say, shall not be forgiven nor in the world to come, if there were no remission of sins in the world to come. Thus a person would speak vainly who said, I will never marry a wife, neither in this world, nor in the world to come, since no wife can be married in the world to come. Mark adds, and gives greater force to the saying: but shall be guilty of eternal damnation. Moreover mortal sins are expiated in Purgatory, so far only as pertains to their punishment, but venial sins as regards both fault and punishment.” [3]

In the past, I’ve answered certain objections to Purgatory, [4] but the bottom line is that the Church is the pillar and ground for the truth (I Tim. 3:15) and the Church from its beginning has believed in Purgatory. We clearly see it in the Holy Bible. According to Apostolic traditions, liturgies were offered for the poor souls in Purgatory. We also see prayers offered for the dead in the catacombs.

The 3^rd century heretics known as the Apostolici (a sect of Encratites) denied Purgatory, but could not have done so if the universal belief didn’t already exist.

Later heretics such as the Cathars (Waldenses) of the 12^th century denied the existence of Purgatory. Some of the Eastern Orthodox (Greek and Russian) denied it after the “Orthodox Confession of Petrus Mogilas” was drawn up around 1640 AD. The Protestants denied it in the 16^th century. The fact that they all denied Purgatory demonstrates that it existed before they existed.

The 2^nd Council of Lyons (1274), Pope Benedict XII, in the dogmatic constitution “Benedietus Deus” (1336), Council of Florence (1439), and the Council of Trent (1563) defined Purgatory from a universal belief to a dogma of the Catholic Faith. [5]

God has spoken and His Church, the Pillar and Ground for the truth has spoken. Purgatory is real!

 

Footnotes:

[1] There shall not enter into it any thing defiled, or that worketh abomination or maketh a lie, but they that are written in the book of life of the Lamb (Apoc. 21:27).

[2] The Haydock Bible

[3] CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Cornelius Cornelii a Lapide (newadvent.org)

[4] OBJECTIONS TO PURGATORY ANSWERED IN A NUTSHELL

[5] Benedictus Deus (On the Beatific Vision of God) | EWTN

~The Council of Trent – Session 25~

 

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Purgatory According to Church Fathers

St. John Chrysostom, made Bishop of Constantinople, Feb. 26, 398: 

Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice [Job 1:5], why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them (Homilies on First Corinthians 41:5, 392 AD).

Weep for those who die in their wealth and who with all their wealth prepared no consolation for their own souls, who had the power to wash away their sins and did not will to do it. Let us weep for them, let us assist them to the extent of our ability, let us think of some assistance for them, small as it may be, yet let us somehow assist them. But how, and in what way? By praying for them and by entreating others to pray for them, by constantly giving alms to the poor on their behalf. Not in vain was it decreed by the apostles that in the awesome mysteries remembrance should be made of the departed. They knew that here there was much gain for them, much benefit. When the entire people stands with hands uplifted, a priestly assembly, and that awesome sacrificial Victim is laid out, how, when we are calling upon God, should we not succeed in their defense? But this is done for those who have departed in the faith, while even the catechumens are not reckoned as worthy of this consolation, but are deprived of every means of assistance except one. And what is that? We may give alms to the poor on their behalf (Homilies on Philippians 3:9–10, 402 AD).

St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, 396-430:

There is an ecclesiastical discipline, as the faithful know, when the names of the martyrs are read aloud in that place at the altar of God, where prayer is not offered for them. Prayer, however, is offered for other dead who are remembered. It is wrong to pray for a martyr, to whose prayers we ought ourselves be commended (Sermons 159:1, 411 AD).

“But by the prayers of the holy Church, and by the salvific sacrifice, and by the alms which are given for their spirits, there is no doubt that the dead are aided, that the Lord might deal more mercifully with them than their sins would deserve. The whole Church observes this practice which was handed down by the Fathers: that it prays for those who have died in the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, when they are commemorated in their own place in the sacrifice itself; and the sacrifice is offered also in memory of them, on their behalf. If, then, works of mercy are celebrated for the sake of those who are being remembered, who would hesitate to recommend them, on whose behalf prayers to God are not offered in vain? It is not at all to be doubted that such prayers are of profit to the dead; but for such of them as lived before their death in a way that makes it possible for these things to be useful to them after death” (ibid., 172:2).

Temporal punishments are suffered by some in this life only, by some after death, by some both here and hereafter, but all of them before that last and strictest judgment. But not all who suffer temporal punishments after death will come to eternal punishments, which are to follow after that judgment (The City of God 21:13, 419 AD).

That there should be some fire even after this life is not incredible, and it can be inquired into and either be discovered or left hidden whether some of the faithful may be saved, some more slowly and some more quickly in the greater or lesser degree in which they loved the good things that perish, through a certain purgatorial fire (Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Charity 18:69 421 AD).

The time which interposes between the death of a man and the final resurrection holds souls in hidden retreats, accordingly as each is deserving of rest or of hardship, in view of what it merited when it was living in the flesh. Nor can it be denied that the souls of the dead find relief through the piety of their friends and relatives who are still alive, when the Sacrifice of the Mediator [Mass] is offered for them, or when alms are given in the Church. But these things are of profit to those who, when they were alive, merited that they might afterward be able to be helped by these things. There is a certain manner of living, neither so good that there is no need of these helps after death, nor yet so wicked that these helps are of no avail after death (ibid., 29:109).

The Passion of the Holy Martyrs of Perpetua and Felicity – 202 AD

3. After a few days, while we were all praying, on a sudden, in the middle of our prayer, there came to me a word, and I named Dinocrates; and I was amazed that that name had never come into my mind until then, and I was grieved as I remembered his misfortune. And I felt myself immediately to be worthy, and to be called on to ask on his behalf. And for him I began earnestly to make supplication, and to cry with groaning to the Lord. Without delay, on that very night, this was shown to me in a vision. I saw Dinocrates going out from a gloomy place, where also there were several others, and he was parched and very thirsty, with a filthy countenance and pallid color, and the wound on his face which he had when he died. This Dinocrates had been my brother after the flesh, seven years of age, who died miserably with disease — his face being so eaten out with cancer, that his death caused repugnance to all men. For him I had made my prayer, and between him and me there was a large interval, so that neither of us could approach to the other. And moreover, in the same place where Dinocrates was, there was a pool full of water, having its brink higher than was the stature of the boy; and Dinocrates raised himself up as if to drink. And I was grieved that, although that pool held water, still, on account of the height to its brink, he could not drink. And I was upset, and knew that my brother was in suffering. But I trusted that my prayer would bring help to his suffering; and I prayed for him every day until we passed over into the prison of the camp, for we were to fight in the camp-show. Then was the birthday of Geta Cæsar, and I made my prayer for my brother day and night, groaning and weeping that he might be granted to me.

4. Then, on the day on which we remained in fetters, this was shown to me. I saw that that place which I had formerly observed to be in gloom was now bright; and Dinocrates, with a clean body well clad, was finding refreshment. And where there had been a wound, I saw a scar; and that pool which I had before seen, I saw now with its margin lowered even to the boy’s navel. And one drew water from the pool incessantly, and upon its brink was a goblet filled with water; and Dinocrates drew near and began to drink from it, and the goblet did not fail. And when he was satisfied, he went away from the water to play joyously, after the manner of children, and I awoke. Then I understood that he was translated from the place of punishment.

(The Passion of the Holy Martyrs of Perpetua and Felicity 2:3–4, 202 AD).

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Satan, Antichrist, and ST. MICHAEL

The Road to Jerusalem by Gustave Doré, 1877

St. Paul taught, “Let no man deceive you by any means, for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition Who opposeth, and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God.  Remember you not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now you know what withholdeth, that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity already worketh; only that he who now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out of the way. And then that wicked one shall be revealed whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the spirit of his mouth; and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, him Whose coming is according to the working of Satan, in all power, and signs, and lying wonders, And in all seduction of iniquity to them that perish; because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Therefore God shall send them the operation of error, to believe lying: That all may be judged who have not believed the truth, but have consented to iniquity.” (II Thess. 2:3-11)

The wicked one is Antichrist. Different interpretations have been offered as to whom or what holds back the coming of Antichrist, the “son of perdition.” Some Church fathers believed it was the grace of the Spirit, while others say it was the Roman Empire. [1] Card. Manning presented a case that it’s the pope. [2] However, I’ll present another opinion.

Antichrist’s power comes from Satan according to St. John, “And the beast, which I saw, was like to a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his own strength, and great power…  And they adored the dragon, which gave power to the beast: and they adored the beast, saying: Who is like to the beast? and who shall be able to fight with him?” (Ap. 13:2, 4)

The Beast is Antichrist. There’s another beast, called the “False Prophet.” He also has the same power as Antichrist: “And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns, like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. And he executed all the power of the former beast in his sight; and he caused the earth, and them that dwell therein, to adore the first beast, whose wound to death was healed.” (Ap. 13: 11-12)

However, before the devil can give power to Antichrist and False Prophet, he must be let loose from the abyss. Again, St. John, “And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should no more seduce the nations, till the thousand years be finished. And after that, he must be loosed a little time…And when the thousand years shall be finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go forth, and seduce the nations, which are over the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, and shall gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.” (Ap. 20:1-3, 7)

A thousand years is not to be taken as a literal thousand years since apocalyptic language uses numbers symbolically. In these verses, the thousand years specifically refers to the time of Christ until the reign of Antichrist. St. John doesn’t tell us who the angel is that came down from heaven. However, he does mention St. Michael in Ap. 12:7 who with his angels fight Satan and his angels.

It’s generally held that St. John wrote the Apocalypse around 96 AD about 50 years after St. Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians. I submit that Ap. 20:1-7 and II Thess. 2:6-7 are referring to the same event. Satan is let loose and seduces the nations with Antichrist and False Prophet to whom he gives power.

St. Paul implies that the Thessalonians know who holds back the coming of Antichrist and perhaps, Paul told them. It would seem improbable that the Thessalonians would have a developed understanding of the papacy to conclude that Peter [or his successors] is the one holding back the coming of Antichrist.

Pope Leo XIII seems to suggest that it’s St. Michael. His composition of the Prayer to St. Michael is one of the most fascinating and prophetic events in modern era.

On September 25, 1888, following his morning Mass, Pope Leo XIII fell into a trance leaving those in attendance thinking that he had just died. After coming to, Leo immediately went into his private chambers and composed the prayer to St. Michael. Afterwards, the Pope described what he had seen: a terrifying Vision of Christ and Satan speaking to each other over the tabernacle. The devil told Jesus, “I could destroy the Church and convert it to myself if I had more time and power over those who will give themselves to my service.” Christ asked Satan, “How much time will you need?” Satan said, “75 years.” Our Lord, said, “So be it, you will have the time and power” and the vision vanished.

From the vision, it sounds like Satan was let loose and Pope Leo XIII’s prayer to St. Michael confirms it. The relevant part of the prayer reads:

“That cruel, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil or Satan, who seduces the whole world, was cast into the abyss with his angels. [Chained] Behold, this primeval enemy and slayer of men has taken courage.  Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the name of God and of his Christ, to seize upon, slay and cast into eternal perdition souls destined for the crown of eternal glory.  This wicked dragon pours out, as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity.” [Satan has been loose for a time.] [3]

Pope Leo XIII commanded that his Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel to be recited after all Low Masses. The full prayer can be read in footnote [4].

As we see from the prayer, Pope Leo XIII implies that it’s St. Michael who withholds the devil, which keeps Antichrist from coming. St. Michael is the angel St. John sees “coming down from heaven” and laying hold of the “dragon the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.” St. Michael is commanded by Our Lord to let the devil loose and we are beseeching Our Lord and St. Michael to “again make him captive in the abyss, that he may no longer seduce the nations.”

This means that Antichrist and the False Prophet have probably manifested and are in the world.

Check out my book “The Key to the Apocalypse”

and find out who I believe the Antichrist and False Prophet are.

In the meantime, develop a devotion to St. Michael. Buy a St. Michael Combat Chaplet and learn to pray it. Attached are promises of St. Michael to those who pray the chaplet. [5]

His Holiness, Pius IX., by a decree of the S. Congr. of Rites, Aug. 8, 1851, granted to all the faithful, every time that, with at least a contrite heart and devotion, they shall say this chaplet:

An indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines.

An indulgence of one hundred days indulgence, ever day, to any one who shall carry this chaplet about him, or kiss the medal, representing the holy angels, appended to it.

A plenary indulgence, once a month, to all who shall say this chaplet every day, on any day when, being truly penitent, after confession and communion, they shall pray especially for the triumph of holy Mother Church, and for the welfare of the Sovereign Pontiff.

A plenary indulgence, on the conditions given above, on: The feast of the Apparition of St. Michael, May 8.

The dedication of St. Michael, September 29.

St. Gabriel the archangel, March 18.

St. Raphael the archangel, October 24.

Holy guardian angels, October 2.

To gain these indulgences, a chaplet must be used, consisting of the Our Father, nine times, with the Hail Mary three times after each Our Father, and the Our Father four times at the end, saying at the same time, in order, the corresponding salutations, with the antiphon, versicle and prayer, at the end. These chaplets by order of His Holiness, Pius IX., by rescript of the S. Congr. of Indulgences, Feb 4, 1877, must be blessed by a priest who has from the Holy See the general faculty of blessing beads, medals, etc. [6]

 

Footnotes

[1] http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/23054.htm

[2] https://novusordowatch.org/2015/04/the-pope-and-the-antichrist/

[3] The Raccolta, 1930, Benzinger Bros., pp. 314-315.

[4] O Glorious Archangel St. Michael, Prince of the heavenly host, be our defense in the terrible warfare which we carry on against Principalities and Powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, spirits of evil.  Come to the aid of man, whom God created immortal, made in his own image and likeness, and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil.

Fight this day the battle of the Lord, together with the holy angels, as already thou hast fought the leader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his apostate host, who were powerless to resist thee, nor was there place for them any longer in Heaven.

That cruel, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil or Satan, who seduces the whole world, was cast into the abyss with his angels.  Behold, this primeval enemy and slayer of men has taken courage.  Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the name of God and of his Christ, to seize upon, slay and cast into eternal perdition souls destined for the crown of eternal glory.  This wicked dragon pours out, as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity.

These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on her most sacred possessions.  In the Holy Place itself, where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety, with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck, the sheep may be scattered.

Arise then, O invincible Prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and give them the victory.  They venerate thee as their protector and Patron; in thee holy Church glories as her defense against the malicious power of hell; to thee has God entrusted the souls of men to be established in heavenly beatitude.  Oh, pray to the God of peace that He may put Satan under our feet, so far conquered that he may no longer be able to hold men in captivity and harm the Church.  Offer our prayers in the sight of the Most High, so that they may quickly conciliate the mercies of the Lord; and beating down the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, do thou again make him captive in the abyss, that he may no longer seduce the nations.  Amen

Behold the Cross of the Lord; be scattered ye hostile powers.

The Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered, the root of David.

Let thy mercies be upon us, O Lord.

As we have hoped in thee.

O Lord, hear my prayer.

And let my cry come unto thee.

Let us pray.

O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we call upon thy holy name, and as suppliants we implore thy clemency, that by the intercession of Mary, ever Virgin immaculate and our Mother, and of the glorious Archangel St. Michael, thou wouldst deign to help us against Satan and all other unclean spirits, who wander about the world for the injury of the human race and the ruin of souls.  Amen.

[5] The Chaplet of St. Michael

O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me. Gloria Patri…

On the first bead pray a Pater Noster, and on the next 3 beads pray Ave’s. Repeat after each of the following prayers.

1. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Seraphim may the Lord make us worthy to burn with the fire of perfect charity, Amen!
2. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Cherubim may the Lord grant us the grace to leave the ways of wickedness to run in the paths of Christian perfection, Amen!
3. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Thrones may the Lord infuse into our hearts a true and sincere spirit of humility, Amen!
4. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Dominations may the Lord give us grace to govern our senses and subdue our unruly passions, Amen!
5. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Virtues may the Lord preserve us from evil and suffer us not to fall into temptation, Amen!
6. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Powers may the Lord vouchsafe to protect our souls against the snares and temptations of the devil, Amen!
7. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Principalities may God fill our souls with a true spirit of obedience, Amen!
8. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Archangels may the Lord give us perseverance in faith and in all good works in order that we gain the glory of Paradise, Amen!
9. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Angels may the Lord grant us to be protected by them in this mortal life and conducted hereafter to eternal glory, Amen!

O glorious prince, St. Michael, chief and commander of the heavenly hosts, guardian of souls, vanquisher of rebel spirits, servant in the house of the Divine King and our admirable conductor, you who dost shine with excellence and superhuman virtue vouchsafe to deliver us from all evil, who turn to Thee with confidence and enable us by Thy gracious protection to serve God more and more faithfully every day.

Pray for us, O glorious St. Michael, Prince of the Church of Jesus Christ, that we may be made worthy of His promises.

Almighty and Everlasting God, Who, by a prodigy of goodness and a merciful desire for the salvation of all men, has appointed the most glorious Archangel St. Michael, Prince of Thy Church, make us worthy, we beseech Thee, to be delivered from all our enemies, that none of them may harass us at the hour of death, but that we may be conducted by him into the august presence of Thy Divine Majesty. This we beg through the merits of Jesus Christ Our Lord, Amen!

The Chaplet was given to the Portuguese Carmelite nun, Antonia d’Astonac, by St. Michael through a vision in 1751. He told Antonia to honor him by nine salutations to the nine Choirs of Angels. St. Michael promised that whoever practices this devotion in his honor would have, when approaching Holy Communion, an escort of nine angels chosen from each of the nine Choirs. In addition, for those who would recite the Chaplet daily, he promised his continual assistance and that of all the holy angels during life and after death deliverance from purgatory for themselves and their relations.

[6] The New Raccolta,

https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLgQAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA363&lpg=PA363&dq=Pope+Pius+IX.,+Aug.+8+1851,+granted+to+all+those+who+shall+say+this+chaplet&source=bl&ots=-WDSqySviZ&sig=ACfU3U0ci9hR1vfEGVtUFrGbl6Wjr0Yo-A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjbmLjXtJPmAhWrd98KHc3gASkQ6AEwAHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=Pope%20Pius%20IX.%2C%20Aug.%208%201851%2C%20granted%20to%20all%20those%20who%20shall%20say%20this%20chaplet&f=false

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The Fathers and Saints Testify to Papal Primacy

The Eastern Orthodox and Protestant religions reject papal primacy. In an attempt to discredit the historicity of papal primacy, they misrepresent the Fathers and Saints on the issues leaving out the context, full meaning, and full teaching of each authority. This study will answer, explain, and expound on certain quotes used against papal primacy, plus add quotes to prove papal primacy. The point of this study is to demonstrate how to answer cherry-picked quotes taken out of context and to prove that papal primacy was indeed recognized by the early Church.

One ex-Catholic, now Eastern Orthodox, posted the following quotes with the conclusion reading, “The Patristic witness on this point is so clear we need add nothing more to it –the point is settled – St. Peter did not receive any greater dignity or authority than the other Apostles. Already, the fundamental premise of Roman Catholicism is shaken and the edifice totters –if Peter did not have superior authority, Rome cannot have received it from him either.”

The quotes are in red and I will follow with the Catholic answer, which, by the way, has already been answered many times by many other Catholics.

St. Ambrose of Milan: “He (St. Peter), then, who before was silent, to teach us that we ought not to repeat the words of the impious, this one, I say, when he heard, ‘But who do you say I am,’ immediately, not unmindful of his station, exercised his primacy, that is, the primacy of confession, not of honor; the primacy of belief, not of rank. This, then, is Peter, who has replied for the rest of the Apostles; rather, before the rest of men….” (Saint Ambrose, The Sacrament of the Incarnation of Our Lord, IV.32-V.34.)

Every Catholic agrees with St. Ambrose because Peter was not yet pope when he made his confession. Peter wasn’t acting pope until Pentecost.

St. Ambrose fully believed that Peter became the head and foundation of the whole Church. He wrote: “[Christ] made answer: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church . . .’ Could he not, then, strengthen the faith of the man to whom, acting on his own authority, he gave the kingdom, whom he called the rock, thereby declaring him to be the foundation of the Church [Matt. 16:18]?” (The Faith, 379 A.D.)

“They [the Novatian heretics] have not the succession of Peter, who hold not the chair of Peter, which they rend by wicked schism; and this, too, they do, wickedly denying that sins can be forgiven (by the sacrament of confession) even in the Church, whereas it was said to Peter:  ‘I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on Earth, shall be bound in Heaven, and whatsoever thou shall loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven.'”  (On Penance, 388 A.D.)

“It is to Peter that He says: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church’ (Matthew 16:18). Where Peter is, there is the Church. And where the Church, no death is there, but life eternal.” (Commentary on Twelve Psalms of David, 389 A.D.)

St. Cyprian of Carthage: “To all the apostles, after His resurrection, He gives an equal power…the other Apostles also were what Peter was, endued with an equal fellowship both of honor and power…”(On the Unity of the Catholic Church, 4.)

​The above quote is incomplete. St. Cyprian says, “It is on one man that He builds the Church; and although He assigns a like power to all the Apostles after His resurrection…nevertheless, in order that unity might be clearly shown, He established by his own authority a source for that unity, which takes its beginning from one man alone. Indeed, the other Apostles were that also which Peter was, being endowed with an equal portion of dignity and power; but the origin is ground in unity, so that it may be made clear there is but one Church of Christ. …If someone does not hold fast to this unity of the Church, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he resists and withstands the Church, can he still be confident that he is in the Church…? Most especially must we bishops, who exercise authority in the Church, hold firmly and insist upon this unity, whereby we may demonstrate also that the episcopate itself is one and undivided. Let no one mislead the brotherhood with a lie, let no one corrupt the faith by a faithless perversion of the truth. The episcopate is one, of which each bishop holds his part within the undivided structure.”

In no way does St. Cyprian deny the papacy. Each and every Apostle had apostolic authority over the whole Church. They had jurisdiction over the Church as Peter, which is the equal portion of dignity and power that’s being referred to. The difference with Peter is that he had supreme authority, the final say so to speak, as was demonstrated at the Council of Jerusalem. Peter’s successors maintained full apostolic authority and jurisdiction, hence, the “Apostolic See.” The other sees do not possess jurisdiction over the whole Church.

Another distinction is the power of Orders and the power of Office. A bishop can have one without the other. A layman can possess the jurisdiction of the office of bishop as a bishop-elect but he would not have the power of orders and a consecrated bishop can have the power of orders but not the jurisdiction of an office.

As far as the power of Orders is concerned, all bishops have the same power. The power of the office concerns jurisdiction. The pope has full and supreme jurisdiction. All bishops are subject to the pope.

If we take a look at St. Cyprian’s original letter, we see that Peter’s office carries a certain type of dignity and power unlike any other office in the Church:

“The Lord says to Peter: ‘I say to you,’ he says, ‘that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it. And to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever things you bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth, they shall be loosed also in heaven’… On him he builds the Church, and to him he gives the command to feed the sheep, and although he assigns a like power to all the apostles, yet he founded a single chair, and he established by his own authority a source and an intrinsic reason for that unity. Indeed, the others were also what Peter was; but a primacy is given to Peter, whereby it is made clear that there is but one Church and one chair. So too, all are shepherds, and the flock is shown to be one, fed by all the apostles in single-minded accord. If someone does not hold fast to this unity of Peter, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he deserts the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, can he still be confident that he is in the Church?” (The Unity of the Catholic Church, first edition 251 AD.)

St. Cyprian never rejected his original letter.

St. Isidore of Seville: “The other Apostles were made equal with Peter in a fellowship of dignity and power.”(De Ecclesiasticus, II.5, M.P.L., Vol. 83, Col. 781-782.)

Again, each Apostle had the same jurisdiction over the Church as Peter, which is the equal portion of dignity and power that’s being referred to. However, the context of St. Isidore’s writing was about the episcopacy or the power of orders. The other Apostles were made equal in fellowship of dignity and power as Peter as far as being a bishop is concerned. The papal office is another and distinct office in the Church and it can be occupied by a mere layman such as Pope Hadrian V who was never even a priest. St. Isidore wasn’t referring to Peter’s Chair as Pope but rather his rank as bishop.

We can easily prove that St. Isidore recognized papal primacy. His older brother St. Leander was first made Bishop of Seville. He was a close friend of Pope St. Gregory the Great, who sent him the pallium.

The Catholic encyclopedia explains what the pallium is and what it symbolizes http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11427a.htm

Pope St. Gregory used his authority over other bishops and councils. It was clear that he was the head of the Church. His letters also indicate his authority as head of the Church.

It’s true that Pope St. Gregory rejected the title “universal bishop” in the sense that it necessarily meant there are no other bishops. He explained this point in Book 9, Letter 68.

In this very letter, Pope St. Gregory was using his supreme authority as pope to condemn the Bishop of Constantinople.

In Book 3, Letter 30, Pope St. Gregory declares, “Inasmuch as it is manifest that the Apostolic See is, by the ordering of God, set over all Churches, there is, among our manifold cares, special demand for our attention, when our decision is awaited with a view to the consecration of a bishop.  . . . you are to cause him to be consecrated by his own bishops, as ancient usage requires, with the assent of our authority, and the help of the Lord; to the end that through the observance of such custom both the Apostolic See may retain the power belonging to it, and at the same time may not diminish the rights which it has conceded to others.”

In Book 9, Letter 12, Pope St. Gregory declared, “For as to what they say about the Church of Constantinople, who can doubt that it is subject to the Apostolic See, as both the most pious lord the emperor and our brother the bishop of that city continually acknowledge?”

If any bishop denied papal primacy, Pope St. Gregory would have set him straight.

When St. Leander died, his brother St. Isidore became Bishop of Seville. Again, St. Gregory the Great showed his apostolic authority by sending him the pallium, which St. Isidore accepted.

St. Isidore never denied papal primacy. In fact, he recognized it by his actions. Not only that, but all of St. Isidore’s writings are promoted by the popes themselves.

St. Bede: “Although it may seem that this power of loosing and binding was given by the Lord only to Peter, we must nevertheless know without any doubt that it was given to the other Apostles, as Christ Himself testified when, after the triumph of His Passion and Resurrection, He appeared to them and breathed upon them, and said to them all, ‘Receive ye the Holy Spirit: if ye forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven to them; if ye retain the sins of any, they are retained [Jn. 20:22, 23].

​St. Bede’s interpretation of Matt. 16:19 is a different perspective from his contemporaries, but it doesn’t deny Peter’s primacy in authority. Bede is interpreting the binding and loosing in Matt. 16 with the same binding and loosing in Jn. 20, which is about binding and loosing of sins. All priests have the same power as bishops in binding and loosing of sins. However, Bede didn’t hold that priests and bishops have the same authority. He writes, “In my nineteenth year I was admitted to the diaconate, in my thirtieth to the priest, both by the hands of the most reverend Bishop John (St. John of Beverley), and at the bidding of Abbot Ceolfrid.” Bishops ordain priests and consecrate bishops but priests don’t have the power to do either. Thus they have different powers. St. Bede is not denying the authority of Peter as the head of the Church.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: “One therefore is Christ both Son and Lord, not as if a man had attained only such a conjunction with God as consists in a unity of dignity alone or of authority. For it is not equality of dignity which unites natures; for then Peter and John, who were of equal dignity with each other, being both Apostles and holy disciples would have been one, and yet the two are not one….”(St. Cyril, 2nd Epistle to Nestorius.)

St. Cyril is making a point. He’s not denying Peter’s authority as pope. In fact, he made this statement at the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD, after he appealed to Pope St. Celestine I to settle the matter against Nestorius, the Patriarch of Constantinople. The result was the Third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus in 431 AD, which condemned Nestorius. In the Acts of the Council, session 3, it’s declared:

“Philip the presbyter and legate of the Apostolic See said: ‘There is no doubt, and in fact it has been known in all ages, that the holy and most blessed Peter, prince and head of the apostles, pillar of the faith, and foundation of the Catholic Church, received the keys of the kingdom from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the human race, and that to him was given the power of loosing and binding sins: who down even to today and forever both lives and judges in his successors. The holy and most blessed pope Celestine, according to due order, is his successor and holds his place, and us he sent to supply his place in this holy synod.’”

The great council of the East witnesses to the Catholic dogma that Peter and his successors are “head of the apostles, pillar of the faith, and foundation of the Catholic Church.”

St. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem (d. 386) is another Eastern Father who tells us that only Peter has the keys and is the chief of the apostles:

[Simon Magus] so deceived the city of Rome that Claudius erected a statue of him. . . . While the error was extending itself, Peter and Paul arrived, a noble pair and the rulers of the Church, and they set the error aright. . . . They launched the weapon of their like-mindedness in prayer against the Magus, and struck him down to earth. It was marvelous enough, and yet no marvel at all, for Peter was there—he that carries about the keys of heaven. …In the power of the same Holy Spirit, Peter, both the chief of the apostles and the keeper of the keys of the kingdom of heaven, in the name of Christ healed Aeneas the paralytic at Lydda, which is now called Diospolis; and at Joppa he raised the beneficent Tabitha from the dead.” (Catechetical Lectures [350 AD] 6:14 and 17:27).

St. John Chrysostom, according the Eastern Orthodox, “has not recognized in the Church any dignity superior to the apostolate in general.”

“Of all spiritual magistratures,” he says, “the greatest is the apostolate. How do we know this? Because the apostle precedes all others. As the consul is the first of civil magistrates, so is the apostle the first of spiritual magistrates. St. Paul himself, when he enumerates these dignities, places at their head the prerogatives of the apostolate. What does he say? ‘And God has set some in the church; first, apostles; secondarily, prophets; thirdly, teachers.’ Do you observe the summit of these dignities? Do you mark that the apostle is at the apex of the hierarchy–no one before, none above him. For he says: ‘First, apostles.’ And not only is the apostolate the first of all dignities, but also the root and foundation thereof.” (Homily upon the Utility of Reading Holy Scripture; cited in Abbe Guettee, The Papacy.)

[NOTE: Since being an Apostle is the highest rulership in the church, the root and foundation, then there is no office for St. Peter to have higher than the other Apostles –and note that St. Paul says, God set some, that is, a plural number, in the church, first apostles –again a plural number, yet a Papal Petrine primacy demands that the highest rank be singular.]

The argument fails to make proper distinctions. St. John Chrysostom is commenting on I Cor. 12:28-30, which reads,

“And God indeed hath set some in the church; first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly doctors: after that miracles: then the graces of healings, helps, governments, kinds of tongues, interpretations of speeches. 29. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all doctors? 30. Are all workers of miracles? Have all the grace of healing?”

The Bible is giving a general outline of authority and other positions in the Church. St. John Chrysostom is pointing to the fact that the Apostles are higher than all the other parts of the Church. The Apostles are also bishops but the other bishops don’t have the jurisdiction of the Apostles. Again, some bishops have more authority than other bishops because of the power of an office. St. John Chyrsostom is not dealing with the papal office which is about a specific office among the Apostles. He explains Peter’s Office in other writings. For instance,

“Peter, that head of the Apostles, the first in the Church, the friend of Christ, who received the revelation not from man but from the Father….this Peter, and when I say Peter, I mean the unbroken Rock, the unshaken foundation, the great apostle, the first of the disciples, the first called, the first to obey.” (De Eleemos III, 4, vol II, 298[300], taken from Dom John Chapman)

This is one of many teachings from St. John Chrysostom on papal primacy. To argue that this great saint didn’t recognize papal primacy is absurd.

Whenever we see a quote from a Father or saint about Peter’s relationship with others, pay attention to the context and in what sense he’s referring to.

The following additional quotes support papal primacy.

St. Jerome:

“Not long afterwards the illustrious Anastasius succeeded to the Pontificate. Rome did not merit to possess him long, lest the world’s head should be severed under such a bishop [when Alaric took Rome, AD 410]. Nay, he was taken away, lest he should essay by his prayers to bend the sentence once decided, as the Lord said to Jeremias: ‘Pray not for this people.’ … You say, what has this to do with the illustrious Marcella? She was the cause of the heretic’s condemnation, by producing witnesses’…” (Ep 127, c. x, 958[1093] taken from Dom John Chapman’s Studies on the Early Papacy and originally from the “Dublin Review” (January 1898). Dom John Chapman OSB (25 April 1865 – 7 November 1933)

St. Theodore the Studite to Pope St. Leo III:

“To the most holy and great father of fathers, to our lord Leo, apostolic pope, Theodore, the most humble priest and abbot of the Studion….

Since it is to the great Peter that Christ our God gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven and entrusted the dignity of chief of the flock , it is to Peter, that is to say, his successor, that one ought to submit every innovation which is made in the Catholic Church by those who turn aside from the truth. That is what we humble and lowly monks have learnt from the ancient fathers. Therefore, a new teaching having arisen recently in the midst of our Church here, we believed we ought, first through the medium of one of our fathers, the most holy archimandrite Ephiphanius, and then by this simple letter, to submit it to the angel of your supreme beatitude. There has been held, o Ruler divine of all rulers, a synod of prevaricators, as says the prophet Jeremiah, a council of adulterers. These men have not been content to conspire in favor of the priest who blessed the adulterous marriage and to receive him into communion, but, to merit the name of perfect heretic, have excommunicated in a second synod all those who do not cleave to their error, or rather the Church catholic herself…I borrow now the cry of the coryphaeus of the Apostles, calling Christ to his succor when the waves of the sea were risen up, and I say to your blessedness who are the Representative of Christ, ‘O first shepherd of the Church which is under heaven’, save us now, we perish. Imitate the Christ your master, stretch out your hand to your Church as he stretched out his hand to Peter. Peter began to sink in the waves, while our Church is still once more submerged in the depths of heresy. Emulate, we beg you, the great Pope whose name you bear, and just as he on the appearance of the Eutychian heresy, stood erect spiritually as a lion with his dogmatic letters, so in your turn (I dare to say it because of your name) roar divinely, or rather send forth your thunders against the present heresy. For if they, usurping an authority which does not belong to them, have dared to convene a heretical council, while those who, following ancient custom, have not even the right of convoking an orthodox one without your knowledge, it seems absolutely necessary, we dare to say it to you, that your divine primacy should call together a lawful council, so that the Catholic dogma may drive away heresy and that neither your primacy may be anathematized with all the orthodox by these new voices without authority, nor that wills evilly disposed may find in this adulterous council an excuse for being involved in sin. It is in order to obey your divine authority as chief pastor that we have set forth these things as it befitted our nothingness, we the least members of the Church. For the rest we beg your holiness to count us among your sheep and to enlighten and to strengthen us by your holy prayers… It is of myself, a humble fishermen held in prison, that I write to you this letter, because my father and companion the monk, as well as my brother the Archbishop of Thessaloniki, are imprisoned in other islands. But they say the same things as I, and with me prostrate themselves at the sacred feet of your blessedness” (Patrologia Graeca 99, 1017 – Epistle 1)

The list of quotes could go on and on proving that papal primacy was recognized by the whole Church. Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism doesn’t have a leg to stand on. They are man-made traditions that nullify the Word of God (Mark 7:13).

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