These Last Days News - March 27, 2023
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Married Priests? Here’s What the Early Church Taught about Priestly Celibacy...

GREAT ATTACK PLANNED AGAINST PRIESTHOOD
"O My children, your streets will run with blood because you have not listened. Pastors, a great attack is being planned against the priesthood. You will be shot down like targets in the streets. Prepare now and pray. Wear your sacramentals. Protect Our sheep now; the battle is raging.” – Our Lady, September 7, 1977

GARMENT  OF  PURITY
"Holiness and piety! Man--men of God, you must wear your garment of purity, dedication, and piety. What manner of foul deeds do you perform for the destruction of your sheep! For what? Material gain and pride and arrogance? You shall be cast into the abyss! Rank shall give you no advantage when you come over the veil." - St. Michael, December 24, 1975

FAR  SUPERIOR
"A priest, My children, is a chosen man of God; a true legally ordained priest is far superior than any man, as he represents Me in the Godhead." - Jesus, May 23, 1979

The above Messages from Our Lady were given to Veronica Lueken at Bayside, New York. Read more

LifeSiteNews.com reported on March 27, 2023:

by Michael Haynes

The concept of clerical celibacy is currently under attack, both from critics of the Church who seek to refute it as pointless and restrictive, but also from Pope Francis who has made a number of remarks in recent days suggesting that priests will no longer be required to be celibate in the near future. However, examining the early years of the Church’s history highlights the development of clerical celibacy and how it has been consistently taught from the very earliest ages. 

In a recent interview given to mark his decade upon the papal throne, Francis repeated some of his regular phrases regarding priestly celibacy, making hints at future moves to undermine the Church’s traditional teaching.

“There is no contradiction for a priest to marry,” he said. “Celibacy in the Western Church is a temporary prescription: I do not know if it is resolved in one way or another, but it is temporary in this sense; it is not eternal like priestly ordination, which is forever, whether you like it or not.”

Noting celibacy as “a discipline,” the Pope replied in the affirmative when asked if such a rule “could be revised.”

Francis has regularly made such comments throughout his papacy, prompting media outlets to speculate whether the Catholic teaching on clerical celibacy might be next in line on the papal chopping block. 

However, examining the origins of clerical celibacy in the early centuries of the Church highlights the beauty and meaning of the Church’s teaching on the matter.

‘We have left everything and followed you’

Some of the earliest evidence of the celibate priesthood is found in the Gospels in Christ’s call to the Apostles, who responded with a complete giving of themselves. St. Peter represented the Twelve when he spoke thus: “Behold we have left everything and followed you.” (Matt 19:27) 

This was a call to leave their “house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God.” (Luke 18: 29) They had thus renounced the joy of marriage for the sake of responding selflessly to the call of God to minister as priests and bishops to the Mystical Body of Christ. 

In the very early ages this call to celibacy “strictly speaking meant the inability to enter marriage once a higher Order had been received.” Married men were at that time permitted to be ordained to that holy state, but only on the condition that they became “eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 19:12) 

But St. Paul expressed concerns about the difficulties faced by a married cleric: “The married man is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided.” (1 Cor 7:32) 

Early Church outlines the law of continence

Pope Leo the Great penned in his letter to the bishop of Narbonne:

The law of continence is the same for the ministers of the altar, for the bishops and for the priests; when they were (still) lay people or lectors, they could freely take a wife and beget children. But once they have reached the ranks mentioned above, what had been permitted is no longer so. (Epist. ad Rusticum Narbonensem episcopum, Inquis, III., Resp. PL 54, 1 204a.)

The Council of Elvira (c A.D 305) pronounced very clearly upon the practice of marital relations after ordination, stipulating it is “entirely forbidden to have conjugal relations with their wives and to beget children.” The Council of Aries (A.D. 314) went further and stated that the reason for this continence was due to the fact that “they are serving the ministry every day” and to be following two masters is of course impossible.

These decrees were not new revelations, but rather “a reaction to the prevalent nonobservance of a traditional obligation that was well known,” as Cardinal Alfons Stickler notes in his text “The Case for Clerical Celibacy.”  

St. John Chrysostom wrote so beautifully that: “The priest must be so pure that, if he were to be lifted up and placed in the heavens themselves, he might take a place in the midst of the Angels.” Thence the practice of cohabitation of the already married cleric and his wife arose, with the pair living as brother and sister, devoid of all nuptial activity.

The priest was not permitted to send his wife away however, but rather, if she so agreed to a future of continence, then they would remain continently married. The Church ensured the protection of the rights of both parties in this arrangement, and thus “ordination could not go ahead without her [wife’s] agreement” in order to prevent any abuses.

As Stickler writes, Sts. Ambrose and Jerome both expressed very clearly that those who were ordained “could not continue the use of marriage after ordination,” since with ordination came the complete and constant giving of the man to God, to acts of prayer and service to the flock. This was quite different to the Jewish traditions which had held that such liturgical and priestly actions were only required at certain times, leaving the priest free to continue with other duties. 

In his directive of 385, Pope Siricius silenced objections made by those who appealed to the Old Testament traditions, whereby the clergy were permitted to avail themselves of the marital rights during the period when they were not serving in the Temple. However, this custom had been done away with in the New Covenant, for “the major clerics had to offer daily their sacred sacrifice,” notes Stickler. 

The wives of married men who were ordained and thereafter practiced continence, were known as “presbytera, diaconissa, subdiaconissa or even episcopia according to the status of her husband.” (Such terms are of course nowadays used by those seeking to justify the ordination of women, misquoting and taking them out of context to invalidly prove that the early Church accepted women clerics.) 

When dealing with the matter after questions were raised by some dissenters amongst the African church, an assembly was convened in order to restate the decrees on continence. Here was ordered celibacy for the “deacons, priests and bishops” according to how the Church had dealt with “certain clerics, especially lectors.” 

This evidence would point to celibacy for all the minor orders, in addition to the major orders. Seeing as the minor orders led to the major and were a stepping stone to those major orders, it would be only right and fitting that those who had received minor orders would also forgo any marital privileges, given that they were in the service of the Lord.

From continence to celibacy

However, this state which could be seen as an amalgamation of two completely different vocations cannot have been easy. For a married couple, however virtuous they may be, to suddenly cease to be in a conjugal relationship of husband and wife, could never be a smooth transition. 

Yet, the “difficulties of the discipline were not unappreciated by the Church authorities.” From here grew the practice and general realization of the fact that cohabitation could lead to problems and thus, from shortly after the time of Pope Leo, Stickler records that cohabitation was “generally not tolerated because of the danger of not remaining faithful to the obligation that had been undertaken.”

This law of continence thus leads to the law of celibacy. Since marriage is ordered to the “good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring,” as the catechism teaches, entering into the marital state with the intention of abstinence would be a defiance of the very purpose for which it is instituted. Hence the necessity for the prohibition of marriage following the reception of orders. 

Importantly, St. Jerome in his treatise Adversus Vigilantium stated that in the “Eastern Church…Egyptian Church and Apostolic See…only those clerics were accepted who were celibate and continent or, if married, had first renounced the matrimonial life.”

This particular reference is quite key to the history of the topic, for it appears to be one of the first quotations where the word “celibate” is specially used, and seemingly denoting preference to those who had been married.

Pope Gregory the Great then went on to prohibit any “common life between major clerics and women which was not authorized” and increasingly included amongst those unauthorized women were spouses. 

Come the time of the Council of Tours, the Church was selecting for holy orders more “celibate candidates” rather than “those who were married,” writes Cardinal Stickler.

In her wisdom, Holy Mother Church saw the prudence in removing any possible occasion of sin, for a breaking of the vow of continence was first punishable by excommunication, and later by removal from office. In selecting only those men who were unmarried, the office of the holy priesthood was reserved for people who were prepared to entirely devote their lives to that most sacred of offices. 

In the period all the way up until the pontificate of Pope Gregory the Great, a clear precedent had been set, from the very beginning of the Church, for clerics to act in a celibate manner. 

Whilst the early members of the clergy were indeed married, upon ordination any further marital activity was prohibited and as time went on, this became stricter, only permitting a very select circle of women into the priest’s household, which does not seem to have included his wife. Naturally this developed into the gradual selecting of men who were virgins, without any ties, and thus most suitable for the call to the altar.

Thus in a brief examination, it can be seen that the issue of clerical celibacy is not a recent invention which can be swiftly, or easily, overturned by the whims of one pope. Rather, it is a practice and a teaching which dates back to the Gospels and is evidenced in the life of the early Church. 

While advocates for revolution in the Church repeatedly push the issue of a possible overturning of clerical celibacy, to do so would be against the teaching and Tradition of the Church of the earliest times. 

EDITOR'S NOTE:  We welcome your comments at the end of this page.  Email a link or print out a copy of this web page to your clergy, family, friends and relatives.  Email this page to a friend.

SUFFER GREATLY
"You will make it known to the world that those whom I have chosen to be shepherds of My flock will suffer greatly in the days ahead." - Jesus, September 7, 1974

NEED PRAYERS
"Many priests, bishops, cardinals in My Son’s House need prayers from the laity that they may be strong enough not to fall into the plan of the third-worlders, who are also known, My child, as the one-worlders. They seek to destroy My Son’s Church and build one on the creation of man." - Our Lady, October 6, 1976

RESPECT
"I repeat, My children, as I have told you in the past, that the great Council of Vatican II was manipulated by Satan. He sat there among you and he worked you like a chessboard. "What can you do now to recover? It is simple, My children: turn back and start over with the foundation given to you. You must bring respect back to your priesthood." - Our Lady, May 15, 1976

RETURN MICHAEL
"You must enter, My pastors, Michael into your houses, your churches. It is urgent. He is the Guardian of your Faith. You must re-enter him now into your churches." - Our Lady December 24, 1975

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 Wars are a punishment for man's sins.  Abortion, homosexuality, and the changes in the Catholic Church cry out to Heaven for just punishment.
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HELL
"My child, I have to tell you in all truth, that there are many priests who have gone to hell because too few prayed for them; and they did not accept the road to penance, dedication, and truth." - Our Lady, June 6, 1987

NO PASSPORT
"Understand, My children, you do not pray enough for your priests! They too are human, and are subject to error and the deceits of satan. They too can lose their souls to satan unless you pray for them and do penance for them and make sacrifices for them. They do not have a special passport to Heaven, My children. They have to fight along the road filled with many thorns as you do." - Our Lady, September 7, 1977

INSTRUMENT
"You ask, My child, about the state of soul of the priesthood. This, My child, is not for you to question or judge. A human being he is, yes. Subject to error, yes. Subject to fall, yes. But still during the Consecration, and when he hears you in the confessional, the Holy Spirit comes down upon him, using him as an instrument to bring absolution to you." - Our Lady, October 6, 1973

MOCK
"I want you to stress, My child, the existence of hell and purgatory. It has been forgotten by many. Even the priests in My Son's churches have overlooked this essential knowledge. In fact, some now mock it as being untrue." - Our Lady, June 18, 1990

COMMON MAN?
"I admonish you now that you are not to set yourselves in as a common man. When I chose you to represent Me as a priest in My House--you are not to make yourselves a common man, for you will not bring the souls into the Kingdom by joining them in their sin. Yours must be a pure and shining example. You must follow your vows of chastity and poverty. Among you, We find little of this being practiced." - Jesus, August 14, 1974

“HIS HEART IS TORN ASUNDER”
"My Son, His heart is torn asunder by His representatives in the priesthood who now are Judases in His own House. They consort with the enemies of your God. In the manner of humanism and modernism, and an ecumenism that has been designed from hell, man now is plunging fast into making ready the full capitulation of My Son's Church and the world under a dictatorship of evil.” – Our Lady, November 22, 1976

SATAN SEEKS TO REMOVE THE PRIESTHOOD
Veronica - The priests are deceived, Our Lady said, in Her Son's House; they are deceived. They do not realize that satan has planned to dethrone them from their vocation. Little by little satan seeks to remove the priesthood.
    As a representative of Jesus, a legally-ordained priest must be the only instrument of God to bring the Body of Jesus to the multitudes. Only in a severe manner must a man--and this severe manner being the absence of a priest in the face of a death--then the priest will allow a deacon--a man, not a woman--a deacon, a man in the extremist emergency to take the Sacred Body of Jesus to a dying person. And that will be the only time. – November 19, 1977

PRIESTS CONDONING ABORTION AND HOMOSEXUALITY
"I will not stand for My priests who condone homosexuality and allow it in My priesthood! I will not stand for My priests who allow the murder of the unborn with their permissiveness! I will not stand by and allow My priesthood to be destroyed!" – Jesus, June 18, 1982

STEPS MUST BE FOLLOWED
"You must keep in your hearts the knowledge of the true priesthood of My Son. The steps for obtaining Holy Orders must be followed. They have been developed through heavenly guidance for reason. No women must enter onto the holy place of the sacrifice.” – Our Lady, September 13, 1978

BECAUSE TOO FEW HAVE CARED TO PRAY”
"My child and My children, you wonder now of the happenings in Rome. Much that has happened has taken place because too few have cared to pray and do penance for the priesthood. One day all will be made known to mankind.
     "I have come to you as a Mediatrix between God and man, in the will of the Eternal Father, to warn you, O priests in My Son's Church, His House upon earth, that you must turn back and start again.” – Our Lady, October 6, 1978

NOT TO COMPROMISE THE CHURCH
"My children, go to your bishops and tell them that all Heaven is disturbed, and Our hearts are torn by the laxity in attitude to pride and arrogance of the priesthood in My Son's Church. We ask for you to convert the unbelievers but not to join them, not to compromise My Son's Church. The reforms you are promoting will bring your destruction, for the sheep will leave.” – Our Lady, May 26, 1979

Directives from Heaven... https://www.tldm.org/directives/directives.htm

D1 - The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass  PDF
D5 - The Holy Priesthood, Part 1  PDF
D38 - Priests (Part 1)   PDF
D39 - Priests (Part 2)   PDF
D79 - Restore My Church   PDF
D85 - Tradition  PDF
D127 - Vatican II   PDF
D211 - Changes, Part 1 PDF
D212 - Changes, Part 2 PDF
D285 - Restore Holiness to the Priesthood  PDF
D405 - The Holy Priesthood, Part 2 PDF

EDITOR'S COMMENT:  Evil is accelerating and the Anti-Christ forces are gaining power in the world.  When the persecution starts, all Christian web sites on the internet will be forced to close.  Be sure to have in your possession all the following items: the Bayside Prophecy books, Bayside Medals, Douay-Rheims Bibles, the Protection Packets, Candles, Sacramentals, and Religious Books.  Purchase these items now while they are still available!  You will urgently need them in the days ahead.  Also, you can print out all PDF files for the Directives from Heaven and all of the Bayside Prophecies.  Copy Our Lady's messages and the Directives from Heaven now while they are still available!  Pray to the Holy Spirit for wisdom and guidance on how to prepare now and for the days ahead when the Antichrist is revealed.  Viva Cristo Rey!

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