Catholics Celebrate Pagan Holiday in Southwest Ohio

St. Paul's Catholic Church of Englewood, Ohio will be celebrating the pagan holiday of 'Samhain' (Halloween) for three days starting October 31. This was reported in the October 25 issue of the Cincinnati archdiocesan newspaper, 'The Catholic Telegraph,' in an article titled, "Three Days of Heavenly Harvest."

St. Paul's rejects God's warnings about borrowing from pagan religions. Deuteronomy 12:30-31 says, "TAKE HEED TO THYSELF THAT THOU BE NOT SNARED BY FOLLOWING THEM...THOU SHALT NOT DO SO UNTO THE LORD THY GOD: FOR EVERY ABOMINATION TO THE LORD, WHICH HE HATETH, HAVE THEY DONE UNTO THEIR GODS."

Ignoring the word of God, St. Paul's is putting a phony "Christian" veneer on this event and calling it a "Harvest Triduum." With the bible thrown out the window, all St. Paul's is left with is spiritualization of pagan rituals that stretches the imagination.

'Samhain' was the end of the pagan year, when spirits could wander around for a few a hours before having to enter the bodies of animals. A bonfire was one way for pagans to ward off these spirits, and St. Paul's will also have a bonfire. The article reports that their bonfire will help Catholics to recall, "The Easter fire that begins with the celebration of the Easter vigil and the entire Easter season." As if the Lord needed re-enactments of pagan rituals to commemorate His resurrection.

The spiritualization of pumpkins is even worse. The article says, "No matter how scary, ugly, threatening, or mean we make the jack-o-lanterns, the light of Christ shines inside, just as it is with people." So - Catholics want to compare themselves to jack-o-lanterns!! One pagan purpose of lighted jack-o-lanterns was to guide the way to witch's meetings!! Like I said, when the bible is thrown out the window........

The article also said, "The bobbing for apples...is connected to Adam and Eve, just as the water in which the apples are placed is linked to baptism." The only thing they'll get out of this is water up their noses and seeing other people's saliva floating in the water.

Catholics at St. Paul's will not be brought closer to Christ by dusting off old pagan rituals. They, like any Catholic, need to repent and confess Catholicism as sin, forsake it, and receive Christ by faith ALONE. Growth in Christ is found in the bible - 1 Peter 2:2 says, "DESIRE THE SINCERE MILK OF THE WORD, THAT YE MAY GROW THEREBY."

Ohio Bishop Encourages Prayer to Mary

When bible believing Christians confront Catholics with the fact that Catholics 'pray' to Mary, how often the Catholic will reply with a shrill, "We don't 'pray' to Mary, we only ask her to 'intercede' for us." Well, that so-called successor to the apostles, Bishop James Griffin of Columbus, Ohio, is making it clear in his three-part series on the Rosary that 'prayer' IS made to Mary.

Regarding Mary and the Rosary, Griffin uses the words "pray" and "prayer" often enough in his three-part series. I have to take him at face value, if he writes "pray" and "prayer," he must mean "pray" and "prayer." Here are some examples from his series:

"She (Mary) has repeatedly asked her sons and daughters to 'pray' (emphasis mine) the Rosary."

"They have led us to a new and deeper appreciation of the importance and power of this 'prayer'."

"What better avenue of approach to Mary in 'prayer' than her Rosary!"

"How does one 'pray' the Rosary?"

"Every Catholic was most comfortable and at home with this 'prayer'."

"Deepen your familiarity...with this great 'prayer'."

"Make this 'prayer' a part of your personal life."

"The Rosary is a simple 'prayer' but a powerful 'prayer' and a 'prayer' we can take with us anywhere."

"'Pray' the Rosary!"

So, yes they DO pray to Mary! Trying to contact Mary only opens Catholics to occultic influences. Real prayer is only to God in the name of Jesus. Entry into spiritual things apart from Christ is truly a frightening proposition. May many Catholics confess the sin of Mary prayer, forsake Rome, and receive Christ by faith ALONE.

Church of Rome - The Twilight Zone?

American Catholic television's number one wife and husband team, Penny and Bob Lord, continue to scour the world looking for weird Catholic stories from the past that actually seem more like episodes from the 'Twilight Zone.' One such story is found in their fall 2002 periodical, 'The Good Newsletter,' in an article titled, "The Mountain that Split."

The article recounts the life of St. Philip Neri, an Italian priest born in 1515, and tells how supposedly the Holy Spirit worked in Philip's life. It describes Philip praying among the tombs of the Roman catacombs:

"As Philip prayed for the Holy Spirit to descend upon him and fill him with His Spirit, he received the Holy Spirit in the form of a huge ball of fire, soaring toward him. The ball of fire entered his mouth, traveled down to his heart, and finally rested there for the rest of his life...His heart became so enlarged, as a result his two ribs broke...his heart would beat so loudly, it sounded like the rumbling of an earthquake...They said his heartbeat could be heard all the way to St. Peter's, about two miles away."

There were more problems. "The heart was so affected by 'good Phil's' (Ed. note - his nickname translated into English) ecstasies, the third and fourth ribs on the left side broke to accommodate the size of the heart enlarging and decreasing with each ecstasy."

The article also describes what happened when 'Father' Philip said Mass. "At the moment of elevation (when Philip lifted up the big wafer during Mass), he would levitate, suspended over the altar for two hours." Yet......'Father' was a humble man. "Toward the end of his life, in order not to attract attention to himself, he celebrated Mass privately in a little chapel adjacent to his room." Good idea!! A levitating priest might distract a few Mass-goers!!

This was not the work of the Holy Spirit, but the condition of a man who allowed himself to receive 'another' spirit - a demonic spirit! 1 John 4:1 says, "BELOVED, BELIEVE NOT EVERY SPIRIT, BUT TRY THE SPIRITS WHETHER THEY ARE OF GOD." This is why the Catholic Church does not want people reading bibles, because God warns us about such demonic spirit activity.

May God protect bible-believing Protestants from a Roman Church that sees fit to declare such a man a "saint."

Billy Graham - Rome's Friend and Fool

Billy Graham's next "mission" will be in Dallas, Texas, October 17-20. His mission website was contacted and asked if the Diocese of Dallas would participate. The Graham website answered that the diocese had been contacted and was asked to join in, but no reply was ever received, so the mission would proceed without any Catholic diocesan involvement.

This Dallas situation seems odd because the last Graham "mission" (Billy doesn't call them "crusades" anymore) in Cincinnati, Ohio, from June 27-30 had heavy involvement from the local Catholic archdiocese. For example, the Cincinnati archdiocese:

Provided four facilities for the Graham organization to hold counseling classes for Catholics -- Sent out mailers to 9000 Catholics, inviting them to participate in these classes -- Gave the mission coverage in the archdiocesan newspaper -- Received back from Graham for "follow-up" all names that listed "Catholic" on "decision cards."

Why was there Catholic participation in one place, and not in another? Demographics may provide the answer:

1. The Archdiocese of Cincinnati had a Catholic population in 1990 of 538,400, and in 2001 of 513,469.

2. The Diocese of Dallas had a Catholic population in 1990 of 253,956, and in 2002 of 843,167.

The answer could be that with a net loss of Catholic population, the Cincinnati archdiocese will use any means possible, even a Billy Graham, to scrounge up stray Catholics. Whereas the Dallas diocese, with growth fueled largely by massive and illegal Catholic immigration, does not need Graham. This is one example of why the US Catholic clergy supports the unlimited illegal immigration that is balkanizing the United States.

When will Protestant and Evangelical ecumenists realize that Rome really does not want them as friends, but only as tools and fools?

May our Lord protect the United States from the Roman Catholic Church.