A NOVUS ORDO WATCH SPECIAL REPORT
Did voodoo-like ceremonies cause
lightning to strike St. Alphonsus Church?
When the St. Louis landmark
was badly damaged in an August storm, some
speculated that the activities within had provoked divine wrath.
Research has
revealed that certain rites taking place in that parish
closely resembled voodoo
On August 17th Jeremy Kohler of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch began his report by writing:
"Lightning struck a storied 135-year-old church Thursday evening on Grand Boulevard, sparking a fire that caused major damage to the midtown monument. The five-alarm blaze gutted St. Alphonsus "Rock" Catholic Church, dedicated in 1872 and widely known for its trademark limestone exterior walls." (For complete article, see Fire guts 'Rock' Church).
It's been
estimated that repair of the damage will cost over $100,000 and the
church won't be usable until the second half of 2008. Some observers
have taken the destruction of St. Louis' once-Redemptorist "Rock" Church
to be divine retribution for what was going on there and we won't
quarrel with that interpretation as being quite probably the correct
one. Novus Ordo Watch reported as early as
January 2005 how the
supposedly conservative John Paul II appointee, "Archbishop"
Raymond Burke, was allowing pagan syncretism to flourish at St.
Alphonsus and now it would seem that it's reaped the
consequences of his acts. NOW's earlier mention of the church led to
more in-depth research on the subject that upon which the present report
is based.
Just prior to the fire, there appeared a video clip on YouTube of
something identified as a
"Praise Dance" that occurred at St. Alphonsus. (Warning:
Vulgar, immodest movements in parts of the video.) The video has
certainly caused much scandal and has been likened to a sort of voodoo
dance (something that becomes more evident if the audio is turned).
The church describes itself as geared towards "Afri-centric Catholics"
and that certainly seems the case, but a caveat needs to be added. When
you read a church of "Afri-centric Catholics" you shouldn't think of it
in the same sense that in times past one could speak of, say, a
neighborhood church of Irish Catholics or Italian Catholics, at least
not entirely. Yes, they all retained certain customs and features that
point to the ethnic or national background of the parishioners, but in
the case of "Rock" Church (the origin of nickname, by
the way, harkens
back to the days of its construction, when workers casually used the
term to refer to its exterior) there is also the promotion of
"traditional African" (read pagan) practices that are directly
related to voodoo.
A
prime example of this found on the church's site is the
Kongo Cosmogram,
a symbol that finds it's origins in pagan worship and despite having a
the image of a cross, is in no way connected to Christianity (aside from
attempts to blasphemously force a link between the two,
such as the ceremonies seen on photos linked to the Cosmogram page). One
website that promotes African "traditional" religions notes a connection
between the Cosmogram and voodoo and its cousins, such as Macumba
(Brazil) and Santeria (Cuba), noting that at various American
archeological sites associated with slaves this occult symbol has been
found, along with crystals and other artifacts "related to African
divination and conjuring practices." (See
The Ba'kongo
nation
from the Crystal Mountains of Congo, West-Central Africa:
Little-Known ancestral source of crystal high
science among
Africans-in-America.)
The
Cosmogram is also associated with the black folklore in the American
South of selling one's soul at a
crossroads,
which sometimes is represented symbolically with a "piece of cloth is
laid on the ground and at the four corners of the cloth are set four
candle-sticks with burning candles….At the center-point of this portable
crossroads is a small bowl heaped full of herbiage, presumably an
offering" (while not identical, there are disturbingly similarities in
the All Souls Day ceremony at the "Rock" Church in the photo at right).
This and other photos taken at the time show what appear to be clerics
taking part in the festivities. Of course, defenders of this ceremony
are going to argue that the participants are merely using a common
African symbol without attaching to it any occult significance. Of
course, that symbol comes from a religious tradition that wittingly or
not involves the worship of devils. What is being used in the
ritual is unmistakably pagan and, at best, ambiguous in its message.
And yet this sort of activity is most assuredly not restricted to
African pagan traditions and it is instructive to note that the
Cosmogram has a more or less direct counterpart in the world of the
European occult: the magic circle. The purpose of the magic
circle is usually used by sorcerers or witches as a defensive shield of
sorts when summoning a spirit to do their bidding. Although magic
circles aren't always formed precisely like the Cosmogram (such as
is shown here),
at other times there is a similarity so striking that it is difficult to
dismiss a common preternatural ancestry between the two. In the photo to
the left the magic circle shares some key elements with the Cosmogram:
Within the circle a cross is found (here represented by four reclining
occultists) and the four points of the cross are marked by candles, just
as with its African cousin. Another similarity is that such sinister
practices seek to contact the dead in ways condemned by the Catholic
Church from her earliest days and, indeed, even by God in the Old
Testament.
Returning to "Rock" Church, it is incredible that
this insanity is taking place on the premises what was once a Roman
Catholic church. Honestly, to look at the above picture without knowing
where it was taking place, it would be quite easy to believe that it's
some sort of magic ritual, far easier than to think it's
sanctioned by a purported Catholic church (well, unless one is aware of the Vatican
II ecclesial landscape, of course). The teaching of the Church has
always been to condemn such unholy blending of the true Faith and false
religions.
And,
no, this devilish nonsense is not an "abuse," for again it is sponsored
under the auspices of Burke, allegedly one of the most "Catholic" of all
the conciliar hierarchy in the United States and one who has been and
continues to be in the good graces of Modernist Rome. That he would
permit such un-Catholic Novus Ordo practices right under his nose
without doing anything to stop it is proof positive for all but the most
unthinking of conciliarists that Burke does not possess
the Catholic Faith, however much he claims to profess it. Prior to
Vatican II had Catholics been caught engaging in such an ceremony, there would have
been serious repercussions; in the apostate counterfeit church it is
nothing extraordinary, simply another example of the false doctrine of
heathen "inculturation" being put into action. Burke
apologists may try to say that he "didn't know" about such activities,
yet he has no excuse not to know, among other reason because the
incriminating photos were posted on the Internet in November 2004,
nearly a year after John Paul II installed him as the "archbishop" of
St. Louis.
So Burke allowed this false grafting of the pagan to
the Christian continued until the night the roof came crashing down at
St. Alphonsus Church and there is
no reason to believe that neither he nor a little lightning will stop these people. Not
unless it stops them dead in their tracks. Barring a miracle of grace,
they'll find a temporary venue for their sacrilegious activities and
Burke will be more than willing to oblige them, as he has already.
Rather than leading these people away from harm's way, as a good
shepherd would, Burke allows them in true Novus Ordo fashion to continue
wandering dangerously near the precipice. And from his point of view
there is no problem with this; after all, John Paul II went one step
further and actually met with witch doctors, publicly
praised
African "traditional religions" as legitimate
(see also related items below the linked article), blasphemously calling
them "seeds of the Word" and did not urge them
to leave their diabolical worship for Christ or suffer eternal hellfire.
More on "Rock" Church:
VIDEO
"Rock"
Church choir
(complete with swaying "priests")
More "liturgical dance" at St.
Alphonsus Liguori Church
Novus Ordo comments on the
Novus Ordo comments on
the "praise dance" video
(some unwittingly humorous
remarks defend Burke as having his hands tied because it's a
Redemptorist church, as if a bishop can't demand that the order
clean up its act or leave)
Entertainment Tonight goes up in
flames
(in contrast to the above remarks, the blogmaster at Sheep in the Midst
of Wolves has his head on pretty straight and reads "Rock" Church the
riot act (see entries for September 28th and also the 27th).