Interesting Deathbed Converts

October 29, 2008

I have been looking around the internet for some interesting converts to the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I find that deathbed conversions are interesting. On one hand I am glad to see that they converted, and on the other I think “What were you waiting for?”

Anyway, here is a list of some of the more famous deathbed conversions or “reversions” that I found on the net. Caveat: this list is certainly not exhaustive and in no way, shape, or form is it inerrant. Here are the converts:

Constantine the Great- Surprisingly, the great Emperor who signed the Edict of Milan and did so much for the Church in Her early days only converted on his deathbed. He may have postponed his baptism to properly repent for the earlier murders of his wife and son first (he ordered their executions.) He fell ill, realized that he was at death’s door, and was actually baptized by the Arian bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia. He is honored as a Saint in the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, the Latin Church has no Feast for him and does not honor him as a Saint.

Charles II of England- He and his brother James II were the best hopes in restoring Catholicism to “Our Lady’s Dowry” (Non Angli Sed Angeli !) James, who would succeed Charles on the throne of England converted to Catholicism first. Charles was against James’ conversion for political purposes but later converted himself on his deathbed. His father Charles I was beheaded after one of the many Civil Wars England fought against itself for power over the Isle. Charles I was added to the Anglican list of Saints as a martyr after the restoration of the Monarchy in England by his son, Charles II. Charles I is one of the few post-Reformation (Revolt?) saints of the Anglican Church.

Oscar Wilde- For all his flamboyant and wild (pun intended) behavior and homosexual dalliances he still asked to be baptized in to the Church on his deathbed. He was a brilliant poet, playwright, and novelist.

John Wayne- I knew it! The Duke always reminded me of my grandpa! John Wayne had been married 3 times and was divorced twice. All of his wives were Hispanic women and I assume that their Catholicism rubbed off on him. I have always enjoyed his movies, especially the ones he made with Maureen O’Hara. Every year on or around St. Patrick’s Day, I make sure to watch The Quiet Man.

Buffalo Bill Cody- Buffalo Bill was baptized on his deathbed in Denver. He was given tribute by King George of England, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, and of course President Woodrow Wilson when they heard of his death. He may have been influenced by the great Chief Sitting Bull who, according to the blog Roman Christendom, converted some years before.

Some note that John Henry “Doc” Holiday may have been a deathbed convert… It is noted “He struck up a friendship with the local Catholic priest, Father Edward Downey, and there were unconfirmed reports that Holliday was received into the Catholic Church just before he died. For the last two weeks of his life, he was delirious. Doc Holliday died on Nov. 8, 1887, age 36.” (Source).  Also “friend and first cousin Martha Anne “Mattie” Holliday, with whom he regularly corresponded throughout his life, had years earlier become a Catholic nun, and this may have been an influence. ” (Source)

There are many more, but it is getting late and I have to go to Mass tomorrow.


Defending Truth & Contending For The Faith?

October 28, 2008

I came across the following odd quote using WordPress.com’s “tag surfer feature”. I am not surprised by the content, per se… I have been dealing with non-Catholic and anti-Catholic apologists for over a decade. I usually respect them as sincere, and never take it personally.

But what I find odd… well first read it first for yourself…

<!–[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]–> The Roman Catholic religion claims that the Bible does not contain all the truths which a Christian is bound to believe (The Faith of Our Fathers, p. 72). Catholicism also says the Bible does not contain everything God taught about salvation (A Catechism for Adults, p. 52); is not clear and intelligible (The Faith of Our Fathers, pgs. 70, 152); is a dead book (Question Box, p. 67); and does more harm than good (Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, p. 274). These, and many other comments against the Bible, reveal that Catholicism is not a loyal friend of the Bible but a forceful enemy that needs to be confronted. Roman Catholicism constantly seeks to undermine, weaken, oppose and nullify the Bible from its God-ordained place of authority.

SOURCE: http://defendingcontending.com/2008/10/28/quotes-404

The thing of it is, I HAVE read The Faith Of Our Fathers by James Cardinal Gibbons. In high school, it actually kept me Catholic when I was preparing to leave the Catholic Church. I have read it (and done so more than once) and didn’t recall anything of the sort being attributed to that text in the actual book.

But I haven’t read it for at least 10 years… so fair is fair, some due diligence to see what this gentleman is possibly referring to, I used Google Books (The Faith of Our Fathers is public domain) to check out the pages cited. You can do the same.

So having read the full text of each page cited (at least using the page numbers offered compared to the online edition which matches up with the TAN edition, as the TAN edition – that I owned – was a facsimile reproduction of the same…)  I am still just as befuddled.  In each instance, the pages offered aren’t even related to discussion of Scriptures.

So my question to Mike Gendron is, what are the exact quotes you found in The Faith of Our Fathers  that back up your assertions?  Have you read the book, or are you quoting from someone who claims to be quoting it?


Flight Into Egypt

April 11, 2008

 

There has always been an image in my mind of St. Joseph leading a donkey which bears the Blessed Virgin carrying the Baby Jesus on a long walk through the wilderness to a tiny Egyptian village in the middle of the desert to wait out the storm of King Herod’s wrath. I never found that fully satisfying though. There are only two references to the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt that I am aware of in Holy Scripture and I can not ever recall hearing any Catholic theologian speak extensively on the issue. In essence the trip is in an intellectual and historical black out for me, but none the less interesting. Read the rest of this entry »


Lightbringers – The Emissaries of Jahbulon

April 9, 2008

There is a video posted on the internet called “Lightbringers – The Emissaries of Jahbulon” which puts out fallacious information. It can be found here http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7447140689352016786. Whatever it says about Freemasonry is really of no consequence to me. My contention is its attempt to connect the Freemasons to the Templar Knights. There is no supporting evidence to lead to such a conclusion; in fact the verdict of history would show the opposite.

There are three main claims by the producers of this video to connect the Freemasons to the Templar Knights. It claims several knights escaped arrest and fled to Scotland, continued to practice “secret rites,” then founded the order of Freemasonry in Scotland. Only one claim is true – several knights and sargeants did escape to Scotland because their nobles were strong supporters of the Order of the Templar Knights. Read the rest of this entry »