TITLE:  “LIGHT” FROM THE ALTAR OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

It is often said of organizations that speak out against Catholicism, that we are ill-informed of what Rome really teaches. So, I have decided to go to her manuals and teaching sources and let Rome speak for herself. The following quotes are taken from The Manual of the Holy Catholic Church: Embracing Light From the Altar or The True Catholic in the Church of Christ. This book was written in 1920 by Rev. James J. McGovern, D.D., published with the approbation of “the most Rev. James Edward Quigley, D.D., archbishop of Chicago. It contains the approval of several bishops and archbishops, as well as the approval of the Vatican itself. It was published by the Duggan Publishing Co. of Chicago and Buffalo. In the preface, it states:

“....It is to be regretted that THERE BE MANY CATHOLICS WHO ARE NOT CONVERSANT WITH THE TEACHINGS AND PRACTICES OF THE CHURCH, and are unable to explain the truths they profess to believe. FOR THESE AND ALL OTHERS seeking more knowledge, `THE MANUAL OF THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH` has been published as A LAMP OF FAITH which it is hoped will KINDLY LIGHT THE WAY OF TRUTH which leads to the Eternal Happiness of Heaven" (Emphasis mine).

Let’s take a look at what Rome says is a “lamp of faith” that will “light the way of truth”, and compare it with some scriptures, which is the true “lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path”. On pages 105-106, we read:

"Our Lady had to offer her Son to God in the Temple; and when He had been accepted by the priests in God's name, she was allowed to purchase Him back again. She did so by offering two doves, which offering was considered by the law to be within the means of the poor. Our Lady was ready, nay anxious, to give all she had, but she was pleased to show us that He may be purchased by the poor in spirit for such little things. At the ceremony there are present--Jesus, making a full oblation of Himself to His Father for us; Mary, showing her love by offering her Son to God, and yet glad to have Him back again, hers once more, and hers by another title; Joseph, quietly contemplating the scene, and carrying the doves, the price of the redemption of Jesus" (Emphasis mine).

Now, let’s look at what really happened, according to God’s word. Luke 2:22-24 says:

“And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”

As we can see from Luke, the male child being presented “shall be called holy”, and they were presenting Him to the Lord. So why did Mary bring an offering? Leviticus 12:1-4, 6-8, answers that question:

“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then SHE SHALL BE UNCLEAN SEVEN DAYS; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. and she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled. And WHEN THE DAYS OF HER PURIFYING ARE FULFILLED, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, FOR A SIN OFFERING, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest: Who shall offer it before the LORD, AND MAKE AN ATONEMENT FOR HER; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that hath born a male or a female. And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall MAKE AN ATONEMENT FOR HER, and she shall be clean.”

There is no indication here that it was necessary for Mary to buy back Jesus from God, rather, it is obvious that a lamb was to be offered for the uncleaness of the woman! The blood sacrifices of the Old Testament were a shadow of the substance, which is Christ Jesus. It is the Lamb of God that purchased His church with His own blood, and therefore, purchased Mary from her uncleaness. The so-called “light from the altar” of Catholicism seems pretty dim when put under the light of the scriptures!

The Manual goes on to say:

"Hail, Mary! sinless one, and yet ready to bear the burden of my sins for love of me. Full of grace, never sullied by sin thyself, strong to bear the effects of my sin. The Lord is with thee, not bodily in this mystery, but in spirit, for thou alone were like Him in thy purity and in thy capacity to bear with the sins of the world" (109).

Here we see RCC teaching that Mary can “bear the burden of my sins” and the “effects of my sin”, totally disregarding Isa 46:4-5:

“And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you. To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?” (see Isaiah 40:18, 25 and 46:5 against being "like" Him)

God alone “bears” our sins. Hebrews 1:3 is very clear that Jesus “by himself purged our sins”. Isaiah 53:5-6 says:

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Let’s look at more “light from the altar of the Catholic church”. On page 226, we read:

"God, by a meek maid, conquered the rebellious spirit who thought to be as the Most High, and crushed with Mary's heel the serpent's head. She was the sole triumph of the four thousand years before her birth and of the two thousand years that followed. Never again shall we see an Immaculate One upon the earth."

According to Rome, it was “Mary’s heel” that crushed the serpent’s head. Genesis 3:15 tells us a different story.

“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

It is apparent from the scriptures that it was not the woman that bruised the head of the serpent, but rather, her “seed”. Galatians 3:16 tells us that “seed” was Christ. “...He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ”. Romans 16:20 also makes it clear that God shall bruise Satan under our feet, and not Mary. “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly….” Why then does Rome distort the scriptures and put the emphasis on the woman instead of her "seed"? The reason may be found in the ancient Babylonian religion. Rome, notorious for incorporating pagan symbolism into her religion, incorporated the titles and attributes of many goddesses throughout history. Hislop, in his book The Two Babylons, notes the similarities between Rome’s goddess crushing the head of the serpent, and other goddesses.

“‘In the upper most storey of the tower of Babel, or temple of Belus, Diodorus Siculus tells us there stood three images of the great divinities of Babylon; and one of these was of a woman grasping a serpent’s head.’ Among the Greeks the same thing was symbolised; for Diana, whose real character was originally the same as that of the great Babylonian goddess was represented as bearing in one of her hands a serpent deprived of its head.” (76-77)

It is not enough for Rome to have twisted scriptures to teach pagan doctrine, but she takes the titles that foreshadow Christ in the Old Testament and apply them to Mary. In The Catholic Manual, page 107, we read:

"But why talk of sin today, of all days in the year, when we are celebrating Mary's spotlessness? Let us rather turn our weary eyes away from that evil to which we are akin and lift them up to rest on Mary. And it is a rest. If there were a spot on earth where we could truly say, ‘Here no sorrow can come!’ how would people flock to that spot. But there is no such place. Still there is Mary! Hers is a soul where perfect peace and holy joy dwell undisturbed. She was foreshadowed in the Old Testament under the most beautiful types: the dove that could find no spot clean enough for a resting-place; the many-colored rainbow, reaching from heaven to earth and ratifying God's promise to man; the fiery bush, burning but unconsumed; the majestic cloud of flame that led the Israelites into the Promised Land; Aaron's Rod with its pure white blossoms; the Ark of the Covenant, God's home on earth; Gideon's fleece, exempt from the common lot; `the garden enclosed`......"

Let’s take each title and compare it with the word of God. Rome says Mary is spotless. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, is the only spotless one, for “all have sinned” (Rom.3:23, 5:12). In 1 Peter 1:18-19, we read:

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” (Compare with Heb.9:14, Ex.12:5)

In Revelation 5:3, John weeps because there was "no man found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon”. But one of the elders said, “Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.” If Mary was spotless and worthy, then she could have opened the book, but the word of God says that only the Lion of the tribe of Judah was worthy!!!

Without one shred of scriptural evidence, Rome says that we can “rest in Mary”. Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Mt 11:28-29) , “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him.” (Ps 37:7)

Rome then goes on to say that “Mary was foreshadowed in the Old Testament as the dove that could find no spot clean enough for a resting-place”. The dove from Noah’s ark was sent out three times. The first time, it had to return to the ark because “there was NO DRY PLACE for it to land”, not because there was “no spot clean enough”. The second time, the dove brought back and olive branch. The third time, it did not return, and Noah knew that the waters had abated.. There is simply no evidence to support this interpretation. So where does Rome come up with this interpretation that the dove is “Mary”? Again we have to go to the ancient pagan religion of Babylon to find our answer. In the ancient Babylonian religion, the goddess was represented as a dove.

“...To express the celestial benignity of her [mother-goddess] nature, she was called by the name of ‘D’Iune,’ or ‘The Dove,” or without the article, ‘Juno,’ — the name of the Roman ‘queen of heaven’ which has the very same meaning; and under the form of a dove as well as her own, she was worshipped by the Babylonians. The dove, the chosen symbol of this deified queen is commonly represented with an olive branch in her mouth, as she herself in her human form also is seen bearing the olive brand in her hand...when the deified mother was represented as a Dove, what could the meaning of this representation be but just to identify her with the Spirit of all grace, that brooded, dove-like, over the deep at the creation; for in the sculptures at Nineveh, as we have seen, the wings and tail of the dove represented the third member of the idolatrous Assyrian trinity.” (The Two Babylons, 78-79)

John 1:32 says, “...I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.” It is evident that as the pagan religions mock the word of God, so does Rome! Just as the pagan goddesses were symbolized as a dove, they were also connected with the rainbow. For this reason, Rome claims that Mary is foreshadowed as “the many colored rainbow reaching from heaven to earth and ratifying God’s promise to man”. The pagan religions around the world hold to the same doctrine concerning their goddesses, and considered the rainbow to be the “Gateway to heaven” , the path souls take on their way to heaven or other worlds. The Russians call the rainbow the "Gate to Heaven." The Zulu of South Africa call the rainbow the Queens Arch because it is one of the frames that form the house of the Queen of Heaven. In Kauai the Goddess of the rainbow is Anuenue. In myths of India the Goddess Indra not only carries a thunderbolt like the Greek God Zeus but she also carries a rainbow, known as Indra's bow or weapon. The Maya people believe that the Goddess of the rainbow is Ixchel the wife of the God Itzamna. She is also the spirit associated with the moon, sexuality, childbirth and medicine. A similar Mexican story, from the state of Michoacan, tells of Mauina the Goddess of fertility, who lives under the rainbow in the gardens of the rain and water. The Navajo's also say the rainbow is a Goddess who appears during ritual chanting to heal the sick. To understand the true meaning of the “bow in the clouds”, let’s examine Genesis 9:13-16:

“I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.”

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