Catholic during the Great Apostasy

“Beware diligently of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are predatory wolves; by their fruits you shall know them.”
Matt. 7.

This is how Satan’s servants then harm the Christian most when they pretend to be Christians. This is why Christ the Lord warns his disciples against them, and through them and all of us, saying: – “Beware diligently of false prophets”.

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Previously instructing His Apostles not to give alms to people in order to be seen of men as hypocrites – not to pray in order to be seen of men as hypocrites – not to fast for the eye of man as hypocrites: thus He explained that giving alms, praying and fasting can be hypocritical and do not at all represent the goodness of a person.

Now he repeats the same thing, as it were, only in different words, when he says: “Beware diligently of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing”.

What is a sheep’s clothing? – Ah! nothing else but an appearance of piety.

The almsgiving one does to the human eye is a sheep’s clothing. Prayer, which is done for the sake of people, is a sheep’s clothing. Fasting, which is done for the sake of people, is a sheep’s clothing. Those who do so are not really, but only seemingly, pious; they cover their anger and perversity with this sheep’s clothing, even though inside they are predatory wolves.

And nothing destroys goodness so much as pretended goodness.
We flee from apparent evil as from evil, we are wary of it; but we behave differently when evil is presented to us as good.

As long as we are not convinced, we consider it as such, and therefore we accept it; but it is a fabrication that destroys the good in us.

This is how Satan’s servants do most harm to Christians when they pretend to be Christians. This is why Christ the Lord warns his disciples against them, and through them and all of us, saying: – “Beware diligently of false prophets”.

It is a great thing when we know how to recognise evil and a strong guarantee of salvation when we know whom to avoid, whom to shun.

Heresy is a dangerous thing, but very useful.

Dangerous, because it deceives many and brings destruction; useful, because it tests believers and separates them from unbelievers. Whoever murmurs at the danger of a trial must murmur also at the reward of a successful outcome.

There is no rest if toil does not precede; likewise in spiritual things: if we were not tried, we could not be tried.

“Beware diligently of false prophets.
First of all, it is necessary to know that they are indeed false. Nothing is more fatal to Christians than for those they regard as Christians who present themselves as such.

If it is reliable that there are false Christians, then either he is a false Christian or you are.

If not you, then he; if you, then not him.

If he, why have you him as a Christian, when it is known: that a Christian he is not, whom God does not acknowledge as his son.

How do you have him as a brother?
But perhaps you will say: how can I not call him a Christian when I see that he professes Christ, that he has an altar, that he performs the sacrifice of bread and wine, that he baptises, that he reads the Holy Scriptures and that he fulfils the other duties that belong to him.

My brother, if he did not profess Christ and his paganism was manifest, and you nevertheless considered him a Christian, that would be great folly on your part.

But in this case, that he professes Christ, but not as Christ commanded, your negligence is that to which you are subject and by which you deceive yourself.

For whoever falls into a pit by accident is considered unreasonable and they say he hit it wrong; but whoever deliberately falls into a pit is called crazy.

What you mentioned to me about religious practices, to this you have received an answer.

And the monkey has human limbs and in many things imitates man; is it for this reason that it is man?

So also heresy, all the mysteries of the Church it has and imitates, but the Church it is not.

Knowing that these were not overt pagans, but concealed under the name of Christianity, the Lord did not say: look, but beware; for to look is to set one’s eyes directly on a subject; to beware is to consider something comprehensively.

Where a thing is certain and undoubted, there one looks; and where uncertain and doubtful, there one considers.

Knowing therefore Christ the Lord that in them is something different on the surface and something different within hidden, He said:

“Beware,” that is, not so much with the eyes of the flesh as with the eyes of the spirit. For if you look at them with the eyes of the flesh, you will not recognise them; for they claim to be Christians and keep up appearances as Christians.

As a people, how can you see a lie covered with a shield of truth?
Above all, therefore, we must be mindful of good deeds.

If we ourselves do works of righteousness, if we are not subject to any error, we shall also perceive all error.

Error itself, if we are subject to it, means that we do not recognise the error of a stranger. He who does not recognise the lie of another, misses the truth himself.

As long as we do good works, the very light of justice will reveal the truth to our eyes.

The sins of sinners blind their senses to such an extent that they do not see the lie and fall into it.

Let us go back to the beginning of all things, namely to that moment when men went astray. It was not Satan’s error that made men evil, but evil men assimilated Satan’s error.

If error had made men evil, it would have been the fault of God, who created such men to be deceived from error. But since man himself chose error, the fault is man’s; usually sins precede and errors follow.

First man is blinded by many sins, and so deluded by Satan, and then he falls into death.

As night does not fall until the sun shines, but only after it has set, so as long as the light of righteousness dwells in a man, the darkness of error does not take possession of him.

So beware of good deeds, for it is not error that gives rise to sin, but sin that gives rise to error.

The wise man says: – “Ungodliness leads man to error.”

Beware,” I say, “beware of thinking that Satan brings about heresies in spite of God’s will: not in spite of God’s will, but by his permission.

If the Gentiles had not believed in Christ, we would think that it was the power of Satan who did not allow the Gentiles to believe. But since the Gentiles believed, since it was only afterwards that heresies arose from among the believers; it is shown that it was not the power of Satan, but the permission of God.

Why does the Lord so admonish, as if He did not want it to happen?

Because He does not want His servants to be without judgment, without opinion; therefore He tests them, tries them.

And that He does not want them to perish through ignorance, therefore He admonishes.

For this He tries, lest the wicked with the good be crowned: for this He admonishes, lest the good with the wicked perish: – “Beware of false prophets”.

It is written: all the law and the prophets until John.

This is not to be understood as meaning that there were no more prophets after John; indeed, there were Agabus and Silas and others. Only after John did the prophecies about Christ cease.

And there were and are prophets, not those who prophesy about Christ; but those who explain and clarify what has long been prophesied about Christ the Lord, that is, doctors of the Church.

All Christians are called prophets, as those who are anointed for the kingdom, the priesthood and prophecy. Prophetic thoughts cannot be explained by one who has no prophetic spirit.

We have said this to show that the prophets of whom Christ the Lord speaks are called doctors of the Church.

The Saviour knows that there will also be false doctrines, creators of various heresies, those who twist the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures with perverse translations: he therefore admonishes all the faithful, all the leaders of the Church with the words: – “Beware diligently of false prophets”.

And lest some heretical doctor should say that he calls not pagan and Jewish doctors but us false prophets, the Saviour adds:

“who come to you in sheep’s clothing”.

So he meant not his sons, not his elect, but the hypocritical sojourners.

Lest anyone should think that he was speaking not of heretical doctors but of sinful Christians, the Saviour, having said

“who come to you in sheep’s clothing”, He added: “but inwardly they are wolves of prey”.

Christian doctors, though they may be sinners, are called servants of the flesh, because they are subject to the flesh; yet they have no intention of losing Christians, and therefore they are not called predatory wolves.

You see, then, that he expressly speaks of heretical doctors, who, in this thought, clothe Christians with the endeavour of Satan, so that they may, by wicked deception, as it were, tear these Christians apart with their teeth.

Of these wolves in his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle to the nations said:

“I know that after my departure virulent wolves will come upon you, not sparing the flock, and from you yourselves will come forth such as speak perverse things, that they may seduce the disciples after themselves” (Acts 20:29-30 ).

Take note of this, dear brother, take it to heart, and beware diligently of false prophets by the grace and help of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with God the Father and the Holy Spirit for all ages of ages. Amen.

Luca Signorelli -The Lies of the Antichrist

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Teachings for Sundays and feasts of the whole year, given at the Collegiate Church of Lowicz by Father Antoni Chmielowski. T. III. Warsaw 1893, pp. 151-155.