“Certainly that they are not forgiven either in this world or in the next, as our Savior taught in the Gospel; nevertheless that must be so understood in that they are very difficult to forgive, because it is rare and laborious for those guilty of these sins to come to true repentance, just as we say when there is an incurable disease, we do not mean to say that it can be cured by no way, but that it is rarely cured, nay more, ordinarily it is not cured.”

St. Bellarmine, The Catechism of St. Robert Bellarmine

The six sins St. Bellarmine is referring to here are:

1. To despair of salvation
2. The presumption that one will attain eternal salvation without merits
3. Denial of a known truth
4. To envy the grace given to another
5. Obstinacy in sin
6. Final impenitence

In this our corrupt age, each of these damning sins can be seen around us daily, even from those we consider to be, generally speaking, “good people”. Presumption, and Denial of a known Truth, are two that have heavily infiltrated the Church, and even those who claim “tradition”.

Presumption of salvation, specifically, is one of the most common, and most subtle sins, and it presumes the Judgements of Almighty God. It excludes true humility. It renders penance and sacrifice impotent. It is a will to power, insofar as it ultimately places the will of the person over the Will and Justice of God. It is most commonly seen in those who, like the protestants, have in effect made themselves to be their own gods. Ironically, this pride and presumption often manifests itself through false humility, false obedience, false devotion, and a general unwillingness to speak and defend the Truth. Those who hold presumption uphold their own will, and therefore cannot bend the same to God’s. By refusing to bend their will to God’s will, they reject all true humility. With presumption comes the removal of all Fear of the Lord. With presumption there is no longer a need (much less a duty) to fight against the moral horrors of the modernist heretics. With presumption the duty inverts and becomes to the community. And so in freeing themselves from the Fear of God, they become bound through false charity, false obedience, and false humility to the service of the community. And through this false service to the community, they become slaves to the world. Hence the damnation.

Unfortunately this presumption has flowed in through the cracks and massive fault lines caused by the Second Vatican Council, and now permeates all the way through to those that hold traditions. This is why even the “traditional” Prelates and Priests are rarely seen now to actively defend the Truth, and always can be trusted to slowly submit more and more to the heretical modernists, while the “trad” laity become more concerned with politics, homesteading, and bitcoin than demanding their Prelates figure out who is (or is not) the Pope.

Presumption removes duty in the traditional Church, and replaces it with the effeminate “trad”, where the man wears the baby while the woman speaks as if she wears the authority of the man. It inverts duty and removes ordered responsibility. It is far past time for traditional men to start upholding Duty in the Church. The needed reversal must begin with true humility, penance, and a development of Fear of the Lord.

S.M.M.