Obviously the writer is no a Sede Vacantist, at least when this was written. Wonder what his position is today? (Video is in the second half)

As previously reported … the Most Holy Family Monastery (MhFM) filed a complaint with YouTube against the Crossroads at 23rd Streetfor using the content of 2 videos that they claim that they hold the copyright for. The videos in question were those in which Frederick “Michael” Dimond, in 1996, speaks out “Against Sedevacantism” and a video created with Father James Wathen being interviewed at the MhFM by Frederick “Michael” Dimond, on the subject of his book “Who Shall Ascend?”

Having the “Crossroads” YouTube Channel abrubptly terminated was, at first, “a bitter pill to swallow” as it denied the public access to all the other videos that had been uploaded and used for display on this website and on YouTube. I was amazed that YouTube did NOT request proof from the MhFM concerning their copyright claim. Knowing the gentleman who actually made those videos back in the 1990s (who, by the way, states he was never paid for his work and thus maintains copyright ownership) makes the Dimond Brothers‘ claim dubious … to say the least … but never mind. What’s done is done and simply confirms the deceitful tactics employed by the two “brothers” in question.

As is now evident on this website, I have completed uploading the “Crossroads” videos onto the new “DefendingTheFaith” YouTube Channel (minus, of course, the two suspect videos referred to above).

The malicious attempt by the Dimond Brothers to thwart the work found on this website failed in the end. The Crossroads at 23rd Streetwill continue its efforts to expose these Benedictine “pretenders” as the Sarabaite monks they actually are. That fact … is a truth that, God willing, will one day be made manifest by the MhFM and bring an end this issue once and for all. The fact that these two “brothers” do not want this website’s information out in the public domain, confirms the need for it to be there.

Pax Tecum.

“With Satan, you cannot have dialogue. If you start a dialogue with Satan, you are lost. He is more intelligent than we are and he will turn you around, turn your head, and you’re lost.” – attributed to Pope Francis

Enchanting Lustful Lies … The Skill of Deceit … And Pious Fraud

“The road to Hell is paved with the bones of priests and monks, and the skulls of bishops are the lamp posts that light the path.” – St Chrysostom (attributed)

It has been repeatedly stated by the early Church Fathers that we should be wary of those who come to us not sent, not appointed, notcommissioned by that authority in which the fullness of Christ’s power resides, by virtue of unbroken succession, which can be traced back to the time of the Apostles. Without substantiated proof of their ecclesiastic commission / appointment these persons are to be considered / identified as being false prophets and false teachers; for it is not to be supposed that one ever can claim to himself any power, unless granted by Him who alone can withhold or impart it.

“Neither doth any man take the honor to himself but he who is called by God, as Aaron was.” – Hebrews 5:4

“If anyone says that … those who have been neither rightly ordained nor sent by ecclesiastical and canonical authority, but come from a different source, are lawful ministers of the word …: let him be anathema [cf. n. 960].” – Denzinger: Sources of Catholic Dogma: 967 Can. 7

The MHFM Are “Sarabaite” Monks:
Censured / Condemned by Saint Benedict

For far too long the Dimond Brothers have, through calculated deceit, successfully but fallaciously masqueraded and presented themselves to the world as being “monks” within a legitimate Order of St Benedict (i.e. the MhFM); all of which is an Enchanting Lustful Lie.

The Holy Rule of St Benedict points this out in Chapter 1: “Of the Kinds or the Life of Monks“.

“It is well known that there are four kinds of monks. The first kind is that of Cenobites, that is, the monastic, who live under a rule and an Abbot.”

St Benedict points out in his “Rule” that the Cenobites are the most valiant kind of monks (“true” monks); which the Dimond Brothers are absolutely NOT.

Since the seventeenth century, Benedictine Abbot/Superiors are required to be “clergymen” (i.e. ordained deacons, priests, or bishops belonging to the diaconate, the presbyterate, or the episcopate, respectively).

On page 55 of the 1910 “Declarations on the Rule of Our Holy Father St. Benedict and Statutes of the American-Cassinese Congregation”, it is written concerning the pre-conditions for being a candidate within an election for the position of Abbot/Superior:

“No one, however, can be elected unless he has made solemn vows, is ordained to the priesthood and belongs to our congregation.”

This stipulation by itself negates the claim made by Frederick (a.k.a. Brother Michael) Dimond of his being the legitimate Superior of an Order of St Benedict; for he never took solemn vows, was never ordained into the clergy, nor was the MhFM ever granted a Benedictine Charter. And as such … without a legitimate Abbot/Superior … the MhFM cannot possibly be a Cenobite monastery.

So, now let’s look at the second type of monk described within the Rule of St Benedict to see if the status of the Dimond Brothers’ monastic claim is found there?

“The second kind is that of Anchorites, or Hermits, that is, of those who, no longer in the first fervor of their conversion, but taught by long monastic practice and the help of many brethren, have already learned to fight against the devil; and going forth from the rank of their brethren well trained for single combat in the desert, they are able, with the help of God, to cope single-handed without the help of others, against the vices of the flesh and evil thoughts.”

As Joseph Natale (the MhFM’s founder) was officially denied, in the 1960s, a Benedictine Charter by then Archabbot Strittmatter of the St Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, PA, USA; Josephs’ claim of being Benedictine is as bogus as his claim of being a Superior. And that being a fact, confirms that the Dimond Brothers could not have received viable and legitimate monastic instruction before heading out, on their own, to the rural countryside of Fillmore, New York. Thus … these “brothers” do not meet the qualifications required to be categorized as Anchorite or Hermit monks.

This now brings us to St Benedict’s description of the third type of monk … the Sarabaites; which I believe fits these pretentious and scandalous charlatans like a glove.

“But a third and most vile class of monks is that of Sarabaites, who have been tried by no rule under the hand of a master, as gold is tried in the fire (Proverbs 27:21); but, soft as lead, and still keeping faith with the world by their works, they are known to belie betray] God by their tonsure. Living in two’s and three’s, or even singly, without a shepherd, enclosed, not in the Lord’s sheepfold, but in their own, the gratification of their desires is law unto them; because what they choose to do they call holy, but what they dislike they hold to be unlawful.”

Sarabaites, were officially censured (condemned) by St Benedict as being the most detestable kind of monks, for they are “pretenders” who have no Cenobitic experience; who have not been formed under a monastic rule by an abbot within a community.

From the beginning, Sarabaites were regarded as a renegade class of Catholic monks widely spread out in various countries before the time of St. Benedict. These persons, like earlier ascetics, opted to live in their own homes, or dwell together in or near cities in complete independence, and in companies of not more than two or three persons; and often quarreled among themselves. They acknowledged no true monastic superior, obeyed no definite rule, received no formal monastic instruction, and self-servingly disposed individually of the products (wealth) they received from their labors.

The “Rule’s” description of the Sarabaites fits these “two” rebellious, disingenuous monks well. Simply put, the Dimond Brothers, the two siblings who make up the totality of the MhFM, are not true Benedictines nor have they ever been. These dubious brothers reek of pious fraud.

They are not obedient to the “Rule” for they do not adhere to the Canons of the Church. Here are but a few of the 1917 Code of Canon Lawwillfully ignored / disobeyed by these brothers in establishing their presumptuous, preposterous and fallacious religious order:

• Canon 147: “An ecclesiastical office cannot be validly obtained without canonical provision. Canonical provision means the grant of an ecclesiastical office by competent ecclesiastical authority, made according to the sacred canons.”

• Canon 216: “Since they share the Church’s mission, all Christ’s faithful have the right to promote and support apostolic action, by their own initiative, undertaken according to their state and condition. No initiative, however, can lay claim to the title ‘catholic’ without the consent of the competent ecclesiastical authority.”

• Canon 492 §1: “The bishop, but not the vicar-capitular or administrator, can create religious congregations. He shall not establish them, nor allow their foundation, without first consulting the Holy See…”

• Canon 492 §§2-3: “The title and religious habit of an established religious organization cannot be assumed by those not legitimately belonging to it or by a new organization”.

• Canon 499: “All religious are subject to the Roman Pontiff as their highest superior who they are bound to obey also in virtue of the vow of obedience…”

• Canon 542 §1 (1): “Admission into the novitiate is invalid in the case of…Persons who have lapsed from the Catholic Faith into a non-Catholic sect.” (Traditionalism and/or Sedevacantism are a non-Catholic sects)

• Canon 572: “For the validity of any religious profession the following is required: (2) He must be admitted to profession by the legitimate superior…” (per Can. 147; see above)

Canon 1364 condemns the heretical and schismatic actions of these two Sarabaites as follows:

“… an apostate from the faith, a heretic, or a schismatic incurs a latae sententiae excommunication …”

St. Benedict considered that the Sarabaites‘ nonadherence to Church Canon was only exceeded in venality by the fourth type of monks … the Landlopers or Vagabonds.

“But the fourth class of monks is that called Landlopers [Vagabonds], who keep going their whole life long from one province to another, staying three or four days at a time in different cells as guests. Always roving and never settled, they indulge their passions and the cravings of their appetite, and are in every way worse than the Sarabaites. It is better to pass all these over in silence than to speak of their most wretched life.”

Don’t be deceived … The MhFM is not the last “true” Order of St Benedict on earth as stated on their website. That claim is an Enchanting Lustful Lie. A day of reckoning approaches for these vainglorious brothers who deceitfully use the name of St Benedict in order to perpetuate fraud.

Beware of Sarabaites who come to you disguised in Benedictine habits.

“For NOT the hearers of the law are just before God: but the doers of the law shall be justified.” – Romans 2:13

Most Holy Family Monastery (MHFM):
The Tale of Two “Erroneous” Benedictine Monasteries …

… Pious Fraud

The polemic and controversy surrounding the Most Holy Family Monastery (MHFM) is actually a narrative of 2 distinct and separate secular not-for-profit organizations legally established, for tax purposes, under New Jersey and then New York “State Law” as “religious” organizations. Yet, neither of these state approved “catholo-protestant” businesses of religion followed the ecclesiastic rules and regulations found within the Church’s 1917 Code of Canon Law (Canons 147 and 216) required for establishing a legitimate Catholic religious order, association, or initiative. By willfully ignoring / disobeying the laws of the Church and its Bishops, in this matter, both of these “counterfeit religious orders” became renegade and schismatic (Canon 1364) and thus Joseph Natale and Frederick “Michael” Dimond incurred the penalty of immediate exclusion / separation from the unity of the Church (i.e. ipso-facto excommunication).

“And whosoever shall keep the whole law, but offend in one point, is become guilty of all.” – St. James 2:10

MHFM-I: Joseph Natale’s Non-Sedevacantist Erroneous Benedictine Monastery

… Pious Fraud

Joseph A. Natale (1933-1995) was born into a working-class family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1933, but contracted tuberculosis of the bone at age four; which forced him to spend most of the next seventeen years of his life shuttling in and out of hospitals. In 1960, after a brief stint in the private import business, he entered the Saint Vincent Archabbey (Benedictine) in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, as a lay postulate, but left less than a year later to lay the groundwork for what was to become, years later, the Most Holy Family Monastery (MHFM).

On November 7, 1966 in Berlin, New Jersey, Brother Joseph initiated his non-sedevacantist religious community as the “Oblates of St Jude” … (St Jude being the patron saint for lost causes, desperate situations and hospitals).

Oblate: a person who is specifically dedicated to God or to God’s service. Oblates: individuals, either laypersons or clergy, normally living in general society, who, while not professed monks or nuns have individually affiliated themselves with a monastic community of their choice. As the oblate is in an individual relationship with the monastic community and does not form a distinct unit with the Catholic Church, there are no regulations in the modern canon law of the Church regarding them.

Some years later Joseph, for an unspecified reason, opted to abandon his recognized secular Oblate status and, ignoring the protocols of Church Canon Law (1917 Code of Canon Law – Canon 146), proclaimed the “Oblates of St Jude” to now be a full-fledged and legitimate Order of St Benedict (OSB); which, bluntly put, was an outright lie as there is no such thing as a legitimate “self-identified” Order of St Benedict.

Joseph had briefly attended the Benedictine St Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, PA, in 1960 but left long before the time required to become a validly professed monk and did NOT receive permission from then Archabbot Strittmatter to start his own Benedictine community.

Note: the archivist (Fr. Brian Boosel, OSB) of the Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, PA, is on record as indicating that brother Joseph left the Archabbey before taking his final vows and thus never actually became a Benedictine monk. But, never mind … In 1995, then Abbot Primate Notker Wolf OSB of the Benedictine Confederation of Congregations, in Rome, made it clear that the Confederation cannot forbid anyone to call themselves “Benedictine“, even if they are not a member of the Benedictine Confederation, just so long as the person claims / swears to be following and adhering to “the Rule” of St. Benedict.

Besides the fact that Joseph was NOT a professed Benedictine monk he equally never received Holy Orders (ordained to the priesthood); which is mandatory for acquiring, legitimately, the position of a Benedictine Superior. Regardless of that, Joseph, being handicapped, would have never been allowed entry into the seminary as the Church does not permit “handicaps / cripples” as members of the priesthood.

In short, though Brother Joseph was un-professed, un-ordained to the priesthood, and without official authorization / recognition from a Benedictine Abbot to start his own congregation (which was customary), those facts didn’t stop Joseph from moving forward and establishing his “self-identified” Order of Saint Benedict.

To Joseph’s credit he incorporated “pastoral care” for his community’s traditional Catholic parishioners and created a newsletter (and other information packets) that he sent out informing people of what he saw as the problems / heresies associated with the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).

Joseph understood the seriousness of the fundamental problems left in the wake of the Vatican II; as a vast number of the “faithful” refused, and rightly so, to take part in Novus Ordo rites promulgated by the papacy. Christ’s flock began to scatter and, as a result, they “fled” from the Church; feeling disenfranchised due to the magisterium’s “break from tradition” and its adoption of heretical “modernist” positions.

Joseph’s Most Holy Family Monastery, his refuge / sanctuary for traditional Catholics, in Berlin, New Jersey, sponsored annual conferences, monthly retreats and provided for its parishioners a Tridentine Mass on Sundays; which drew in on average between two and three hundred people. Needless to say, the monastery flourished, gaining support and notoriety; though there were those that proclaimed that the monastery was rapidly becoming a beachhead for right-wing extremism.

In 1994, Joseph was given 36 hectare / 90 acres of land in rural New York (Fillmore); which he imagined was to be the “promised land” and on which he would, through donations, build his “City of God” and move his traditional Catholic community.

Joseph justified and based all he was doing on a “private revelation” he claimed he’d received where he was told by God that his monastery (MHFM) would be “the only beacon light of Catholicism left before the end of the world” and “the forerunner of Christ’s Second Coming” as well as “the last Catholic religious order in the world”.

Joseph had proclaimed to a number of persons that he was chosen to be a witness to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. But, the reality of that claim proved inaccurate and/or was simply not meant to be. Joseph was having health issues and was undergoing “Chelation Therapy” in an effort to clean toxins from his bloodstream when he died suddenly on November 11, 1995.

We can conclude from the “facts” presented that Joseph’s MHFM and the claim of it being Benedictine was and still is an Enchanting Lustful Lie:

• Joseph Natale was a layman and NEVER was a professed religious.

• Joseph Natale NEVER received permission from a Benedictine Bishop (delegated by the Supreme Authority) to establish his congregation.

• Joseph Natale NEVER received “Holy Orders”, was NEVER ordained to the priesthood, and therefore had NO legitimate claim to the position / title of Superior.

Thus Most Holy Family Monastery (MHFM-I) had no “Canonical Provision” on which to justifiably claim legitimacy.

“Wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it. Right is right even if no one is doing it.” – St. Augustine

MHFM-II: Frederick “Michael” Dimond’s Sedevacantist “Erroneous” Benedictine Monastery

… Pious Fraud

After Joseph’s death, as there were only two or three lay brothers left, residing at the monastery in Berlin, NJ, a decision had to be taken as to who would take charge of the monastery. If not … the MHFM was doomed to disappear along with Brother Joseph. From out of the layman’s ranks Frederick “Michael” Dimond (Brother Michael), 22 years old, stepped forward; and though the “how” and the “why” of what transpired is not clear and never has been explained, this un-professed, un-ordained layman proclaimed himself to be the monastery’s new Superior.

• Frederick “Michael” Dimond was and still is a layman and NEVER has become a professed religious.

• Frederick “Michael” Dimond NEVER received permission from a Benedictine Bishop (delegated by the Supreme Authority) to correct the roors of Joseph and legitimately establish a Benedictine congregation.

• Frederick “Michael” Dimond NEVER received “Holy Orders”, has NEVER been ordained to the priesthood, and therefore has NO legitimate claim to the position / title of Superior.

Brother Michael simply kept on living Joseph’s Enchanting Lustful Lie.

Without a doubt, Brother Michael did what he truly believed was necessary and in the best interest of the Berlin, NJ, monastery. For the next year he fervently tried to carry on the work of Brother Joseph; organizing the annual conference, monthly retreats and providing their congregation / parishioners with the Tridentine Mass on Sundays, just as Joseph had done.

But, Brother Michael was not at all a “Joseph Natale”. He didn’t have the same prophetic “visions” nor did he claim to have; and thus he naively overrode a standing order of Joseph which denied, refused Richard Ibrayni from presenting his controversial “The Second Coming of Christ” sermon to the community’s parishioners.

Brother Joseph was far more prophetic than he’d imagined. He was absolutely correct … “the seeds of Satan have been sown” … even within his own monastery.

The parishioners upon hearing the Richard Ibrayni’s controversial and explosive sermon on “The Second Coming of Christ” were shocked and did not like it at all. They, afterwards, grouped together and complained directly to Father Ashley demanding that he place a lawsuit down against them (MHFM) and try and take the monastery away from Brother Michael; which Father William Ashley did.

Father Ashley’s lawsuit, filed on behalf of his parishioners, accused Brother Michael and the MHFM of perpetuating fraud against the parish in an attempt to, for lack of a better word, “steal’ their money, their donations. He claimed that the MHFM had coerced the congregation into believing that the Berlin, NJ, Benedictine monastery was in communion with the Roman Catholic Church; which is why they had willingly donated to the monastery; but in reality, Richard’s sermon made it clear that the MHFM was definitely NOT in communion with the current Church in Rome.

Father Ashley, through the courts, managed to “freeze” all of the MHFM’s bank accounts, denying Brother Michael access to the funds that were needed to run the monastery. Yet, unknown to Father Ashley, Brother Joseph had not placed all the monastery’s revenue into its bank accounts. At the time of the lawsuit there was, at minimum, 250,000+ dollars sitting upstairs at the monastery in a suitcase.

It was then that Brother Michael took the suitcase and informed the remaining residence of the Belin, New Jersey, monastery that they were all to leave with him to the Fillmore, New York, property; where the Most Holy Family Monastery is located today.

It has been rumored that Brother Michael had been able to close out one of the MHFM’s bank accounts immediately after Joseph’s death; and, if true, then that undoubtedly added a “healthy” sum to the 250,000 dollars stashed away in the suitcase.

Brother Michael used those funds in order to retain a highly reputable law firm to represent himself and the MHFM. A tremendous amount of money was spent in the process; but to no avail.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending upon whose side you’ve chosen … Father Ashley was victorious in that Brother Michael lost the Berlin, NJ, monastery.

Yet, the biggest loser in all of this was Brother Joseph as his “dream” of creating a “City of God” on the 36 hectare in Fillmore, New York, died and was buried along with him.

Bother Michael after moving to the Fillmore, New York monastery abandoned Joseph’s wishes of providing “pastoral care” to the “scattered flock” as well as Joseph’s non-sedevacantist position concerning the Church. By becoming “sedevacantist” Frederick “Michael” Dimondestablished a “new” MHFM … MHFM-II.

It is ironic and almost comical that by what MHFM-II preaches today, Joseph Natale would be considered / labeled an “apostate” and a “heretic” for not being a sedevacantist.

Just like MHFM-I … MHFM-II has no “Canonical Provision” either on which to justifiably claim legitimacy.

“Not to oppose error is to approve it; and not to defend truth is to suppress it; and indeed to neglect to confound evil men, when we can do it, is no less a sin than to encourage them.” – Pope St. Felix III

Faith is Liberty Espoused

Lord Acton, in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887 wrote:

“All power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Pope Sylvester I’s fatal “governing alliance” (i.e. Caesar and Pope) in the 4th century with Constantine radically changed the course of Catholicism which, from then on, flowed directly into the rivers of absolutism. The Church of Christ transformed itself, for lack of a better word, into a “pornocracy“; but even with that transformation, it was then and remains “the Church”.

The robust history of the Catholic Church is full to overflowing with astonishing illustrations of divine good and diabolic evil, of resplendent selflessness as well as repugnant vainglory and, unfortunately, it has accumulated, over two millennia, a long sultry list of sordid actions / crimes perpetuated against the Church (the flock) itself.

Each one of us must decide if we’re “inside” or “outside” the Church and if you can confirm that you are one of the “faithful” then you must take an active role in its healing process! It is the duty, the responsibility of each one of us to embolden and garnish our faith in Christ and his Church and live our lives so as to avoid the snares set by those ecclesiastic miscreants (from without and within the Church) who seek to entrap us, to turn our hearts away from the true Faith and by such preventing us from obtaining salvation. We must make a conscious and sustained effort to remember the warnings, the words that have been said to guide us:

• “The Church is your hope, the Church is your salvation, she is your refuge. It is for this that Christ established it, after having paid the price of His Blood, for this that He confided His teaching and the precepts of His law, drawing forth at the same time the treasure of His grace for the sanctification and salvation of men.”
  – St. John Chrysostom (349-407)

• “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits you shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you shall know them.”
  – Mat 7:15-20.

• “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.”
  – 2 Cor 11:13-15

• “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.”
  – 2 Tim 4:3

Studying the Holy Bible, the teachings of the Church, the lives of the Saints, etc. are good for the soul and for strengthening ones faith. Yet, I would like to encourage you to be courageous and couple those religious readings with the writings of reputable historians and theologians in order to avoid the pitfalls associated with the oftentimes “subjective” reasoning of Church apologists who have mastered the “skill of deceit”.

Use the power of your faith, obtained through study, fasting and prayer to free yourself from those who have a proven vested material interest in your believing their “enchanting lustful lies”. Cast away your doubts and uncertainty believing in the promise of Christ:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Mat 7:7).

Pax Tecum