When splendors in dark shadows rise,
Whilst mortal flesh from myst'ries shies,
and grace is garbed in freedom's guise,
our trust in all assumptions dies.
Seeking shards of ancient realms,
meekly, far-thought, rank errors flee,
as evidence new tales tells--
--Spiritual archaeology.

--from a chant Copyright 2002 Jon Ryner

A True Prayer of Repentance

Copyright 2002 Jon Ryner

Spirit of Truth, we confess to You that we have sped with haste after the transitory materialistic things of the Prince of This World. We have allowed our incredible greed to blind our eyes to the immense suffering on our fragile island home: the innocent women and children enslaved that we may buy cheaper clothes at Walmart, the sorrowful who have been orphaned and widowed by the callous military actions of our overpaid political leaders. We have far too often sought spiritual masturbation in a religion of convenience instead of seeking true spiritual growth and the guidance of Your precious Wisdom. We confess that we have steadfastly refused to honor all our relations and admit our violent destruction of so many growing, living, thoughtful beings who share our environment. But we know that feeling bad is simply not enough in Your sight. We need to change our minds. We need to change our deep-seated habits. We need to change ourselves and we need to change our world. We vow in the sight of our callous destruction to turn from our wicked sinful ways, to embrace the wholeness of Your Wisdom, the beauty of Your way, the Pleroma of Your love. We beg You to aid us as we begin this truly holy and righteous war. Amen.

"Every church in its beginning becomes acquainted only with the general [principles] of doctrine; for it is then in its simplicity, or as it were in its childhood. In the course of time it adds particulars; which are partly confirmations of general principles, partly additions,--which yet are not repugnant to the general principle,--and also explanations, that open contradictions may be analyzed, and not clash with what common sense dictates. --Arcana Coelestia n. 4720 by Emanuel Swedenborg

The Culture of Religion

A Brief Proclamation by Bishop Jon Ryner of The Avalonian Catholic Church, June 28, 2005

When one looks at the heritage of Judaeo-Christian traditions, one has to be dismayed. For the Roman Catholic Church has proved to be a den of confidence men, which brings manifold evils to any country where it becomes dominant or gains a foothold. Islam is founded on a multitude of lies and deceptions, while its supremicist nature easily breeds violent militant extremists. Judaism has proven to be no better. It is true that those countries where Protestantism gains a secure dominance have lower crime rates, yet the doctrines of Protestantism greatly deemphasize the role and importance of the Church and our society more than ever in history needs safe and secure communities, which are a crucial key to personal individual spiritual development.

Those looking for hope in the metaphysical crowd of order and pompous titles will also be thoroughly disillusioned and disappointed. From Freemasonry to Martinism, from Rosicrucianism to leading Christo-Pagan groups, one sees nothing but "witch wars" with dueling dandies, confused philosophies and constantly and hastily rewritten rituals and liturgies.

Encouraging personal magical powers has not proven beneficial. Whether we look at rainforest shamans or modern-day mages, it seems inevitable that war will break out between the practioners.

Ecumenism has not proven beneficial. While it has accomplished good by bringing people together, the basic core differences in their religions makes it impossible to bring serious discussions past a certain point and leads to great ridicule by many in each group who realize this futility.

Even poverty has not proven a guarantee to lasting spiritual growth. The history of the Grandmontines and the majority group of Franciscans (who are in violation of one of the most important commands of their founder!) in the Roman Catholic Church and some of the more ancient Celtic Churchmen furnishes us excellent proof of this.

There are only two things that will work. The first is that peoples' hard hearts of stone must be melted by the rays of love toward God and their fellow creatures. The second is that people must come to realize the deep interconnectedness of all things and that what they do to others, they do to themselves. To the best of our knowledge, not other religion on our planet is actively teaching both these things. Hinduism is caught up in an oppressive caste system. Buddhism is fixated on the impermanent nothingness or emptiness of the visible universe. We've already mentioned the shortcomings in these areas of the Jewish, Christian and Islamic systems. Neopagans and other modern magicians, for the most part, spend their energies practicing various forms of magic for personal gain. This is precisely why The Avalonian Catholic Church continues its search for truth, justice and spiritual growth and teaching the same.

Peace Profound,
Bishop Jon Ryner, a faithful Son of Glaston

Attacks on the Avalonian Catholic Church

Attacks by Illiterate Roman Catholic Wackos

Well, they're illiterate because as we'll soon show they prove by their posts on the Net that they can't read and that they are unread in the very areas in which they're claiming some kind of lay magisterium. They're wackos because they are unable to see that many of the things they're attacking have been part of their own Church!

Let's start with Running Off at the Keyboard, February 9, 2004:

"THE AVALONIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Claims to use the Tridentine Mass and the be orthodox. But look at the picture at this page in their website. YIKES! And this page which is even more shocking. The picture in the circle under the caption "An Introduction to our Work" is straight out of alchemical artwork. Can we say "modern Rosicrucian group" here? They talk about spiritualism. But then clicking the link for Live Journal in the first website brings up what looks like it could be a bunch of music groups. So maybe the whole thing is some sort of spoof. CarrieTomko@aol.com "

Yikes! Where should we start? Well, nowhere on our site have we ever claimed to use the Tridentine Mass. In fact, we have deplored its use publicly as a butchered travesty of the earlier, more majestic liturgies. Perhaps Ms. Tomko is confused because we use a grander liturgy which she ignorantly confuses with the Tridentine, as opposed to the modern Novus Ordo Missae.

The photo that spooked her was Sun Ra. I guess she finds big black guys scary... Too bad she didn't bother to do any research. :(

Ms. Tomko apparently forgot that many men canonized by the Roman Catholic Church practised alchemy. Oops! ;)

She quite misrepresents what was on the site about Spiritualism and is unaware that many of her own clergy are actively pursuing its practices. She makes no mention of the study by the Church of England approving its use that we posted.

"a bunch of music groups" is there for people to learn more about Sun Ra and recordings by following the links. Duh!

Illiterate Roman Catholic Wackos Part 2

From the same page referred to above (at the bottom), posted February 8, 2004:

THE AVALONIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH CONSERVATIVE TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC MAGICIANS or perhaps someone's idea of a joke?

Once again, hard to know what she means. Does she think black magic's a joke? Does she think there aren't people combining traditional Catholic practices with nonChristian low magic? Um, Satanists do that all the time and brag about it on the Web! Does she not understand the section on Augustine stealing from the Gnostics and then getting his facts wrong (because he had left before he received the pleroma of Gnosis)? Is she unaware of the black magic practices now current in the Vatican? Sigh...

Attacks by Illiterate Fundamentalist Protestant Wackos

From the Prince William is the Antichrist 666 Website http://www.angelfire.com/alt2/conspiracy/1.html:

[Occult led] 'Celtic christians' or those of the so-called Avalonian Catholic Church in their own version of Celtic Revival are completely taken with the idea of having Christ connected to Britain, and Arthur's Avalon yet rest assured...as they are lying about Christ in Britain being taught in the past by Celtic Druids, from this we then know Anti-Christ in all truth will be taught in Celtic Britain by the same Druids in the future.

It's interesting that the site's author attributes Arthur to Wales. We believe this also and will be presenting info on the original Glastonbury soon. But he's mistaken in his linguistics and geography. It's not that Arthur conquered so much land, but that the Britons were the Welsh. Later the Anglo-Saxons were to incorrectly adopt the name as well as Arthur. A little later the author goes into the English myth of Arthur's return, as he's obviously not aware that the original Welsh stories said nothing of the sort. Of course, then again, the author believe the Rapture to be a Christian doctrine, even though it only appeared very recently in Christian history!

We're not so sure about Jesus being taught by Druids. The issue is irrelelent here, as the point is that there is plenty of evidence that Jesus was in the Isles. What matters is the primacy of the Celtic Church and what that means for Christianity.

And what about Druids teaching the Antichrist? Well, last we checked the original Druidic faith died out. Maybe the author's referring to his theory about Freemasonry really being Druidism, but even the most hasty comparison of the rituals shows that this is untrue.

There's some bizarre stuff on the page about the "bloodline" needing to intermarry the line of David with that of the Merovingians. But they're the same family (according to the bloodline literature and the old geneologies)!

As an aside, what about walking "by faith, and not by sight"? Isn't that being "occult led", as occult means hidden?

Conclusions of Our Research to June 8, 2003

Original Axioms

1) There are two kinds of truth: that which is handed down over time by a sacred text, tradition, etc., and that which is continually revealed. We declare our interest in the relative value of the former. We affirm our abiding commitment to the latter, and our zeal to actively utilizing two methods to learn such truth: that which is already evident, and that which is being newly revealed.

2) We acknowledge the strained times, which make the message which we bear even more useful, dedicating ourselves to the training of all who seek sincerely.

3) We affirm that there is no "pure Christianity", nor "pure Paganism", both streams perpetually mingling, as the two waters of Glaston did once.

4) We affirm the importance of the Divine Feminine in its many manifestations, and our active role in making It known throughout the world.

5) We proclaim our love of the world in which we live, and our eagerness to protect it, learn its mysteries, revere its reflections of the Divine, and channel its currents for the betterment of men, women and children everywhere.

6) We affirm the value of women and their role in the life of the Church, and our commitment to the training and ordination of suitable female candidates to the varying levels of the reverend clergy.

7) We proclaim our support for all those who are in committed and loving relationships, and that gender is not a basis for judging such love to be nonexistent or inferior. It is one's actions which demonstrate love or the lack thereof.

8) We proclaim our mission to the disenfranchised of mainstream society: the witch and the druid, the poor and the goth, the sad and the suffering. May our constant mission emeliorate their sorrow and invigor them in the Light of Truth. Amen!

Practical Examples of How These Axioms Make The Avalonian Catholic Church Unique and Help People in a Positive Way:

A Holistic (Wholistic) Spiritual Path

It has recently become standard in Western society for the Church to be relegated to the role of the "spiritual", refusing to allow her to be an active voice regarding issues of more "secular" areas. We firmly hold that this is a grievous error. Every day, more evidence is found by the scientific community of the interconnection between mind and body, time and space, solid matter and energy.

An excellent example of the perils attending such a divided approach to a Weltenschaung or worldview is that of the destruction of our soil and, through it, our food supply. It has now become almost impossible in most areas of the U.S.A. to obtain food with any nutrient value (unless one does natural farming of one's own!). The grave problem presented some 30 years ago in certain chapters of The Secret Life of Plants was that the U.S.A.'s own federal agencies trashed natural farming methods even after their leaders had ascertained they worked better than the artificial chemical "fertilizers" and "pesticides"! This has only occurred because of the evil, profiteering chemical companies and the greed of the federal agencies. The price we have paid for their greed is soil which produces less food every year. We'll examine this issue so farmers can see how to maximize their profits tremendously on this site in the weeks to come. Suffice it to say for now (though we'll be presenting lots of documentation later), the poor quality of our soil has not only produced poor produce, it has produced sick people. Perhaps a quote from Benjamin Franklin Bache is suitable here: "....all power added to men who are unwise, only enlarges their sphere of doing wrong."

Any person with reasonable intelligence can thus see from these considerations that it is thus patently preposterous to posit that the role of the spiritual should be divorced from those things which are the direct manifestations of those nontemporal things. We further argue that those churches which agree to such a limited role are actively refusing to follow the examples Jesus and the other holy leaders of positive faiths throughout the world and human civilization have preached and followed.

Was Jesus afraid to heal the sick (even if it meant "violating" the Sabbath)? Did he shun the disenfranchised, telling them, "You'd better find a good attorney?" Did he shy away from condemning the wicked people and organizations who daily stole from those people? No! He directly confronted them and exposed their works for what they were. How can we do less and claim his name or be followers of his in any way?

Templar Law

We learn from Jesus' example that no one is above the law. This is an important concept that, of course, didn't apply to law before the fall of ruling monarchs. Unfortunately, even in the United States of America, it is common for an individual or corporation to "get off" if they have enough money to retain good enough legal counsel or bribe the right people.

Among the concepts of Templar Law are the following:
1) No one is above the law.
2) The right balance must be sought between the rights of individuals and the good of society as a whole. Since we have become such a fragmented people (as opposed to tribal peoples), this poses special problems.
3) All attorneys and paralegals should take some pro bono work to help the society which makes it possible for them to earn a living.
4) Legal fictions which still exist must be abolished and existing statutes, precedents, etc., which serve only to protect the rich at the expense of the poor must be overruled.
5) People who are not legal professionals should have access to as much legal information as their professional counterparts for many reasons. As most bar associations stress, the fee an attorney charges is no guarantee of hir competence. Many attorneys and judges have been caught recently committing criminal acts and so many attorneys steal or otherwise take financial advantage of their clients that there are both federal and bar-run victims' compensation programs in the U.S.A. Other attorneys are incompetent. It is therefore vital that people know what questions they should be asking and what rights they have.
6) It seems to us that it is immoral for an attorney to claim his client is "not guilty in the legal sense". If the trial is still proceding, it's redundant, indicating such a defense counsel probably feels a bit guilty to restate the obvious, and, as we all know, a verdict doesn't always indicate the true guilt or innocence present in the defendant.

More to come, including detailed arguments and evidence supporting these positions...

Templar Medicine

According to Rosicrucian manuscripts, R.C. initiates went about the land healing people without recompense. Not only weren't these doctors paid, they couldn't even thump for their organization by saying they were Rosicrucians!

Imagine how modern "medicine" would be revolutionized if people were put before profits, science before dollar signs, and ethics and society before self-interest and yacht payments!

We'll be exposing the unscientific nature of modern "medicine" soon in these pages, showing how federal governments even admit it's quakery, yet continue to fund it, as the immoral and corrupt leaders profit from its lobbyists. You'll be shocked to learn how little we've come from the days when George Washington was poisoned to death by his doctors and machines the A.M.A. routinely used to cure cancer have been banned to make way for greater profits (and now, with us, prophets!).

Much more to come, including old, well-proven methods to cause life-threatening, "incurable" diseases to go into "remission"...

What? No Templar Politics?

We believe such a term as "Templar Politics" would be redundant. Politics deals with how people are governed. If the fields of science, spirituality and its attending moral teachings, and law are already dealt with, the right regulation of the people will naturally result as they are continually exposed to right teachings in those other areas. Of course, people will eventually revolt against their leaders if their shackles have become too painful (as in France, the U.S.A., the other British colonies such as India, etc.), but, as such cases have repeatedly shown to the eternal chagrin of the political Freemasons who practice something they claim is not a religion, society after such a secular upheaval is not usually much better off than it was before.

Also, any time people organize into a social group, there are politics-- even in church!

Michael of Albany, the Man Who Would Be Prince

An extreme example of this can be the church that operates as a propaganda arm for "Prince" Michael of Albany.

We feel that whether this man's claims are legitimate or not are quite irrelevant politically, for the time for kings is long past. It should never be forgotten that when democracy and republicanism were raised by the conquerors of the royals that this was done so that the people would have their freedoms protected. Has this happened? No, the greed of their leaders has yet again led to the shameful enslavement of the masses of humanity. In addition, many royals who have seized thrones from their original occupants have ended up being worse than the rulers they overthrew. Logic thus tells us that the most important element of righteous governance is the power of the people, both to oversee what is being done, and to remove their leaders if this is deemed proper, by force if necessary--a right guaranteed by the Constitution of the U.S.A. It is true that Michael claims to desire to be like a Merovingian monarch, and have his power almost fully checked by a ruling constitutional body. He has failed, however, to fully explain why and how such a system would be better than the current English one.

The notable exception to the validity of Michael's claims is that if he is lying, then he should certainly not be trusted on theological or other historical issues. So far, our research indicates that he is clearly lying about many things.

1) His Ancient Celtic, Scottish, or Whatever Church.

The claim was repeatedly insisted on by Michael's henchmen that his church practiced the ancient Celtic rite, yet on their old Website (Yes, we're going to see if it's still around.), they proclaim their quest to boldly go in search of the liturgies. If they're the ancient Celtic Church, why would they have to search? (form) If they're searching, how can they claim to have preserved an ancient Celtic succession? (intent)

There are many more intricate problems, but these should suffice to make even the wildest and unruly questor for ancient lore quite wary!

2) Opposition from Michael's Alleged Royal Family

A learned man and author who would be a royal relative of Michael if his claims are true, has written that he doesn't believe in the bloodline of Jesus theory. Since Sinclair has title, land, money, etc., it is hard to give credence to any claim that he is only just saying this and doesn't truly believe it.

3) Seriously Questionable "Scholarship" in Holy Blood, Holy Grail

Almost all of what was published in this work is pure poppycock. Since it was the grandaddy of all such silliness, we can do no better than to link you to the site which reveals it all, the Rennes-le-Chateau Papers of Paul Smith. Note that Lincoln et al. were warned that they were about to publish ridiculous lies and they did so anyway, probably to make a lot of money and big names for themselves.

We'll save you some time, though: the Priere de Sion (Priory of Sion) was just a few friends having fun, and not political; Pierre Plantard was concocting a lot of fake documents and cranking out (pun intended!) a lot of racist propaganda magazines, and was under surveillance by authorites for some of his activities; there was no mysterious treasure and Abbe Sauniere died in abject poverty, having been defrocked for charging too many people too much money to say too many Masses for which he couldn't possibly have time.

An interesting sidenote is the meaning of some of the mysterious mystical claptrap found in the church vestry, which sheds some light on some of the claims of modern Freemasons, but more of that later.

More to come...

Implications of These Ideas for Avalonian Catholic Clergy and Seminarians

It should be obvious that simply knowing a little ritual and biblical exegesis, and having an ability to preach is not enough for our intrepid little band of leaders. They must be at least acquainted with the basics in many disciplines. But this is not a new approach. In the "good, old days", there were books for Catholic confessors of a medical nature, dealing with how certain diseases could manifest and be dealt with in the confessional. There were many scientists among Catholic clergy, and some of them were the most scientific, refusing to allow conventional thinking of their days obscure the incredible discoveries they were making.

We live in highly-advanced, technical society. How can people respect their clergy if their clergy and the church in which they received their orders do not have a grasp of, and can communicate, the science of the stars, the methods and meaning of ancient magics, and the teachings of the earth? To this end, we are Celtic material and spiritual scientists, Grailcentric Seekers and Templars of Truth.

To view our seminary page, click here.

The Ordination of Women

Who We Aren't and Don't Intend to Be:

To eliminate any confusion some have had about our Work, we should state categorically that we are not:

self-deluded "Traditional", magician Catholics,

Gnostic Catholic (no "orders" like those from Doinel's seances here!),

Liberal Catholics (+Leadbeater et al. were inconsistent in their work and immoral, and we think Jesus makes a better icon for a Christian altar than Koot-Hoomi!),

Anglican (issues of apostolic succession and the Church of England,

Roman Catholic (Terrible Evils of the Vatican),

Protestants (You won't hear us claim to be Protestant because we "revere the Bible", "believe in freedom of worship", etc.),

Christo-Pagans (though we affirm that innumerable Pagan practices survived in the Church and embrace the sounder of them),

Theosophists (We believe Jesus was a little more than just another deity manifestation like Bacchus!),

the O.T.O., or

unbelievers (A church should at least generally believe in something and a member shouldn't have the option of believing or rejecting it!).

Avalonian Catholic Theology and Praxis: A Few More Examples

1) The Unified Sacramental Force Theory

Because of the condemnation by so many "heretics" of the appalling immorality of so many Roman Catholic clergy, the Roman Catholic Church proclaimed a "doctrine of convenience" which stated that all sacraments were always valid no matter what wickedly perverse shananigans the priestly celebrant had been engaged in before, after or even during the sacrament in question. AntiCatholic writers use this with great glee to attack the sacramental system and, to our knowledge, no proper explanation by the Roman Catholic Church has ever been offered.

The only possible defense of this doctrine from a "conservative" viewpoint we can ascertain is that of freewill. This states that God created us all with freewill and so it is possible even for the holiest of us to sin, even those who have been ordained.

But this is a very weak argument (which probably explains the Roman silence on this issue!) because the overwhelming argument is that traditional Roman sacramentology teaches that one cannot be saved if one does not receive the Eucharist, yet Jesus told people to "be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect." Should not one be made a much better person through the power of Holy Order so that scandal will not taint one's work and drive people away from their source of salvation?

It is undeniable that there is a great conferral of power when one receives a major Holy Order. But it is only energy. And energy in itself is neither good nor bad and can be used for either good or bad purposes. From whence comes this energy?

If one takes other initiations in nonCatholic sacramental traditions (Tibetan Buddhist, Reiki, Gnostic, etc.) with a spirit of total scientific impartiality, one discovers that these rituals also confer energy, and sometimes the energy seems exactly like or very close to that of the Christian sacramental system. While the traditionalist Roman Catholic would quickly answer that this is simply the work of Satan mimicking the true Faith, this is preposterous and even downright blasphemous. For how would Satan, the supposed enemy of the Holy Church possible be able to tap into that grace which he originally spurned and every day denies? How would God so cruelly set things up to tempt a suffering humanity? No, The Avalonian Catholic Church believes there is a better, more scientific answer.

Almost everyone by now is familiar with the concept of the Force of Star Wars. This fictional concept actually has some basis in ancient teachings, most obviously that of the Tao. We know from the researches recorded in The Secret Life of Plants of the interconnectedness of all things and that plants are much more in tune with this truth than we are, to the extent of knowing what is happening to their owner even when s/he is physically far away from the plant. Studying crop circle phenomena shows us how our minds can affect outcomes. The A.C.C. does not teach that the awesome Universal Force is God, but we do teach that this Force is greater than sectarian teachings. We also believe that since Jesus was "enmeshed in flesh" as one of our chants puts it, he would have to have taken a physical initiation to receive the ability to transfer the energy to mortals (not necessarily because he didn't already have the power!). This he might well have done at the hands of some Oriental in China, Tibet, etc., in Egypt, or even in Galilee iself, a well-known cauldron of all manner of strange and exotic religions and cults. Most likely, though, he received many initiations and studied many traditions. He didn't agree with many central teachings, though, as we know from both his expulsion from India and his final fate in his home country. He thus showed us that the pathway to true knowledge includes discernment and discrimination, which are often not practiced by New Age metaphysical afficiondos.

One of the difficulties that presents the researcher in this area is that the energies received can sometimes seem "colored", e.g., while the energy feels the same, it is accompanied by different imagery or other physical sensations that implies it is different. We need to consider first that no matter how hard we try, we're always changing, so it's impossible to be exactly the same physically, mentally and spiritually during different sessions. Secondly, The Avalonian Catholic Church teaches that this situation is the same as that discussed by some Independent Catholic theorists such as Michael Bertiaux. While the power being dealt with is the same, it may "look" a little different: have a different "color". This is probably because (since all things are interconnected) the belief-system or Weltenschaung of those tapping into this Power colors the outcome or what we actually feel (though it may or may not color the Power itself). It is this very permeability of this Power that gives it the ability to be given to bad people. It's still true, though, that if one were to preach to those people calling to mind their experience and pointing out certain things about it that some could be turned to be better people.

2) The Keening of Christ the King on Good Friday

One of the unique ceremonial practices of The Avalonian Catholic Church is that of the solemn entombment of the Host on Good Friday. Whereas it became the common practice in the Roman and other exoteric jurisdictions to simply hide it in a repository at some time, unseen by the people, our Church practices a solemn entombment as we see it as an important part of the Passion cycle. A beautifully carved stone box serves as the sepulcher and during the entombment currently the practice is to observe solemn silence, which is broken afterwards by the plaintive chant The Underworld King, with its mournful and rather wailing qualities. (The box actually sits on the floor in front of the altar.)

3)

We have come to realize that liturgical dance needs to be a part of our worship, not just by the usually-seen chorus girls or boys, but by the ordained celebrants themselves.

"Dancing in the church was above all a feature of early Christianity, adopted from the Jewish rite, an important element in worship. From the time of Athanasius of Liletus is recorded the tradition of dancing as an accompaniment to hymns. Seasonal folk-dances in the form of round dances (a ball redon) met relatively little opposition from the clergy but were not often resorted to in church. Some of the reasons for this practice that continued into the eighteenth century resulted from the lack of suitable places at night or in bad weather. To this end comes a report from Bernard of Angers from 1010, on a practice in the church at Conques: According to ancient custom the pilgrims hold thei vigils in the Fides Church with candles and lamps. Since they do not understand the Latin chants of the office, they help to pass the long nights away with uneducated songs and other nonsense.

These lively dances in the church led naturally to a ban, and at the Council of Avignon in 1209 came the following declaration: We decree that, during vigils for the saints in the churches, musicians must not perform either leaping dances with obscene gestures nor round dances; nor shall love-songs and similar songs be sung. Basically distinction needs must be drawn between two kinds of dances, one of which was performed in a religious setting and in accordance with contemporary customs, and the other sort of dance that stemmed from the secular field. At Montserrat it was the second that came about, when, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Latin spiritual songs written specially by the monks were sung and played at night in the church and by day in front of it as an accompaniment to dancing. The attempt of the monks, however, to set popularly known dance-songs to decent Latin texts and thereby to steer this lively activity into more orderly paths, as suggested in the introduction to the Libre Vermeil, failed. Hardly surprisingly there was little room for the accommodation of the pilgrims, with the result that the liturgy was at the centre of daily life. For dancing in the liturgy a tradition has been recorded for us from Auxerre that there was dancing at Easter with organ accompaniment to the melody of the sequence Victimae paschales, in which a ball was thrown from side to side. It is also interesting to notice that at Limoges on the feast of the patron saint St. Martial there was dancing in the church to the psalms. Ecstatic dancing through many writings and pictures offers an example of medieval music therapy. Priestly dancing as an element of the divine service has now completely disappeared from the Christian rite." ~~ notes to The Black Madonna: Pilgrim Songs from the Monastery of Montserrat (1400-1420) by Michael Posch and Agnes Boll, translated by Keith Anderson ~~

4) Towards a Masked Mass

Along with dance, we are outlining plans to incorporate masks into our liturgies. More details will be published here soon.

5) Casting an Avalonian Catholic Circle (Caim)

Previously, a bishop of the A.C.C. would typically use his crozier to cast the Circle. Our new practice is to perform this with a wand of selenite, carved in a spiral fashion (whilst holding the crozier in the other, nondominant hand). This is "the glowing horn of the Great Unicorn" (Christ). The cross is then used to seal the Circle.

Here is some information gleaned from the Tibetan tradition:

~~ "What is Hayagriva? Hayagriva 'Secret Accomplishment' (Tibetan: tam drin sang drup, Eng.: Horse Neck); terrific deity of the Padma (Lotus) Family, manifestation of the wrathful activity of Buddha Amitabha, from the Terma (Treasure) Tradition of Kyergangpa, 12th century.

King of the Wrathful, Hayagriva, with a body black in colour, three faces and six hands. Each face has three eyes, radiant, with bared fangs. The hair, moustache and beard are blazing. At the crest of the three faces are three horse heads with mouths sounding with the neighing of horses. With six hands, the first right holds a vajra, second a katvanga, third a sword. The first left a wrathful gesture, second a spear, third a lasso of intestine. Having a crown of five dry human skulls and a necklace of fifty fresh, wearing an upper garment of human skin and an elephant hide, and a lower garment of tiger skin; with a Brahman cord of human hair. Adorned with drops of blood, clots of mold, bunches of charnel ashes and coils of snakes. The eight legs trample upon the eight great nagas in the aspect of snakes; standing in the vast blazing fire of pristine awareness.

The 'Secret Accomplishment' Hayagriva, practiced in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism, is a Treasure Teaching of the Nyingmapas discovered by Nyemowa Sanggye Wangchen. The Shangpa Kagyu master Kyergangpa acquired the teaching directly from Guru Rinpoche in a dream and was further instructed to receive the teaching of the 'Terma' from Nyemowa. The practice was then made famous throughout Tibet by the lama Kyergangpa.

What is Phurpa? A phurpa, sometimes called a 'magic dagger', is a tantric ritual object used to conquer evil spirits and to destroy obstacles. It is utilized in magic rituals by high level tantric practitioners. The word phurpa is used primarily in Central Tibet, while the word phurbu is used more often in Kham, Amdo and Ladakh.

The component phur in the word phurpa is a Tibetan rendering of the Sanskrit work kila, meaning peg or nail. The phurpa is an implement that nails down as well as binds. It was thus by stabbing a phurpa into the earth, and thereby nailing and binding the evil spirits, that Padmasambhava, regarded as the inventor of this implement, consecrated the ground on which the Samye monastery was established in the eighth century. Whatever the original shape of the Indian kila may have been (none has survived), it seems very likely that in Tibet the form of the phurpa, with its three-sided blade, was suggested by the pegs that were driven into the earth to hold the rope stays of the tent. Due to the essentially nomadic nature of life in ancient Tibet, the tent was an important part of their routine. While traveling it was used by all, the peasants, the traders, the royalty, nobility and even the exalted monks. Indeed, the peg of the tent is the prototype of the phurpa. Its triple blade is really not a dagger but a peg, precisely the kind of peg used to secure tents.

The triple blade of the phurpa symbolizes the overcoming or cutting through the three root poisons of ignorance, desire, and hatred, and also represents control over the three times of past, present and future. The triangular shape represents the element of fire and symbolizes wrathful activity. The tenacious grip of the makara-head at the top of the blade represents its ferocious activity.

When using the phurpa, the practitioner first meditates, then recites the sadhana of the phurpa, and then invites the deity to enter the phurpa. As he does so, the practitioner visualizes that he is frightening and conquering the evil spirits by placing the evil under the point of the phurpa. Or sometimes the practitioner visualizes throwing the phurpa in order to impale and subdue the spirits. The success will depend on the practitioner's spirituality, concentration, motivation, and his karmic connections with the deity of the phurpa and the evil spirits." ~~ eBay's gallary_peak

6) Magic Distinguished from Prayer, with the Dangers of the Former Explicated

"A number of those who practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they calculated the prices of them and found them worth fifty thousand pieces of silver." --Acts 19:19.

There are some who believe that magic and prayer are synonomous. There are, however, some very important differences.

When one practices magic, one can easily believe s/he has no need for God. One can rely on one's own "inner power", one's "Holy Guardian Angel", animal totems, plant spirits, etc. And, indeed, this is precisely what so many mass market paperbacks teach people today. It is true that some saints were into nature magic and that they worked miracles. But it must be stressed that they also placed their true reliance in God.

The problem with being addicted to the practice of magic is that it almost inevitably takes us away from thinking about and relying on God. While it's a good thing to have self respect because doing so can help us be better people, it is a bad thing to become totally reliant on our own power or even that of something that, while seemingly greater than we, is still a creature, something God made, and thus just as fallible as we are.

A good example of this is Moses. When his people were thirsty he decided on his own initiative to strike a rock to get water. Since he had decided to trust himself rather than God, he was given the dire punishment of not being allowed to enter the Promised Land with his people even though he was permitted to see it (which must have made the punishment even harder to bear!). Think about it: God's a bit greater than a mortal human so doesn't it make sense to trust God more than our own abilities?

Another reason that relying too much on magic is dangerous is that it damages our ability to be objective where it counts: helping people. The magician inevitably ends up worrying about spells, charms, potions, ritual tools, diagrams, words of power and the like and stops thinking about what s/he should be doing to make the world a better place. One only has to look at the silliness of Freemasonry, Martinism et al. to see the most advanced cases of this, where whole bodies of magicians claim to be able put dead people's sins in a living people's bodies, while simultaneously saying that their systems make people better.

Someone new to the Avalonian Catholic tradition may ask, "If you're against magic, why do you have so many magical practices?" The answer is simple: It is a question of reliance and degree. We teach that when we perform a certain dance, make a certain hand gesture, chant a certain thing, it is not simply the doing of that thing that brings about any result. These things are only tools, just like we are. It is God working through us while we are doing these things and our trust in God that accomplishes incredibly great things.

If you get nothing else out of the teachings of The Avalonian Catholic Church, know this: no religious system (even if it claims it's not religious!) can make you a better person. You will only be a better person as you commit better acts and avoid committing worse acts. This is precisely the failure of the Roman Catholic confessional in not demanding the penance fit the sin and not withholding absolution until that penance has been done.

Examples of Magical Stupidity: The Liberal Catholic Church

Quite often magicians will make incredible mistakes in working out their system. Elsewhere on our site we show how an early Church theologian messed up in his theory, but here we should take a look at an example of praxis.

For those unfamiliar with the L.C.C., here's a brief intro: Bishop Matthew of Utrecht Old Catholic infamy had ordained some practising Theosophists. While there is debate about whether he knew at that time what Theosophy was, there is no mistaking his later action: he issued a written proclamation that every Theosophist was to leave that group or be excommunicated.

Those particular individuals had apparently suspected this day would come, so they sought someone to give one of their members the episcopate. For some reason, they only appear to have gone to bishops who had formerly served under Bishop Matthew. Interestingly, only one agreed to perform the ceremony, and he had a very bad reputation.

The founders of the Liberal Catholic Church were all Freemasons of a sort and into magical practices. One of these leaders, Leadbeater, wrote a book called Science of the Sacraments, which is still in print, outlining the various theories of how the "magic" of the sacraments worked. He claimed that the Tridentine Rite (which was the basis for the Liberal Catholic Church's Liturgy) was built with this knowledge in mind (never discussing why older, more venerable rites were ignored). There are several problems with these theories:

1) The L.C.C. didn't use all the colors. If the different color rays are so crucial for healing, etc., why didn't they use Sarum's yellow and blue, Marian blue, etc.?

2) In a similar vein, they do not discuss their choice of amethyst for the bishop's ring, which is curious since it took the Church some time to adopt that custom. For a long time, bishops used different stones, one writer arguing forcibly for sapphire, as it was the color of the sky (must be a translation problem!). Wouldn't it make more sense to use rings with different stones?

3) Leadbeater argues that the stone in the bishop's ring should be a cab, not faceted, as the facets would inhibit energy flow, yet the L.C.C. seems to use faceted stones in the pectoral cross. Leadbeater also never discusses the possibility of the facets actually boosting energy flow because the increase light dispersion.

4) Leabeater never discusses wave energy distribution, being obsessed with particle energy distribution.

5) Energy also escapes through the eyes and other parts of the head, so why did the L.C.C. not adopt the use of masks? And why did they not require more people to wear headcoverings?

6) Why did they adopt the taller, uglier, heavier mitre (miter) design of their day rather than that of the Gothic period, when it is so obvious how powerful the esoteric practices of that period were?

7) If gold is so essential in transmitting the energy raised over a physical distance, why did they not also demand that gold threads be used in their vesture, as was common in their day?

8) Why did they not include more Greek and Latin in their liturgies to capitalize on the power accumulated by those phrases over the centuries?

9) Why did the Liberal Catholic Church feel compelled to use only the "canonical scriptures" of the exoterics?

10) Leadbeater never differentiates between personal magic mojo and God's miracles.

11) Leabeater was extremely racist in his personal life, being furious at being sent to India, where he had to live among lots of dark-skinned people. This perhaps explains why he liked Theosophy so much, with its obsessions about races and evolution.

12) Leabeater stresses that all his theories are based on his psychic seeing, yet he was incapable of seeing any of these contradictions we have so far mentioned. Additionally, he was suspended from the Theosophical Society when word of his strange antics with boys became public.

13) All the mojo of the Liberal Catholic Church couldn't help them discern the truth in the bizarre case of the Gnostic Christ-Kid, Jiddu Krishnamurti.

You can read more about the zaniness of the Liberal Catholic Church in a book called The Elder Brother.

7) Mudras and Handstodhur in Avalon

Coming...

8) Stodhur and Asanas in Avalon

Coming...

9) Galdr and Mantras in Avalon

Coming...

Some Canons of The Avalonian Catholic Church

Membership

1) The Church of God is a hospital for sinners. If people were perfect, they would have no need of the sacraments or the Church. Therefore, a member cannot be excommunicated from the A.C.C. for committing an act, no matter how heinous, unless that member poses a serious threat to the well-being of the Church. Such a decision shall be made by the individual's immediate clergyperson in charge of the relevant caim, ordinary bishop and the board. Proclaimed July 12, 2002

2) A member may be denied a sacrament IFF the ordained giver has clearly ascertained the need for such a dire action. The member may appeal such a decision to the clergyperson's superior and/or the church board. Proclaimed July 12, 2002

Holy Orders

1) All candidates for holy orders must be lay members of The Avalonian Catholic Church and have completed the requisite training for the order in question before receiving it. Promulgated July 12, 2002

2) No member of The A.C.C. may be ordained to any Order or serve in any ordained capacity while a member of any church, lodge, society or other organization which prohibits the same. While the A.C.C. has no interest in enforcing other organizations' regulations, it is quite difficult to see how a person in such a position could maintain credibility in teaching, preaching and leading those who come to them, as their integrity would be seriously compromised. It is also difficult to comprehend how such a person could adequately function in their ordained capacity if they have a certain "gag order quotient", being unable to reveal their membership or sow the pleroma of the A.C.C. teachings. Such a stifled magisterium, episcopal, presbyteral or diaconal, is no magisterium, but a sham. If such a person cannot obey one master as required, we have serious doubts that they would follow our rules. We also seek to distance our see from any subsequent charges that we contributed to mental instabilities caused by such divided allegiances.

Finally, some of these organizations are involved in some very questionable activities, from an ethical point of view. As Ephesians 5:11 says, "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them."

Church members affected by this canon include the Roman Catholic Church, conservative Orthodox and conservative Anglican jurisdictions. Promulgated July 12, 2002

3) Candidates for the episcopate must be consecrated by three bishops, though if the requisite number within the A.C.C. cannot be had, up to two may be from other jurisdictions. The non-A.C.C. bishops must function as assisting bishops, however, and agree beforehand that the A.C.C. rite is acceptable to them, both in terms of their participation in the ceremonies and for their later actions as official witnesses and ratifiers of the consecration, whenever necessary. Promulgated July 12, 2002

4) All candidates for holy orders must have witnesses of the ceremony, with proof maintained of the same. Ordinations or consecrations shall not be performed in secret, but as public manifestations of the grace of God. Promulgated July 12, 2002

5) No bishop may ordain or consecrate a priest or bishop for another church or order without having first obtained the permission of the presiding bishop and the board, or by using the Avalonian Catholic rites. Doing so shall result in immediate withdrawal of that clergyperson's jurisdiction within the A.C.C. Promulgated July 12, 2002

6) A member holding any order may have their indult to serve in that capacity suspended for a certain time or indefinitely by their superior if that member commits an act which undermines the Work of the A.C.C. Said member may contest this decision in the A.C.C.'s ecclesiastical court. Promulgated July 12, 2002

7) An ecclesiastical trial may be called by any member of the A.C.C. to discuss temporary or permanent removal of any clergyperson from hir jurisdiction. Proclaimed July 12, 2002

Musings from the Teaching Magisterium of Bishop Ryner

In the wake of the recent attacks in the United States of America, it is truly appalling that the Christian "spiritual leaders" of the world, from Billy Graham and to John Paul II, have proven unable to provide serious and helpful explanations for suffering. We continue this page with timely discussion of this very topic:

Example 1: Why Suffering Exists

Leonard Pitts, Jr., a columnist for the Miami Herald, recently wrote that the preacher at a service he attended stated that "maybe God allowed the planes to be stolen, and the people to die, because He was helpless to stop it." He relates that there was stunned silence and two women in the congregation left.

A weak God is not an appealing concept. If God is not strong, then perhaps evil could overthrow God or God's work. If God is not strong, why should we pray? Indeed, perhaps such prayer would be misdirected, and we would be better served to find another entity before whom to grovel!

There are, however, other rational explanations.

The first is the Deistic: God is omnipotent, yet chooses for some reason not to act. Most of the founding fathers of the United States of America were staunch Deists, such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Lest this seem totally unreasonable, consider the many instances when Jesus (in the "mainstream, canonical" texts) told people who "were on to him" not to tell anyone who he was, and how he tried on several occasions not to be too conspicuous (Interestingly, he was not very successful in either endeavor!). Also, if God is omnipotent, Genesis certainly records him as acting Deistically when it records Him giving Adam and Eve a freewill to disobey Him. Later Christian tradition also stated that Satan had similarly decided to rebel against God's authority, indicating he, too, had freewill.

The question then naturally arises: "But why would God, if God is good, allow suffering if God can act?" The only reasonable answer is that we either can't know (because God's ways are not man's ways) or that there is a logical reason.

Even the old catechisms started by asking why the querent was created, and responded by stating that it was to serve God. Does one know how to serve God from one's beginning? Not in this earthly life, obviously. We need to learn to serve. We can thus see the world as a training ground, a school where we are exposed to bullys on the playground, some teachers we don't like, lunches we try to trade, etc. If none of our experiences in life were bad, we wouldn't be able to appreciate the good ones. We also wouldn't be able to empathize and thus be moved to help anyone else. Suffering should lead to growth. Indeed, growth is change, and change is not at all pleasant.

Perhaps the drive of the mainstream Christians to try to save the world by converting it to their way of thinking is backfiring. They are becoming conformed to the world, catering to the lowest common denominators of the crowd. Unfortunately, that results in the crowd not getting good spiritual sustenance. One example is the unwillingness to talk about the God willing to allow suffering. The Bible even quotes God as saying He is the Creator of evil (as well as darkness)!

If interest is shown, we will expand this discussion God's use of suffering to transform and edify us, and to empower us to change the world.

Example 2: The Judgment of the Wicked

Another issue that can be hard for Christians to deal with is the issue of the punishment of sin. The mainstream churches generally divide the sheep from the goats at the end of time, relegating the former to the bliss of heaven, and the latter to the fiery, painful depths of hell, but both for all eternity after their judgment. For many people, it seems incredible that God would only allow one short lifetime to achieve perfection.

One solution to this dilemma that has been taught is the doctrine of Purgatory. This is an intermediate stage between earth and heaven, and, as its name indicates, is the place where one is purged of one's negativity. If one is too good for hell, but not good enough for heaven, one will end up here after one dies.

Another explanation is reincarnation. Commonly believed in by many early Christians and Jews, there are many references to it in the canonical scriptures, even though I recall reading somewhere that a Church Council worked to surgically remove as many as they could. If we have many chances to "get it right", God is not such an evil boogeyman, after all. We simply have to pass each class before being allowed to move to the next.

Yet another attempt to explain God's Work was found in the apocatastasis . Some of the earliest leaders of the Church (including Origen, Clement of Alexandria and Gregory of Nyassa) taught this philosophy, which states that at the end of time, all of God's Creation will be gathered together into the Light, including even Satan himself. Needless to say, the conservative didn't think too much of this idea! But, as I wrote about in my hymn, Apocatastasis, this doesn't free the wicked from punishment.

What could possibly by more painful to someone who is "rotten to the core" than to be forcibly thrust into the midst of a crowd of "do-gooders"? Also, since according to many scriptural passages, we will then have been changed, their capability to perpetrate wickedness will be minimized. This is also true because the good Children of the Light will not even be willing to play "power games" with them. Thus, even the interest of the wicked in their former activities will seriously diminish. Someone who can't wield power seldom is interested in doing so.

One final note on this subject: While religions throughout history have had a judgment scene where the deceased is tried, as the Buddhists are aware, we actually sentence ourselves. Gautama said that all that we are is a result of what we have thought. Jesus said that even sinning in the mind was severe. We are drawn to that which we become attached to, so as we commit more evil acts, we become more evil. As we commit more good acts, we become more good.

Example 3: Ecumenism or Truth?

Quite often today, we see people raise the cry that "Everything's the same", "We're all children of God;"; Jesus' prayer "that they all may be one" or the like, using these statements to demand that they get their way about something.

Churches can use these kinds of statements, too. An excellent example is how liturgical churches will, when all their other arguments for the "validity" of their holy orders fail. There are two entirely different viewpoints of this matter that we'll be examining.

Fear causes people to commit negative acts. A huge Webpage listing Eastern Orthodox news reported that the Archbishop of Canterbury, titular head of the Anglican communion, sent official representatives to an area which was in dire financial straits. They told the local Orthodox hierarchs (bishops) that they were willing to help, and all they asked in return was that the hierarchs acknowledge the validity of the their church's holy orders! Since the reporting Webpage was so enormous, didn't seem to have anything else about the Anglicans, and didn't make any comments (just reported), it must be a true story. We'll try to get some comment on this from Canterbury to report here. This story does clearly show, however, the importance of this issue. Churches are can become more concerned and paranoid about whether their orders are valid than about following the words of Jesus that they are supposed to be heading, and really helping people.

This issue has been very important for our church. Most Independent Catholic churches become obsessed with the validity of their orders, as well, which strains their small budgets. As soon as it was decided that we would preach the truth, it was self-evident that most mainstream churches would not recognize our "validity" anyway, but probably flee in terror at what we were saying.

Since much has been made of the actual ceremonies of holy orders, we will first concentrate our attention on this issue. If interest is shown, we'll get into the other issues later.

Catholic teaching on the validity of a sacrament is quite clear. For any sacrament to be valid, there must be present three things: right matter, right form, and right intent.

Matter is simply the particular physical thing(s) that makes the sacrament in question valid. In the case of the Mass, the bread and wine, in the case of holy orders,

Form is the essential part of the liturgy which actually manifests the power of the sacrament. This does not mean that nonessentials can not be missing or changed, however, and this has led to great confusion in the past. In the case of holy orders, the essential act is the bishop(s) laying hands on the candidate, and pronouncing the sentence which ordains/consecrates that candidate to the particular order.

Intent is self-explanatory. The bishop(s) giving a holy order must have the clear intention to do so. Thus if someone is senile or otherwise mentally incapacitated at the time, there would be serious grounds to question their ability in this area. This has happened once or twice in the Roman Catholic Church, when a bishop started a schismatic group. (Please understand that schismatic, contrary to the way in which it is used by self-serving despotic leaders of mainstream churches in a vain attempt to tighten their grip on their followers, is not a negative or perjorative word. In fact, doctors and councils of the Church have stated quite clearly that if someone realizes that the church they are in is not teaching or doing right, they have the duty to leave.)

There has been a real ruckus in the past year or so over the agreement of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Episcopal Church of the United States of America to "share resources." Since this issue so clearly demonstrates how the mainstream churches lie to each other, their members and the public at large, it deserves some scrutiny. We will, however, as is our custom, look at the real, underlying issues that are ignored by both churches, as well as the group of concerned Lutherans led by a former Lutheran bishop, who are stirring dissent against the plan.

The Lutheran leaders first voted down the agreement, because they were concerned about polity, i.e., they were worried about their nice, perk-laden jobs! Also, they and their church historically did not believe in the doctrine of apostolic succession, which states that bishops are consecrated by other bishops in a chain that can be directly traced back to Jesus himself. This is a crucial belief of the ECUSA, however, and was one reason the latter demanded that Lutheran bishops be consecrated by them, a demand against which that the Lutheran bishops have vehemently protested.

One important piece of background information: The ELCA has in recent years come to use large ECUSA churches for the installation of their bishops. Given that neither church has been able to clearly reveal how they will be sharing resources, this author firmly believes that the Lutherans just wanted to get out of paying rent. One partial proof of this is that the Lutherans stated to the press that they didn't believe in succession, but would "play along" for the sake of the agreement! Of course, this would hurt the intent of any consecrations...

The first important thing to notice is that the Episcopalians have never said anything about Lutheran ministers being ordained as priests. This reveals that the Anglicans are either totally braindead, or totally conformed to this world (worried only about appearances and money). Even if the Episcopalian bishops have succession and can successfully pass it on, there is no way that the Lutheran ministers would gain the powers of priests to say Eucharist, etc.! It is truly shocking that no one has brought up this vital point, for it reveals much. Neither church is at concerned with whether laity will get real sacraments. All they are concerned with is getting a lot of publicity for their great ecumenical venture, and that they will somehow share some resources.

It is interesting to note that when the Roman Catholic pope wrote a bull declaring Anglican orders to be invalid, the arguments the Anglicans submitted in favor of their validity stated that they didn't know how someone got holy orders! (We'll be posting the relevent documents on this site soon, so you read them for yourself.) So much for the leg of logic on the Anglican stool! And since the issue in question dealt with high ceremonial, the leading Anglican bishops at the time showed that they didn't understand what makes a sacrament valid. Therefore, it is extremely hard to fathom how they could possibly preserve succession, let alone transmit it.

Lest Roman Catholics reading this become too smug, they should be reminded that the very same deficiencies in the Anglican Edwardian Ordinal that led their pontiff to proclaim Anglican orders invalid are now present in the Roman Catholic Church: yet another gift of John Paul II. Perhaps this is one reason he's the only R.C.C. pope in history to refuse to take the oath that he wouldn't change any doctrines of the church! For those who might be interested, Bishop Ryner's take on this is that JPII was reacting to a number of scandals during his reign, with Archbishop LeFebvre being the most reported by the mainstream secular media. If the true and traditional powers of a bishop are not referred to in any way, it can be argued from a political standpoint that they only come from the pope's blessings. Of course, the silliness of this is shown by the fact that without true intent being shown, there will be serious question about the validity of that consecration!

All of the preceding discussion has centered around "traditional" views of holy orders, which have stressed externals. Since a few of the major church doctors wrote that no matter what bad morals a priest had, his priestly functions would not be hampered, these are what have come to be stressed as what is essential for the validity of an ordination. It also as a result, led to churches striving to get more members, money and property to "prove" that they had "good fruits" and were thus a "real" church. So to conclude this discussion (for now), let's look at that particular claim.

The important question is: What did Jesus have to say about material wealth and power, both generally, and as it applied to the church?

In conclusion, you will not see the Avalonian Catholic Church racing to get "official" recognition of its orders from mainstream churches anytime soon, nor will you see us rushing to extend the same!

Why I Am an Independent Catholic and Why You Should Consider It As a Serious Spiritual Path

an article by the Most Rev. Jon Ryner

"Over all works Life is victorious!"

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All written material in this site is copyrighted by the Most Rev. Jon Ryner, except where noted.

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The Avalonian Catholic Church
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