Is it possible that in the Church founded by Christ, the bishops and priests of God can teach error? Church history tells us that by the year 325 A.D., almost every single priest and bishop embraced and taught the heresy of Arianism. Begun by a priest named Arius, it stated that although Christ was like God, He was not actually God Himself. Arianism insisted that Our Lord was indeed superior to all creatures-but was less than God just the same. (Cath.Ency.Vol. I, p. 707). However in 325 A.D., the Council of Nicea made clear the Church's stand on the Divinity of Christ as it had been Divinely revealed by both Holy Scripture and Church Tradition. This definition stated that Our Blessed Lord is both True God and True Man the coequal Second Person of the Holy Trinity. This infallible truth of the Faith stands even until today. Such enduring teachings of the Church are part of what is called the "Constant" or Divine Magisterium.

In his talk before the Knights of Columbus on May 28, 1972, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen made the following comments about Arianism:

Until the French Revolution (1789), Christian man understood and lived his life as being in complete dependence upon God. But the Revolution raised the cry of independence from God, and man began to search for ways to become self-sufficient. Robert Malthus (1766-1834), a noted economist of his day, predicted that the world would become overpopulated by the mid- I 800's if man did nothing about it. He proposed that people should either wait until their thirtieth year to marry or use his program called "the rhythm method," which consisted in refraining from marital relations during a woman's fertile period (Essay on the Principals of Population as it Affects the Future Improvement of Society).

The so-called "progressive-minded" seized upon this idea because it fit perfectly with their "progressive, scientific findings" and the modern desire for self-sufficiency in lieu of trust in God. The child, which had always been considered a blessing, now began to be thought of as a burden. Thus did the contraceptive mentality take root.

Margaret Sanger (1883-1960) cultivated and promoted this mentality, and eventually it even led to pressure being exerted from within the Catholic Church Herself for an acceptable (i.e., "moral") form of birth control to be found! This was in opposition to the Divine Magisterium which had ever forbade the very idea.

At the turn of the century the family unit was still strong. People generally showed little interest in this modern birth control notion, although they were already being influenced by the false progress of "modern science" (along with what progress was "true").

The teaching of the Church, through the centuries was that any form of birth control is wrong. Progressives rejected this, for it was not in accord with their ideal of humanist self-sufficiency and irreligion - much less their horror of the self sacrifice this lack of family planning might necessarily entail. Their contentions caused the Hierarchy to mistakenly but deliberately allow theologians to examine the Rhythm method-though pastors were, as yet, forbidden to condone or recommend this practice (Integrity June, 1948).

In 1930, Pope Pius XI wrote the encyclical Casti Connubii (Chaste Wedlock), in which he stated that it is not wrong for married couples to use their conjugal rights during sterile times:

Nor are these (couples) considered as acting against nature who in the married state use their right in the proper manner, although on account of natural reasons either of time or certain defects, new life cannot be brought forth.

The progressivists construed the Pope's words to be a license for the Rhythm method, and wrongly rushed headlong into promoting it. Then later, Pope Pius XII in an allocution to the Italian Catholic Union of Midwives on October 29, 1951, did "give permission" for the use of Rhythm under certain circumstances. The Pope may have made this judgment based on the conclusions presented by theologians-but, it was a revolutionary mistake just the same! He had not the power to sanction any marital theory that was not in accordance with either Church Tradition or the Natural Law-and such a novelty the Rhythm method was indeed!

In July 1968, Pope Paul VI published his encyclical Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life), the first part of Which reiterated the teaching of the Divine Magisterium that each and every marital act must remain open to the transmission of life. It then proceeded to void that principle by allowing Rhythm, which prevents that life from ensuing!

Now Christ told us that we are to judge a tree by its fruits-a principle by its consequences. This book will seek to prove beyond a doubt that the consequences of the Rhythm mentality are contrary to the Christian moral code. Therefore Rhythm is definitely an error being propagated within Christ's own Church, much as was Arianis . It is an error which must be corrected if Catholics are to enjoy clear consciences, and if traditional morality is to be revived.

This book is not being written to criticize the Church Herself-which has ever solemnly mandated against any form of birth control and is the perfect Bride of Christ and our Holy Mother-but rather the Hierarchy in charge of Her, which created/allowed this vile confusion that has only, all-of-a-sudden, arisen in our times about NFP and birth control. It is meant to inform the pastors of souls about certain facts concerning the nature of woman, and to remind everyone reading this about God the Father and His loving, Providential care for His children. I wish to encourage married couples to invoke the love of the Holy Ghost so that they may find Divine solutions to their problems, and not resort to the "false science" of this rebellious age. For marriage imposes an awesome responsibility before God. Let them take to heart the following words spoken by the Blessed Virgin Mary to Venerable Mary of Agreda in The Mystical City of God (The Conception-pg. 556):

The most valuable science of man is to know how to resign himself entirely into the hands of his Creator, since He knows why He has formed him and for what end each man is destined. Man's sole duty is to live in obedience and in the love of his Lord. God will charge Himself most solicitously with the care of those that thus confide in Him; He will take upon Himself the management of all the affairs and all the events of this life in order to draw blessings and benefits for those that thus trust in His fidelity.

Mrs. Jeanne Dvorak