Our Mission
The Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Founded in 1949 by Fr. Leonard Feeney, SJ, and Catherine Goddard Clarke, OSB Oblate, our community holds that the Catholic Faith is for all — or for none.
Just because we attend pre-1964 liturgies does not mean we neglect our spiritual studies. Sincerity alone is not enough for salvation. We must believe all that God has revealed, and act accordingly.
Learn More"No salvation outside the Church" is not a threat — it is the most serious and merciful declaration God could make to a world that needs Him. — Fr. Leonard Feeney, SJ
Bread of Life
From the Book
Chapter 8
"A real Catholic says that the challenge of salvation is absolute, whether the statistics please you or not. Some statistics say that there are three hundred and seventy-five million Catholics in the world. I doubt if the number is that high, but by pushing figures you might get within sight of it. When I was in the seminary, the conjectured number was about three hundred and thirty-five million."
"Saying fast that there is no salvation outside the Church, and then adding that sincerity outside the Church is salvation within the Church, is the most diabolical double-talk ever uttered in the name of religious teaching!"
Chapter 11
"What doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul?" (Matt. 16:26) I think that this statement of Our Lord's is strong enough to imply in its challenge: "What good does it do if everybody gets into Heaven, if you do not get in?"
Bread of Life is available from
Manicipia Press
Box 1000 · Harvard, MA 01451978-456-8296 · saintbenedict.com
The book has gone through several editions; the page number is not always the same. You have the chapter numbers, and you should go through all of them "with a fine-toothed comb."
For Reflection
Questions to Consider
- Why did the Church (Everywhere Ekklesia Katholika / Ekklesia Katholes) preserve the Bible for 1,000-plus years, so that all the old texts — except the Dead Sea Scrolls (discovered 1946–65) — came through her auspices?
- If the Catholic Church is wrong, why do the Dead Sea Scrolls agree with what she accepted rather than with the first-century rabbis or the 16th-century rebels? In 90 A.D. the Rabbinical Council of Jamnia (now Tel-Aviv, Israel) rejected 7 Old Testament books, claiming they were not originally written in Hebrew. The Dead Sea Scrolls proved those rabbis wrong. The 16th-century rebels followed the rabbis' lead in order to sidestep the authority of the Catholic Church.
- If Catholicism is wrong, how can we have any New Testament, since all its books were collected and chosen by the Roman Pontiff — cf. Council of Rome, 382 A.D.; Muratorian Fragment?
- Why did the protest giving its name to Protestantism — the historical nickname of the Bible-only error held by the 16th-century rebels — include these words: "We could not, in good conscience, let anyone decide — for himself — what Church he will attend?"
- Since every old rite — in or out of communion with Rome — takes "This is My Body… Blood" (Matt. 26:26–28) literally, can anyone think Protestants are right to deny this?
- Where, in the Bible, does it say Saved by Faith Alone? Nowhere. Cf. James 2:26; Philippians 2:12.
- Where does the Bible call itself the sole rule of Faith? Nowhere.
- Where does the Bible say which books comprise the Bible? Nowhere.
- Why does the Bible say nothing about "taking Christ as personal savior," but does speak of Christ as Savior of His Body? Cf. Ephesians 5:23.
- Christ gave Peter authority (Matt. 16:18–20). Where did Luther, Calvin, and others get their authority?
- Into how many sects must Protestantism divide before proving itself unable to show how Christians are identified?
- How can we have God for Our Father, without Mary for Our Mother?
- Why is the Church so important? Cf. Matt. 18:17.
- Which came first — Church or Bible? The Children of Israel existed before Moses wrote the first 5 Old Testament books. The Catholic Church existed 10 years before Matthew wrote the first line of the New Testament.