MHFM: Sarabaite Monks: Censured by St 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 Law willfully 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.
- Pax Tecum