Religious compromise with Rome appears to be almost compulsory in the previously Protestant Church of Ireland, certainly if you want to achieve any sort of exalted rank.
There is scarcely a bishop who isn’t on friendly terms with their Romanist counterpart, with the new Archbishop of Armagh, John McDowell, a prime example of someone completely given over to Romish compromise.
We have previously written about other recently retired bishops, including the former Archbishop of Armagh Richard Clarke, former Bishop of Derry and Raphoe Ken Good and former Bishop of Down and Dromore Harold Miller, who were ever keen to betray their own church’s 39 Articles and link arms with the promoters of the pagan falsehoods of Rome.
We have previously written about plenty of canons and archdeacons who have similarly shown their true religious colours by rejecting God’s Word and siding with the enemies of Christ, such as Canon David Skuce, now a rector in County Donegal and formerly in County Fermanagh, Canon Mark Harvey, rector in Lurgan, County Armagh and Archdeacon Stephen McBride, rector in Antrim town who previously spoke at a Romanist novena.
And that same act of apostasy was sadly committed just last month by another Church of Ireland canon, this time Canon Ian Ellis (pictured, top), rector of Rossorry Parish Church, near Enniskillen in County Fermanagh.
His actions live up to the second part of his church’s name as it is very sorry indeed.
This Canon Ian Ellis is not to be confused with the man of the same name and rank who was formerly editor of the Church of Ireland Gazette and is now a rector in Newcastle, County Down, although he too is fond of Romish compromise.
This Canon Ian Ellis was a preacher at the annual so-called “Novena of Hope” held at The Graan Monastery in County Fermanagh, although the “Novena of No Hope” would be a better name for it, given it is utterly contrary to the Word of God.
What is a Novena? It is a Roman Catholic ritual and according to the ‘Pray More Novenas’ website, “a Novena is made up of nine days of prayer and meditation, usually to ask God for special prayer requests or petitions. Novenas are often used to ask specific saints to pray for us”.
So a Novena involves the invocation of saints, despite the Bible’s teaching in 1 Timothy 2:5, which says: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”.
Wikipedia continues and says: “The practice grew by the Middle Ages to include pious prayers for nine days before a feast in honour of a saint identified on a liturgical calendar. By the 11th century, the Novena practice had become a means in Christianity of praying to petition personal or spiritual favour to a saint, such as Virgin Mary. After the Reformation and Counter-Reformation era, the Catholic Church formally approved Novenas, in particular through the papal approvals of a large number of Novenas by Pope Pius IX.”
So the Novena has the stamp of approval from the Pope, “that man of sin, and son of perdition”, the man who blasphemously sets himself up in God’s place.
Wikipedia goes on to say: “The practice of the Novena is based in early Christianity, where masses were held for nine days with devotional prayers to someone who has died.”
So the Novena has its roots in prayer for the dead, which is a reference to the Romanist lie of purgatory, an absolutely anti-Biblical construct of the Roman Catholic Church. When we die we either go straight to heaven or straight to hell. There is no in between.
Look at the rich man in Luke 16. We are told in verses 22-23: “…the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments…”
There was no in between for the rich man. He died and went straight to hell.
And the lies and deceits of Rome will take all who adhere to them there as well.
Canon Ian Ellis’ betrayal of his church’s heritage took place on Thursday, 5 March when he spoke on the topic “Hope is… Reaching out the hand of fellowship to our brothers and sisters who come from other traditions”.
And there we were thinking that hope lay in salvation which comes alone by faith alone in Jesus Christ.
We are to place our hope in the triune God.
Romans 15:13 says: “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”
We are to place our hope in the word of God.
Psalm 119:114 says: “Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.”
Hope is at the root of faith in Christ.
Hebrews 11:1,3: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”
That is where hope lies, not in ecumenical jollies and soft soap words designed to make the speaker and the hearers feel nice about themselves and congratulate themselves on being so wonderfully tolerant and open-minded.
Where the undiluted gospel of Christ is not preached then there is no value in it and Canon Ian Ellis could not have preached the undiluted gospel of Christ at that novena as it is an event designed to contradict the gospel of Christ.
Last summertime we highlighted the truly despicable situation whereby four different allegedly Protestant ministers spoke at the novena at Clonard Monastery, a hub of Romanist deceit in Irish republican west Belfast.
The four were ‘Rev’ Tracey McRoberts, ‘minister’ of St Matthew’s Church of Ireland on the Shankill Road in Belfast, Presbyterian ‘minister’ ‘Rev’ Cheryl Meban, who acts as the church’s chaplain at Queen’s University, Rev Johnston McMaster, Methodist minister and professor in the Irish School of Ecumenics and Rev John Alderdice, another Methodist minister, who is also Director of Ministry at Edgehill Theological College, the training school for aspiring Methodist ministers in Northern Ireland.
On recordings of the services from the novena, all four can be seen happily sitting throughout the entire mass service, watching on as the priest blasphemously lifts the wafer above his head and claims Jesus is truly present in the wafer and in the wine. Rev John Alderdice is pictured below, second from left, sitting contentedly as the blasphemous mass is offered up.
And, unless the novena at The Graan is very different from any other novenas held everywhere else, Canon Ian Ellis was happy to sit and watch our Lord Jesus Christ being offered up once again blasphemously by a God-defying Romanist priest.
We are reminded in Hebrews 10:11-12 that Christ’s sacrifice was once for all.
It says: “And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God”.
The mass is an accursed blasphemy which denies the God it falsely claims to honour and Canon Ian Ellis, as a Church of Ireland minister, is outrageously doing a disservice to his most important role by sitting back and letting such blasphemies go on without raising his voice against them.
Worse still, he is encouraging those who attend and partake in the mass to continue on in their sin by giving credence to the Roman Catholic Church.
Canon Ian Ellis certainly has a track record of chumming up with Rome, as it is reported on the website of a newspaper local to his current church that, at his institution as rector there in March 2015, two senior Papists were in attendance.
One was ‘Monsignor’ Peter O’Reilly and the other was well-known Romanist priest and media personality ‘Father’ Brian D’Arcy, who formerly served in The Graan.
We will remind Canon Ian Ellis and any other compromiser within the Church of Ireland what the 28th of their 39 Articles of faith says regarding the Lord’s Supper.
It says: “Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of Bread and Wine) in the Supper of the Lord, cannot be proved by holy Writ; but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions.”
The 31st Article adds that “the sacrifices of Masses, in the which it was commonly said, that the Priest did offer Christ for the quick and the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, were blasphemous fables, and dangerous deceits.”
How much better are the standards of their Anglican forefathers than what we see polluting pulpits throught Northern Ireland and so many other places today.
The 39 Articles call the mass a “blasphemous fable and dangerous deceit” and say the Romanist doctrine of transubstantiation is “repugnant” to the Word of God.
What a shameful situation it is to see Canon Ian Ellis engaging with such an event as this.
Once again we appeal to any involved with the Church of Ireland to separate themselves fully from this apostate denomination and urge any who are as yet unsaved to come to Christ for salvation.
Our only hope for an eternity in heaven lies not in the observance of sacraments or sacrifices, but in the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Come to him today, do not delay.
Proverbs 27:1: “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”
Acts 4:12: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
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