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I though I would start a thread dedicated to the Saint(s) and or feast(s) of the day. We can share quotes, images, writings, articles, stories, requests for intercession, videos, or anything else pertaining to the Saint(s) and or the feast(s) for each particular day.
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(https://i.imgur.com/fmHZG8F.png)
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October 20—ST. JOHN CANTIUS
St. John was born at Kenty, (whence the surname Cantius), a town in the diocese of Cracow. His parents Stanislaus and Anna, were devout honorable people. From his very infancy John gave promise of the greatest virtue by the sweetness and innocence of his way. After his ordination to the priesthood he redoubled his efforts to the Christian perfection. He administered the parish of Olkusz for several years with notable success, and then returned to teaching. Part of the time left him from this occupation he gave to the salvation of his neighbor, especially through preaching, and the rest to prayer. He came four times to the Apostolic See traveling on foot and carrying his own baggage, both to honor the Apostolic See, and as he said, “to save himself from the punishments of purgatory”, by the indulgences offered there daily. He watchfully preserved a virginal purity, and before his death he had abstained from meat for about thirty-five years. On Christmas Eve he went to the heavenly reward. He was enrolled among the Saints by Pope Clement XIII, and is honored as one of the primary Patrons of Poland and Lithuania.
-1960 Roman Breviary
St. John Cantius, pray for us!
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*I am by no means promoting the Society of St. John Cantius. I'm sure most of you know, they offer the novus ordo as well as the TLM. Because of this I personally cannot support this group, however I found this article shows an interesting parallel between St. John's time and our own*
TIMES NOT UNLIKE OUR OWN
Taken from Society of St. John Cantius newsletter Via Sacra, Vol.1, Issue 2, May 25, 1999
St. John from Kenty, patron of our religious community, lived in times not unlike our own. Although not as intense as the cultural crisis of the late twentieth century, his time was nonetheless a period of tension and sweeping change. As for us, it was a time of crisis as well as reform in the realms of culture, politics, and religion.
In Europe of the fifteenth century, the Church was still reeling from the effects of the western schism. The emergence of antipopes divided the allegiances of Catholics. Criticism of Church authority led to the support of conciliarism, which asserted that the only solution to the Church’s problems was submission of the Pope to the authority of Church councils.
Many philosophers wished to separate the Church from the realm of learning, some mystics wished to separate piety from a search for the truth, Hussite heretics wished to detach the Church from all temporal matters, and academics defended the rights of pagans and schismatics under the banner of freedom of conscience. The similarity to our time is uncanny.
However, even amidst such sentiments among many of his colleagues at the Krakovian Academy, St. John from Kenty stood firm in his loyalty to the Roman Pontiff and the timeless teachings of the Church.
Despite the turmoil, it was also a period of renewal within the Church. St. John stood out as one of a number of mystics in fifteenth-century Krakow who were influenced by devotio moderna—a contemporary Dutch movement, which encouraged lay people to a life of individual piety through reflection on the Gospels, personal consecration, and works of mercy. It also promoted a renewed devotion to the Eucharist through the practice - considered revolutionary for the time - of frequent reception of Confession and Holy Communion.
The influence of this movement on the Master from Kenty may explain why, among the numerous manuscripts produced by this seasoned scholar, we find no great theological or mystical treatises. One trait characteristic of devotio moderna was that it did not encourage the writing of such works, as was popular in that day. It called rather for a humble silence and renunciation of the unnecessary praise from others, that such works would have entailed.
What the Master from Kenty did leave us, however, were many volumes of transcribed manuscripts, as well as practical commentaries on morality and faith.
St. John from Kenty didn’t found a school of mysticism or live in a monastery, but in a manner unique for his day, he demonstrated how one could live the Gospels in everyday life through service to the Church and one’s fellow man. He drew constant inspiration from a deep devotion to Christ’s Passion and a profound love of our Savior’s Blessed Mother.
So exemplary was he, that two centuries later, Pope Clement XIII wrote for his canonization that the saint from Kenty “belonged to a group of outstanding men, distinguished by knowledge and holiness, who both taught and put into practice, as well as defended, the true faith which was under attack by its enemies.”
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(https://i.imgur.com/lMyuxEk.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/IKcg7v0.jpg)
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The following is from the Catholic Encyclopedia(1912);
St. Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins
The history of these celebrated virgins of Cologne rests on ten lines, and these are open to question. This legend, with its countless variants and increasingly fabulous developments, would fill more than a hundred pages. Various characteristics of it were already regarded with suspicion by certain medieval writers, and since Baronius have been universally rejected. Subsequently, despite efforts more ingenious than scientific to save at least a part, the apocryphal character of the whole has been recognized by degrees. Briefly, for the solid reconstruction of the true history of the virgin martyrs, there is only the inscription of Clematius and some details furnished by ancient liturgical books. Unfortunately, these latter are very meager, and the inscription is in part extremely obscure. This docuмent, carved on a stone which may be seen in the choir of the Church of St. Ursula at Cologne, is couched in the following terms:
DIVINIS FLAMMEIS VISIONIB. FREQVENTER
ADMONIT. ET VIRTVTIS MAGNÆ MAI
IESTATIS MARTYRII CAELESTIVM VIRGIN
IMMINENTIVM EX PARTIB. ORIENTIS
EXSIBITVS PRO VOTO CLEMATIVS V. C. DE
PROPRIO IN LOCO SVO HANC BASILICA
VOTO QVOD DEBEBAT A FVNDAMENTIS
RESTITVIT SI QVIS AVTEM SVPER TANTAM
MAIIESTATEM HVIIVS BASILICÆ VBI SANC
TAE VIRGINES PRO NOMINE. XPI. SAN
GVINEM SVVM FVDERVNT CORPVS ALICVIIVS
DEPOSVERIT EXCEPTIS VIRCINIB. SCIAT SE
SEMPITERNIS TARTARI IGNIB. PVNIENDVM
Its authenticity, which is accepted beyond the shadow of a doubt by the most eminent epigraphists (de Rossi, Ritschl), has sometimes been suspected without good reason, and Domaszewski (C. I. L., XIII, ii, 2, no. 1313) is mistaken in asserting that the stone was not carved until the fifteenth century. It belongs indisputably to the fifth century at the latest, and very probably to the fourth. The recent hypothesis of Reise, according to which the first eight lines, as far as RESTITVIT, belong to the fourth century, while the rest were added in the ninth, is more elegant than solid. With still greater reason must we reject as purely arbitrary that of J. Ficker, which divides the first eight lines into two parts, the first being of pagan origin and dating from before the Christian Era, the second dating from the second century. But despite its authenticity the inscription is far from clear. Many attempts have been made to interpret it, none of them satisfactory, but at least the following import may be gathered: A certain Clematius, a man of senatorial rank, who seems to have lived in the Orient before going to Cologne, was led by frequent visions to rebuild in this city, on land belonging to him, a basilica which had fallen into ruins, in honour of virgins who had suffered martyrdom on that spot.
This brief text is very important, for it testifies to the existence of a previous basilica, dating perhaps from the beginning of the fourth century, if not from the pre-Constantinian period. For the authentic cult and hence for the actual existence of the virgin martyrs, it is a guarantee of great value, but it must be added that the exact date of the inscription is unknown, and the information it gives is very vague. It does not indicate the number of the virgins, their names, or the period of their martyrdom. Nor does any other docuмent supply any probable details on the last point. Our ignorance on the first two is lessened to a certain extent by the mention on 21 Oct. in various liturgical texts (martyrologies, calendars, litanies) of virgins of Cologne, now five, now eight, now eleven, for example: Ursula, Sencia, Gregoria, Pinnosa, Martha, Saula, Britula, Saturnina, Rabacia, Saturia, and Palladia. Without doubt none of these docuмents is prior to the ninth century, but they are independent of the legend, which already began to circulate, and their evidence must not be entirely overlooked. It is noteworthy that in only one of these lists Ursula ranks first.
After the inscription of Clematius there is a gap of nearly five hundred years in our docuмents, for no trace of the martyrs is found again until the ninth century. The oldest written text, "Sermo in natali sanctarum Coloniensium virginum", which seems to date from this period, serves to prove that there was at Cologne no precise tradition relating to the virgin martyrs. According to this, they were several thousand in number, and suffered persecution during the reign of Diocletian and Maximian. The names of only a few of them were known, and of these the writer gives only one, that of Pinnosa, who was then regarded as the most important of the number. Some persons, probably in accordance with an interpretation, certainly questionable, of the inscription of Clematius, considered them as coming from the East, and connected them with the martyrs of the Theban Legion; others held them to be natives of Great Britain, and this was the opinion shared by the authors of the "Sermo". Apparently some time after the "Sermo" we find the martyrology of Wandalbert of Prüm, compiled about 850, which speaks of several thousand virgins. On the other hand Usuard, in his martyrology dating from about 875, mentions only "Martha and Saula with several others". But as early as the end of the ninth century or the beginning of the tenth, the phrase "the eleven thousand virgins" is admitted without dispute. How was this number reached? All sorts of explanations have been offered, some more ingenious than others. The chief and rather gratuitous suppositions have been various errors of reading or interpretation, e.g., "Ursula and her eleven thousand companions" comes from the two names Ursula and Undecimillia (Sirmond), or from Ursula and Ximillia (Leibniz), or from the abbreviation XI. M. V. (undecim martyres virgines), misinterpreted as undecim millia virginum, etc. It has been conjectured, and this is less arbitrary, that it is the combination of the eleven virgins mentioned in the ancient liturgical books with the figure of several thousand (millia) given by Wandalbert. However it may be, this number is henceforth accepted, as is also the British origin of the saints, while Ursula is substituted for Pinnosa and takes the foremost place among the virgins of Cologne.
The experiences of Ursula and her eleven thousand companions became the subject of a pious romance which acquired considerable celebrity. Besides the subsequent revisions of this story there are two ancient versions, both originating at Cologne. One of these (Fuit tempore pervetusto) dates from the second half of the ninth century (969-76), and was only rarely copied during the Middle Ages. The other (Regnante Domino), also compiled in the ninth century, had a wide circulation, but adds little of importance to the first. The author of the latter, probably in order to win more credence for his account, claims to have received it from one who in turn heard it from the lips of St. Dunstan of Canterbury, but the serious anachronisms which he commits in saying this place it under suspicion. This legendary account is well known: Ursula, the daughter of a Christian king of Great Britain, was asked in marriage by the son of a great pagan king. Desiring to remain a virgin, she obtained a delay of three years. At her request she was given as companions ten young women of noble birth, and she and each of the ten were accompanied by a thousand virgins, and the whole company, embarking in eleven ships sailed for three years. When the appointed time was come, and Ursula's betrothed was about to claim her, a gale of wind carried the eleven thousand virgins far from the shores of England, and they went first by water to Cologne and thence to Basle, then by land from Basle to Rome. They finally returned to Cologne, where they were slain by the Huns in hatred of the Faith.
The literary origin of this romance is not easy to determine. Apart from the inscription of Clematius, transcribed in the Passion "Fuit tempore" and paraphrased in the "Regnante Domino" Passion and the "Sermo in natali", the writers seem to have been aware of a Gallic legend of which a late version is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth: the usurper Maximus (as Geoffrey calls the Emperor Maximian), having conquered British Armorica, sent there from Great Britain 100,000 colonists and 30,000 soldiers, and committed the government of Armorica to his former enemy, now his friend, the Breton prince, Conanus Meriadocus. The latter decided to bring women from Great Britain to marry them to his subjects, to which end he appealed to Dionotus, King of Cornwall, who sent him his daughter Ursula, accompanied by 11,000 noble virgins and 60,000 other young women. As the fleet which carried them sailed towards Armorica, a violent storm destroyed some of the ships and drove the rest of them to barbarian islands in Germany, where the virgins were slain by the Huns and the Picts. The improbabilities, inconsistencies, and anachronisms of Geoffrey's account are obvious, and have often been dealt with in detail: moreover the story of Ursula and her companions is clothed with a less ideal character than in the Passions of Cologne. However, this account has been regarded by several writers since Baronius as containing a summary of the true history of the holy martyrs. Like the Passions of Cologne, it has been subjected to the anti-scientific method, which consists in setting aside as false the improbabilities, impossibilities, and manifest fables, and regarding the rest as authentic history. As a consequence two essential traits remain: the English origin of the saints and their massacre by the Huns; and then, according as adherence is given to the "Sermo in natali", Geoffrey of Monmouth, or the Passion "Regnante Domino", the martyrdom of St. Ursula is placed in the third, fourth, or fifth century. In order to account for all the details, two massacres of virgins at Cologne have been accepted, one in the third century, the other in the fifth. The different solutions with their variations suggested by scholars, sometimes with levity, sometimes with considerable learning, all share the important defect of being based on relatively late docuмents, unauthoritative and disfigured by manifest fables.
No conclusion can be drawn from these texts. Nevertheless, the fables they contain are insignificant in comparison with those which were invented and propagated later. As they are now unhesitatingly rejected by everyone, it suffices to treat them briefly. In the twelfth century there were discovered in the Ager Ursulanus at Cologne, some distance from the Church of St. Ursula, skeletons not only of women, but of little children, and even of men, and with them inscriptions which it is impossible not to recognize as gross forgeries. All this gave rise to a number of fantastic legends, which are contained in the accounts of the vision of St. Elizabeth of Schonau, and of a religious who has been regarded as identical with Blessed Hermann Joseph of Steinfeld. It may be remarked in passing that visions have played an important part in the question of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, as may be seen in those of Clematius and of the nun Helintrude contained in the Passion "Regnante Domino". Those of the twelfth century, in combination with the inscriptions of the Ager Ursulanus, resulted in furnishing the names of a great many of the male and female companions of Ursula, in particular — and this will suffice to give an idea of the rest — that of a Pope Cyriacus, a native of Great Britain, said to have received the virgins at the time of their pilgrimage to Rome, to have abdicated the papal chair in order to follow them, and to have been martyred with them at Cologne. No doubt it was readily acknowledged that this Pope Cyriacus was unknown in the pontifical records, but this, it was said, was because the cardinals, displeased with his abdication, erased his name from all the books. Although the history of these saints of Cologne is obscure and very short, their cult was very widespread, and it would require a volume to relate in detail its many and remarkable manifestations. To mention only two characteristics, since the twelfth century a large number of relics have been sent from Cologne, not only to neighbouring countries but throughout Western Christendom, and even India and China. The legend of the Eleven Thousand Virgins has inspired a host of works of art, several of them of the highest merit, the most famous being the paintings of the old masters of Cologne, those of Memling at Bruges, and of Carpaccio at Venice.
The Order of Ursulines, founded in 1535 by St. Angela de Merici, and especially devoted to the education of young girls, has also helped to spread throughout the world the name and the cult of St. Ursula.
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When St John vianney was a small boy, he had rosary beads he loved so much.
He sister really wanted his rosary beads. So he complained to his mum that she wanted them but he loved them so much.
She told them to give them to his sister, but offter it up as a sacrifice to God.
He did and he wept for many hours.
Pray for us Marie vianney and St John vianney :pray:
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Sorry I totally misunderstood the thread, thought it was saint stories :facepalm::facepalm:
My mistake
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No prob. It can include saint stories, articles, writings, images, videos, prayers, discussion, or anything at all but I thought for this thread it could be about the saint or feast of each particular day. Your post about St. John Vianney would be a great post if it were his feast day today. Hopefully my description of this thread isn't too confusing. It's basically just to discuss and or post anything at all about the saint or feast of the day. :)
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Today start a novena to Christ the King :pray:
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Can you provide a link please?
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https://novenaprayer.com/christ-the-king-novena/
About Christ The King
(https://i1.wp.com/novenaprayer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/123678103_281638293158828_7730467700174123721_n-150x150.jpg?w=869&ssl=1) (https://i1.wp.com/novenaprayer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/123678103_281638293158828_7730467700174123721_n-150x150.jpg?ssl=1)
Christ the King is one of the names of Jesus found in various forms in Scripture. He is referred to as King Eternal, King of Israel, King of the Jєωs, King of kings and King of the Ages.
The Feast of Christ the King was instituted by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical Quas Primas in 1925. As a response to the rise of secularism and unrest between nations, Pope Pius stated, “Men must look for the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ.”
Why do we celebrate Christ the King?
(https://i1.wp.com/novenaprayer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/123678103_281638293158828_7730467700174123721_n-150x150.jpg?w=869&ssl=1) (https://i1.wp.com/novenaprayer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/123678103_281638293158828_7730467700174123721_n-150x150.jpg?ssl=1)
The Feast of Christ the King, also called ‘Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe,’ is a festival celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church in honor of Jesus Christ as Lord over all creation. Essentially, it is a magnification of the Feast of the Ascension established by Pope Pius XI in 1925
May Jesus, King of Mercy, reign over our hearts.
Christ the King Novena
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Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
O Lord our God, You alone are the Most Holy King and Ruler of all nations. We pray to You, Lord, in the great expectation of receiving from You, O Divine King, mercy, peace, justice and all good things.
Protect, O Lord our King, our families and the land of our birth. Guard us we pray Most Faithful One. Protect us from our enemies and from Your Just Judgment Forgive us, O Sovereign King, our sins against you.
Jesus, You are a King of Mercy. We have deserved Your Just Judgment Have mercy on us, Lord, and forgive us. We trust in Your Great Mercy. O most awe-inspiring King, we bow before You and pray, May Your Reign, Your Kingdom, be recognized on earth.
Amen
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Say 1: Our Father…Say 1: Hail Mary…Say 1: Glory Be…
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(https://i.imgur.com/NGSZuGT.jpg)
St Anthony Mary Claret
Bishop of Santiago, Cuba
Feast: October 24
“I have loved justice and hated iniquity, therefore I die in exile.”
Saint Anthony Mary Claret was born in 1807 to Juan and Josephina Claret, the fifth of twelve children. Growing up he did very well in school, but if he was missing from a game with friends they knew that they could find him in the church. Even as a young boy St. Anthony wanted to become a priest, but his father seeing his ability for design and mechanics wanted him to follow in the family business of weaving. He did as his father had asked of him even to the point of becoming the head of the shop his father owned.
With the workers at the shop St. Anthony would pray the Rosary and often go to daily Mass with them. At 18 years old his father allowed him to go to school in Barcelona to learn more advanced ways for weaving. It was in Barcelona that he began thinking about his vocation to the priesthood. Under the direction of the Oratorian fathers he started to study Latin, and at 21 he began to study to become a priest.
St. Anthony had a strong devotion to Our Lady since he was young. “Our Blessed Lady is my Mother, my Patroness, my Mistress, my Directress, and –after Jesus-my All!” He saw Our Lady several times throughout his life. She often came when he was in need of her help. This is why the sweet name of Mary is a part of his name.
At 28 years old St. Anthony was ordained a priest. He spent some years in Spain fulfilling his vocation as a priest, but then in 1839 noticing that Spain had many priests he asked permission to be sent as a missionary elsewhere. He almost joined the Jesuits, but soon recognized that this was not the path Our Lady was leading him on. He went by the invitation of the Bishop to the Canary Islands where his apostolate was very fruitful. He later returned to Spain and converted thousands because of his zeal.
After he returned to Spain he took a special interest in the instruction of children and adults in the faith. He wrote four catechetical study books that were for different age levels. He greatly desired that all children and adults even the smallest understand their faith completely. St. Anthony also founded three different religious institutions and helped women who were blocked from entering religious life to enter.
In 1849 St. Anthony was named the Archbishop of Cuba. He knew that this diocese was a field for missionary work. He was able to reform their seminary and in the time that he was archbishop over 200 men were ordained when before that it had been 30 years since an ordination had taken place. He was able to find a Christian resolution for every challenge he faced. He totally won over the confidence of the people. Although he was loved by many there are always a few who see saintly people as a threat and there was an assassin who got close enough to cut him with a knife, but none of the wounds were serious.
Queen Isabella II in 1856 asked St. Anthony to come back to Spain to be her personal confessor. He did not want to live a life in the court, but Pope Pius IX expressly asked him to go so he obeyed. While he was on the court he was offered many bribes because he was close to the queen and others thought he could influence her, but he did not accept any. He wished to resign, but again obeying the Holy Father he remained in Spain until he was exiled in 1869.
While he was on the Spanish Court he did many other things in addition to his duties on the court. He wrote, preached, and taught. He also organized many clubs for all people, and was the president of the Escorial which was an educational institution. He knew that missionaries couldn’t be sent everywhere in those times and so he wanted to send them good books to the people could be their own missionaries.
After he was exiled from Spain he went to Rome to participate in the Vatican Council. While he was there he had great influence in helping the others to understand the doctrine of papal infallibility which was the main concern of the council at the time.
St. Anthony Mary Claret died October 24, 1870 in exile from Spain in a Cistercian monastery. He was beatified in 1934 and canonized in 1950.
Source: Modern Saints Their Lives and Faces Ann Ball
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https://novenaprayer.com/christ-the-king-novena/
About Christ The King
(https://i1.wp.com/novenaprayer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/123678103_281638293158828_7730467700174123721_n-150x150.jpg?w=869&ssl=1) (https://i1.wp.com/novenaprayer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/123678103_281638293158828_7730467700174123721_n-150x150.jpg?ssl=1)
Christ the King is one of the names of Jesus found in various forms in Scripture. He is referred to as King Eternal, King of Israel, King of the Jєωs, King of kings and King of the Ages.
The Feast of Christ the King was instituted by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical Quas Primas in 1925. As a response to the rise of secularism and unrest between nations, Pope Pius stated, “Men must look for the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ.”
Why do we celebrate Christ the King?
(https://i1.wp.com/novenaprayer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/123678103_281638293158828_7730467700174123721_n-150x150.jpg?w=869&ssl=1) (https://i1.wp.com/novenaprayer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/123678103_281638293158828_7730467700174123721_n-150x150.jpg?ssl=1)
The Feast of Christ the King, also called ‘Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe,’ is a festival celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church in honor of Jesus Christ as Lord over all creation. Essentially, it is a magnification of the Feast of the Ascension established by Pope Pius XI in 1925
May Jesus, King of Mercy, reign over our hearts.
Christ the King Novena
.
Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
O Lord our God, You alone are the Most Holy King and Ruler of all nations. We pray to You, Lord, in the great expectation of receiving from You, O Divine King, mercy, peace, justice and all good things.
Protect, O Lord our King, our families and the land of our birth. Guard us we pray Most Faithful One. Protect us from our enemies and from Your Just Judgment Forgive us, O Sovereign King, our sins against you.
Jesus, You are a King of Mercy. We have deserved Your Just Judgment Have mercy on us, Lord, and forgive us. We trust in Your Great Mercy. O most awe-inspiring King, we bow before You and pray, May Your Reign, Your Kingdom, be recognized on earth.
Amen
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Say 1: Our Father…Say 1: Hail Mary…Say 1: Glory Be…
B
Thanks Nadir.
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(https://i.imgur.com/98pflEP.png)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1-ohAZKtLw
At 9:00 the video discusses a vision where the Lord tells St. Anthony of three chastisements which would soon befall humanity including communism. This was in 1848, a time when communism was not very well know at all(according to the video). One more added to the list of saints who have warned us of the evil ideology know as communism...Russia's errors which have spread throughout the world including the Vatican itself. I believe that evidence like this shows that the Church crisis is at least partially due to the chastisement of communism in its various forms.
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(https://i.imgur.com/yH87c4M.jpg)
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Prayer to St. Raphael for finding a good Catholic spouse;
St. Raphael, loving patron of those seeking a marriage partner, help me in this supreme decision of my life. Find for me as a helpmate in life the person whose character may reflect some of the traits of Jesus and Mary. May he (she) be upright, loyal, pure, sincere and noble, so that with united efforts and with chaste and unselfish love we both may strive to perfect ourselves in soul and body, as well as the children it may please God to entrust to our care. May he (she) be a fervent (traditional) Catholic so we may live a model Catholic life and raise our children in the faith. St. Raphael, angel of chaste courtship, bless our friendship and our love that sin may have no part in it. May our mutual love bind us so closely that our future home may ever be most like the home of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Offer your prayers to God for the both of us and obtain the blessing of God upon our marriage, as you were the herald of blessing for the marriage of Tobiah and Sarah. St. Raphael, friend of the young, be my friend, for I shall always be yours. I desire ever to invoke you in my needs. To your special care I entrust the decision I am to make as to my future husband (wife). Direct me to the person with whom I can best cooperate in doing God’s Holy Will, with whom I can live in peace, love and harmony in this life, and attain to eternal joy in the next. Amen. In honor of St. Raphael pray an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be.
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Raphael the Archangel is also the chief of the guardian angels, sent by God to help the young man Tobit. He is patron of travellers and of healing.
“As for me, when I was with you, I was not acting out of any favor on my part, but by God’s will. So bless God every day; give praise with song.” (Tobit 12:18).
St. Raphael is the symbol of God’s love and attention towards us: He sends His angels to protect us. St. Raphael’s name means “God healed”, “he has healed”. As the Patron Saint of healers, St. Raphael can intercede for us with healing prayers (https://hozana.org/en/prayer/healing).
Traditional Prayer to St. Raphael Archangel
“Glorious Archangel St. Raphael, great prince of the heavenly court, you are illustrious for your gifts of wisdom and grace. You are a guide of those who journey by land or sea or air, consoler of the afflicted, and refuge of sinners. I beg you, assist me in all my needs and in all the sufferings of this life, as once you helped the young Tobias on his travels. Because you are the “medicine of God” I humbly pray that you heal the many infirmities of my soul and the ills that afflict my body. I especially ask of you the favor (here mention your special intention), and the great grace of purity to prepare me to be the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.”
Short Prayer to St. Raphael for Protection
“Most generous Archangel Raphael, guide of the traveller,
Who, by divine grace was given the power to heal and bring miracles,
We beg you to guide us in the pilgrimage of life, to heal and to protect our bodies and souls from illnesses.
Amen.”
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(https://i.imgur.com/xk7Q7c7.jpg)
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The following includes excerpts taken from Dom Prosper Guéranger's Liturgical Year;
25th October, SS. Chrysanthus and Daria, Martyrs
Chrysanthus and Daria were husband and wife, noble by birth, and still more by their faith which Daria had received together with baptism through her husband’s persuasion. At Rome they converted an immense multitude to Christ, Daria instructing the women and Chrysanthus the men. On this account the prefect Celerinus arrested them and handed them over to the tribune Claudius who ordered his soldiers to bind Chrysanthus and put him to the torture. But all his bonds were loosed, and the fetters which were put on him were broken. They then wrapped him in the skin of an ox and exposed to a burning sun, then cast him, chained hand and foot, into a very dark dungeon. But his chains were broken, and the prison filled with a brilliant light. Daria was dragged to a place of infamy, but at her prayer God defended her from insult by sending a lion to protect her. Finally they were both led to the sand-pits on the Via Salaria where they were thrown into a pit and covered with a heap of stones, and thus they together won the crown of martyrdom.
Dom Prosper Guéranger:
Chrystanthus was united, in his confession of our Lord, with her whom he had won to Christianity and to the love of the angelic virtue. Our forefathers had a great veneration for these two martyrs who, having lived together in holy virginity, were together buried alive in a sand-pit at Rome for refusing to honour the false gods. Dying like the seed in the earth, they yielded the fruit of martyrdom. On the anniversary day of their triumph numbers of the faithful had gathered in the catacomb on the Via Salaria for the liturgical Synaxis, when the pagans surprised them and walled up the entrance of the vault. Many years passed away. When the hour of victory had sounded for the Church, and the Christians discovered again the way to the sacred crypt, a wonderful spectacle was presented to their gaze: before the tomb where reposed Chrysanthus and Daria was grouped the family they had begotten to martyrdom. Each person was still in the attitude in which he had been overtaken by death. Beside the ministers of the Altar, which was surrounded by men, women and children, assistants at that most solemn of Masses, were to be seen the silver vessels of the Sacrifice: that Sacrifice in which the conquering Lamb had so closely united to himself to many noble victims. Pope Damasus adorned the venerable spot with monumental inscriptions. But no one dared to touch the holy bodies, or to alter any arrangement in that incomparable scene. The crypt was walled up again, but a narrow opening was left so that the pilgrim could look into the august sanctuary and animate his courage for the struggles of life by the contemplation of what had been required of his ancestors in the faith during the ages of martyrdom.
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October 26: St. Evaristus
The fourth successor of St. Peter, Pope Evaristus was said to have been the son of a Hellenic Jєω of Bethlehem. He ruled for some eight years, during a very stormy period in the history of the Church. He died via martyrdom about A.D. 107, and was buried near St. Peter's tomb at the Vatican.
*I've been reading about St. Pope Evaristus this morning and discovered some interesting things. First off, he is credited with dividing the city of Rome into parishes (so he must have been the first who came up with the idea of parishes I'm assuming unless it had been done in another city before this). He also wrote in his first epistle that each bishop should be monitored by seven deacons to ensure he was preaching the truth. How wonderful that the Pope was so concerned with truth. Now, the conciliar church has got goons making sure the bishops and priests preach modernism. :facepalm: Finally, he was martyred by decapitation at the same time as St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch!
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Since today is a feria day (at least according to the 1960 calendar) there is the option of using the Votive Mass of St. Joseph (Wednesdays)
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Here are some quotes that I came across from the saints regarding the extraordinary authority and intercessory power of St. Joseph. I never really thought about Jesus and Mary obeying the commands of St. Joseph in heaven, although, of course Joseph's will is perfectly conformed to the will of Jesus as is Mary's. Looks like I have a very influential Confirmation saint!...;
"The Lord wants us to understand that just as he was subject to St. Joseph on earth — for since bearing the title of father, being the Lord’s tutor, Joseph could give the child commands — so in heaven God does whatever he commands." (St. Teresa of Avila)
“It is true that the other saints enjoy great power in heaven, but they ask as servants, and do not command as masters. Saint Joseph, to whose authority Jesus was subject on earth, obtains what he desires from his kingly foster Son in heaven.” (St. Thomas Aquinas)
"Ite ad Joseph. Go to Joseph with extreme confidence, because I do not remember having asked anything from St. Joseph, without having obtained it readily." (St. Padre Pio)
“Jesus and Mary themselves obey and offer their homage to Joseph, for the reverence what the hand of God has established in him, namely, the authority of spouse and the authority of father.” (St. Pope Pius XI)
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October 28: Feast of Saints Simon and Jude (Apostles)
The following is from the Golden Legend;
Simon Cananean and Judas Thaddeus were brethren of James the Less and sons of Mary Cleophas, which was married to Alpheus. And Jude was sent of Thomas to the king Abgarus of Edessa after the ascension of our Lord.
KING ABGARUS WRITES TO JESUS
And it is read in the History Scholastic that the said Abgarus sent an epistle unto our Lord Jesu Christ in this manner:
Abgarus the son of Euchania to Jesus, blessed Saviour, which appeareth in the places of Jerusalem, sendeth salutation. I have heard of thee, and that the healths and recoverings that thou makest and dost, be without medicines and herbs, and that thou makest the blind to see by thine only word, and the lame to go, the mesels to be cured and made whole, and the dead bodies to live again. Which things heard of thee, I ween in my courage that thou art one of two, that is that thou art God that art descended from heaven for to do this, or that thou art the son of God that dost such things. Wherefore I pray thee by writing that thou wilt travail so much as to come to me and heal me of my malady, of which I have long been vexed. And I have heard say that the Jєωs murmur against thee and lie in await against thee. Come therefore to me, for I have a little city, but it is honest, and shall shall well suffice to us both.
Our Lord Jesus answered him by writing in these words:
Blessed art thou that hast believed in me when thou hast not seen me. It is written of me, that they that see me not shall believe in me, and they that see me shall not believe. Of that thou hast written to me that I shall come to thee, me behoveth to [i.e., I must] accomplish that which I am sent for, and after to be received of him from whom I am sent. When I am ascended, I shall send to thee one of my disciples to heal thee and quicken thee.
THE PAINTING OF JESUS' FACE
This is written in Historia Ecclesiastica. And when Abgarus saw that he might not see God presently, after that it is said in an ancient history, as John Damascene witnesseth in his fourth book, he sent a painter unto Jesu Christ for to figure the image of our Lord, to the end that at least that he might see him by his image, whom he might not see in his visage.
And when the painter came, because of the great splendour and light that shone in the visage of our Lord Jesu Christ, he could not behold it, ne could not counterfeit it by no figure. And when our Lord saw this thing he took from the painter a linen cloth and set it upon his visage, and emprinted the very phisiognomy of his visage therein, and sent it unto the king Abgarus which so much desired it.
And in the same history is contained how this image was figured. It was well-eyed, well-browed, a long visage or cheer, and inclined, which is a sign of maturity or ripe sadness.
THE POWER OF JESUS' LETTER TO ABGARUS
That epistle of our Lord Jesu Christ is of such virtue, that in the city of Edessa no heretic ne no paynim may live therein, ne none tyrant may grieve it. For if any people come against that city by force of arms, a child shall stand upon the gate, and shall read that epistle, and that same day either the enemies shall flee and be afraid, or they shall make peace with them of the town. And as is said: This hath been done. But this city hath been sith taken of the Saracens and touched in such wise, that for the multiplying of sins this benefit is lost.
THE MISSION OF ST. JUDE THADDEUS TO KING ABGARUS
Also it is read in the History Ecclesiastic that when our Lord was ascended into heaven, Thomas the apostle sent Thaddeus, that was Jude, unto the king Abgarus according to the promise of our Lord. And when he was come to him, and had told to him that he was messenger of our Lord Jesu Christ, which had promised to send him one, then Abgarus saw in the visage of Thaddeus a marvellous and godly brightness. And when he had seen it he was all abashed and afeared, and worshipped our Lord saying: " Verily, thou art the disciple of Jesu Christ, Son of God, which sent to me word that he would send to me some one of his disciples that should heal me and give to me life."
To whom Thaddeus said: "If thou believest in the Son of God thou shalt have all the desires of thine heart."
And Abgarus said: "I believe on him, verily, and those Jєωs that slew him, I would gladly slay them if it were possible to me, and had power, howbeit that the authority letteth it."
And as it is read in some places and books, that Abgarus was leper, and Thaddeus took the epistle of our Saviour, and rubbed and frotted therewith the visage of Abgarus, and anon he received full health.
SIMON AND JUDE ADVISE DUKE BARDACH IN MESOPOTAMIA
Judas preached first in Mesopotamia and in Pontus, and Simon preached in Egypt, and from thence came they into Persia, and found there two enchanters, Zaroes and Arphaxat, whom S. Matthew had driven out of Ethiopia. And found there also Baradach, a duke of the kings of Babylon, which should go in battle against them of India, and could have none answer of his gods. And then they went to a temple nigh to the city, and there they had answer that because that the apostles that were come they might not answer. Then the duke did enquire for them, and found them, and demanded them wherefore they were come, and what they were.
Which answered: "If thou demand of our lineage, we be Hebrews, and if thou demand of our condition, we be servants of Jesu Christ, and if thou demand wherefore we be come, we be for your health."
To whom the duke answered: "When I shall return joyously from the battle I shall hear you."
To whom the apostles said: "It is more convenable to thee to know him now, by whom thou mayst overcome and appease them that be rebel to thee."
And the duke answered: "I see you more mighty than our gods; I pray you to say to us tofore the end of the battle."
And the apostles said: "Because that thou knowest thy gods to be liars, we command them that they give answer to that [which] thou demandest, because that when they have we shall prove that they have lied."
Then the idols said that the battle should be great, and much people should be overthrown on both sides. And then the apostles began to laugh and the duke said to them: "I am afeard and ye laugh."
And the apostles said: " Doubt ye nothing, for peace shall be made among you, and tomorn at the hour of tierce the messengers of the Medes shall come, and shall submit them to thy puissance with peace."
And then the bishops of the idols made a great laughter, and said to the duke: "These men here would assure thee here, to the end that thou shouldst believe foolishly, and that thou shouldst be betaken of thine adversaries."
And the apostles said: "We say not abide a month, but one day only, and thou shalt be vanquisher all in peace."
Then the duke made to be kept that one and that other, that they that said the truth should be honoured, and the liars punished. Then on the morn, like as the apostles had said, it happed, and then the duke would have burnt the bishops of the idols, but the apostles letted him that he should not slay them, for they were not come for to slay but for to quicken the dead. And then the duke much marvelled that they would not that they should be slain ne receive none of their goods, and brought them to the king and said: "These be gods hid in form of men."
THE ENCHANTERS CONSPIRE AGAINST SAINTS SIMON AND JUDE
And when he had told all to him in the presence of his enchanters, the enchanters, being moved of envy, said that they were malicious and wicked men, and purposed some malice against the realm subtly. Then the duke said to them: "Now if ye dare, assay ye and dispute with them."
And the enchanters said: "If thou wilt, thou shalt see that they shall not now speak. We being present, make men to come hither that be eloquent and can well speak. And if they dare speak tofore us despise ye us, and say we be fools."
And then were brought tofore them many advocates, and anon they were made dumb tofore the enchanters, so that by signs they might not show that they might not speak. Then said the enchanters to the king: "To the end that thou know that we be gods, we shall suffer them to speak, but they shall not mow go, and then we shall give to them their going and shall take away their sight, and yet shall their eyes be open."
And when they had done all these things, the duke brought the advocates all confused unto the apostles, and when the advocates saw the apostles so evil clothed, they had of them great despite in their courage. To whom Simon said: "Ofttimes it happeth that among coffers of gold wrought with precious stones be right evil things enclosed, and within coffers of tree be laid gold rings and precious stones. Promise ye that ye will forsake the idols and will worship one only God invisible, and we shall make the sign of the cross in your foreheads, and ye shall then mow confound these enchanters."
And when these advocates had renounced the idols and were marked in the foreheads with the sign of the cross, they entered again to the king tofore the enchanters. Then might they not be overcome of the enchanters, but confounded them openly before the king and all the people. The enchanters were then angry, and made to come a great multitude of serpents. Then the apostles came anon by the commandment of the king, and filled their mantles with the serpents, and threw them against the enchanters, saying: "Move ye not in the name of our Lord Jesu Christ but be ye to-torn and beaten, so that ye cry and bray in showing what sorrow and pain ye suffer."
And then when the serpents bit and eat the flesh of the enchanters, they cried and howled like wolves, and the king and the others prayed the apostles that they would suffer them to die with the serpents. And the apostles answered that they were sent for to bring men from death to life, and not from life to death. Then made they their prayers and commanded the serpents that they should take from them again the venom that they had shed, and return again to the places that they came from.
And the enchanters felt greater pain when they drew out their venom again, than they did the first time when they bit them. And the apostles said to them: "Ye shall feel this pain three days, and at the third day ye shall be whole, so that ye depart from your malice."
And when they had been tormented three days without meat and drink and without sleep, the apostles came to them and said: "God deigneth not to have service by force, and therefore arise ye all whole and go your way, ye have power to do what ye will.
And they, abiding in their malice, arose up and fled from the apostles and moved almost against them all Babylon.
THE UNWED MOTHER AND THE HOLY DEACON
After, the daughter of a duke conceived a son by fornication, and at her deliverance thereof she defamed an holy deacon, and said that he had defouled her and she had conceived of him. And when the friends of her would have slain the deacon, the apostles came and demanded when the child had been born. And they said: "Yesterday, the first hour of the day."
And the apostles said: "Bring hither the child to us, and also the deacon that ye accuse."
And when that was done, the apostles said to the child: "Say to us in the name of our Lord if this deacon hath done this deed."
And the child answered: "This deacon is chaste and an holy man, ne he never defouled his flesh."
And then the parents and friends required that the apostle should demand who had done that felony. They answered: "It appertaineth to us for to excuse the innocents, and not betray ne hurt them that be culpable."
TWO CRUEL TIGERS
That time it happed that two cruel tigers, which were enclosed in a pit, brake out and devoured all them that they met and encountered, and then the apostles came to them and made them as meek and debonair, in the name of our Lord, as they had been sheep or lambs.
SIMON AND JUDE GAIN CONVERTS IN MESOPOTAMIA AND ARE MARTYRED
And then the apostles would have departed thence, but they were holden by prayers so that they abode there a year and three months, and in that espace of time the king and more than sixty thousand men were baptized, without children.
And the foresaid enchanters went into a city called Suamar, whereas were seventy bishops of idols, whom they moved against the apostles, so that when they came thither, either they should do sacrifice to the idols or they should be slain. And when the apostles had gone round about the province, they came to said city, and anon all the bishops and the people took them and brought them to the temple of the sun. And the devils began to cry in the simulachres: What will these apostles of the living God do to us? Lo! how we be burnt by flames in their entering into this city.
And then the angel of our Lord appeared unto the apostles, and said to them: "Choose ye of two things that one, that is, either that this people be suddenly dead or slain, or that ye be martyred."
To whom they said: "We will that thou convert them here, and lead us to the pain of martyrdom."
And they then commanded silence, and the apostles said: "Because that ye shall know that these idols be full of devils, we command them for to come out, and that each of them break and destroy his false image." And anon two Ethiopians, black and naked, issued out of the idols, all the people seeing which were abashed, and all tobrake their idols, and went their way, crying cruelly.
And when the bishops saw this, they ran upon the apostles and hewed them to death anon. And that same hour, which was right fair weather, came so great thunder and lightning that the temple was smitten in three, and the two enchanters were turned into coals by the stroke of thunder.
And the king bare the bodies of the apostles into his city, and did do make a church of marvellous greatness in the honour of them.
OTHER ACCOUNTS OF SIMON'S ACTS AND DEATH
And it is founden in divers places, of S. Simon, that he was nailed to the cross, which thing Isidore saith in the Book of the Death of the Apostles, and Eusebius in the History Ecclesiastic, and Bede upon the Acts of the Apostles, and Master John Beleth in his Summa witnesseth the same. And as they say, when he had preached in Egypt, he came again and was made bishop in Jerusalem after the death of James the Less, and was chosen of the court of the apostles, and it is said that he raised thirty dead men to life. When he had governed the church of Jerusalem many years, unto the time of Trajan the emperor, in the time that Atticus was consul in Jerusalem, of whom he was taken and tormented and done to much wrong. And at the last he was tormented and fixed to the cross, and the judge and all they that were there marvelled that the man which was six score years old might suffer the torment of the cross. And some say verily that it was not this Simon that suffered the martyrdom of the cross, but it was another, the son of Cleophas, brother of Joseph, and Eusebius, bishop of Cæsarea, witnesseth it in his chronicle. For Isidore and Eusebius corrected their chronicles of that they said tofore, which appeareth by Bede, that when he felt this he revoked it in his retractions. And the same witnesseth Usuard in his Martyrology.
Then let us devoutly pray these apostles to be our special advocates unto our blessed Lord Jesu Christ their master, to have pity and mercy on us. Amen.
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Collect:
O God, Thy blessed apostles Simon and Jude brought us the knowledge of Thy Holy Name. May our progress in virtue add honor to their eternal glory, and may the honor we pay them make us even more holy. Through Christ Our Lord . . .
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Today is a feria day according to the 1960 calendar. I figured we could post about/discuss the feast of Christ the King from now through Sunday...
QUAS PRIMAS
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XI
ON THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING
TO OUR VENERABLE BRETHREN THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES,
ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, AND OTHER ORDINARIES
IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE.
Venerable Brethren, Greeting and the Apostolic Benediction.
In the first Encyclical Letter which We addressed at the beginning of Our Pontificate to the Bishops of the universal Church, We referred to the chief causes of the difficulties under which mankind was laboring. And We remember saying that these manifold evils in the world were due to the fact that the majority of men had thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives; that these had no place either in private affairs or in politics: and we said further, that as long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of our Savior, there would be no really hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations. Men must look for the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ; and that We promised to do as far as lay in Our power. In the Kingdom of Christ, that is, it seemed to Us that peace could not be more effectually restored nor fixed upon a firmer basis than through the restoration of the Empire of Our Lord. We were led in the meantime to indulge the hope of a brighter future at the sight of a more widespread and keener interest evinced in Christ and his Church, the one Source of Salvation, a sign that men who had formerly spurned the rule of our Redeemer and had exiled themselves from his kingdom were preparing, and even hastening, to return to the duty of obedience.
2. The many notable and memorable events which have occurred during this Holy Year have given great honor and glory to Our Lord and King, the Founder of the Church.
3. At the Missionary Exhibition men have been deeply impressed in seeing the increasing zeal of the Church for the spread of the kingdom of her Spouse to the most far distant regions of the earth. They have seen how many countries have been won to the Catholic name through the unremitting labor and self-sacrifice of missionaries, and the vastness of the regions which have yet to be subjected to the sweet and saving yoke of our King. All those who in the course of the Holy Year have thronged to this city under the leadership of their Bishops or priests had but one aim - namely, to expiate their sins - and at the tombs of the Apostles and in Our Presence to promise loyalty to the rule of Christ.
4. A still further light of glory was shed upon his kingdom, when after due proof of their heroic virtue, We raised to the honors of the altar six confessors and virgins. It was a great joy, a great consolation, that filled Our heart when in the majestic basilica of St. Peter Our decree was acclaimed by an immense multitude with the hymn of thanksgiving, Tu Rex gloriae Christe. We saw men and nations cut off from God, stirring up strife and discord and hurrying along the road to ruin and death, while the Church of God carries on her work of providing food for the spiritual life of men, nurturing and fostering generation after generation of men and women dedicated to Christ, faithful and subject to him in his earthly kingdom, called by him to eternal bliss in the kingdom of heaven.
5. Moreover, since this jubilee Year marks the sixteenth centenary of the Council of Nicaea, We commanded that event to be celebrated, and We have done so in the Vatican basilica. There is a special reason for this in that the Nicene Synod defined and proposed for Catholic belief the dogma of the Consubstantiality of the Only begotten with the Father, and added to the Creed the words "of whose kingdom there shall be no end," thereby affirming the kingly dignity of Christ.
6. Since this Holy Year therefore has provided more than one opportunity to enhance the glory of the kingdom of Christ, we deem it in keeping with our Apostolic office to accede to the desire of many of the Cardinals, Bishops, and faithful, made known to Us both individually and collectively, by closing this Holy Year with the insertion into the Sacred Liturgy of a special feast of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This matter is so dear to Our heart, Venerable Brethren, that I would wish to address to you a few words concerning it. It will be for you later to explain in a manner suited to the understanding of the faithful what We are about to say concerning the Kingship of Christ, so that the annual feast which We shall decree may be attended with much fruit and produce beneficial results in the future.
7. It has long been a common custom to give to Christ the metaphorical title of "King," because of the high degree of perfection whereby he excels all creatures. So he is said to reign "in the hearts of men," both by reason of the keenness of his intellect and the extent of his knowledge, and also because he is very truth, and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all mankind. He reigns, too, in the wills of men, for in him the human will was perfectly and entirely obedient to the Holy Will of God, and further by his grace and inspiration he so subjects our free-will as to incite us to the most noble endeavors. He is King of hearts, too, by reason of his "charity which exceedeth all knowledge." And his mercy and kindness[1] which draw all men to him, for never has it been known, nor will it ever be, that man be loved so much and so universally as Jesus Christ. But if we ponder this matter more deeply, we cannot but see that the title and the power of King belongs to Christ as man in the strict and proper sense too. For it is only as man that he may be said to have received from the Father "power and glory and a kingdom,"[2] since the Word of God, as consubstantial with the Father, has all things in common with him, and therefore has necessarily supreme and absolute dominion over all things created.
8. Do we not read throughout the Scriptures that Christ is the King? He it is that shall come out of Jacob to rule,[3] who has been set by the Father as king over Sion, his holy mount, and shall have the Gentiles for his inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for his possession.[4] In the nuptial hymn, where the future King of Israel is hailed as a most rich and powerful monarch, we read: "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the scepter of thy kingdom is a scepter of righteousness."[5] There are many similar passages, but there is one in which Christ is even more clearly indicated. Here it is foretold that his kingdom will have no limits, and will be enriched with justice and peace: "in his days shall justice spring up, and abundance of peace...And he shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth."[6]
9. The testimony of the Prophets is even more abundant. That of Isaias is well known: "For a child is born to us and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God the mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace. He shall sit upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom; to establish it and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth and for ever."[7] With Isaias the other Prophets are in agreement. So Jeremias foretells the "just seed" that shall rest from the house of David - the Son of David that shall reign as king, "and shall be wise, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth."[8] So, too, Daniel, who announces the kingdom that the God of heaven shall found, "that shall never be destroyed, and shall stand for ever."[9] And again he says: "I beheld, therefore, in the vision of the night, and, lo! one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven. And he came even to the Ancient of days: and they presented him before him. And he gave him power and glory and a kingdom: and all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve him. His power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed."[10] The prophecy of Zachary concerning the merciful King "riding upon an ass and upon a colt the foal of an ass" entering Jerusalem as "the just and savior," amid the acclamations of the multitude,[11] was recognized as fulfilled by the holy evangelists themselves.
10. This same doctrine of the Kingship of Christ which we have found in the Old Testament is even more clearly taught and confirmed in the New. The Archangel, announcing to the Virgin that she should bear a Son, says that "the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."[12]
11. Moreover, Christ himself speaks of his own kingly authority: in his last discourse, speaking of the rewards and punishments that will be the eternal lot of the just and the damned; in his reply to the Roman magistrate, who asked him publicly whether he were a king or not; after his resurrection, when giving to his Apostles the mission of teaching and baptizing all nations, he took the opportunity to call himself king,[13] confirming the title publicly,[14] and solemnly proclaimed that all power was given him in heaven and on earth.[15] These words can only be taken to indicate the greatness of his power, the infinite extent of his kingdom. What wonder, then, that he whom St. John calls the "prince of the kings of the earth"[16] appears in the Apostle's vision of the future as he who "hath on his garment and on his thigh written 'King of kings and Lord of lords!'."[17] It is Christ whom the Father "hath appointed heir of all things";[18] "for he must reign until at the end of the world he hath put all his enemies under the feet of God and the Father."[19]
12. It was surely right, then, in view of the common teaching of the sacred books, that the Catholic Church, which is the kingdom of Christ on earth, destined to be spread among all men and all nations, should with every token of veneration salute her Author and Founder in her annual liturgy as King and Lord, and as King of Kings. And, in fact, she used these titles, giving expression with wonderful variety of language to one and the same concept, both in ancient psalmody and in the Sacramentaries. She uses them daily now in the prayers publicly offered to God, and in offering the Immaculate Victim. The perfect harmony of the Eastern liturgies with our own in this continual praise of Christ the King shows once more the truth of the axiom: Legem credendi lex statuit supplicandi. The rule of faith is indicated by the law of our worship.
13. The foundation of this power and dignity of Our Lord is rightly indicated by Cyril of Alexandria. "Christ," he says, "has dominion over all creatures, a dominion not seized by violence nor usurped, but his by essence and by nature."[20] His kingship is founded upon the ineffable hypostatic union. From this it follows not only that Christ is to be adored by angels and men, but that to him as man angels and men are subject, and must recognize his empire; by reason of the hypostatic union Christ has power over all creatures. But a thought that must give us even greater joy and consolation is this that Christ is our King by acquired, as well as by natural right, for he is our Redeemer. Would that they who forget what they have cost their Savior might recall the words: "You were not redeemed with corruptible things, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled."[21] We are no longer our own property, for Christ has purchased us "with a great price";[22] our very bodies are the "members of Christ."[23]
14. Let Us explain briefly the nature and meaning of this lordship of Christ. It consists, We need scarcely say, in a threefold power which is essential to lordship. This is sufficiently clear from the scriptural testimony already adduced concerning the universal dominion of our Redeemer, and moreover it is a dogma of faith that Jesus Christ was given to man, not only as our Redeemer, but also as a law-giver, to whom obedience is due.[24] Not only do the gospels tell us that he made laws, but they present him to us in the act of making them. Those who keep them show their love for their Divine Master, and he promises that they shall remain in his love.[25] He claimed judicial power as received from his Father, when the Jєωs accused him of breaking the Sabbath by the miraculous cure of a sick man. "For neither doth the Father judge any man; but hath given all judgment to the Son."[26] In this power is included the right of rewarding and punishing all men living, for this right is inseparable from that of judging. Executive power, too, belongs to Christ, for all must obey his commands; none may escape them, nor the sanctions he has imposed.
15. This kingdom is spiritual and is concerned with spiritual things. That this is so the above quotations from Scripture amply prove, and Christ by his own action confirms it. On many occasions, when the Jєωs and even the Apostles wrongly supposed that the Messiah would restore the liberties and the kingdom of Israel, he repelled and denied such a suggestion. When the populace thronged around him in admiration and would have acclaimed him King, he shrank from the honor and sought safety in flight. Before the Roman magistrate he declared that his kingdom was not of this world. The gospels present this kingdom as one which men prepare to enter by penance, and cannot actually enter except by faith and by baptism, which, though an external rite, signifies and produces an interior regeneration. This kingdom is opposed to none other than to that of Satan and to the power of darkness. It demands of its subjects a spirit of detachment from riches and earthly things, and a spirit of gentleness. They must hunger and thirst after justice, and more than this, they must deny themselves and carry the cross.
16. Christ as our Redeemer purchased the Church at the price of his own blood; as priest he offered himself, and continues to offer himself as a victim for our sins. Is it not evident, then, that his kingly dignity partakes in a manner of both these offices?
17. It would be a grave error, on the other hand, to say that Christ has no authority whatever in civil affairs, since, by virtue of the absolute empire over all creatures committed to him by the Father, all things are in his power. Nevertheless, during his life on earth he refrained from the exercise of such authority, and although he himself disdained to possess or to care for earthly goods, he did not, nor does he today, interfere with those who possess them. Non eripit mortalia qui regna dat caelestia.[27]
18. Thus the empire of our Redeemer embraces all men. To use the words of Our immortal predecessor, Pope Leo XIII: "His empire includes not only Catholic nations, not only baptized persons who, though of right belonging to the Church, have been led astray by error, or have been cut off from her by schism, but also all those who are outside the Christian faith; so that truly the whole of mankind is subject to the power of Jesus Christ."[28] Nor is there any difference in this matter between the individual and the family or the State; for all men, whether collectively or individually, are under the dominion of Christ. In him is the salvation of the individual, in him is the salvation of society. "Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby we must be saved."[29] He is the author of happiness and true prosperity for every man and for every nation. "For a nation is happy when its citizens are happy. What else is a nation but a number of men living in concord?"[30] If, therefore, the rulers of nations wish to preserve their authority, to promote and increase the prosperity of their countries, they will not neglect the public duty of reverence and obedience to the rule of Christ. What We said at the beginning of Our Pontificate concerning the decline of public authority, and the lack of respect for the same, is equally true at the present day. "With God and Jesus Christ," we said, "excluded from political life, with authority derived not from God but from man, the very basis of that authority has been taken away, because the chief reason of the distinction between ruler and subject has been eliminated. The result is that human society is tottering to its fall, because it has no longer a secure and solid foundation."[31]
19. When once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony. Our Lord's regal office invests the human authority of princes and rulers with a religious significance; it ennobles the citizen's duty of obedience. It is for this reason that St. Paul, while bidding wives revere Christ in their husbands, and slaves respect Christ in their masters, warns them to give obedience to them not as men, but as the vicegerents of Christ; for it is not meet that men redeemed by Christ should serve their fellow-men. "You are bought with a price; be not made the bond-slaves of men."[32] If princes and magistrates duly elected are filled with the persuasion that they rule, not by their own right, but by the mandate and in the place of the Divine King, they will exercise their authority piously and wisely, and they will make laws and administer them, having in view the common good and also the human dignity of their subjects. The result will be a stable peace and tranquility, for there will be no longer any cause of discontent. Men will see in their king or in their rulers men like themselves, perhaps unworthy or open to criticism, but they will not on that account refuse obedience if they see reflected in them the authority of Christ God and Man. Peace and harmony, too, will result; for with the spread and the universal extent of the kingdom of Christ men will become more and more conscious of the link that binds them together, and thus many conflicts will be either prevented entirely or at least their bitterness will be diminished.
20. If the kingdom of Christ, then, receives, as it should, all nations under its way, there seems no reason why we should despair of seeing that peace which the King of Peace came to bring on earth - he who came to reconcile all things, who came not to be ministered unto but to minister, who, though Lord of all, gave himself to us as a model of humility, and with his principal law united the precept of charity; who said also: "My yoke is sweet and my burden light." Oh, what happiness would be Ours if all men, individuals, families, and nations, would but let themselves be governed by Christ! "Then at length," to use the words addressed by our predecessor, Pope Leo XIII, twenty-five years ago to the bishops of the Universal Church, "then at length will many evils be cured; then will the law regain its former authority; peace with all its blessings be restored. Men will sheathe their swords and lay down their arms when all freely acknowledge and obey the authority of Christ, and every tongue confesses that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father."[33]
21. That these blessings may be abundant and lasting in Christian society, it is necessary that the kingship of our Savior should be as widely as possible recognized and understood, and to the end nothing would serve better than the institution of a special feast in honor of the Kingship of Christ. For people are instructed in the truths of faith, and brought to appreciate the inner joys of religion far more effectually by the annual celebration of our sacred mysteries than by any official pronouncement of the teaching of the Church. Such pronouncements usually reach only a few and the more learned among the faithful; feasts reach them all; the former speak but once, the latter speak every year - in fact, forever. The church's teaching affects the mind primarily; her feasts affect both mind and heart, and have a salutary effect upon the whole of man's nature. Man is composed of body and soul, and he needs these external festivities so that the sacred rites, in all their beauty and variety, may stimulate him to drink more deeply of the fountain of God's teaching, that he may make it a part of himself, and use it with profit for his spiritual life.
22. History, in fact, tells us that in the course of ages these festivals have been instituted one after another according as the needs or the advantage of the people of Christ seemed to demand: as when they needed strength to face a common danger, when they were attacked by insidious heresies, when they needed to be urged to the pious consideration of some mystery of faith or of some divine blessing. Thus in the earliest days of the Christian era, when the people of Christ were suffering cruel persecution, the cult of the martyrs was begun in order, says St. Augustine, "that the feasts of the martyrs might incite men to martyrdom."[34] The liturgical honors paid to confessors, virgins and widows produced wonderful results in an increased zest for virtue, necessary even in times of peace. But more fruitful still were the feasts instituted in honor of the Blessed Virgin. As a result of these men grew not only in their devotion to the Mother of God as an ever-present advocate, but also in their love of her as a mother bequeathed to them by their Redeemer. Not least among the blessings which have resulted from the public and legitimate honor paid to the Blessed Virgin and the saints is the perfect and perpetual immunity of the Church from error and heresy. We may well admire in this the admirable wisdom of the Providence of God, who, ever bringing good out of evil, has from time to time suffered the faith and piety of men to grow weak, and allowed Catholic truth to be attacked by false doctrines, but always with the result that truth has afterwards shone out with greater splendor, and that men's faith, aroused from its lethargy, has shown itself more vigorous than before.
23. The festivals that have been introduced into the liturgy in more recent years have had a similar origin, and have been attended with similar results. When reverence and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament had grown cold, the feast of Corpus Christi was instituted, so that by means of solemn processions and prayer of eight days' duration, men might be brought once more to render public homage to Christ. So, too, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was instituted at a time when men were oppressed by the sad and gloomy severity of Jansenism, which had made their hearts grow cold, and shut them out from the love of God and the hope of salvation.
24. If We ordain that the whole Catholic world shall revere Christ as King, We shall minister to the need of the present day, and at the same time provide an excellent remedy for the plague which now infects society. We refer to the plague of anti-clericalism, its errors and impious activities. This evil spirit, as you are well aware, Venerable Brethren, has not come into being in one day; it has long lurked beneath the surface. The empire of Christ over all nations was rejected. The right which the Church has from Christ himself, to teach mankind, to make laws, to govern peoples in all that pertains to their eternal salvation, that right was denied. Then gradually the religion of Christ came to be likened to false religions and to be placed ignominiously on the same level with them. It was then put under the power of the state and tolerated more or less at the whim of princes and rulers. Some men went even further, and wished to set up in the place of God's religion a natural religion consisting in some instinctive affection of the heart. There were even some nations who thought they could dispense with God, and that their religion should consist in impiety and the neglect of God. The rebellion of individuals and states against the authority of Christ has produced deplorable consequences. We lamented these in the Encyclical Ubi arcano; we lament them today: the seeds of discord sown far and wide; those bitter enmities and rivalries between nations, which still hinder so much the cause of peace; that insatiable greed which is so often hidden under a pretense of public spirit and patriotism, and gives rise to so many private quarrels; a blind and immoderate selfishness, making men seek nothing but their own comfort and advantage, and measure everything by these; no peace in the home, because men have forgotten or neglect their duty; the unity and stability of the family undermined; society in a word, shaken to its foundations and on the way to ruin. We firmly hope, however, that the feast of the Kingship of Christ, which in future will be yearly observed, may hasten the return of society to our loving Savior. It would be the duty of Catholics to do all they can to bring about this happy result. Many of these, however, have neither the station in society nor the authority which should belong to those who bear the torch of truth. This state of things may perhaps be attributed to a certain slowness and timidity in good people, who are reluctant to engage in conflict or oppose but a weak resistance; thus the enemies of the Church become bolder in their attacks. But if the faithful were generally to understand that it behooves them ever to fight courageously under the banner of Christ their King, then, fired with apostolic zeal, they would strive to win over to their Lord those hearts that are bitter and estranged from him, and would valiantly defend his rights.
25. Moreover, the annual and universal celebration of the feast of the Kingship of Christ will draw attention to the evils which anticlericalism has brought upon society in drawing men away from Christ, and will also do much to remedy them. While nations insult the beloved name of our Redeemer by suppressing all mention of it in their conferences and parliaments, we must all the more loudly proclaim his kingly dignity and power, all the more universally affirm his rights.
26. The way has been happily and providentially prepared for the celebration of this feast ever since the end of the last century. It is well known that this cult has been the subject of learned disquisitions in many books published in every part of the world, written in many different languages. The kingship and empire of Christ have been recognized in the pious custom, practiced by many families, of dedicating themselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus; not only families have performed this act of dedication, but nations, too, and kingdoms. In fact, the whole of the human race was at the instance of Pope Leo XIII, in the Holy Year 1900, consecrated to the Divine Heart. It should be remarked also that much has been done for the recognition of Christ's authority over society by the frequent Eucharistic Congresses which are held in our age. These give an opportunity to the people of each diocese, district or nation, and to the whole world of coming together to venerate and adore Christ the King hidden under the Sacramental species. Thus by sermons preached at meetings and in churches, by public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament exposed and by solemn processions, men unite in paying homage to Christ, whom God has given them for their King. It is by a divine inspiration that the people of Christ bring forth Jesus from his silent hiding-place in the church, and carry him in triumph through the streets of the city, so that he whom men refused to receive when he came unto his own, may now receive in full his kingly rights.
27. For the fulfillment of the plan of which We have spoken, the Holy Year, which is now speeding to its close, offers the best possible opportunity. For during this year the God of mercy has raised the minds and hearts of the faithful to the consideration of heavenly blessings which are above all understanding, has either restored them once more to his grace, or inciting them anew to strive for higher gifts, has set their feet more firmly in the path of righteousness. Whether, therefore, We consider the many prayers that have been addressed to Us, or look to the events of the Jubilee Year, just past, We have every reason to think that the desired moment has at length arrived for enjoining that Christ be venerated by a special feast as King of all mankind. In this year, as We said at the beginning of this Letter, the Divine King, truly wonderful in all his works, has been gloriously magnified, for another company of his soldiers has been added to the list of saints. In this year men have looked upon strange things and strange labors, from which they have understood and admired the victories won by missionaries in the work of spreading his kingdom. In this year, by solemnly celebrating the centenary of the Council of Nicaea. We have commemorated the definition of the divinity of the word Incarnate, the foundation of Christ's empire over all men.
28. Therefore by Our Apostolic Authority We institute the Feast of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ to be observed yearly throughout the whole world on the last Sunday of the month of October - the Sunday, that is, which immediately precedes the Feast of All Saints. We further ordain that the dedication of mankind to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which Our predecessor of saintly memory, Pope Pius X, commanded to be renewed yearly, be made annually on that day. This year, however, We desire that it be observed on the thirty-first day of the month on which day We Ourselves shall celebrate pontifically in honor of the kingship of Christ, and shall command that the same dedication be performed in Our presence. It seems to Us that We cannot in a more fitting manner close this Holy Year, nor better signify Our gratitude and that of the whole of the Catholic world to Christ the immortal King of ages, for the blessings showered upon Us, upon the Church, and upon the Catholic world during this holy period.
29. It is not necessary, Venerable Brethren, that We should explain to you at any length why We have decreed that this feast of the Kingship of Christ should be observed in addition to those other feasts in which his kingly dignity is already signified and celebrated. It will suffice to remark that although in all the feasts of our Lord the material object of worship is Christ, nevertheless their formal object is something quite distinct from his royal title and dignity. We have commanded its observance on a Sunday in order that not only the clergy may perform their duty by saying Mass and reciting the Office, but that the laity too, free from their daily tasks, may in a spirit of holy joy give ample testimony of their obedience and subjection to Christ. The last Sunday of October seemed the most convenient of all for this purpose, because it is at the end of the liturgical year, and thus the feast of the Kingship of Christ sets the crowning glory upon the mysteries of the life of Christ already commemorated during the year, and, before celebrating the triumph of all the Saints, we proclaim and extol the glory of him who triumphs in all the Saints and in all the Elect. Make it your duty and your task, Venerable Brethren, to see that sermons are preached to the people in every parish to teach them the meaning and the importance of this feast, that they may so order their lives as to be worthy of faithful and obedient subjects of the Divine King.
30. We would now, Venerable Brethren, in closing this letter, briefly enumerate the blessings which We hope and pray may accrue to the Church, to society, and to each one of the faithful, as a result of the public veneration of the Kingship of Christ.
31. When we pay honor to the princely dignity of Christ, men will doubtless be reminded that the Church, founded by Christ as a perfect society, has a natural and inalienable right to perfect freedom and immunity from the power of the state; and that in fulfilling the task committed to her by God of teaching, ruling, and guiding to eternal bliss those who belong to the kingdom of Christ, she cannot be subject to any external power. The State is bound to extend similar freedom to the orders and communities of religious of either sex, who give most valuable help to the Bishops of the Church by laboring for the extension and the establishment of the kingdom of Christ. By their sacred vows they fight against the threefold concupiscence of the world; by making profession of a more perfect life they render the holiness which her divine Founder willed should be a mark and characteristic of his Church more striking and more conspicuous in the eyes of all.
32. Nations will be reminded by the annual celebration of this feast that not only private individuals but also rulers and princes are bound to give public honor and obedience to Christ. It will call to their minds the thought of the last judgment, wherein Christ, who has been cast out of public life, despised, neglected and ignored, will most severely avenge these insults; for his kingly dignity demands that the State should take account of the commandments of God and of Christian principles, both in making laws and in administering justice, and also in providing for the young a sound moral education.
33. The faithful, moreover, by meditating upon these truths, will gain much strength and courage, enabling them to form their lives after the true Christian ideal. If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; if all men, purchased by his precious blood, are by a new right subjected to his dominion; if this power embraces all men, it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire. He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God.[35] If all these truths are presented to the faithful for their consideration, they will prove a powerful incentive to perfection. It is Our fervent desire, Venerable Brethren, that those who are without the fold may seek after and accept the sweet yoke of Christ, and that we, who by the mercy of God are of the household of the faith, may bear that yoke, not as a burden but with joy, with love, with devotion; that having lived our lives in accordance with the laws of God's kingdom, we may receive full measure of good fruit, and counted by Christ good and faithful servants, we may be rendered partakers of eternal bliss and glory with him in his heavenly kingdom.
34. Let this letter, Venerable Brethren, be a token to you of Our fatherly love as the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ draws near; and receive the Apostolic Benediction as a pledge of divine blessings, which with loving heart, We impart to you, Venerable Brethren, to your clergy, and to your people.
Given at St. Peter's Rome, on the eleventh day of the month of December, in the Holy Year 1925, the fourth of Our Pontificate.
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Christ The King Sermon AD2010 2min excerpt - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRD408c5ZBA)
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HAPPY FEAST DAY LORD!!!
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For those of you who haven't had a chance to read "Quas Primas (Encyclical of Pope Pius XI on the feast of Christ the King) I thought I'd share this interesting quote which may be of some consolation for those discouraged by what's going on in the Church and in the world today...
"We may well admire in this the admirable wisdom of the Providence of God, who, ever bringing good out of evil, has from time to time suffered the faith and piety of men to grow weak, and allowed Catholic truth to be attacked by false doctrines, but always with the result that truth has afterwards shone out with greater splendor, and that men's faith, aroused from its lethargy, has shown itself more vigorous than before."
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Act of Consecration of the Human Race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Most Sweet Jesus, Redeemer of the human race, look down upon us humbly prostrate before Thine altar. We are Thine, and Thine we wish to be; but to be more surely united to Thee, behold each one of us freely consecrates ourselves today to Thy Most Sacred Heart.
Many indeed have never known Thee; Many too, despising Thy precepts, have rejected Thee. Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them to Thy Sacred Heart. Be Thou King, O Lord, not only of the faithful children, who have never forsaken Thee, but also of the prodigal children, who have abandoned Thee; Grant that they may quickly return to their Father’s house lest they die of wretchedness and hunger.
Be Thou King of those who are deceived by erroneous opinions, or whom discord keeps aloof, and call them back to the harbor of truth and unity of faith, so that there may be but one flock and one Shepherd.
Be Thou King of all those who are still involved in the darkness of idolatry or of Islamism, and refuse not to draw them into the light and kingdom of God. Turn Thine eyes of mercy towards the children of the race, once Thy chosen people: of old they called down upon themselves the Blood of the Savior; may it now descend upon them a laver of redemption and of life.
Grant, O Lord, to Thy Church assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give peace and order to all nations, and make the earth resound from pole to pole with one cry; praise to the Divine Heart that wrought our salvation; To it be glory and honor forever. R. Amen.
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Recently rediscovering these famous words of Virgil was a fascinating thing for me, and I wish to share them with you all in these last moments of this holy feast. Yes, Virgil was a pagan, but I find this passage quite fitting to honor Our Lord on this day. Added here is some commentary from Fr. Hettinger’s analysis on Dante’s Divine Comedy as he introduces this excerpt.
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From Hettinger, Dante’s Divina Commedia: Its Scope and Value, pgs. 80-81:
Virgil was chosen [by Dante for his Commedia] as the type of reason leading to faith, for all Christian antiquity saw in him a prophet of Christ. In his fourth Eclogue, the yearnings of his age for a Redeemer are expressed in almost scriptural terms:
The last great age, foretold by sacred rhymes,
Renews its finished course: Saturnian times
Roll round again, and mighty years, begun
From their first orb, in radiant circles run;
The base degenerate iron offspring ends,
A golden progeny from Heaven descends.
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The father banished virtue shall restore,
And crimes shall threat the guilty world no more.
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The goats with strutting dugs shall homeward speed,
And lowering herds secure from lions feed;
His cradle shall with rising flowers be crowned,
The serpent’s brood shall die; the sacred ground
Shall weeds and poisonous plants refuse to bear
Each common bush shall Syrian roses wear.
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The Fates, when they this happy web have spun,
Shall bless the sacred clue and bid it smoothly run,
Mature in years, to ready honours move.
O of celestial seed! O foster son of Jove! See labouring Nature calls thee to sustain
The nodding frame of heaven, and earth, and main;
See to their base restored, earth, seas, and air,
And joyful ages, from behind, in crowding ranks appear.
- Eclog. iv. 5-63.
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Happy feast day to all the Saints, especially my patron Saint, St. Joseph. If you guys want I'd love to know who your patron Saint(s) are and maybe why. I chose St. Joseph because he is the foster father of Jesus and my vocation is fatherhood. Happy All Saints Day to you all!
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I was just reading the Golden Legend and learned about the origin of All Saints Day. The story goes that in times after Christ, but when Rome was still pagan, there was a large temple built with all kinds of idols in it. Later, about the year 605, when Rome was Christianized, Pope Boniface IV had the idols removed from the temple. The temple became a Catholic Church dedicated to Mary and all of the Martyrs. On the day of the Consecration of the Church, May 12, 609, so many people came that the food quickly ran out. This feast was celebrated ever year. Sometime later, a future Pope Gregory moved the May feast to the first day of November where the supplies would be plentiful because of harvest time. He decreed that this feast should be celebrated all over the world every year to honor all of the Saints.
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Sermon about purgatory by St. John Vianney;
I come on behalf of God. Why am I up in the pulpit today, my dear brethren? What am I going to say to you? Ah! I come on behalf of God Himself. I come on behalf of your poor parents, to awaken in you that love and gratitude which you owe them. I come to bring before your minds again all those kindnesses and all the love which they gave you while they were on earth. I come to tell you that they suffer in Purgatory, that they weep, and that they demand with urgent cries the help of your prayers and your good works. I seem to hear them crying from the depths of those fires which devour them: "Tell our loved ones, tell our children, tell all our relatives how great the evils are which they are making us suffer. We throw ourselves at their feet to implore the help of their prayers. Ah! Tell them that since we have been separated from them, we have been here burning in the flames!
Oh! Who would be so indifferent to such sufferings as we are enduring?" Do you see, my dear brethren, do you hear that tender mother, that devoted father, and all those relatives who helped and tended you? "My friends," they cry, "free us from these pains; you can do it." Consider then, my dear brethren: (a) the magnitude of these sufferings which the souls in Purgatory endure; and (b) the means which we have of mitigating them: our prayers, our good works, and, above all, the holy sacrifice of the Mass. I do not wish to stop at this stage to prove to you the existence of Purgatory. That would be a waste of time. No one among you has the slightest doubt on that score. The Church, to which Jesus Christ promised the guidance of the Holy Ghost and which, consequently, can neither be mistaken herself nor mislead us, teaches us about Purgatory in a very clear and positive manner. It is certain, very certain, that there is a place where the souls of the just complete the expiation of their sins before being admitted to the glory of Paradise, which is assured them. Yes, my dear brethren, and it is an article of faith: if we have not done penance proportionate to the greatness and enormity of our sins, even though forgiven in the holy tribunal of Penance, we shall be compelled to expiate them.... In Holy Scripture there are many texts which show clearly that although our sins may be forgiven, God still imposes on us the obligation to suffer in this world by temporal hardships or in the next by the flames of Purgatory. Look at what happened to Adam. Because he was repentant after committing his sin, God assured him that He had pardoned him, and yet He condemned him to do penance for nine hundred years, penance which surpasses anything that we can imagine. See again: David ordered, contrary to the wish of God, the census of his subjects, but, stricken with remorse of conscience, he saw his sin and, throwing himself upon the ground, begged the Lord to pardon him. God, touched by his repentance, forgave him indeed. But despite that, He sent Gad to tell David that he would have to choose between three scourges which He had prepared for him as punishment for his iniquity: the plague, war, or famine. David said: "It is better that I should fall into the hands of the Lord (for his mercies are many) than into the hands of men." He chose the pestilence, which lasted three days and killed seventy thousand of his subjects. If the Lord had not stayed the hand of the Angel, which was stretched out over the city, all Jerusalem would have been depopulated! David, seeing so many evils caused by his sin, begged the grace of God to punish him alone and to spare his people, who were innocent. See, too, the penance of Saint Mary Magdalen; perhaps that will soften your hearts a little. Alas, my dear brethren, what, then, will be the number of years which we shall have to suffer in Purgatory, we who have so many sins, we who, under the pretext that we have confessed them, do no penance and shed no tears?
How many years of suffering shall we have to expect in the next life? But how, when the holy Fathers tell us that the torments they suffer in this place seem to equal the sufferings which our Lord Jesus Christ endured during His sorrowful Passion, shall I paint for you a heart-rending picture of the sufferings which these poor souls endure? However, it is certain that if the slightest torment that our Lord suffered had been shared by all mankind, they would all be dead through the violence of such suffering. The fire of Purgatory is the same as the fire of Hell; the difference between them is that the fire of Purgatory is not everlasting. Oh! Should God in His great mercy permit one of these poor souls, who bum in these flames, to appear here in my place, all surrounded by the fires which consume him, and should he give you himself a recital of the sufferings he is enduring, this church, my dear brethren, would reverberate with his cries and his sobs, and perhaps that might finally soften your hearts. Oh! How we suffer! they cry to us.
Oh! You, our brethren, deliver us from these torments! You can do it! Ah, if you only experienced the sorrow of being separated from God! ... Cruel separation! To burn in the fire kindled by the justice of God! ... To suffer sorrows incomprehensible to mortal man! . . . To be devoured by regret, knowing that we could so easily have avoided such sorrows! ... Oh! My children, cry the fathers and the mothers, can you thus so readily abandon us, we who loved you so much? Can you then sleep in comfort and leave us stretched upon a bed of fire. Will you have the courage to give yourselves up to pleasure and joy while we are here suffering and weeping night and day? You have our wealth, our homes, you are enjoying the fruit of our labors, and you abandon us here in this place of torments, where we are suffering such frightful evils for so many years! ... And not a single almsgiving, not a single Mass which would help to deliver us! ... You can relieve our sufferings, you can open our prison, and you abandon us. Oh! How cruel these sufferings are! ... Yes, my dear brethren, people judge very differently, when in the flames of Purgatory, of all those light faults, if indeed it is possible to call anything light which makes us endure such rigorous sorrows. What woe would there be to man, the Royal Prophet cries, even the most just of men, if God were to judge him without mercy. If God has found spots in the sun and malice in the angels, what, then, is this sinful man? And for us, who have committed so many mortal sins and who have done practically nothing to satisfy the justice of God, how many years of Purgatory! "My God," said Saint Teresa, "what soul will be pure enough to enter into heaven without passing through the vengeful flames?" In her last illness, she cried suddenly: "O justice and power of my God, how terrible you are!" During her agony, God allowed her to see His holiness as the angels and the saints see Him in heaven, which caused her so much dread that her sisters, seeing her trembling and extraordinarily agitated, spoke to her, weeping: "Ah! Mother, what has happened to you; surely you do not fear death after so many penances and such abundant and bitter tears?" "No, my children," Saint Teresa replied, "I do not fear death; on the contrary, I desire it so that I may be united forever with my God." "Is it your sins, then, which terrify you, after so much mortification? " "Yes, my children," she told them. "I do fear my sins, but I fear still another thing even more." "Is it the judgment then?" "Yes, I tremble at the formidable account that it will be necessary to render to God, Who, in that moment, will be without mercy, but there is still something else of which the very thought alone makes me die with terror." The poor sisters were deeply distressed. "Alas! Can it be Hell then?" "No," she told them. "Hell, thank God, is not for me. Oh! My sisters, it is the holiness of God. My God, have pity upon me! My life must be brought face to face with that of Jesus Christ Himself! Woe to me if I have the least blemish or stain! Woe to me if I am even in the very shadow of sin!" "Alas!" cried these poor sisters. "What will our deaths be like!" What will ours be like, then, my dear brethren, we who, perhaps in all our penances and our good works, have never yet satisfied for one single sin forgiven in the tribunal of Penance?
Ah! What years and centuries of torment to punish us! ... How dearly we shall pay for all those faults that we look upon as nothing at all, like those little lies that we tell to amuse ourselves, those little scandals, the despising of the graces which God gives us at every moment, those little murmurings in the difficulties that He sends us! No, my dear brethren, we would never have the courage to commit the least sin if we could understand how much it outrages God and how greatly it deserves to be rigorously punished, even in this world. God is just, my dear brethren, in all that He does. When He recompenses us for the smallest good action, He does so over and above all that we could desire. A good thought, a good desire, that is to say, the desire to do some good work even when we are not able to do it, He never leaves without a reward. But also, when it is a matter of punishing us, it is done with rigor, and though we should have only a light fault, we shall be sent into Purgatory. This is true, for we see it in the lives of the saints that many of them did not go to Heaven without having first passed through the flames of Purgatory. Saint Peter Damien tells that his sister remained several years in Purgatory because she had listened to an evil song with some little pleasure. It is told that two religious promised each other that the first to die would come to tell the survivor in what state he was. God permitted the one who died first to appear to his friend. He told him that he was remaining fifteen years in Purgatory for having liked to have his own way too much. And as his friend was complimenting him on remaining there for so short a time, the dead man replied: "I would have much preferred to be flayed alive for ten thousand years continuously, for that suffering could not even be compared with what I am suffering in the flames." A priest told one of his friends that God had condemned him to remain in Purgatory for several months for having held back the execution of a will designed for the doing of good works. Alas, my dear brethren, how many among those who hear me have a similar fault with which to reproach themselves?
How many are there, perhaps, who during the course of eight or ten years have received from their parents or their friends the work of having Masses said and alms given and have allowed the whole thing to slide! How many are there who, for fear of finding that certain good works should be done, have not wanted to go to the trouble of looking at the will that their parents or their friends have made in their favor? Alas, these poor souls are still detained in the flames because no one has desired to fulfill their last wishes! Poor fathers and mothers, you are being sacrificed for the happiness of your children and your heirs! You perhaps have neglected your own salvation to augment their fortune. You are being cheated of the good works which you left behind in your wills! ... Poor parents! How blind you were to forget yourselves! ... You will tell me, perhaps: "Our parents lived good lives; they were very good people." Ah! They needed little to go into these flames! See what Albert the Great, a man whose virtues shone in such an extraordinary way, said on this matter. He revealed one day to one of his friends that God had taken him into Purgatory for having entertained a slightly self-satisfied thought about his own knowledge. The most astonishing thing was that there were actually saints there, even ones who were beatified, who were passing through Purgatory. Saint Severinus, Archbishop of Cologne, appeared to one of his friends a long time after his death and told him that he had been in Purgatory for having deferred to the evening the prayers he should have said in the morning. Oh! What years of Purgatory will there be for those Christians who have no difficulty at all in deferring their prayers to another time on the excuse of having to do some pressing work! If we really desired the happiness of possessing God, we should avoid the little faults as well as the big ones, since separation from God is so frightful a torment to all these poor souls!
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http://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/All%20Souls%20Prayers%20and%20Devotions%20New.html
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"Summae Deus clementiae," in the bosom
Of the great burning chanted then I heard,
Which made me no less eager to turn round
Purgatorio XXV, lines 121-123 (Longfellow translation)
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Prayer for the souls in purgatory by St. Gertrude;
Eternal Father,
I offer You the most precious blood
of thy Divine Son, Jesus,
in union with the Masses said
throughout the world today,
for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory,
for sinners everywhere,
for sinners in the universal Church,
for those in my own home,
and in my family. Amen.
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Purgatory, by Most Rev. Donald J. Sanborn - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo1J-eghp0U)
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November 4: St. Charles Borromeo
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Today is the feast day of St. Charles Borromeo;
Charles Borromeo was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation combat against the Protestant Reformation together with Ignatius of Loyola and Philip Neri.
The following is a good article I found about St. Charles and his courageous response to the plague, contrasted with the response of many clergy to the coronavirus;
America Needs Fatima (https://www.americaneedsfatima.org/blog/st-charles-borromeos-courageous-response-to-the-plague)
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Today is the first Friday of the month! Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have Mercy On Us!
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At the end of the 17th century Our Lord appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alocoque (1647-1690) and asked her to spread devotion to His Most Sacred Heart. In a letter written to her Mother Superior in May 1688, St. Margaret Mary set out what is called The Great Promise Our Lord made regarding the Nine First Fridays and what we must do to earn it:
“On Friday during Holy Communion, He said these words to His unworthy slave, if I mistake not: ‘I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that Its all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on nine first Fridays of consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they will not die under My displeasure or without receiving their sacraments, My divine Heart making Itself their assured refuge at the last moment.'”
First Friday Requirements: To meet the requirements for the First Friday Devotion a person must, on each First Friday for nine consecutive months:
1. Attend Holy Mass
2. Receive Communion
3. Go to Confession (within 8 days before or after the first Friday)
Our Lord made these promises to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque regarding those who practice the Nine First Fridays and have a deep devotion to His Sacred Heart. The Twelve Promises listed below includes the “Great Promise” (number 12).
1. I will give them all of the graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I will establish peace in their homes.
3. I will comfort them in all their afflictions.
4. I will be their strength during life and above all during death.
5. I will bestow a large blessing upon all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall grow fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.
9. I will bless every place where a picture of my heart shall be set up and honored.
10. I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
11. Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.
12. I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant all to those who communicate on the First Friday in nine consecutive months the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving their sacraments; My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.
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I think it is fitting to use this hymn "O Thou Eternal Source of Love!" (which is an English translation of the hymn Summae Deus Clementiae) as a prayer of reparation to Our Lord for the outrages committed against his Sacred Heart, especially on First Fridays. The hymn is as follows:
O Thou eternal Source of love!
Ruler of nature’s scheme!
In Substance One, in Persons Three!
Omniscient and Supreme!
For thy dear mercy’s sake receive
The strains and tears we pour,
And purify our hearts to taste
Thy sweetness more and more.
Our flesh, our reins, our spirits, Lord,
In thy clear fire refine;
Break down the self-indulgent will;
Gird us with strength divine.
So may all we, who here are met
By night thy name to bless,
One day, in our eternal home,
Thine endless joys possess.
Father of mercies! hear our cry;
Hear us, coequal Son!
Who reignest with the Holy Ghost
While ceaseless ages run.
https://tosingistopraytwice.wordpress.com/2017/04/01/o-thou-eternal-source-of-love/
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Today is the Feast of All Saints of Ireland.
The collect from the Irish supplement to my St Andrew's missal says:
Multiply Thy grace, O Lord upon us as we celebrate the solemnity of all the saints of our island: that as we rejoice in being their fellow citizens on earth, we may deserve to have fellowship with them in heaven, through our Lord.
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FIRST SATURDAY IN REPARATION FOR THE SINS COMITTED AGAINST THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
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The Five First Saturdays - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBEJ8QTACYg)
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Happy Lord's Day Everyone!
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November 8: Four Crowned Martyrs
This is the name given to four fourth-century martyred brothers -- Severus, Severian, Carpophorus, and Victorinus. A tradition holds that they were stonemasons, and as such they were held in high honor by medieval masonry guilds.
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Collect: O Almighty God, we pay honor to the bravery of Your glorious martyrs in bearing witness to You. Grant that we may feel the power of their intercession with You. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, World without end. Amen.
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The following is taken from the Golden Legend;
Here followeth of the Four Crowned Martyrs.
The four crowned martyrs were Severus, Severianus, Carpoforus, and Victorinus, which by the commandment of Diocletian were beaten with plummets of lead unto the death. The names of whom could not be found, but after long time they were showed by divine revelation, and it was established that their memory should be worshipped under the names of five other martyrs, that is to wit Claudian, Castor, Symphorian, Nicostratus, and Simplician, which were martyred two years after the four crowned martyrs. And these martyrs knew all the craft of sculpture or of carving, and Diocletian would have constrained them to carve an idol, but they would not entail ne carve it, ne consent to do sacrifice to the idols. And then by the commandment of Dioc]etian they were put into tuns of lead all living, and cast into the sea about the year of our Lord two hundred four score and seven. And Melchiades, the pope, ordained these four saints to be honoured and to be called the four crowned martyrs before that their names were found. And though their names were afterward found and known, yet for the usage they be always called the four crowned martyrs.
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November 9: Dedication of the St. John Lateran Basilica
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The feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran is celebrated by the entire Church. It marks the dedication of the cathedral church of Rome by Pope Sylvester I in 324. This church is the cathedra (or chair) of the bishop of Rome, who is the Pope. A Latin inscription in the Church reads: “omnium ecclesiarum Urbis et Orbis mater et caput.” Translated, this means, “The mother and head of all churches of the city and of the world.”
The basilica was originally named the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior. However, it is called St. John Lateran because it was built on property donated to the Church by the Laterani family, and because the monks from the monastery of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Divine served it.
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I feel sorry for what this wonderful, historic church must suffer through nowadays. The Popes whos remains are there must be rolling in their tombs. Here are some pics of this magnificent basilica;
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I learned something new today while reading about the dedication of churches in light of today's feast. There are of course much symbolism in the dedication ceremony. One such aspect of this symbolism is that the new church symbolizes our souls. At first, our souls in original sin. Then, the bishop uses holy water on the church representing the regeneration of our soul in baptism. Then the church is anointed, symbolizing confirmation. Finally, although this isn't directly mentioned in the following text, I believe the Mass offered following the ceremony could represent the soul's first communion and or our souls being united with Christ and offered up in the Sacrifice of the Mass?? I didn't read that last part after the symbolism of confirmation, but I think it makes sense. Anyway, the following is the full text I read from the liturgical Year by Abbot Gueranger;
*edit: altar represents Christ our head.
The name of church given to the Christian temple signifies the assembly of the faithful—those who are validly baptized and profess the true Catholic Faith. The sanctification of the elect in its successive phases is the soul and inspiration of that most solemn of liturgical functions, the dedication of a church.
First of all, the temple with its bare walls and closed doors represents the human race created by God, and yet robbed of His presence ever since the original sin. But the heirs of the promise have not yielded to despair; they have fasted, they have prayed through the night; morning finds them sending up to God the supplication of the penitential psalms, the inspired expression of David's chastisement and repentance.
At early dawn Our Savior appears under the tent which has been raised before the closed doors, where the "exiled" faithful are praying. He is represented by the Bishop vesting in the sacred robes, as He clothed Himself with our flesh. The God-Man joins His brethren in their prayer; then, leading them to the still closed temple, He there prostrates with them and redoubles His supplications.
Then around the noble edifice, unconscious of its destinies, begins the patient strategy, wherewith the grace of God, and the ministers of that grace, undertake the siege of abandoned souls. Thrice the pontiff goes around the whole building, and thrice "attempts to force open" the obstinately closed doors; but his storming consists of prayers to Heaven, his force is but the merciful and respectful persuasion of devotion. At length the doors yield and an entrance is gained into the temple: "Peace eternal to this house, in the name of the Eternal!"
The Bishop, now within, continues to pray. His thoughts are intent upon the human race, symbolized by this future church. He knows that in its fallen state ignorance is its first evil. Accordingly he rises; and, on two lines of ashes running transversely from end to end of the temple and crossing in the center of the nave, he traces with his episcopal crozier the Greek and Latin alphabets, the elements of the two principal languages in which Scripture and Tradition are preserved. They are traced with the pastoral staff, on the cross formed by the ashes; because sacred science comes to us from doctrinal authority, because it is understood only by the humble, and because it is all summed up in Jesus Crucified.
Like the catechumen, the human race now enlightened requires, together with the temple, to be purified. The Bishop makes use of the loftiest Christian symbolism, in order to perfect the element of this purification which he has so much at heart: he mingles water and wine, ashes and salt, figures of the Humanity and the Divinity, of the Death and the Resurrection of Our Savior. As Christ preceded us in the waters of Baptism at the Jordan, the aspersions are begun at the altar and continued through the whole building.
In the order of the work of salvation, water is followed by oil, which confers on the Christian, in the Sacrament of Confirmation, the perfection of his supernatural being; and which also makes kings, priests, and pontiffs. For all these reasons, the holy oil now flows copiously over the altar, which represents Christ our Head, Pontiff and King, that it may afterwards, like the water, find its way to the walls of the entire church. Truly is this temple henceforth worthy of the name of church; for thus "baptized" and consecrated, with the God-Man, by water and the Holy Ghost, the stones of which it is built represent perfectly the faithful, who are bound together and to the divine Corner-Stone by the imperishable cement of charity.
The sacred chants which, since the beginning of the solemn function, have not ceased to enhance its sublime developments, now redouble in enthusiasm; and rising to the full height of the mystery, they hail the church, now so intimately associated to the altar as the bride of the Lamb. From this altar ascend clouds of incense, which, mounting to the roof and billowing down the nave, fill the whole temple with the perfumes of the Spouse. And now the subdeacons come forward, presenting for the Bishop's blessing the gifts made to the Bride on this great day, and the vesture She has prepared for Herself and for the Lord.
In the early Middle Ages, it was only at this point that the triumphant translation of the relics destined to be placed in the altar took place, after having remained all this time in the tent outside, as it were in exile. In the West, up to the 13th century and even later, the Sacred Body of Our Lord Himself in the Holy Eucharist was sealed up in the altar with the relics of the Saints. It was the "Church united to the Redeemer, the Bride to the Bridegroom," says St. Peter Damian; it was the final consummation, the passage from time to eternity. Then follows the Mass of the Dedication, solemnly offered by the Bishop.
In not too distant times, the anniversary of its dedication was celebrated by each church. In some countries, a single day was set aside to celebrate the dedication of all the churches of that nation. In the traditional Latin Liturgy, the Anniversaries of some of the greatest churches are celebrated by the Universal Church: St. Mary Major (Our Lady of the Snows) on August 5, St. Michael the Archangel on September 29, the Archbasilica of Our Savior (St. John Lateran) on November 9, and the Basilicas of St. Peter (the Vatican) and St. Paul outside the Walls on November 18. The Liturgy for the first of these is really a Feast of Our Lady; that of the second, a Feast of St. Michael and all the Holy Angels. The Liturgy for the last two dates is truly that of the anniversary of dedication.
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Something else I found very interesting, in case some of you guys don't have time or want to read the entire text above, is that prior to the 13th century a consecrated host was also sealed in the altar along with the relics. It represented Christ united to His Church, as St. Peter Damian said regarding this, "the Bride to the Bridegroom".
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November 10: St. Andrew Avellino
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From Butlers Lives of the Saints;
AFTER a holy youth, Lancelot Avellino was ordained priest at Naples. At the age of thirty-six he entered the Theatine Order, and took the name of Andrew, to show his love for the cross. For fifty years he was afflicted with a most painful rupture; yet he would never use a carriage. Once when he was carrying the Viaticuм, and a storm had extinguished the lamps, a heavenly light encircled him, guided his steps, and sheltered him from the rain. But as a rule, his sufferings were unrelieved by God or man. On the last day of his life, St. Andrew rose to say Mass. He was in his eighty-ninth year, and so weak that he could scarcely reach the altar. He began the "Judica," and fell forward in a fit of apoplexy. Laid on a straw mattress, his whole frame was convulsed in agony, while the fiend in visible form advanced to seize his soul, Then, as his brethren prayed and wept, the voice of Mary was heard, bidding the Saint's guardian angel send the tempter back to hell. A calm and holy smile settled on the features of the dying Saint, as, with a grateful salutation to the image of Mary, he breathed forth his soul to God. His death happened on the 10th of November, 1608.
Reflection.—St. Andrew, who suffered so terrible an agony, is the special patron against sudden death. Ask him to be with you in your last hour, and to bring Jesus and Mary to your aid.
*St. Andrew Avellino, pray for us!
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November 11: St. Martin of Tours
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"In all its provinces he overthrew the idols one after another, reduced the statues to powder, burnt or demolished all the temples, destroyed the sacred groves and all the haunts of idolatry. Martin, consumed with zeal for the House of God, was obeying none but the Spirit of God."
I'd love to see what St. Martin would have done with pachamama :fryingpan:
Something else I found interesting while listening to the sermon that I will post below, is that one part of the (Traditional) Rite of Exorcism actually comes from St. Martin...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og19rn0qD7E
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November 12: Saint Pope Martin I
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw7yc05cKAU
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November 13: St. Didacus of Alcalá
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Didacus of Alcalá, also known as Diego de San Nicolás, was a Spanish Franciscan lay brother who served as among the first group of missionaries to the newly conquered Canary Islands. He died at Alcalá de Henares on 12 November 1463.
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Saint Didacus of Alcala was born about 1400 at San Nicolas in Andalusia, of poor and God-fearing parents. He entered the Third Order of St Francis when he had scarcely reached young manhood, and under the direction of a devout Tertiary priest, he served God for a long time as a hermit. Consumed with the desire for still greater perfection, he later entered the Franciscan convent at Arizafa in Castile and was there admitted to solemn vows as a lay brother.
Since Brother Didacus manifested great zeal for souls and willingness for sacrifice, his superiors sent him with other brethren to the Canary Islands, which at that time were still inhabited by wild infidels. Didacus was eager for martyrdom, and in the spirit bore with dauntless patience the many hardships that came his way. Both by word and example he helped in converting many infidels. In 1445 he was appointed guardian of the chief friary on the islands at Fortaventura.
Recalled to Spain, Saint Didacus of Alcala went to Rome in 1450 at the command of the Observant Vicar general, St John Capistrano, to attend the great jubilee and the canonization ceremonies of St Bernardin of Siena. On this occasion an epidemic broke out among the many friars assembled in the large convent of Apace. Didacus attended the sick with great charity and trust in God. And God did not fail him. Despite the lack of supplies in the city at the time, Didacus always had ample provisions for his patients. He miraculously restored many of them to health by merely making the Sign of the Cross over them.
Leaving Rome, Saint Didacus of Alcala returned to Spain, where, as in the former days, he was a source of great edification to the friars in every convent in which he lived.
When he felt that the end of his life was drawing near, he asked for an old and worn out habit, so that he might die in it as a true son of the poor St Francis. With his eyes fixed on the crucifix, he breathed forth his soul on November 12, 1463, saying the words, "O faithful wood, O precious nails! You have borne an exceedingly sweet burden, for you have been deemed worthy to bear the Lord and King of heaven."
Months passed before it was possible to bury Didacus, so great was the concourse of people who came to venerate his remains. Not only did his body remain incorrupt, but it diffused a pleasant odor. After it was laid to rest in the Franciscan church of Alcala de Henares astounding miracles continued to occur at his tomb.
Pope Sixtus V, himself a Franciscan, canonized Brother Didacus in 1588.
Didacus is the special patron of those friars who are brothers. San Diego, California gets its name from this saint. The Spanish for Didacus is Diego.
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Something interesting I discovered about today's saint (which is included above) is that the city of San Diego is named after him...
*San Diego
Created 1850. Named after San Diego Bay, which had been rechristened by Vizcaino in 1602, in honor of the Franciscan, San Diego de Alcala de Henares, whose name was borne by his flagship.
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*Just wanted to clear something up in case anyone gets confused... Saint Didacus of Alcala and San Diego de Alcala de Henares are the same person. The Spanish for Didacus is Diego.
Here's a pic of his remains from current times;
(https://i.imgur.com/bsEGlbY.jpg)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lju8iDWqxkk
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November 15: Saint Albert the Great
(https://i.imgur.com/9gUYrox.jpg)
Born in 1206, St. Albert the Great (a.k.a. Albertus Magnus OP) was a famous Dominican and teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas. Named to the Bishopric of Ratisbon, he retired to dedicate his talents to writing and teaching. He died in Poland in 1288. He is a Doctor of the Church.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzv5NRPUfUw
On Union With God, Saint Albert The Great, Full Catholic Audiobook
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November 16: St. Gertrude the Great
(https://i.imgur.com/Q1yD55P.jpg)
Gertrude, a Benedictine nun in Helfta, Saxony, was one of the great mystics of the 13th century. Together with her friend and teacher Saint Mechtild, she practiced a spirituality called “nuptial mysticism,” that is, she came to see herself as the bride of Christ. Her spiritual life was a deeply personal union with Jesus and his Sacred Heart, leading her into the very life of the Trinity. Gertrude died on November 17, 1302 and was canonized in 1677 by Pope Clement XII.
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Prayers for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass written by Saint Gertrude and Saint Mechtilde;
PRAYER BEFORE MASS
O ALMIGHTY, everlasting God, seeing that it is the true faith of Thy Church that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass instituted by Thy Son is infinitely pleasing to Thy Divine Majesty, and renders Thee an infinite worship and praise, and since by it alone Thou canst be worthily and adequately worshipped and praised; impelled by an ardent desire of Thy honour and glory, I purpose to assist at this present Sacrifice with the utmost devotion of which I am capable, and to offer this most Holy Oblation to Thee in union with Thy priest. I offer Thee not only this Sacrifice, but all those which shall be this day offered up from every part of the world; and I protest before Thee that if it depended on me whether they should be offered or omitted, I would put forth all my powers to procure and to further their being offered. And were I able now to raise up to Thee, of the stones which are scattered over the earth, most devoted priests, who should day by day and with glowing fervour offer to Thee this Sacrifice of praise, I would most gladly do it. But, being what I am, I implore Thee, O most holy Father, through Jesus Christ Thy Son, to pour into the hearts of all Thy priests, and especially those who might perchance otherwise offer Thee this acceptable Sacrifice coldly and without due recollectedness, the spirit of grace and of fervour, that they may be enabled to celebrate Thy tremendous Mystery with becoming awe and devotion. Grant to me, and to all those who are here present with me, that we may join in this most sacred action with reverence and devotion, so that we may have our portion in its fruit and effect. I confess to Thee, O almighty God, and to the Blessed Mary ever Virgin, and to all the Saints, my own sins and those of all the world; and I lay them on Thy sacred Altar, that they may be entirely blotted out by the virtue of this Sacrifice. Do Thou deign to grant us this grace, by that love which held back Thy hand from smiting when Thy most beloved Son, Thine Only Son, was immolated by the hands of ungodly men. Amen.
AT THE OFFERTORY
O MOST merciful Father, in union with that unimaginable love wherewith Thine Only Son offered to Thee the whole influx of the Godhead into His Humanity, and thus with ineffable gratitude referred it back to its immeasurable, unfathomable source, I offer Thee whatever gifts and graces Thou hast ever bestowed on me of Thy sovereign and unutterable goodness; and I lay them on Thine Altar, together with the merits and graces of the same Thy Son, as a Sacrifice of everlasting praise, and a pledge and expression of my boundless gratitude to Thee. More especially, I offer Thee my heart, all too defiled and loathsome as it is; and I plunge it into this Chalice, to the end and with the desire that all the prayers and benedictions which shall be spoken over this Chalice may be spoken also over my heart, and that by the virtue of the ineffable consecration whereby Thou changest this wine into the Blood of Thy Son, it may be wholly turned to the perfect and constraining love of Thee.
And that I may obtain these my petitions, I unite myself to all the love and the gratitude with which Thy Son endured all His sorrows; and I offer to Thee whatever sorrow or affliction Thy fatherly love has ever laid on me or any son of man in order to our salvation, beseeching Thee that they may come up before Thee in union with this Sacrifice as a sweet-smelling odour, and may avail for our salvation. Finally, in union with the resignation of Thine Only Son I offer and resign myself to Thy most holy will, beseeching Thee with my whole heart that Thine adorable good pleasure may always in all things be done in me and by me and in all that concerns me. To this end I lay at Thy feet, O Thou King of kings and my Lord, all my substance and being, my body and my soul, to serve Thee henceforth and ever more to the glory of Thy most worshipful Majesty. Amen.
When St. Gertrude had thus offered herself to our Lord on one occasion, He said to her: This offering of thy good will is as it were a royal sceptre in My hand, and a rejoicing and a glory to Me in presence of all my Angels and Saints. And whenever thou renewest this intention before Me, it is as though that sceptre budded and put forth most fragrant flowers.
At the Orate Fratres, say with the server: Suscipiat, etc.
AT THE SECRET
Look down, O tender Father, from the throne of Thy Majesty and from the lofty dwelling-place of Thy heavens, upon this oblation which our holy Mother the Church, Thy Bride, offers to Thee by the hands of Thy priest; and through its force and merit be appeased for our manifold transgressions. Accept, I beseech Thee, the Sacrifice which I, Thy most worthless servant, offer to Thee my living and true God in my own name; and in that of all the whole world; in union with all the merits of Thy most beloved Son, with all the treasure of Thy holy Church, for my innumerable sins, offences, and negligences, and for all the faithful, living and departed, that to them and to me it may avail for salvation unto eternal life. Amen.
AT THE PREFACE
While St. Mechtilde was praying for a certain person, our Lord said to her: Behold, I pardon all her sins, in satisfaction for them, while the priest is reciting these words of the Preface, Per quem Majestatem, etc., let her praise Me in union with all my Angels and Saints, and offer a Pater Noster to God through Me; thus shall all her negligences be forgiven and effaced. And all who shall do this may confidently expect the like blessing at My hands.
O MOST compassionate Jesus, I adore Thee, I praise and magnify Thee in union with that transcendent praise which the most holy and worshipful Trinity renders unceasingly to Himself; which flows down thence upon the most blessed Virgin Mary and upon all Saints and Angels, who adore Thy glorious Majesty with unceasing and unutterable canticles, and show forth Thy praise in rapturous accord. With whose voices we beseech Thee to permit ours to blend, saying in lowly acknowledgment: Holy, holy, holy, etc.
Here say as follows a Pater to supply all your negligences and defects.
O MOST holy Father, I offer Thee this prayer in union with the praises with which Heaven and earth and all Thy creatures worship and magnify Thee. Deign to hear and accept it through Jesus Christ Thy Son, for all that is offered to Thee through him comes up before Thee well-pleasing and most acceptable. I beseech Thee, through the same Thy Son, to forgive me all my sins and to supply all my defects and negligences. Amen.
AT THE CANON
O INEFFABLE God, we are now drawing near to those tremendous Mysteries which neither Cherubim nor Seraphim nor all the virtues of Heaven suffice to comprehend, for Thou alone knowest with what energy of love Thou dost daily offer Thyself to God the Father upon the Altar as a victim of praise and propitiation. And therefore all choirs and orders of Angels adore this Thy most sacred and impenetrable secret with lowliest prostration, and behold with awe their King and their Lord, Who once came down from Heaven in unutterable love to redeem man, now again mysteriously present upon the Altar, hidden beneath the mean and lowly species of bread and wine for the salvation of men.
O good Jesus, this work which Thou art now about to work is so transcendently adorable that I dare not even look up to Thee from the depth of my nothingness. Wherefore I bury myself in the lowest, deepest valley of humiliation I can find, and there await the portion of Thy substance that falleth to me, for salvation goeth forth from Thee upon all Thine elect. Would, O loving Jesus, that my weak arm might aid Thee in Thy Divine work, and obtain for this most holy oblation its full effect according to its ineffable dignity and worth, to effect this the most weary and painful toil would be sweet and light to me. Wherefore I pray Thee, grant to this Thy priest that he may with due reverence handle Thee and offer Thee, so that this our oblation may have its fullest force and efficacy on all the living and departed. Amen.
AT THE ELEVATION OF THE HOST
HAIL, sweetest Jesus, prostrate in lowliest humility, I worship and adore Thee.
Here strike your breast three times, and say:
O JESUS, have mercy on me! O good Jesus, spare me!
O most compassionate Jesus, be merciful to me a sinner!
PRAYER TO GOD THE FATHER
O MOST loving Father, in union with that love wherewith Thy Son offered Himself once upon the Cross, and now offers Himself to Thee upon the Altar, I offer Him to Thee for the welfare and salvation of all Thy whole Church. Look upon His virgin Flesh, so cruelly torn by the scourges, bruised with blows and buffetings, defiled with spittings, besmeared with Blood, pierced with sharp thorns, swollen and livid with stripes, torn by the nails, rent with the lance. May that pity which drew Him down from Heaven and sweetly constrained Him to immolate Himself on the Cross, and constrains Him now to offer Himself daily to Thee upon the Altar; may that same pity move Thee now, O Father, to have mercy on us. Amen.
AT THE ELEVATION OF THE CHALICE
HAIL, most precious Blood of my Lord, prostrate before Thee in lowliest devotion, I worship and adore Thee.
Here strike your breast three times, and say:
O SACRED Blood, wash me!
O roseate Blood, cleanse me!
O most Precious Blood, cry for me unto God the Father, that He may have mercy on us!
PRAYER AFTER THE ELEVATION, OF GREAT EFFICACY
O MOST holy Father, now that Thine Only-begotten Son, here truly present upon the Altar, has deigned to become a Sacrifice and propitiation for our sins, I offer Thee His most holy Body and Blood, His Humanity and His Divinity, His virtues and His perfections, His Passion and Death, in union with that love with which He once offered Himself to Thee upon the Cross, and now offers Himself to Thee on the Altar. And in union with these I offer Thee the virtues, merits, and graces of the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the Saints, together with all the good works of all men, and all the whole treasure of Thy holy Church. And I desire especially to add to these whatever of good I and those who are dear to me have ever done, and whatever afflictions we have suffered for Thy glory. And in union with this Sacrifice, and with all those which are offered to Thee all over the world, I offer to Thee this oblation, O Eternal Father, through Thy beloved Son, in the power of the Holy Ghost, to Thy supreme praise and glory, in acknowledgment of Thy supreme Majesty, and dominion, and in thanksgiving for all the benefits and the graces Thou hast ever bestowed on any creature, and in full reparation for every injury or insult ever offered to Thee by any whom Thy hands have made.
I offer it to Thee for the increase of the joy and glory of the sacred Humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in worship and veneration of all the mysteries of His life and death, for the increase of the glory and blessedness of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of all the Saints, especially my holy Patrons, and those whose memory we this day celebrate.
Lastly, I offer it to Thee on behalf of myself, a most miserable sinner, and for all my friends, whether in the order of nature or of grace [especially N.], and for all Christians living and departed [especially N.]; beseeching Thee that Thou wouldst deign to accept it as an adequate and sufficient thanksgiving for all the benefits and graces which Thou hast ever bestowed on our bodies and souls, to impart to us all the grace needful for us, to turn away from us all evil of body and of soul which might hinder our salvation, and to grant us perfect and entire remission of all our sins and negligences. For all these ends, I offer Thee all the love with which Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord has ever loved Thee, and all the satisfaction He has made to Thee for our sins. Through Him and with Him and in Him be all honour and glory unto Thee, O God, Father Almighty, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.
Here say the Pater Noster with the priest, and add the following prayer for the sins of the whole Church. It was revealed to the Saint that this devotion is most pleasing to God.
O MOST tender Jesus, I offer to Thee this prayer in union with the most perfect intention with which Thou didst sanctify it in Thy Sacred Heart and enjoin it for our salvation; for the forgiveness of all our sins and the supply of all the defects caused by our frailty, our ignorance, or our fault, in opposition to Thine irresistible almightiness, Thine unsearchable wisdom and Thy free and super abounding goodness. Amen.
AT THE AGNUS DEI
Beseech our Lord to offer Himself to God the Father as He does in every Mass, according to the revelation made to St. Gertrude.
O LAMB of God, have mercy on us, and offer Thyself to God the Father with all Thy humility and all Thy patience, in satisfaction for our
sins.
O Lamb of God, have mercy on us, and offer Thyself to God the Father with all the bitterness of Thy Passion, for our reconciliation to God.
O Lamb of God, have mercy on us, and offer Thyself to God the Father with all the love of Thy Divine Heart, for the supply of all our necessities. Amen.
AT THE DOMINE, NON SUM DIGNUS
O LORD, I am not worthy that the earth should bear me; but for Thine Own sake pardon me all my sins. O Lord, I am not worthy to be called Thy creature; but by the bitterness of Thy passion forgive me all my debts. O Lord, I am not worthy to utter Thy Holy Name; but by the virtue of this holy Sacrifice bestow on me Thy grace. Amen.
Here make an act of Spiritual Communion, saying: with St. Gertrude and with St. Mechtilde:
O THOU Stream from the Life-giving Fountain, Thou fragrance and sweetness of Divine delight, I prostrate myself in my indigence and my misery in presence of Thine overflowing fullness. I set before Thee my sorrow and my tears, that, by reason of my exceeding unworthiness, my soul must go away fasting from Thine uncloying banquet. And now, O Thou Who hast formed my substance and reformed it when fallen and decayed, I beseech Thee so to prepare me by Thine all-powerful wisdom, and by the tender compassionate love of Thy Heart, that I may worthily receive Thee unto my soul, and that Thou mayest work and perfect in me without impediment all that Thou hast from eternity decreed concerning me, according to the good pleasure of Thy Divine will. Amen.
To this end say, if you have time, a Pater Noster, our Lord taught St. Mechtilde.
AT THE COMMUNION
O ALMIGHTY Love, I praise Thee; O most ravishingly sweet Love, I glorify Thee; O most gentle and tender Love, I magnify Thee in and for all the good which Thy most glorious Godhead and Thy most blessed Humanity have ever wrought in us, or shall hereafter work in us, through that most august and adorable instrument, Thy Divine Heart. Amen.
AT THE POST-COMMUNION
BEHOLD, O Heavenly Father, our holy Mother the Church has sent up before Thee from Thine Altar that Victim of transcendent worth Whom Thou didst send to be immolated for us. Vouchsafe, therefore, to accept it with that ineffable love with which Thou didst receive Thy Son when He came back from this our far country into Thy kingdom, and set forth before Thee all the fruit of His sacred Humanity and the glorious wounds of His Flesh.
O most compassionate Father, let not His scars depart from before Thine eyes for ever, that Thou mayest be perpetually put in mind what great and super abounding satisfaction He hath made Thee for our sins. Wherefore I beseech Thee, in the virtue and efficacy of this unbloody oblation, have mercy on me, and on all sinners, and on all the faithful living and departed; grant unto them grace and mercy, remission of sins, and everlasting life. Amen.
AT THE BLESSING
O GOOD Jesus, may Thine omnipotence bless me, may Thy wisdom teach me, may Thy sweetness fill and pervade me, may Thy goodness draw me and unite me to Thee for ever. Amen.
At the words, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, bow your head in devout gratitude, and say:
I THANK and bless Thee, O good Jesus, that for love of me Thou didst deign to be made man.
If anyone does this, said our Lord, I will graciously incline my Head towards him in return, and will offer to God the Father all the fruit of My Incarnation, with all the love of My Heart, for the increase of that man's blessedness and glory.
ACT OF ADORATION OF THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT
HAIL, most glorious Body and most precious Blood of my Lord Jesus Christ, here truly present beneath these sacramental species; I adore Thee with all that devotion and awe wherewith the nine choirs of Angels worship and adore Thee. I prostrate myself before Thee in the spirit of humility, believing and professing that Thou, my Lord and my God, are herein most truly contained.
Hail, most glorious Body of Jesus Christ my Saviour, true Victim immolated upon the Cross, I adore Thee in union with that adoration with which Thy Humanity adored Thy Godhead, and I give Thee thanks with all the love of all Thy creatures, that Thou dost deign to remain hidden in this tabernacle for our salvation.
Hail, compassionate Jesus, Word of the Father, Brightness of His glory, Ocean of pity, Salvation of the world, most august and sacred Victim, Hail, Jesus Christ, splendour of the Father, Prince of Peace, Gate of Heaven, True Bread, Son of the Virgin, Shrine of the Godhead.
I most firmly believe that Thou, my God, art here present, and that Thou art looking out upon me from behind the veil of the Sacrament, and dost behold all the most secret recesses of my heart. I believe that under this species of bread are contained not only Thy Flesh and Thy Blood, but also Thy Divinity and Thy Humanity. And although this mystery surpasses my understanding, I nevertheless believe it so firmly that I am ready to give my life and my blood in defense of its truth.
I fall down before Thee with most profound reverence, O most Holy Sacrament, and with Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Dominations, with Cherubim and Seraphim, and with all the glorious array of the heavenly host, I sing to Thy glory, saying: Blessed a thousand, yea, ten thousand fold, be the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar!
O Thou most intimate and tender Love of the Father's Heart, I give Thee thanks, in union with the ineffable mutual thanksgiving and gratitude of the three adorable Persons of the glorious and most worshipful Trinity, that Thou hast condescended to institute this priceless Sacrament, by which Heaven and earth are made one, and both are unceasingly filled with the infinite treasures of Thy grace.
I glorify and magnify Thy wise and tender almightiness; I praise and adore Thy gentle wisdom; I bless and praise Thine almighty and most wise and gentle love, O Christ Jesus, for that Thou hast condescended to devise and hast been strong to institute this ineffably magnificent Sacrament to be the strength and the succour of our salvation. O Christ Jesus, Thou faithful and only Trust of my soul, I praise Thee, I love Thee, I worship and adore Thee; and I humbly implore Thee, that as Thou didst offer Thyself once upon the Cross for the sin of the whole world, so Thou wouldst now deign to offer Thyself to God the Father for my exceeding sins. O Christ Jesus, my sweetest and my only Love, look with the eyes of Thy compassionate mercy on me, a most miserable sinner, here prostrate before Thee and imploring with my whole heart the forgiveness of my sins. O Thou princely Flower from the Root of Jesse, by the unutterable love of Thy most sweet heart have mercy on me, and receive me into Thy favour, for the glory of Thy Name. O most loving Father, I offer to Thee this Thy beloved Son as a h0Ɩ0cαųst of unceasing praise, and as a perpetual sacrifice of propitiation for all our sins. Look, I beseech Thee, on the face of Thy Christ, and remember that most abundant satisfaction which He made to Thee for our sins on the Cross, and have mercy on us. Amen.
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Prayer to Our Guardian Angel
by Saint Gertrude
O most holy Angel of God, appointed by Him to be my guardian, I give thee thanks for all the benefits which thou hast bestowed on me in body and in soul. I praise and glorify thee that thou dost condescend to assist me with such patient fidelity, and to defend me against all the assaults of my enemies. Blessed be the hour in which thou East assigned me for my guardian, my defender, and my patron. In acknowledgement and return of all thy loving ministries to me from my youth up, I offer thee the infinitely precious and noble Heart of Jesus, and firmly purpose to obey thee henceforward, and most faithfully to serve my God. Amen.
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Can't forget about this famous St. Gertrude prayer. It is said that every time this prayer is recited 1000 souls are released from Purgatory;
Eternal Father,
I offer You the most precious blood
of thy Divine Son, Jesus,
in union with the Masses said
throughout the world today,
for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory,
for sinners everywhere,
for sinners in the universal Church,
for those in my own home,
and in my family. Amen.
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November 17: St. Gregory, the Wonder-Worker
(https://i.imgur.com/1Ag5MM1.jpg)
St. Gregory Thaumaturgus was born in Neo-Caesarea in the beginning of the 3rd century, of which city he later became Bishop. For the many miracles he wrought, he was called the wonder-worker. He died in 270.
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From what I've read, St. Gregory Thaumaturgus witnessed the first recorded Marian apparition AFTER Her Assumption (Our Lady of the Pillar being bilocation of the Blessed Mother appearing to St. James the Greater). Here's something interesting I found;
The earliest recorded apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary (AFTER Her Assumption) was to St. Gregory the Wonderworker (ca. A.D. 213–270). In his biography the Life of St. Gregory the Wonderworker (PG 46, 909-12), St. Gregory of Nyssa (335–395) reported:
“While [Gregory] was passing a sleepless night because of these worries, someone appeared to him in human form, aged in appearance, clothed in garments denoting a sacred dignity, with a face characterized by a sense of grace and virtue. Gregory, looking frightened, rose from his bed and asked him who he was and why he had come. The other, in a subdued voice, after soothing his distress, told Gregory that he had appeared by divine will, because of the questions that Gregory found ambiguous and confusing, to reveal to him the truth of pious faith. After hearing these words, Gregory regained his serenity and began to observe the other man with a certain joy and wonder.
“The other then held up his hand, as if to point out, with his index finger, something that had appeared opposite him. Gregory, turning his gaze in the direction indicated by the other man’s hand, saw before him another figure, which had appeared not long before. This figure had the appearance of a woman, whose noble aspect far surpassed normal human beauty.
“Gregory was again disturbed. Turning away his face, he averted his glance and was filled with perplexity; nor did he know what to think of this apparition, which he could not bear to look upon with his eyes. For the extraordinary character of the vision lay in this: Though it was a dark night, a light was shining, and so was the figure that had appeared to him, as if a burning lamp had been kindled there.
“Although he could not bear to look upon the apparition, Gregory heard the speech of those who had appeared, as they discussed the problems that were troubling him. From their words, Gregory not only obtained an exact understanding of the doctrine of the faith but also was able to discover the names of the two persons who had appeared to him, for they called each other by name.
“For it is said that he heard the one who had appeared in womanly form exhorting John the Evangelist to explain to the young man the mystery of the true [faith]. John, in his turn, declared that he was completely willing to please the Mother of the Lord even in this matter and that this was the one thing closest to his heart. And when the discussion had come to a close, after they had made it quite clear and precise for him, the two disappeared from his sight.”
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November 18: Dedication of the Churches of Saints Peter and Paul
(https://i.imgur.com/stlpaS7.jpg)
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Pictures/Paintings of St. Peter's Basilica
(https://i.imgur.com/D9wPmYK.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/YvwrEfS.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/T0kh3Fk.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/axTY8lB.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/yRRpGZm.jpg)
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Pictures of St. Paul's Basilica
(https://i.imgur.com/DUFXfLn.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/nQrsruB.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/X4vjo82.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/5Igm62x.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/KhSzo7f.jpg)
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November 19: St. Elizabeth of Hungry
(https://i.imgur.com/tm6eQb4.jpg)
Daughter of the King of Hungry, St. Elizabeth (1207-1231) married Louis IV of Thuringia. After his death, she entered the Third Order of St. Francis where she practiced heroic works of charity.
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Saint Elizabeth was a member of the Third Order of St. Francis. Here's is the original Rule written by St. Francis himself in 1221;
(https://i.imgur.com/XU2uZNW.jpg)
RULE OF THE THIRD ORDER OF SAINT FRANCIS FOR THE LAITY
Here begins the Rule of the Continent Brothers and Sisters: In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The memorial of what is proposed for the Brothers and Sisters of Penance, living in their own homes, begun in the year of our Lord 1221, is as follows.
CHAPTER I: DAILY LIFE
1. The men belonging to this brother-hood shall dress in humble, undyed cloth, the price of which is not to exceed six Ravenna "soldi an ell", unless for evident and necessary cause a temporary dispensation be given. And breadth and thinness of the cloth are to be considered in said price.
2. They shall wear their outer garments and furred coats without open throat, sewed shut or uncut
but certainly laced up, not open as secular people wear them; and they shall wear their sleeves closed.
3. The sisters in turn shall wear an outer garment and tunic made of cloth of the same price and humble quality; or at least they are to have with the outer garment a white or black underwrap or petticoat, or an ample linen gown without gathers, the price of an ell of which is not to exceed twelve Pisa denars. As to this price, however, and the fur cloaks they wear a dispensation may be given according to the estate of the woman and the custom of the place. They are not to wear silken or dyed veils and ribbons.
4. And both the brothers and the sisters shall have their fur garments of lamb's wool only. They are permitted to have leather purses and belts sewed in simple fashion without silken thread, and no other kind. Also other vain adornments they shall lay aside at the bidding of the Visitor.
5. They are not to go to unseemly parties or to shows or dances. They shall not donate to actors, and shall forbid their household to donate.
CHAPTER II: ABSTINENCE
6. All are to abstain from meat save on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, except on account of illness or weakness, for three days at bloodletting, in traveling, or on account of a specially high feast intervening, namely, the Nativity for three days, New Year's, Epiphany, the Pasch of the Resurrection for three days, Assumption of the glorious Virgin Mary, the solemnity of All Saints and of St. Martin. On the other days, when there is no fasting, they may eat cheese and eggs. But when they are with religious in their convent homes, they have leave to eat what is served to them. And except for the feeble, the ailing, and those traveling, let them be content with dinner and supper. Let the healthy be temperate in eating and drinking.
7. Before their dinner and supper let them say the Lord's prayer once, likewise after their meal, and let them give thanks to God. Otherwise let them say three Our Fathers.
CHAPTER III: FASTING
8. From the Pasch of the Resurrection to the feast of All Saints they are to fast on Fridays. From the feast of All Saints until Easter they are to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, but still observing the other fasts enjoined in general by the Church.
9. They are to fast daily, except on account of infirmity or any other need, throughout the fast of St. Martin from after said day until Christmas, and throughout the greater fast from Carnival Sunday until Easter.
10. Sisters who are pregnant are free to refrain until their purification from the corporal observances except those regarding their dress and prayers.
11. Those engaged in fatiguing work shall be allowed to take food three times a day from the Pasch of the Resurrection until the Dedication feast of St. Michael. And when they work for others it will be allowed them to eat everything served to them, except on Fridays and on the fasts enjoined in general by the Church.
CHAPTER IV: PRAYER
12. All are daily to say the seven canonical Hours, that is: Matins, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline. The clerics are to say them after the manner of the clergy. Those who know the Psalter are to say the Deus in nomine tuo (Psalm 54) and the Beati Immaculati (Psalm 119) up to the Legem pone (Verse 33) for Prime, and the other psalms of the Hours, with the "Glory Be to the Father..."; but when they do not attend church, they are to say for Matins the psalms the Church says or any eighteen psalms; or at least to say the Our Father as do the unlettered at any of the Hours. The others say twelve Our Fathers for Matins and for every one of the other Hours seven Our Fathers with the "Glory Be to the Father..." after each one. And those who know the Creed and the Miserere mei Deus (Ps. 51) should say it at Prime and Compline. If they do not say that at the Hours indicated, they shall say three Our Fathers.
13. The sick are not to say the Hours unless they wish.
14. All are to go to Matins on the fast of St. Martin and in the great fast, unless inconvenience for
persons or affairs should threaten.
CHAPTER V: THE SACRAMENTS, OTHER MATTERS
15. They are to make a confession of their sins three times a year and to receive Communion at Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. They are to be reconciled with their neighbors and to restore what belongs to others. They are to make up for past tithes and pay future tithes.
16. They are not to take up lethal weapons, or bear them about, against anybody.
17. All are to refrain from formal oaths unless where necessity compels, in the cases excepted by the Sovereign Pontiff in his indult, that is, for peace, for the Faith, under calumny, and in bearing witness.
18. Also in their ordinary conversations they will do their best to avoid oaths. And should anyone have sworn thoughtlessly through a slip of the tongue, as happens where there is much talking, he should the evening of the same day, when he is obliged to think over what he has done, say three Our Fathers in amends of such oaths. Let each member fortify his household to serve God.
CHAPTER VI: SPECIAL MASS AND MEETING EACH MONTH
19. All the brothers and sisters of every city and place are to foregather every month at the time the ministers see fit, in a church which the ministers will make known, and there assist at Divine Services.
20. And every member is to give the treasurer one ordinary denar. The treasurer is to collect this money and distribute it on the advice of the ministers among the poor brothers and sisters, especially the sick and those who may have nothing for their funeral services, and thereupon among the poor; and they are to offer something of the money to the aforesaid church.
21. And, if it be convenient at the time, they are to have some religious who is informed in the words of God to exhort them and strengthen them to persevere in their penance and in performing the works of mercy. And except for the officers, they are to remain quiet during the Mass and sermon, intent on the Office, on prayer, and on the sermon.
CHAPTER VII: VISITING THE SICK, BURYING THE DEAD
22. Whenever any brother or sister happens to fall ill, the ministers, if the patient let them know of it, shall in person or through others visit the patient once a week, and remind him of penance; and if they find it expedient, they are to supply him from the common fund with what he may need for the body.
23. And if the ailing person depart from this life, it is to be published to the brothers and sisters who may be present in the city or place, so that they may gather for the funeral; and they are not to leave until the Mass has been celebrated and the body consigned to burial. Thereupon each member within eight days of the demise shall say for the soul of the deceased: a Mass, if he is a priest; fifty psalms, if he understands the Psalter, or if not, then fifty Our Fathers with the "Requiem aeternam" at the end of each.
24. In addition, every year, for the welfare of the brothers and sisters living and dead, each priest is to say three Masses, each member knowing the Psalter is to recite it, and the rest shall say one hundred Our Fathers with the "Requiem aeternam" at the end of each.
25. All who have the right are to make their last will and make disposition of their goods within three months after their profession, lest anyone of them die intestate.
26. As regards making peace among the brothers and sisters or nonmembers at odds, let what the ministers find proper be done; even, if it be expedient, upon consultation with the Lord Bishop.
27. If contrary to their right and privileges trouble is made for the brothers and sisters by the mayors and governors of the places where they live, the ministers of the place shall do what they shall find expedient on the advice of the Lord Bishop.
28. Let each member accept and faithfully exercise the ministry of other offices imposed on him, although anyone may retire from office after a year.
29. When anybody wishes to enter this brotherhood, the ministers shall carefully inquire into his standing and occupation, and they shall explain to him the obligations of the brotherhood, especially that of restoring what belongs to others. And if he is content with it, let him be vested according to the prescribed way, and he must make satisfaction for his debts, paying money according to what pledged provision is given. They are to reconcile themselves with their neighbors and to pay up their tithes.
30. After these particulars are complied with, when the year is up and he seems suitable to them, let him on the advice of some discreet brothers be received on this condition: that he promise he will all the time of his life observe everything here written, or to be written or abated on the advice of the brothers, unless on occasion there be a valid dispensation by the ministers; and that he will, when called upon by the ministers, render satisfaction as the Visitor shall ordain if he have done anything contrary to this condition. And this promise is to be put in writing then and there by a public notary. Even so nobody is to be received otherwise, unless in consideration of the estate and rank of the person it shall seem advisable to the ministers.
31. No one is to depart from this brotherhood and from what is contained herein, except to enter a religious Order.
32. No heretic or person in bad repute for heresy is to be received. If he is under suspicion of it, he may be admitted if otherwise fit, upon being cleared before the bishop.
33. Married women are not to be received except with the consent and leave of their husbands.
34. Brothers and sisters ejected from the brotherhood as incorrigible are not to be received in it again except it please the saner portion of the brothers.
CHAPTER VIII: CORRECTION, DISPENSATION, OFFICERS
35. The ministers of any city or place shall report public faults of the brothers and sisters to the Visitor for punishment. And if anyone proves incorrigible, after consultation with some of the discreet brothers he should be denounced to the Visitor, to be expelled by him from the brotherhood, and thereupon it should be published in the meeting. Moreover, if it is a brother, he should be denounced to the mayor or the governor.
36. If anyone learns that a scandal is occurring relative to brothers and sisters, he shall report it to the ministers and shall have opportunity to report it to the Visitor. He need not be held to report it in the case of husband against wife.
37. The Visitor has the power to dispense all the brothers and sisters in any of these points if he finds it advisable.
38. When the year has passed, the ministers with the counsel of the brothers are to elect two other ministers; and a faithful treasurer, who is to provide for the need of the brothers and sisters and other poor; and messengers who at the command of the ministers are to publish what is said and done by the fraternity.
39. In all the above mentioned points no one is to be obligated under guilt, but under penalty; yet so that if after being admonished twice by the ministers he should fail to discharge the penalty imposed or to be imposed on him by the Visitor, he shall be obligated under guilt as contumacious.
HERE ENDS THE RULE OF THE CONTINENT.
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November 20: St. Felix of Valois
(https://i.imgur.com/8Y9e8MH.jpg)
With St. John of Matha, St. Felix, a Cistercian hermit, founded the Trinitarians for the redemption of Christian captives. He died in 1213.
Collect: O God, by a voice from heaven, You deigned to summon Blessed Felix, Thy Confessor, from the desert, to undertake the work of the redemption of captives; grant, we beseech Thee, that by Thy grace we may be freed from the bondage of our sins through his intercession. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, World without end. Amen.
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St. Felix of Valois
From the Traditional Catholic Encyclopedia;
Born in 1127; d. at Cerfroi, 4 November, 1212. He is commemorated 20 November. He was surnamed Valois because, according to some, he was a member of the royal branch of Valois in France, according to others, because he was a native of the province of Valois. At an early age he renounced his possessions and retired to a dense forest in the Diocese of Meaux, where he gave himself to prayer and contemplation. He was joined in his retreat by St. John of Matha, who proposed to him the project of founding an order for the redemption of captives. After fervent prayer, Felix in company with John set out for Rome and arrived there in the beginning of the pontificate of Innocent III. They had letters of recommendation from the Bishop of Paris, and the new pope received them with the utmost kindness and lodged them in his palace. The project of founding the order was considered in several solemn conclaves of cardinals and prelates, and the pope after fervent prayer decided that these holy men were inspired by God, and raised up for the good of the Church. He solemnly confirmed their order, which he named the Order of the Holy Trinity for the Redemption of Captives. The pope commissioned the Bishop of Paris and the Abbot of St. Victor to draw up for the institute a rule, which was confirmed by the pope, 17 December, 1198. Felix returned to France to establish the order. He was received with great enthusiasm, and King Philip Augustus authorized the institute France and fostered it by signal benefactions. Margaret of Blois granted the order twenty acres of the wood where Felix had built his first hermitage, and on almost the same spot he erected the famous monastery of Cerfroi, the mother-house of the institute. Within forty years the order possessed six hundred monasteries in almost every part of the world. St. Felix and St. John of Matha were forced to part, the latter went to Rome to found a house of the order, the church of which, Santa Maria in Navicella, still stands on the Caeclian Hill. St. Felix remained in France to look after the interests of the congregation. He founded a house in Paris attached to the church of St. Maturinus, which afterwards became famous under Robert Guguin, master general of the order. Though the Bull of his canonization is no longer extant, it is the constant tradition of his institute that he was canonized by Urban IV in 1262. Du Plessis tells us that his feast was kept in the Diocese of Meaux in 1215. In 1666 Alexander VII declared him a saint because of immemorial cult. His feast was transferred to 20 November by Innocent XI in 1679.
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Happy Lord's Day everyone! Today is the last Sunday after Pentecost. The theme of today's Mass is the Last Judgement. There are many fantastic paintings featuring the Last Judgement. Here are a few of them from both the east and the west;
(https://i.imgur.com/zlrr5Pb.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/vPfdbOx.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/11LHvN1.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/WQKW4XY.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/22JE5Jj.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/z2HUs8p.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/yc4F1Rk.jpg)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g893IFYb-FA
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November 22: St. Cecilia
(https://i.imgur.com/cmnZNRt.jpg)
St. Cecelia, a Roman by birth, was forced to marry Valerian, a pagan. She converted him and Tiburtius, his brother, to the faith. Although married, St. Cecelia preserved her virginity. She spent her life preaching, converting over four hundred people. She was martyred in 230. St. Cecilia is regarded as the patroness of music, because she heard heavenly music in her heart when she was married, and is represented in art with an organ or organ-pipes in her hand.
(https://i.imgur.com/mGHEW9Q.jpg)
Collect: O God, You gladden us with the annual feast of Blessed Cecilia, Thy virgin and martyr; grant that as we honor her (in this service), so we may follow the example of her holy life. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ht4kmsJKgU
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November 23: St. Pope Clement I
(https://i.imgur.com/8LqK8FU.jpg)
St. Clement, the third successor of St. Peter to the See of Rome (fourth Pope), is considered the first Apostolic Father of the Church. He reigned as Pope from 88 AD until 99 AD when he was martyred by being tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea under the reign of the
Emperor Trajan. St. Clement is the patron saint of metalworkers and blacksmiths. He is also mentioned in the Canon of the Mass.
(https://i.imgur.com/SaOJOjS.jpg)
Collect: O eternal Shepherd, look favorably upon Thy flock, and guard it by Thy continual protection through Blessed Clement, Thy Martyr and Supreme Pontiff, whom you made the chief shepherd of the whole Church. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
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The first Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians;
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_First_Epistle_of_Clemens_Romanus_to/vp0JaSN88XAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover
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November 24: St. John of the Cross
(https://i.imgur.com/WNNATpV.jpg)
John Yepez was born at Fontiberas in Old Castile, Spain, in 1542. He took the Carmelite habit in 1563 and gave himself up to the practice of the greatest austerities. Later he collaborated with St. Teresa of Avila in reforming the Carmelite Order. He is known in the Church as one of the greatest contemplatives and teachers of mystical theology. He is a Doctor of the Church. After much physical and mental suffering, he died in peace in 1591.
(https://i.imgur.com/ChZsWNz.jpg)
Collect: O God, You endowed Saint John, Thy Confessor and Doctor, with a wonderful spirit of self-denial and pre-eminent love of the Cross; grant that by always following his example we may obtain everlasting glory. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
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The Dark Night of the Soul (poem)
By: St. John of the Cross
On a dark night,
Kindled in love with yearnings–oh, happy chance!–
I went forth without being observed,
My house being now at rest.
In darkness and secure,
By the secret ladder, disguised–oh, happy chance!–
In darkness and in concealment,
My house being now at rest.
In the happy night,
In secret, when none saw me,
Nor I beheld aught,
Without light or guide, save that which burned in my
heart.
This light guided me
More surely than the light of noonday
To the place where he (well I knew who!) was awaiting me–
A place where none appeared.
Oh, night that guided me,
Oh, night more lovely than the dawn,
Oh, night that joined Beloved with lover,
Lover transformed in the Beloved!
Upon my flowery breast,
Kept wholly for himself alone,
There he stayed sleeping, and I caressed him,
And the fanning of the cedars made a breeze.
The breeze blew from the turret
As I parted his locks;
With his gentle hand he wounded my neck
And caused all my senses to be suspended.
I remained, lost in oblivion;
My face I reclined on the Beloved.
All ceased and I abandoned myself,
Leaving my cares forgotten among the lilies.
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St. Catherine of Alexandria
St. Catherine of Alexandria, educated in the sciences, converted many learned men who assembled to convince her to sacrifice to their pagan idols. She was beheaded about 310, during the reign of Maximian.
(https://i.imgur.com/5DpKFtN.jpg)
Collect: O God, on the summit of Mount Sinai You gave the law to Moses, and by means of Thy holy angels, You miraculously placed there the body of Blessed Catherine, Thy Virgin and Martyr; grant, we beseech Thee, that, through her merits and intercession, we may be able to reach that mountain which is Christ. Who with You liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
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From Butler's Lives of the Saints;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUxHMJho-j0
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November 26: St. Sylvester, Abbot
(https://i.imgur.com/m6O2xLR.jpg)
St. Sylvester served as a canon in Osimo but respectful rebukes of his bishop's inappropriate conduct led him to leave for a hermitage before the bishop could strip him of his position. He went on to found the Congregation of Sylvestrines under the Benedictine rule. He died at ninety years of age, in 1267.
(https://i.imgur.com/tBiAwFN.jpg)
O most merciful God, You deigned to call Saint Sylvester the Abbot, to a life of shining merit in the wilderness, when pondering upon the vanity of worldly things before an open grave; we humbly beseech Thee, that like him we may despise earthly things, and enjoy companionship with Thee forevermore. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
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https://fatherdoyle.com/2021/11/26/st-john-berchmans-fr-doyle-and-ordinary-life-3/
St John Berchmans, Fr Doyle and ordinary life
November 26, 2021 (https://fatherdoyle.com/2021/11/26/st-john-berchmans-fr-doyle-and-ordinary-life-3/) PK (https://fatherdoyle.com/author/patrickkenny/) Jesuit (https://fatherdoyle.com/category/jesuit/), Saints (https://fatherdoyle.com/category/saints/), Virtues (https://fatherdoyle.com/category/virtues/)
(https://i0.wp.com/fatherdoyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/st-john-berchmans-e1574710398433.jpg?resize=250%2C325&ssl=1) (https://fatherdoyle.com/2016/11/26/fr-doyle-st-john-berchmans-and-the-holiness-of-ordinary-things/st-john-berchmans/#main)
St John Berchmans
The chief thing God wants from me at present is an extraordinary and exquisite perfection in every little thing I do, even the odd Hail Marys of the day; that each day there must be some improvement in the fervour, the purity of intention, the exactness with which I do things, that in this will chiefly lie my sanctification as it sanctified St John Berchmans. I see here a vast field for work and an endless service of mortification. To keep faithfully to this resolve will require heroism, so that day after day I may not flag in the fervour of my service of the good God.
COMMENT: Today is the feast of St John Berchmans. he was a young Jesuit scholastic from Belgium who died in 1621 at the age of 22. Fr Doyle was only 15 years old when St John Berchmans was canonised – their common Jesuit vocation as well as Fr Doyle’s impressionable age at the time of the canonisation of such a young saint are most probably the reasons for Fr Doyle’s devotion to him.
The striking characteristic of St John Berchmans’ spirituality is its simplicity and emphasis on the ordinary. And for all of us that is the realistic, solid road to sanctity. As Teresa of Avila said, we will find God amongst the pots and pans of the kitchen, or we will not find him at all. Despite the heroism and real drama of Fr Doyle’s life, its bedrock foundation was the faithful fulfilment of ordinary simple duties. It was this that he preached and recommended to his spiritual children, and without this daily faithfulness the drama of the trenches would be impossible – as the Lord says, he who is faithful in little things will be faithful in greater things. It doesn’t work the other way around! If we are not faithful in ordinary activities not only will we be unfaithful when really big things come, but we are probably unlikely to be given even the grace to fulfil a more elaborate mission in the Lord’s service.
Other Jesuits also saw this spirit of St John Berchmans in Fr Doyle. Here is the testimony of a Jesuit who lived with him while he was a Jesuit scholastic on the staff of Clongowes Wood College:
I can safely say he was a perfect Jesuit and often reminded me of St John Berchmans. His was a combination of real solid piety with a truly human character. Bright and joyous himself, he always made others happy and was evidently happy to be able to do so.
More information on the life and spirit of St John Berchmans can be found here: http://www.therealpresence.org/archives/Saints/Saints_015.htm (http://www.therealpresence.org/archives/Saints/Saints_015.htm)
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(https://i.imgur.com/6O1sWBy.jpg)
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The Woman I Love - Venerable Fulton Sheen - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8PRksy9mJE)
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First Sunday of Advent
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-51WHYYh7rU
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Sermons Of Saint Bernard Of Clairvaux For Advent, Catholic Audiobook - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQYHtXemD0c)
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November 30: St. Andrew
(https://i.imgur.com/9dtjGUb.jpg)
St. Andrew, the brother of St. Peter, was a native of the town of Bethsaida in Galilee. A fisherman by profession and a disciple of St. John the Baptist, he and his brother, St. Peter, joined Jesus as members of the Apostolic College. After the dispersion of the Apostles, St. Andrew preached in Greece and several other countries. He suffered martyrdom in Patras, Greece, and according to common opinion, by crucifixion on a cross made in the form of the letter X.
(https://i.imgur.com/6Jd6vdm.jpg)
Collect: We humbly beseech Thy Majesty, O Lord, that as the Blessed Apostle Andrew was once a teacher and ruler of Thy Church, so he may be out constant intercessor before Thee. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
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The following reading is taken from Matins on the feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle;
"After the death and Resurrection of Christ, Andrew was allotted Scythia as the province of his preaching, and, after laboring there, he went through Epirus and Thrace, where he turned vast multitudes to Christ by his teaching and miracles. Finally, he went to Patras in Achaia, and there also he brought many to the knowledge of Gospel truth. Aegeas the Pro-consul resisted the preaching of the Gospel, and the Apostle freely rebuked him, bidding him know that while he held himself a judge of his fellow men, he was himself hindered by devils from knowing Christ our God, the Judge of all. Come a short while after, [Andrew] was brought before the judgment-seat, where he extolled the mystery of the cross, and rebuked Aegeas for his ungodliness. Then Aegeas could bear with him no longer, but commanded him to be crucified, in imitation of Christ. Andrew, then, was led to the place of martyrdom, and, as soon as he came in sight of the cross, he cried out, O precious cross, which the Members of my Lord have made so goodly, how long have I desired thee! how warmly have I loved thee! how constantly have I sought thee! And, now that thou art come to me, how is my soul drawn to thee! Welcome me from among men, and join me again to my Master, that as by thee He redeemed me, so by thee also He may take me unto Himself. So, he was fastened to the cross, whereon he hung living for two days, during which time he ceased not to preach the faith of Christ, and, finally, passed into the Presence of Him the likeness of Whose death he had loved so well. All the above particulars of his last sufferings were written by the Priests and Deacons of Achaia, who bear witness to them of their own knowledge. Under the Emperor Constantine the bones of the Apostle were first taken to Constantinople, whence they were afterwards brought to Amalfi. In the Pontificate of Pope Pius II his head was carried to Rome, where it is kept in the Basilica of St. Peter."
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Today also marks the beginning of the St. Andrew Christmas novena. The St. Andrew Christmas novena is traditionally recited 15 times per day starting on November 30th (St. Andrew's Feast Day which is today) until Christmas Day on December 25th. Here it is...
"Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, [here mention your request] through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen."
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Wednesday: A Day to Commemorate St. Joseph, Foster Father of our Lord
(https://i.imgur.com/FzHqybb.jpg)
Memorare to St. Joseph
REMEMBER, O most pure spouse of Mary ever Virgin, my loving protector, Saint Joseph, that never has it been known that anyone ever invoked thy protection, or besought aid of thee, without being consoled. In this confidence I come before thee; I fervently recommend myself to thee. Despise not my prayer, foster-father of our Redeemer, but do thou in thy pity graciously receive it. Amen.
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A reading from the sermons of St Bernardine of Siena (Sermon 2, On St Joseph);
"This is the general rule that applies to all individual graces given to a rational creature. Whenever divine grace selects someone to receive a particular grace, or some especially favored position, all the gifts for his state are given to that person, and. enrich him abundantly.
This is especially true of that holy man Joseph, the supposed father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and true husband of the queen of the world and of the angels. He was chosen by the eternal Father to be the faithful foster-parent and guardian of the most precious treasures of God, his Son and his spouse. This was the task which he so faithfully carried out. For this, the Lord said to him, ‘Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.’
A comparison can be made between Joseph and the whole Church of Christ. Joseph was the specially chosen man through whom and under whom Christ entered the world fittingly and in an appropriate way. So, if the whole Church is in the debt of the Virgin Mary, since, through her, it was able to receive the Christ, surely after her, it also owes to Joseph special thanks and veneration.
For he it is who marks the closing of the Old Testament. In him the dignity of the prophets and patriarchs achieves its promised fulfilment. Moreover; he alone possessed in the flesh what God in his goodness promised to them over and again.
It is beyond doubt that Christ did not deny to Joseph in heaven that intimacy, respect, and high honor which he showed to him as to a father during his own human life, but rather completed and perfected it. Justifiably the words of the Lord should be applied to him, ‘Enter into the joy of your Lord.’ Although it is the joy of eternal happiness that comes into the heart of man, the Lord prefers to say to him ‘enter into joy’. The mystical implication is that this joy is not just inside man, but surrounds him everywhere and absorbs him, as if he were plunged in an infinite abyss.
Therefore, be mindful of us, blessed Joseph, and intercede for us with him whom men thought to be your son. Win for us the favor of the most Blessed Virgin your spouse, the mother of him who lives and reigns with the Holy Spirit through ages unending. Amen."
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2 DEC 20 (https://portraitsofsaints.tumblr.com/post/189433556186/happy-feast-day-saint-bibiana-viviana-vivian-or)21
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Happy Feast Day
Saint Bibiana (Viviana, Vivian or Vibiana)
Died: 363
Feastday: December 2
Patronage: single women, epileptics, hangovers, headaches, insanity, mental illness, torture victims
Saint Bibiana was a virgin and martyr who suffered persecution under Apronianus, Governor of Rome. After Bibiana’s parents were martyred she and her sister, Demetria, were left to suffer in poverty. Demetria died after confessing her faith, but Bibiana was left to endure greater suffering. She was sent to a woman of ill repute who in vain endeavored to seduce her and have her renounce her faith. When this failed Bibiana was then tied to a pillar and beaten with scourges until she died.
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Sorry to get things out of order but we must not miss
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.870588)] ST. EDMUND CAMPION[/color]
September 12, 2013
(https://catholicgentleman.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/campion2.jpg)
(http://thecatholicgentleman.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/edmund.jpg)
(https://thecatholicgentleman.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/edmund.jpg) (http://thecatholicgentleman.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/edmund.jpg)
(http://thecatholicgentleman.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/edmund.jpg)During the reformation in England, the Church was fiercely persecuted, and many faithful Catholics gave their lives for the faith. Some were mothers, others were priests, others statesmen. But they were all so convinced that the Catholic faith was true that they chose death rather than renounce it.
I want to make it clear that these courageous men and women did not die for religious freedom, as is the common misunderstanding. They died because they loved Jesus and the Catholic faith he founded more than their own lives. It’s the difference between dying so a Hindu can worship false gods in his temple and dying because you love Christ and his Church and could never betray either of them.
Today, I want to briefly share the life of one of these men, St. Edmund Campion.
Early Life
St. Edmund Campion was born around 1540 to a London Bookseller. At the young age of 15, he earned a scholarship to St. John’s College, Oxford (these teenagers were hardcore).
Immediately, young Edmund distinguished himself as an academic and especially as an orator. He was invited to speak at many important functions, and eventually, before Queen Elizabeth herself. His extraordinary abilities and winsome personality so impressed the Queen that he immediately won her patronage and support. A member of her court later referred to Campion as “one of the diamonds of England.”
It is an understatement to say that Edmund had a bright future ahead of him. He could very easily have risen to the highest political offices in England or left a lasting legacy as an academic. But God had other plans.
Conversion and priesthood
In the course of his studies, Edmund was required to take the oath of royal supremacy, stating that the monarch of England was the supreme head of the newly formed church of England. It was impossible to receive a degree or pursue a scholarly life without taking this oath. He also became a deacon in the Anglican church and shortly thereafter received an important position at his university.
(http://thecatholicgentleman.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/edmond_campion_001.jpg)
(https://thecatholicgentleman.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/edmond_campion_001.jpg?w=221) (http://thecatholicgentleman.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/edmond_campion_001.jpg)
(http://thecatholicgentleman.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/edmond_campion_001.jpg)
All the while, however, he harbored deep doubts about the nature of the church of England and its recent separation from Rome. He eventually traveled to Dublin, where he renounced Anglicanism and reconciled with the Catholic church.
In 1573, Campion traveled to Rome to study for the priesthood with the Jesuits. After his ordination, he taught at the in university in Prague.
Mission to England
At this time in history, the Jesuits were newly formed, and they were considered the shock troops, so to speak, in challenging the spread of Protestantism. Wherever the Church was in most need, that’s where the Jesuits went.
Inspired by the Jesuit successes in other countries, Pope Gregory XIII decided to send Jesuits to England. Edmund Campion and Robert Persons were chosen for the task. Both of these men knew that their mission would most likely cost them their lives, as Catholic priests were regularly imprisoned, tortured, and killed for their ministry.
Unsurprisingly, the moment Campion landed in England, he was on the run. After being chased out London, he traveled around the English countryside preaching and making many notable converts. While his mission was unquestionably successful, he was constantly being pursued by spies, and he was almost captured on several occasions.
But he didn’t lose heart. Instead, he decided to write a scholarly treatise challenging the most learned protestants in England to debate matters of religion with him. The publication of this treatise caused a huge uproar, and efforts to capture him were intensified.
Capture and death
(https://thecatholicgentleman.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/campion2.jpg?w=200) (http://thecatholicgentleman.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/campion2.jpg)Execution of St. Edmund Campion
On a Sunday morning, while preaching and celebrating mass in the countryside, he was finally betrayed by a spy. He was captured shortly thereafter and taken to London for trial.
During the course of his imprisonment, he was tortured severely and urged by a number of protestant dignitaries to recant his Catholic faith. Of course, he refused. Eventually, he and a number of other captured priests were taken before a court on false charges of ѕєdιтισn and conspiracy to raise an uprising in England.
Ironically, the trial turned into an opportunity for apologetics, with Campion skillfully defending himself and the other priests on trial, destroying the trumped up evidence, and dismantling the arguments the church of England used to justify its separation from the Catholic church.
But despite his efforts, the court still found the priests guilty of ѕєdιтισn and condemned them to death by drawing and quartering (if you don’t know what that is, it’s one of the most cruel forms of execution ever devised). Unfortunately for the jury, the priests weren’t dismayed at all. Instead, they began to chant the great Catholic hymn, the Te Deum.
His last words were:
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.870588)]“As to the treasons which have been laid to my charge, and for which I come here to suffer, I desire you all to bear witness with me that I am thereto altogether innocent…I am a Catholic man and a priest; in that Faith I have lived, and in that Faith do I intend to die. If you esteem my Religion treason, then I am guilty; as for the other treason, I never committed any, God is my judge.”[/color]
Conclusion
We live in a time of pandemic religious indifference. The vast majority of men don’t really think religion matters all that much. What you believe is really more of a personal preference, they think, and religion certainly isn’t worth dying for.
But this lukewarm attitude is the complete opposite of our Catholic forebears. These men were made of sterner stuff than most of us are today. To them, being Catholic wasn’t a matter of convenience or personal taste, and they didn’t profess the faith because it was comfortable or easy. They professed the faith even at the cost of their lives because they believed in the core of their being that it was true, and Truth mattered more than anything. Does it matter to us?
Studying the lives of these heroic martyrs should inspire us to passionately love the Faith once delivered to the saints. Let’s be courageous and stand up for what we believe, come what may. St. Edmund Campion, pray for us men!
PS: If you want a great read on the Reformation in England, check out the novel Come Rack! Come Rope! (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/190557424X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=190557424X&linkCode=as2&tag=tumbstrebook-20)(https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=tumbstrebook-20&l=as2&o=1&a=190557424X) by Robert Hugh Benson.
https://catholicgentleman.com/2013/09/gentleman-saint-st-edmund-campion/
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2 DEC 20 (https://portraitsofsaints.tumblr.com/post/189433556186/happy-feast-day-saint-bibiana-viviana-vivian-or)21
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Happy Feast Day
Saint Bibiana (Viviana, Vivian or Vibiana)
Died: 363
Feastday: December 2
Patronage: single women, epileptics, hangovers, headaches, insanity, mental illness, torture victims
Saint Bibiana was a virgin and martyr who suffered persecution under Apronianus, Governor of Rome. After Bibiana’s parents were martyred she and her sister, Demetria, were left to suffer in poverty. Demetria died after confessing her faith, but Bibiana was left to endure greater suffering. She was sent to a woman of ill repute who in vain endeavored to seduce her and have her renounce her faith. When this failed Bibiana was then tied to a pillar and beaten with scourges until she died.
{website} (https://href.li/?https://www.portraitsofsaints.com/collections/all-product/all-images-st-bibiana?sort_by=title-ascending&fbclid=IwAR24WprtAJnWHRk8kLJ2pEymYWj-uvditoUjpMmNhPCiNKBGmmnt6xPt5Ps)
Patron Saint of hangovers? :laugh1:
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Patron Saint of hangovers? :laugh1:
And insanity!!!! Well she must be extremely busy now.
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And insanity!!!! Well she must be extremely busy now.
That's for sure :laugh1:
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Speaking of St. Edmond Campion, there was a "St. Edmund Campion Missal" on the "lost and found" table at the Mass I attended last week. I only had time to flip through it for a couple minutes so I can't say much about it other than it was on the larger side and had a lot of beautiful artwork throughout. In fact, just from googling it, it sounds like it's known for beautiful artwork (color and line drawings). Here's a review of it and a video if anyone's interested in checking it out (I think there's like 3 additions that differ in some way so make sure to look into that if you decide to purchase);
A Catholic Life: Book Review: St. Edmund Campion Missal (https://acatholiclife.blogspot.com/2013/12/book-review-st-edmund-campion-missal.html)
St. Edmund Campion Missal & Hymnal for the Traditional Latin Mass - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5TjEbh4Tq4)
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December 3: St. Francis Xavier
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St. Francis Xavier was born in Navarre, Spain, 1506. From St. Ignatius Loyola, he heard the words: "What does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, but suffer the loss of his own soul?" He renounced his worldly life, and became one of the most zealous apostles who have ever preached the Gospel. He was a missionary. His particular fields of labor were India and Japan, where he converted innumerable pagans. He died off the coast of China in 1552.
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Collect: O God, by the preaching and miracles of Blessed Francis, You were pleased to gather into Thy Church the nations of the Indies; mercifully grant that we, who venerate his glorious merits, may likewise follow the example of his virtues. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
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FR. CHAZAL SERMON FEAST OF ST. FRANCIS XAVIER DEC. 3 - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYQKnQ9V1KA)
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Catholic Sermon : First..Fix the Papacy & the Real Solution "Fatima" - Fr. Chazal, MCSPX - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im1LQvs2PEw)
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I'm a day late and a dollar short but happy second week of Advent everyone! :laugh1:
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November 6: St. Nicholas of Myra
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St. Nicholas is distinguished in the Church for his holy austerity and childlike innocence. Chosen as Bishop of Myra in Licia, Asia Minor, he distinguished himself for his charity and liberality. He was particularly solicitous for the care of the young, and thus is venerated as the patron of children. He took part in the council of Nicea, in 325, which condemned the Arian heresy, where he was said to have slapped Arius himself. His relics are preserved in Bari, Italy.
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Collect: O God, You adorned the Blessed Bishop Nicholas with countless miracles; grant, we beseech Thee, that by his merits and prayers we may be delivered from the flames of hell. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
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From The Golden Legend;
Here beginneth the Life of S. Nicholas the Bishop.
Nicholas is said of Nichos, which is to say victory, and of laos, people, so Nicholas is as much as to say as victory of people, that is, victory of sins, which be foul people. Or else he is said, victory of people, because he enseigned and taught much people by his doctrine to overcome vices and sins. Or Nicholas is said of Nichor, that is the resplendour or shining of the people, for he had in him things that make shining and clearness. After this S. Ambrose saith: The word of God, very confession, and holy thought, make a man clean. And the doctors of Greece write his legend, and some others say that Methodius the patriarch wrote it in Greek, and John the deacon translated it into Latin and adjousted thereto many things.
Nicholas, citizen of the city of Patras, was born of rich and holy kin, and his father was Epiphanes and his mother Johane. He was begotten in the first flower of their age, and from that time forthon they lived in continence and led an heavenly life. Then the first day that he was washed and bained, he addressed him right up in the bason, and he would not take the breast nor the pap but once on the Wednesday and once on the Friday, and in his young age he eschewed the plays and japes of other young children. He used and haunted gladly holy church; and all that he might understand of holy scripture he executed it in deed and work after his power. And when his father and mother were departed out of this life, he began to think how he might distribute his riches, and not to the praising of the world but to the honour and glory of God. And it was so that one, his neighbour, had then three daughters, virgins, and he was a nobleman: but for the poverty of them together, they were constrained, and in very purpose to abandon them to the sin of lechery, so that by the gain and winning of their infamy they might be sustained. And when the holy man Nicholas knew hereof he had great horror of this villainy, and threw by night secretly into the house of the man a mass of gold wrapped in a cloth. And when the man arose in the morning, he found this mass of gold, and rendered to God therefor great thankings, and therewith he married his oldest daughter. And a little while after this holy servant of God threw in another mass of gold, which the man found, and thanked God, and purposed to wake, for to know him that so had aided him in his poverty. And after a few days Nicholas doubled the mass of gold, and cast it into the house of this man. He awoke by the sound of the gold, and followed Nicholas, which fled from him, and he said to him: Sir, flee not away so but that I may see and know thee. Then he ran after him more hastily, and knew that it was Nicholas; and anon he kneeled down, and would have kissed his feet, but the holy man would not, but required him not to tell nor discover this thing as long as he lived.
After this the bishop of Mirea died and other bishops assembled for to purvey to this church a bishop. And there was, among the others, a bishop of great authority, and all the election was in him. And when he had warned all for to be in fastings and in prayers, this bishop heard that night a voice which said to him that, at the hour of matins, he should take heed to the doors of the church, and him that should come first to the church, and have the name of Nicholas they should sacre him bishop. And he showed this to the other bishops and admonished them for to be all in prayers; and he kept the doors. And this was a marvellous thing, for at the hour of matins, like as he had been sent from God, Nicholas arose tofore all other. And the bishop took him when he was come and demanded of him his name. And he, which was simple as a dove, inclined his head, and said: I have to name Nicholas. Then the bishop said to him: Nicholas, servant and friend of God, for your holiness ye shall be bishop of this place. And sith they brought him to the church, howbeit that he refused it strongly, yet they set him in the chair. And he followed, as he did tofore in all things, in humility and honesty of manners. He woke in prayer and made his body lean, he eschewed company of women, he was humble in receiving all things, profitable in speaking, joyous in admonishing, and cruel in correcting.
It is read in a chronicle that, the blessed Nicholas was at the Council of Nice; and on a day,as a ship with mariners were in perishing on the sea, they prayed and required devoutly Nicholas, servant of God, saying: If those things that we have heard of thee said be true, prove them now. And anon a man appeared in his likeness, and said: Lo! see ye me not? ye called me, and then he began to help them in their exploit of the sea, and anon the tempest ceased. And when they were come to his church, they knew him without any man to show him to them, and yet they had never seen him. And then they thanked God and him of their deliverance. And he bade them to attribute it to the mercy of God, and to their belief, and nothing to his merits.
It was so on a time that all the province of S. Nicolas suffered great famine, in such wise that victual failed. And then this holy man heard say that certain ships laden with wheat were arrived in the haven. And anon he went thither and prayed the mariners that they would succour the perished at least with an hundred muyes of wheat of every ship. And they said: Father we dare not, for it is meted and measured, and we must give reckoning thereof in the garners of the Emperor in Alexandria. And the holy man said to them: Do this that I have said to you, and I promise, in the truth of God, that it shall not be lessed or minished when ye shall come to the garners. And when they had delivered so much out of every ship, they came into Alexandria and delivered the measure that they had received. And then they recounted the miracle to the ministers of the Emperor, and worshipped and praised strongly God and his servant Nicholas. Then this holy man distributed the wheat to every man after that he had need, in such wise that it sufficed for two years, not only for to sell, but also to sow. And in this country the people served idols and worshipped the false image of the cursed Diana. And to the time of this holy man, many of them had some customs of the paynims, for to sacrifice to Diana under a sacred tree; but this good man made them of all the country to cease then these customs, and commanded to cut off the tree. Then the devil was angry and wroth against him, and made an oil that burned, against nature, in water, and burned stones also. And then he transformed him in the guise of a religious woman, and put him in a little boat, and encountered pilgrims that sailed in the sea towards this holy saint, and areasoned them thus, and said: I would fain go to this holy man, but I may not, wherefore I pray you to bear this oil into his church, and for the remembrance of me, that ye anoint the walls of the hall; and anon he vanished away. Then they saw anon after another ship with honest persons, among whom there was one like to Nicholas, which spake to them softly: What hath this woman said to you, and what hath she brought? And they told to him all by order. And he said to them: This is the evil and foul Diana; and to the end that ye know that I say truth, cast that oil into the sea. And when they had cast it, a great fire caught it in the sea, and they saw it long burn against nature. Then they came to this holy man and said to him: Verily thou art he that appeared to us in the sea and deliveredst us from the sea and awaits of the devil.
And in this time certain men rebelled against the emperor; and the emperor sent against them three princes Nepotian, Ursyn, and Apollyn. And they came into the port Adriatic, for the wind, which was contrary to them; and the blessed Nicholas commanded them to dine with him, for he would keep his people from the ravin that they made. And whilst they were at dinner, the consul, corrupt by money, had commanded three innocent knights to be beheaded. And when the blessed Nicholas knew this, he prayed these three princes that they would much hastily go with him. And when they were come where they should be beheaded, he found them on their knees, and blindfold, and the righter brandished his sword over their heads. Then S. Nicholas embraced with the love of God, set him hardily against the righter, and took the sword out of his hand, and threw it from him, and unbound the innocents, and led them with him all safe. And anon he went to the judgment to the consul, and found the gates closed, which anon he opened by force. And the consul came anon and saluted him: and this holy man having this salutation in despite, said to him: Thou enemy of God, corrupter of the law,. wherefore hast thou consented to so great evil and felony, how darest thou look on us? And when he had sore chidden and reproved him, he repented, and at the prayer of the three princes he received him to penance. After, when the messengers of the emperor had received his benediction, they made their gear ready and departed, and subdued their enemies to the empire without shedding of blood and sith returned to the emperor, and were worshipfully received. And after this it happed that some other in the emperor's house had envy on the weal of these three princes, and accused them to the emperor of high treason, and did so much by prayer and by gifts that they caused the emperor to be so full of ire that he commanded them to prison, and without other demand, he commanded that they should be slain that same night. And when they knew it by their keeper, they rent their clothes and wept bitterly; and then Nepotian remembered him how S. Nicholas had delivered the three innocents, and admonested the others that they should require his aid and help. And thus as they prayed S. Nicholas appeared to them, and after appeared to Constantine the emperor, and said to him: Wherefore hast thou taken these three princes with so great wrong, and hast judged them to death without trespass? Arise up hastily, and command that they be not executed, or I shall pray to God that he move battle against thee, in which thou shalt be overthrown, and shalt be made meat to beasts. And the emperor demanded: What art thou that art entered by night into my palace and durst say to me such words? And he said to him: I am Nicholas bishop of Mirea. And in like wise he appeared to the provost, and feared him, saying with a fearful voice: Thou that hast Iost mind and wit, wherefore hast thou consented to the death of innocents? Go forth anon and do thy part to deliver them, or else thy body shall rot, and be eaten with worms, and thy meiny shall be destroyed. And he asked him: Who art thou that so menaces me? And he answered: Know thou that I am Nicholas, the bishop of the city of Mirea. Then that one awoke that other, and each told to other their dreams, and anon sent for them that were in prison, to whom the emperor said: What art magic or sorcery can ye, that ye have this night by illusion caused us to have such dreams? And they said that they were none enchanters ne knew no witchcraft, and also that they had not deserved the sentence of death. Then the emperor said to them: know ye well a man named Nicholas? And when they heard speak of the name of the holy saint, they held up their hands towards heaven, and prayed our Lord that by the merits of S. Nicholas they might be delivered of this present peril. And when the emperor had heard of them the life and miracles of S. Nicholas, he said to them: Go ye forth, and yield ye thankings to God, which hath delivered you by the prayer of this holy man, and worship ye him; and bear ye to him of your Jєωels, and pray ye him that he threaten me no more, but that he pray for me and for my realm unto our Lord. And a while after, the said princes went unto the holy man, and fell down on their knees humbly at his feet, saying: Verily thou art the sergeant of God, and the very worshipper and lover of Jesu Christ. And when they had all told this said thing by order, he lift up his hands to heaven and gave thankings and praisings to God, and sent again the princes, well informed, into their countries.
And when it pleased our Lord to have him depart out this world, he prayed our Lord that he would send him his angels; and inclining his head he saw the angels come to him, whereby he knew well that he should depart, and began this holy psalm: In te domine speravi, unto, in manus tuas, and so saying: Lord, into thine hands I commend my spirit, he rendered up his soul and died, the year of our Lord three hundred and forty- three, with great melody sung of the celestial company. And when he was buried in a tomb of marble, a fountain of oil sprang out from the head unto his feet; and unto this day holy oil issueth out of his body, which is much available to the health of sicknesses of many men. And after him in his see succeeded a man of good and holy life, which by envy was put out of his bishopric. And when he was out of his see the oil ceased to run, and when he was restored again thereto, the oil ran again.
Long after this the Turks destroyed the city of Mirea, and then came thither forty- seven knights of Bari, and four monks showed to them the sepulchre of S. Nicholas. And they opened it and found the bones swimming in the oil, and they bare them away honourably into the city of Bari, in the year of our Lord ten hundred and eightyseven.
There was a man that had borrowed of a Jєω a sum of money, and sware upon the altar of S. Nicholas that he would render and pay it again as soon as he might, and gave none other pledge. And this man held this money so long, that the Jєω demanded and asked his money, and he said that he had paid him. Then the Jєω made him to come tofore the law in judgment, and the oath was given to the debtor. And he brought with him an hollow staff, in which he had put the money in gold, and he leant upon the staff. And when he should make his oath and swear, he delivered his staff to the Jєω to keep and hold whilst he should swear, and then sware that he had delivered to him more than he ought to him. And when he had made the oath, he demanded his staff again of the Jєω, and he nothing knowing of his malice delivered it to him. Then this deceiver went his way, and anon after, him list sore to sleep, and laid him in the way, and a cart with four wheels came with great force and slew him, and brake the staff with gold that it spread abroad. And when the Jєω heard this, he came thither sore moved, and saw the fraud, and many said to him that he should take to him the gold; and he refused it, saying, But if he that was dead were not raised again to life by the merits of S. Nicholas, he would not receive it, and if he came again to life, he would receive baptism and become Christian. Then he that was dead arose, and the Jєω was christened.
Another Jєω saw the virtuous miracles of S. Nicholas, and did do make an image of the saint, and set it in his house, and commanded him that he should keep well his house when he went out, and that he should keep well all his goods, saying to him: Nicholas, lo! here be all my goods, I charge thee to keep them, and if thou keep them not well, I shall avenge me on thee in beating and tormenting thee. And on a time, when the Jєω was out, thieves came and robbed all his goods, and left, unborne away, only the image. And when the Jєω came home he found him robbed of all his goods. He areasoned the image saying these words: Sir Nicholas, I had set you in my house for to keep my goods from thieves, wherefore have ye not kept them? Ye shall receive sorrow and torments, and shall have pain for the thieves. I shall avenge my loss, and refrain my woodness in beating thee. And then took the Jєω the image, and beat it, and tormented it cruelly. Then happed a great marvel, for when the thieves departed the goods, the holy saint, like as he had been in his array, appeared to the thieves, and said to them: Wherefore have I been beaten so cruelly for you and have so many torments? See how my body is hewed and broken; see how that the red blood runneth down by my body; go ye fast and restore it again, or else the ire of God Almighty shall make you as to be one out of his wit, and that all men shall know your felony, and that each of you shall be hanged. And they said: Who art thou that sayest to us such things? And he said to them: I am Nicholas the servant of Jesu Christ, whom the Jєω hath so cruelly beaten for his goods that ye bare away. Then they were afeard, and came to the Jєω, and heard what he had done to the image, and they told him the miracle, and delivered to him again all his goods. And thus came the thieves to the way of truth, and the Jєω to the way of Jesu Christ. A man, for the love of his son, that went to school for to learn, hallowed, every year, the feast of S. Nicholas much solemnly. On a time it happed that the father had do make ready the dinner, and called many clerks to this dinner. And the devil came to the gate in the habit of a pilgrim for to demand alms: and the father anon commanded his son that he should give alms to the pilgrim. He followed him as he went for to give to him alms, and when he came to the quarfox the devil caught the child and strangled him. And when the father heard this he sorrowed much strongly and wept, and bare the body into his chamber, and began to cry for sorrow, and say: Bright sweet son, how is it with thee? S. Nicholas, is this the guerdon that ye have done to me because I have so long served you? And as he said these words, and other semblable, the child opened his eyes, and awoke like as he had been asleep, and arose up tofore all, and was raised from death to life.
Another nobleman prayed to S. Nicholas that he would, by his merits, get of our Lord that he might have a son, and promised that he would bring his son to the church, and would offer up to him a cup of gold. Then the son was born and came to age, and the father commanded to make a cup, and the cup pleased him much, and he retained it for himself, and did do make another of the same value. And they went sailing in a ship toward the church of S. Nicholas, and when the child would have filled the cup, he fell into the water with the cup, and anon was lost, and came no more up. Yet nevertheless the father performed his avow, in weeping much tenderly for his son; and when he came to the altar of S. Nicholas he offered the second cup, and when he had offered it, it fell down, like as one had cast it under the altar. And he took it up and set it again upon the altar, and then yet was it cast further than tofore and yet he took it up and remised it the third time upon the altar; and it was thrown again further than tofore. Of which thing all they that were there marvelled, and men came for to see this thing. And anon, the child that had fallen in the sea, came again prestly before them all, and brought in his hands the first cup, and recounted to the people that, anon as he was fallen in the sea, the blessed S. Nicholas came and kept him that he had none harm. And thus his father was glad and offered to S. Nicholas both the two cups.
There was another rich man that by the merits of S. Nicholas had a son, and called him: Deus dedit, God gave. And this rich man did do make a chapel of S. Nicholas in his dwellingplace; and did do hallow every year the feast of S. Nicholas. And this manor was set by the land of the Agarians. This child was taken prisoner, and deputed to serve the king. The year following, and the day that his father held devoutly the feast of S. Nicholas, the child held a precious cup tofore the king, and remembered his prise, the sorrow of his friends, and the joy that was made that day in the house of his father, and began for to sigh sore high. And the king demanded him what ailed him and the cause of his sighing; and he told him every word wholly. And when the king knew it he said to him: Whatsomever thy Nicholas do or do not, thou shalt abide here with us. And suddenly there blew a much strong wind, that made all the house to tremble, and the child was ravished with the cup, and was set tofore the gate where his father held the solemnity of S. Nicholas, in such wise that they all demeaned great joy.
And some say that this child was of Normandy, and went oversea, and was taken by the sowdan, which made him oft to be beaten tofore him. And as he was beaten on a S. Nicholas day, and was after set in prison, he prayed to S. Nicholas as well for his beating that he suffered, as for the great joy that he was wont to have on that day of S. Nicholas. And when he had long prayed and sighed he fell asleep, and when he awoke he found himself in the chapel of his father, whereas was much joy made for him. Let us then pray to this blessed saint that he will pray for us to our Lord Jesu Christ which is blessed in secula seculorum. Amen.
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Since Saint Nicholas is such a popular Saint, especially in the East, my daughter and I are about to leave the house to go to a Byzantine Divine Liturgy for his feast. Saint Nicholas, pray for us!
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December 7: St. Ambrose of Milan
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Saint Ambrose was one of the four great Latin Fathers and Doctors of the Western Church. As an orator, he opposed the Arian heretics. As Biship of Milan, he had the satisfaction of witnessing the conversion of Saint Augustine, whom he baptized in 387. As a writer, he enriched Latin literature with many works on Scripture, the priesthood, doctrinal subjects and hymnology. The liturgy of Milan is known as the "Ambrosian Rite". He died in 397.
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Collect: O God, You gave Blessed Ambrose to Thy people, as a minister of eternal salvation; grant, we beseech Thee, that we, who have had him as a teacher of life on earth, may deserve to have him as our advocate in heaven. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
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Here is an Advent hymn/poem written by Saint Ambrose;
O COME, Redeemer of the earth, and manifest thy virgin-birth. Let every age in wonder fall: such birth befits the God of all. Begotten of no human will but of the Spirit, Thou art still the Word of God in flesh arrayed, the promised fruit to man displayed. The Virgin’s womb that burden gained, its virgin honor still unstained. The banners there of virtue glow; God in his temple dwells below. Proceeding from His chamber free that royal home of purity a giant in twofold substance one, rejoicing now His course to run. O equal to the Father, Thou! Gird on Thy fleshly mantle now; the weakness of our mortal state with deathless might invigorate. Thy cradle here shall glitter bright, and darkness breathe a newer light where endless faith shall shine serene and twilight never intervene. All praise, eternal Son, to Thee, whose advent sets Thy people free, whom, with the Father, we adore, and Holy Ghost, for evermore. Amen.
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December 8: Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
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This feast commemorates the preservation of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the stain of original sin from the first moment of her conception. It originated in the Eastern Church about the 8th century and was celebrated on Dec. 9. In the 11th century it appeared in the Western Church and was first celebrated in England; and in the 14th century it was included in the calendar of the Universal Church.
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The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was defined by Pope Pius IX on Dec. 8, 1854. This dogma is in accord with the texts of Scripture: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed" (Gen. 3,15), "Hail, full of grace" (Luke 1, 28), and was clearly understood and accepted by Tradition, the writings of the Fathers and by feasts observed by the general belief of the faithful long before it was defined.
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Collect: O God, by the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, You prepared a worthy habitation for Thy Son; we beseech Thee, that, as by the foreseen death of Thy same Son You preserved her from all stain of sin, so You would grant us also, through her intercession, to come to You with pure hearts. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
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Ineffabilis Deus
The Immaculate Conception
Pope BI. Pius IX - 1854
God Ineffable — whose ways are mercy and truth, whose will is omnipotence itself, and whose wisdom “reaches from end to end mightily, and orders all things sweetly” — having foreseen from all eternity the lamentable wretchedness of the entire human race which would result from the sin of Adam, decreed, by a plan hidden from the centuries, to complete the first work of his goodness by a mystery yet more wondrously sublime through the Incarnation of the Word. This he decreed in order that man who, contrary to the plan of Divine Mercy had been led into sin by the cunning malice of Satan, should not perish; and in order that what had been lost in the first Adam would be gloriously restored in the Second Adam. From the very beginning, and before time began, the eternal Father chose and prepared for his only-begotten Son a Mother in whom the Son of God would become incarnate and from whom, in the blessed fullness of time, he would be born into this world. Above all creatures did God so loved her that truly in her was the Father well pleased with singular delight. Therefore, far above all the angels and all the saints so wondrously did God endow her with the abundance of all heavenly gifts poured from the treasury of his divinity that this mother, ever absolutely free of all stain of sin, all fair and perfect, would possess that fullness of holy innocence and sanctity than which, under God, one cannot even imagine anything greater, and which, outside of God, no mind can succeed in comprehending fully.
Supreme Reason for the Privilege: The Divine Maternity
And indeed it was wholly fitting that so wonderful a mother should be ever resplendent with the glory of most sublime holiness and so completely free from all taint of original sin that she would triumph utterly over the ancient serpent. To her did the Father will to give his only-begotten Son — the Son whom, equal to the Father and begotten by him, the Father loves from his heart — and to give this Son in such a way that he would be the one and the same common Son of God the Father and of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was she whom the Son himself chose to make his Mother and it was from her that the Holy Spirit willed and brought it about that he should be conceived and born from whom he himself proceeds.[1]
Liturgical Argument
The Catholic Church, directed by the Holy Spirit of God, is the pillar and base of truth and has ever held as divinely revealed and as contained in the deposit of heavenly revelation this doctrine concerning the original innocence of the august Virgin — a doctrine which is so perfectly in harmony with her wonderful sanctity and preeminent dignity as Mother of God — and thus has never ceased to explain, to teach and to foster this doctrine age after age in many ways and by solemn acts. From this very doctrine, flourishing and wondrously propagated in the Catholic world through the efforts and zeal of the bishops, was made very clear by the Church when she did not hesitate to present for the public devotion and veneration of the faithful the Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin.[2] By this most significant fact, the Church made it clear indeed that the conception of Mary is to be venerated as something extraordinary, wonderful, eminently holy, and different from the conception of all other human beings — for the Church celebrates only the feast days of the saints.
And hence the very words with which the Sacred Scriptures speak of Uncreated Wisdom and set forth his eternal origin, the Church, both in its ecclesiastical offices and in its liturgy, has been wont to apply likewise to the origin of the Blessed Virgin, inasmuch as God, by one and the same decree, had established the origin of Mary and the Incarnation of Divine Wisdom.
Ordinary Teaching of the Roman Church
These truths, so generally accepted and put into practice by the faithful, indicate how zealously the Roman Church, mother and teacher of all Churches, has continued to teach this doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin. Yet the more important actions of the Church deserve to be mentioned in detail. For such dignity and authority belong to the Church that she alone is the center of truth and of Catholic unity. It is the Church in which alone religion has been inviolably preserved and from which all other Churches must receive the tradition of the Faith.[3]
The same Roman Church, therefore, desired nothing more than by the most persuasive means to state, to protect, to promote and to defend the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. This fact is most clearly shown to the whole world by numerous and significant acts of the Roman Pontiffs, our predecessors. To them, in the person of the Prince of the Apostles, were divinely entrusted by Christ our Lord, the charge and supreme care and the power of feeding the lambs and sheep; in particular, of confirming their brethren, and of ruling and governing the universal Church.
Veneration of the Immaculate
Our predecessors, indeed, by virtue of their apostolic authority, gloried in instituting the Feast of the Conception in the Roman Church. They did so to enhance its importance and dignity by a suitable Office and Mass, whereby the prerogative of the Virgin, her exception from the hereditary taint, was most distinctly affirmed. As to the homage already instituted, they spared no effort to promote and to extend it either by the granting of indulgences, or by allowing cities, provinces and kingdoms to choose as their patroness God’s own Mother, under the title of “The Immaculate Conception.” Again, our predecessors approved confraternities, congregations and religious communities founded in honor of the Immaculate Conception, monasteries, hospitals, altars, or churches; they praised persons who vowed to uphold with all their ability the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. Besides, it afforded the greatest joy to our predecessors to ordain that the Feast of the Conception should be celebrated in every church with the very same honor as the Feast of the Nativity; that it should be celebrated with an octave by the whole Church; that it should be reverently and generally observed as a holy day of obligation; and that a pontifical Capella should be held in our Liberian pontifical basilica on the day dedicated to the conception of the Virgin. Finally, in their desire to impress this doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God upon the hearts of the faithful, and to intensify the people’s piety and enthusiasm for the homage and the veneration of the Virgin conceived without the stain of original sin, they delighted to grant, with the greatest pleasure, permission to proclaim the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin in the Litany of Loreto, and in the Preface of the Mass, so that the rule of prayer might thus serve to illustrate the rule of belief. Therefore, we ourselves, following the procedure of our predecessors, have not only approved and accepted what had already been established, but bearing in mind, moreover, the decree of Sixtus IV, [4] have confirmed by our authority a proper Office in honor of the Immaculate Conception, and have with exceeding joy extended its use to the universal Church.[5]
The Roman Doctrine
Now inasmuch as whatever pertains to sacred worship is intimately connected with its object and cannot have either consistency or durability if this object is vague or uncertain, our predecessors, the Roman Pontiffs, therefore, while directing all their efforts toward an increase of the devotion to the conception, made it their aim not only to emphasize the object with the utmost zeal, but also to enunciate the exact doctrine.[6] Definitely and clearly they taught that the feast was held in honor of the conception of the Virgin. They denounced as false and absolutely foreign to the mind of the Church the opinion of those who held and affirmed that it was not the conception of the Virgin but her sanctification that was honored by the Church. They never thought that greater leniency should be extended toward those who, attempting to disprove the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, devised a distinction between the first and second instance of conception and inferred that the conception which the Church celebrates was not that of the first instance of conception but the second. In fact, they held it was their duty not only to uphold and defend with all their power the Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin but also to assert that the true object of this veneration was her conception considered in its first instant. Hence the words of one of our predecessors, Alexander VII, who authoritatively and decisively declared the mind of the Church: “Concerning the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, ancient indeed is that devotion of the faithful based on the belief that her soul, in the first instant of its creation and in the first instant of the soul’s infusion into the body, was, by a special grace and privilege of God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, her Son and the Redeemer of the human race, preserved free from all stain of original sin. And in this sense have the faithful ever solemnized and celebrated the Feast of the Conception.”[7]
Moreover, our predecessors considered it their special solemn duty with all diligence, zeal, and effort to preserve intact the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. For, not only have they in no way ever allowed this doctrine to be censured or changed, but they have gone much further and by clear statements repeatedly asserted that the doctrine by which we profess the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin is on its own merits entirely in harmony with the ecclesiastical veneration; that it is ancient and widespread, and of the same nature as that which the Roman Church has undertaken to promote and to protect, and that it is entirely worthy to be used in the Sacred Liturgy and solemn prayers. Not content with this they most strictly prohibited any opinion contrary to this doctrine to be defended in public or private in order that the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin might remain inviolate. By repeated blows they wished to put an end to such an opinion. And lest these oft-repeated and clearest statements seem useless, they added a sanction to them.
Papal Sanctions
All these things our illustrious predecessor, Alexander VII, summed up in these words: “We have in mind the fact that the Holy Roman Church solemnly celebrated the Feast of the Conception of the undefiled and ever-Virgin Mary, and has long ago appointed for this a special and proper Office according to the pious, devout, and laudable instruction which was given by our predecessor, Sixtus IV. Likewise, we were desirous, after the example of our predecessors, to favor this praiseworthy piety, devotion, feast and veneration — a veneration which is in keeping with the piety unchanged in the Roman Church from the day it was instituted. We also desired to protect this piety and devotion of venerating and extolling the most Blessed Virgin preserved from original sin by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, we were anxious to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace in the flock of Christ by putting down arguments and controversies and by removing scandals. So at the instance and request of the bishops mentioned above, with the chapters of the churches, and of King Philip and his kingdoms, we renew the Constitutions and Decrees issued by the Roman Pontiffs, our predecessors, especially Sixtus IV,[8] Paul V,[9] and Gregory XV,[10] in favor of the doctrine asserting that the soul of the Blessed Virgin, in its creation and infusion into the body, was endowed with the grace of the Holy Spirit and preserved from original sin; and also in favor of the feast and veneration of the conception of the Virgin Mother of God, which, as is manifest, was instituted in keeping with that pious belief. So we command this feast to be observed under the censures and penalties contained in the same Constitutions.
“And therefore, against all and everyone of those who shall continue to construe the said Constitutions and Decrees in a manner apt to frustrate the favor which is thereby given to the said doctrine, and to the feast and relative veneration, or who shall dare to call into question the said sentence, feast and worship, or in any way whatever, directly or indirectly, shall declare themselves opposed to it under any pretext whatsoever, were it but only to the extent of examining the possibilities of effecting the definition, or who shall comment upon and interpret the Sacred Scripture, or the Fathers or Doctors in connection therewith, or finally, for any reason, or on any occasion, shall dare, either in writing or verbally, to speak, preach, treat, dispute or determine upon, or assert whatsoever against the foregoing matters, or who shall adduce any arguments against them, while leaving them unresolved, or who shall disagree therewith in any other conceivable manner, we hereby declare that in addition to the penalties and censures contained in the Constitutions issued by Sixtus IV to which we want them to be subjected and to which we subject them by the present Constitution, we hereby decree that they be deprived of the authority of preaching, reading in public, that is to say teaching and interpreting; and that they be also deprived ipso facto of the power of voting, either actively or passively, in all elections, without the need for any further declaration; and that also, ipso facto, without any further declaration, they shall incur the penalty of perpetual disability from preaching, reading in public, teaching and interpreting, and that it shall not be possible to absolve them from such penalty, or remove it, save through ourselves, or the Roman Pontiffs who shall succeed us.
“We also require that the same shall remain subject to any other penalties which by us, of our own free will — or by the Roman Pontiffs, our successors (according as they may decree) — shall be deemed advisable to establish, and by the present Constitution we declare them subject thereto, and hereby renew the above Decrees and Constitutions of Paul V and Gregory XV.
“Moreover, as regards those books in which the said sentence, feast and relative veneration are called into question or are contradicted in any way whatsoever, according to what has already been stated, either in writing or verbally, in discourses, sermons, lectures, treatises and debates — that may have been printed after the above-praised Decree of Paul V, or may be printed hereafter we hereby prohibit them, subject to the penalties and censures established by the Index of prohibited books, and ipso facto, without any further declaration, we desire and command that they be held as expressly prohibited.”[11]
Testimonies of the Catholic World
All are aware with how much diligence this doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God has been handed down, proposed and defended by the most outstanding religious orders, by the more celebrated theological academies, and by very eminent doctors in the sciences of theology. All know, likewise, how eager the bishops have been to profess openly and publicly, even in ecclesiastical assemblies, that Mary, the most holy Mother of God, by virtue of the foreseen merits of Christ, our Lord and Redeemer, was never subject to original sin, but was completely preserved from the original taint, and hence she was redeemed in a manner more sublime.
The Council of Trent
Besides, we must note a fact of the greatest importance indeed. Even the Council of Trent itself, when it promulgated the dogmatic decree concerning original sin, following the testimonies of the Sacred Scriptures, of the Holy Fathers and of the renowned Council, decreed and defined that all men are born infected by original sin; nevertheless, it solemnly declared that it had no intention of including the blessed and immaculate Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, in this decree and in the general extension of its definition. Indeed, considering the times and circuмstances, the Fathers of Trent sufficiently intimated by this declaration that the Blessed Virgin Mary was free from the original stain; and thus they clearly signified that nothing could be reasonably cited from the Sacred Scriptures, from Tradition, or from the authority of the Fathers, which would in any way be opposed to so great a prerogative of the Blessed Virgin.[12]
Testimonies of Tradition
And indeed, illustrious docuмents of venerable antiquity, of both the Eastern and the Western Church, very forcibly testify that this doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the most Blessed Virgin, which was daily more and more splendidly explained, stated and confirmed by the highest authority, teaching, zeal, knowledge, and wisdom of the Church, and which was disseminated among all peoples and nations of the Catholic world in a marvelous manner — this doctrine always existed in the Church as a doctrine that has been received from our ancestors, and that has been stamped with the character of revealed doctrine. For the Church of Christ, watchful guardian that she is, and defender of the dogmas deposited with her, never changes anything, never diminishes anything, never adds anything to them; but with all diligence she treats the ancient docuмents faithfully and wisely; if they really are of ancient origin and if the faith of the Fathers has transmitted them, she strives to investigate and explain them in such a way that the ancient dogmas of heavenly doctrine will be made evident and clear, but will retain their full, integral, and proper nature, and will grown only within their own genus — that is, within the same dogma, in the same sense and the same meaning.
Interpreters of the Sacred Scripture
The Fathers and writers of the Church, well versed in the heavenly Scriptures, had nothing more at heart than to vie with one another in preaching and teaching in many wonderful ways the Virgin’s supreme sanctity, dignity, and immunity from all stain of sin, and her renowned victory over the most foul enemy of the human race. This they did in the books they wrote to explain the Scriptures, to vindicate the dogmas, and to instruct the faithful. These ecclesiastical writers in quoting the words by which at the beginning of the world God announced his merciful remedies prepared for the regeneration of mankind — words by which he crushed the audacity of the deceitful serpent and wondrously raised up the hope of our race, saying, “I will put enmities between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed”[13] — taught that by this divine prophecy the merciful Redeemer of mankind, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, was clearly foretold: That his most Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary, was prophetically indicated; and, at the same time, the very enmity of both against the evil one was significantly expressed. Hence, just as Christ, the Mediator between God and man, assumed human nature, blotted the handwriting of the decree that stood against us, and fastened it triumphantly to the cross, so the most holy Virgin, united with him by a most intimate and indissoluble bond, was, with him and through him, eternally at enmity with the evil serpent, and most completely triumphed over him, and thus crushed his head with her immaculate foot.[14]
This sublime and singular privilege of the Blessed Virgin, together with her most excellent innocence, purity, holiness and freedom from every stain of sin, as well as the unspeakable abundance and greatness of all heavenly graces, virtues and privileges — these the Fathers beheld in that ark of Noah, which was built by divine command and escaped entirely safe and sound from the common shipwreck of the whole world;[15] in the ladder which Jacob saw reaching from the earth to heaven, by whose rungs the angels of God ascended and descended, and on whose top the Lord himself leaned’[16] in that bush which Moses saw in the holy place burning on all sides, which was not consumed or injured in any way but grew green and blossomed beautifully;[17] in that impregnable tower before the enemy, from which hung a thousand bucklers and all the armor of the strong;[18] in that garden enclosed on all sides, which cannot be violated or corrupted by any deceitful plots;[19] as in that resplendent city of God, which has its foundations on the holy mountains;[20] in that most august temple of God, which, radiant with divine splendors, is full of the glory of God;[21] and in very many other biblical types of this kind. In such allusions the Fathers taught that the exalted dignity of the Mother of God, her spotless innocence and her sanctity unstained by any fault, had been prophesied in a wonderful manner.
In like manner did they use the words of the prophets to describe this wondrous abundance of divine gifts and the original innocence of the Virgin of whom Jesus was born. They celebrated the august Virgin as the spotless dove, as the holy Jerusalem, as the exalted throne of God, as the ark and house of holiness which Eternal Wisdom built, and as that Queen who, abounding in delights and leaning on her Beloved, came forth from the mouth of the Most High, entirely perfect, beautiful, most dear to God and never stained with the least blemish.
The Annunciation
When the Fathers and writers of the Church meditated on the fact that the most Blessed Virgin was, in the name and by order of God himself, proclaimed full of grace[22] by the Angel Gabriel when he announced her most sublime dignity of Mother of God, they thought that this singular and solemn salutation, never heard before, showed that the Mother of God is the seat of all divine graces and is adorned with all gifts of the Holy Spirit. To them Mary is an almost infinite treasury, an inexhaustible abyss of these gifts, to such an extent that she was never subject to the curse and was, together with her Son, the only partaker of perpetual benediction. Hence she was worthy to hear Elizabeth, inspired by the Holy Spirit, exclaim: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”[23]
Mary Compared with Eve
Hence, it is the clear and unanimous opinion of the Fathers that the most glorious Virgin, for whom “he who is mighty has done great things,” was resplendent with such an abundance of heavenly gifts, with such a fullness of grace and with such innocence, that she is an unspeakable miracle of God — indeed, the crown of all miracles and truly the Mother of God; that she approaches as near to God himself as is possible for a created being; and that she is above all men and angels in glory. Hence, to demonstrate the original innocence and sanctity of the Mother of God, not only did they frequently compare her to Eve while yet a virgin, while yet innocence, while yet incorrupt, while not yet deceived by the deadly snares of the most treacherous serpent; but they have also exalted her above Eve with a wonderful variety of expressions. Eve listened to the serpent with lamentable consequences; she fell from original innocence and became his slave. The most Blessed Virgin, on the contrary, ever increased her original gift, and not only never lent an ear to the serpent, but by divinely given power she utterly destroyed the force and dominion of the evil one.
Biblical Figures
Accordingly, the Fathers have never ceased to call the Mother of God the lily among thorns, the land entirely intact, the Virgin undefiled, immaculate, ever blessed, and free from all contagion of sin, she from whom was formed the new Adam, the flawless, brightest, and most beautiful paradise of innocence, immortality and delights planted by God himself and protected against all the snares of the poisonous serpent, the incorruptible wood that the worm of sin had never corrupted, the fountain ever clear and sealed with the power of the Holy Spirit, the most holy temple, the treasure of immortality, the one and only daughter of life — not of death — the plant not of anger but of grace, through the singular providence of God growing ever green contrary to the common law, coming as it does from a corrupted and tainted root.
Explicit Affirmation . . .
As if these splendid eulogies and tributes were not sufficient, the Fathers proclaimed with particular and definite statements that when one treats of sin, the holy Virgin Mary is not even to be mentioned; for to her more grace was given than was necessary to conquer sin completely.[24] They also declared that the most glorious Virgin was Reparatrix of the first parents, the giver of life to posterity; that she was chosen before the ages, prepared for himself by the Most High, foretold by God when he said to the serpent, “I will put enmities between you and the woman.”[25]-unmistakable evidence that she was crushed the poisonous head of the serpent. And hence they affirmed that the Blessed Virgin was, through grace, entirely free from every stain of sin, and from all corruption of body, soul and mind; that she was always united with God and joined to him by an eternal covenant; that she was never in darkness but always in light; and that, therefore, she was entirely a fit habitation for Christ, not because of the state of her body, but because of her original grace.
. . . Of a Super Eminent Sanctity
To these praises they have added very noble words. Speaking of the conception of the Virgin, they testified that nature yielded to grace and, unable to go on, stood trembling. The Virgin Mother of God would not be conceived by Anna before grace would bear its fruits; it was proper that she be conceived as the first-born, by whom “the first-born of every creature” would be conceived. They testified, too, that the flesh of the Virgin, although derived from Adam, did not contract the stains of Adam, and that on this account the most Blessed Virgin was the tabernacle created by God himself and formed by the Holy Spirit, truly a work in royal purple, adorned and woven with gold, which that new Beseleel[26] made. They affirmed that the same Virgin is, and is deservedly, the first and especial work of God, escaping the fiery arrows the the evil one; that she is beautiful by nature and entirely free from all stain; that at her Immaculate Conception she came into the world all radiant like the dawn. For it was certainly not fitting that this vessel of election should be wounded by the common injuries, since she, differing so much from the others, had only nature in common with them, not sin. In fact, it was quite fitting that, as the Only-Begotten has a Father in heaven, whom the Seraphim extol as thrice holy, so he should have a Mother on earth who would never be without the splendor of holiness.
This doctrine so filled the minds and souls of our ancestors in the faith that a singular and truly marvelous style of speech came into vogue among them. They have frequently addressed the Mother of God as immaculate, as immaculate in every respect; innocent, and verily most innocent; spotless, and entirely spotless; holy and removed from every stain of sin; all pure, all stainless, the very model of purity and innocence; more beautiful than beauty, more lovely than loveliness; more holy than holiness, singularly holy and most pure in soul and body; the one who surpassed all integrity and virginity; the only one who has become the dwelling place of all the graces of the most Holy Spirit. God alone excepted, Mary is more excellent than all, and by nature fair and beautiful, and more holy than the Cherubim and Seraphim. To praise her all the tongues of heaven and earth do not suffice.
Everyone is cognizant that this style of speech has passed almost spontaneously into the books of the most holy liturgy and the Offices of the Church, in which they occur so often and abundantly. In them, the Mother of God is invoked and praised as the one spotless and most beautiful dove, as a rose ever blooming, as perfectly pure, ever immaculate, and ever blessed. She is celebrated as innocence never sullied and as the second Eve who brought forth the Emmanuel.
Preparation for the Definition
No wonder, then, that the Pastors of the Church and the faithful gloried daily more and more in professing with so much piety, religion, and love this doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mother of God, which, as the Fathers discerned, was recorded in the Divine Scriptures; which was handed down in so many of their most important writings; which was expressed and celebrated in so many illustrious monuments of venerable antiquity; which was proposed and confirmed by the official and authoritative teaching of the Church. Hence, nothing was dearer, nothing more pleasing to these pastors than to venerate, invoke, and proclaim with most ardent affection the Virgin Mother of God conceived without original stain. Accordingly, from ancient times the bishops of the Church, ecclesiastics, religious orders, and even emperors and kings, have earnestly petitioned this Apostolic See to define a dogma of the Catholic Faith the Immaculate Conception of the most holy Mother of God. These petitions were renewed in these our own times; they were especially brought to the attention of Gregory XVI, our predecessor of happy memory, and to ourselves, not only by bishops, but by the secular clergy and religious orders, by sovereign rulers and by the faithful.
Mindful, indeed, of all these things and considering them most attentively with particular joy in our heart, as soon as we, by the inscrutable design of Providence, had been raised to the sublime Chair of St. Peter — in spite of our unworthiness — and had begun to govern the universal Church, nothing have we had more at heart — a heart which from our tenderest years has overflowed with devoted veneration and love for the most Blessed Virgin — than to show forth her prerogatives in resplendent light.
That we might proceed with great prudence, we established a special congregation of our venerable brethren, the cardinals of the holy Roman Church, illustrious for their piety, wisdom, and knowledge of the sacred scriptures. We also selected priests, both secular and regular, well trained in the theological sciences, that they should most carefully consider all matters pertaining to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin and make known to us their opinion.
The Mind of the Bishops
Although we knew the mind of the bishops from the petitions which we had received from them, namely, that the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin be finally defined, nevertheless, on February 2, 1849,[27] we sent an Encyclical Letter from Gaeta to all our venerable brethren, the bishops of the Catholic world, that they should offer prayers to God and then tell us in writing what the piety an devotion of their faithful was in regard to the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. We likewise inquired what the bishops themselves thought about defining this doctrine and what their wishes were in regard to making known with all possible solemnity our supreme judgment.
We were certainly filled with the greatest consolation when the replies of our venerable brethren came to us. For, replying to us with a most enthusiastic joy, exultation and zeal, they not only again confirmed their own singular piety toward the Immaculate Conception of the most Blessed Virgin, and that of the secular and religious clergy and of the faithful, but with one voice they even entreated us to define our supreme judgment and authority the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin. In the meantime we were indeed filled with no less joy when, after a diligent examination, our venerable brethren, the cardinals of the special congregation and the theologians chosen by us as counselors (whom we mentioned above), asked with the same enthusiasm and fervor for the definition of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God.
Consequently, following the examples of our predecessors, and desiring to proceed in the traditional manner, we announced and held a consistory, in which we addressed our brethren, the cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. It was the greatest spiritual joy for us when we heard them ask us to promulgate the dogmatic definition of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mother of God.[28]
Therefore, having full trust in the Lord that the opportune time had come for defining the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, which Holy Scripture, venerable Tradition, the constant mind of the Church, the desire of Catholic bishops and the faithful, and the memorable Acts and Constitutions of our predecessors, wonderfully illustrate and proclaim, and having most diligently considered all things, as we poured forth to God ceaseless and fervent prayers, we concluded that we should no longer delay in decreeing and defining by our supreme authority the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. And thus, we can satisfy the most holy desire of the Catholic world as well as our own devotion toward the most holy Virgin, and at the same time honor more and more the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord through his holy Mother — since whatever honor and praise are bestowed on the Mother redound to the Son.
The Definition
Wherefore, in humility and fasting, we unceasingly offered our private prayers as well as the public prayers of the Church to God the Father through his Son, that he would deign to direct and strengthen our mind by the power of the Holy Spirit. In like manner did we implore the help of the entire heavenly host as we ardently invoked the Paraclete. Accordingly, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for the honor of the Holy and undivided Trinity, for the glory and adornment of the Virgin Mother of God, for the exaltation of the Catholic Faith, and for the furtherance of the Catholic religion, by the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own: “We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.”[29]
Hence, if anyone shall dare — which God forbid! — to think otherwise than as has been defined by us, let him know and understand that he is condemned by his own judgment; that he has suffered shipwreck in the faith; that he has separated from the unity of the Church; and that, furthermore, by his own action he incurs the penalties established by law if he should are to express in words or writing or by any other outward means the errors he think in his heart.
Hoped-For Results
Our soul overflows with joy and our tongue with exultation. We give, and we shall continue to give, the humblest and deepest thanks to Jesus Christ, our Lord, because through his singular grace he has granted to us, unworthy though we be, to decree and offer this honor and glory and praise to his most holy Mother. All our hope do we repose in the most Blessed Virgin — in the all fair and immaculate one who has crushed the poisonous head of the most cruel serpent and brought salvation to the world: in her who is the glory of the prophets and apostles, the honor of the martyrs, the crown and joy of all the saints; in her who is the safest refuge and the most trustworthy helper of all who are in danger; in her who, with her only-begotten Son, is the most powerful Mediatrix and Conciliatrix in the whole world; in her who is the most excellent glory, ornament, and impregnable stronghold of the holy Church; in her who has destroyed all heresies and snatched the faithful people and nations from all kinds of direst calamities; in her do we hope who has delivered us from so many threatening dangers. We have, therefore, a very certain hope and complete confidence that the most Blessed Virgin will ensure by her most powerful patronage that all difficulties be removed and all errors dissipated, so that our Holy Mother the Catholic Church may flourish daily more and more throughout all the nations and countries, and may reign “from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth,” and may enjoy genuine peace, tranquility and liberty. We are firm in our confidence that she will obtain pardon for the sinner, health for the sick, strength of heart for the weak, consolation for the afflicted, help for those in danger; that she will remove spiritual blindness from all who are in error, so that they may return to the path of truth and justice, and that here may be one flock and one shepherd.
Let all the children of the Catholic Church, who are so very dear to us, hear these words of ours. With a still more ardent zeal for piety, religion and love, let them continue to venerate, invoke and pray to the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, conceived without original sin. Let them fly with utter confidence to this most sweet Mother of mercy and grace in all dangers, difficulties, needs, doubts and fears. Under her guidance, under her patronage, under her kindness and protection, nothing is to be feared; nothing is hopeless. Because, while bearing toward us a truly motherly affection and having in her care the work of our salvation, she is solicitous about the whole human race. And since she has been appointed by God to be the Queen of heaven and earth, and is exalted above all the choirs of angels and saints, and even stands at the right hand of her only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, she presents our petitions in a most efficacious manner. What she asks, she obtains. Her pleas can never be unheard.
Given at St. Peter’s in Rome, the eighth day of December, 1854, in the eighth year of our pontificate.
Pius IX
FOOTNOTES
1. Et quidem decebat omnino, ut perfectissimae sanctitatis splendoribus semper ornata fulgeret, ac vel ab ipsa originalis culpae labe plane immunis amplissimum de antiquo sepente triumphum referret tam venerabilis mater, cui Deus Pater unicuм Filius suum, quem de corde suo aequalem sibi genitum tamquam seipsum diligit, ita dare disposuit, ut naturaliter esset unus idemque communis Dei Patris et Virginis Filius, et quam ipse Filius, Filius substantialiter facere sibi matrem elegit, et de qua Siritus Sanctus voluit et operatus est, ut conciperetur et nasceretur ille, de quo ipse procedit.
2. Cf. Ibid., n. 16.
3. Cf. St. Irenaeus, Adv. Haereses, book III, c. III, n. 2.
4. C.A. cuм Praeexcelsa, February 28, 1476; Denz., n. 734.
5. Decree of the Sared Cong. of Rites; September 30, 1847.
6. This has been the constant care of the Popes, as is shown by the condemnation of one of the propositions of Anthony de Rosmini-Serbati (cf. Denzinger, nn. 1891-1930). This is how the 34th proposition runs (Denzinger, n. 1924): “Ad praeservandam B. V. Mariam a labe originis, satis erat, ut incorruptum maneret minimum sesmen in homine, neglectum forte ab ipso demone, e quo incorrupto semine de generatione in generationem transfuso, suo tempore oriretur Virgo Maria.” Decree of the Holy Office, December 14, 1887 (AAS 20, 393). Denz. n. 1924.
7. Apost. Const. Sollicitudo Omnium Ecclesiarum, December 8, 1661.
8. Apost. Const. cuм Praeexcelsa, February 28, 1476; Grave Nemis, September 4, 1483; Denz., nn. 734, 735.
9. Apost. Const. Sanctissimus, September 12, 1617.
10. Apost. Const. Sanctissimus, June 4, 1622.
11. Alexander VII, Apost. Const. Sollicitudo Omnium Ecclesiarum, December 8, 1661.
12. Sess. V, Can. 6; Denz. n. 792. Declarat tamen haec ipsa sancta Synodus, non esse suae intentionis, comprehendere in hoc decreto, ubi de peccato originali agitur, beatam et immaculatam Virginem Mariam Dei genitricem, sed observandas esse constitutiones felicis recordationis Sixti Papae IV, sub poenis in eis constitutionibus contentis, quas innovat.
13. Gn 3:15.
14. Quo circa sicut Christus Dei hominumque mediator, humana assumpta natura, delens quod adversus nos erat chirographum decretia, illud cruci triumphator affixit; sic Sanctissima Virgo, Arctissimo et indissolubili vinculo cuм eo conjuncta, una cuм illo et per illum, sempiternas contra venenosum serpentem inimicitias exercens, ac de ipso plenissime triumphans, illus caput immaculato pede contrivit.
15. Cf. Gn. 6:9.
16. Cf. Gn 28:12.
17. Cf. Ex 3:2.
18. Cf. Sg 4:4.
19. Cf. Sg 4:12.
20. Cf. Ps 87:1.
21. Cf. Is 6:1-4.
22. Cf. Lk 1:28.
23. Ibid., 42.
24. Cf. St. Augustine: De Natura et Gratia, c. 36.
25. Gn 3:15.
26. Cf. Ex 31:2.
27. Cf. Ibid., n. 19ff.
28. Cf. Ibid., n. 27ff.
29. Declaramus, pronuntiamus et definimus doctrinam quae tenet beatissimam Virginem Mariam in primo instanti suae conceptionis fuisse singulari Omnipotentis Dei gratia et privilegio, intuitu meritorum Christi Jesu Salvatoris humani generis, ab omni originalis culpae labe praeservatam immunem, esse a Deo revelatam, atque idcirco ab omnibus fidelibus firmiter constanterque credendam. Cf. Denz., n. 1641.
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The Immaculate Conception by Father Benedict Hughes 08DEC2018 - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugEGfa-EYk8)
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December 10: Saint Pope Miltiades
(https://i.imgur.com/NKBFK0U.jpg)
In the year 314, Saint Pope Miltiades died after having suffered much during the persecution of Maximian. The Church, therefore, ranks him as a martyr although he died a natural death.
(https://i.imgur.com/Vn4cCd1.jpg)
Collect: O eternal Shepherd, look favorably upon Thy flock, and guard it by Thy continual protection through Blessed Miltiades, Thy Martyr and Supreme Pontiff, whom You made the chief shepherd of the whole Church. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
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Catholic Encyclopedia;
(Saint) Pope St. Miltiades
The year of his birth is not known; he was elected pope in either 310 or 311; died 10 or 11 January, 314. After the banishment of Pope Eusebius, the Roman See was vacant for some time, probably because of the complications which has arisen on account of the apostates (lapsi), and which were not cleared up by the banishment of Eusebius and Heraclius. On 2 July, 310 or 311, Miltiadea (the name is also written Melchiades), a native of Africa, was elevated to the papacy. There is some uncertainty as to the exact year, as the "Liberian Catalogue of the Popes" (Duchesne, "Liber Pontificalis", I, 9) gives 2 July, 311, as the date of the consecration of the new pope (ex die VI non. iul. a cons. Maximiliano VIII solo, quod fuit mense septembri Volusiano et Rufino); but in contradiction to this the death of the pope is said to have occurred on 2 January, 314, and the duration of the pontificate is given as three years, six months and eight days; possibly owing to the mistake of a copyist, we ought to read "ann. II" instead of "ann. III"; and therefore the year of his elevation to the papacy was most probably 311. About this time (311 or 310), an edict of toleration signed by the Emperors Galerius, Licinius, and Constantine, put an end to the great persecution of the Christians, and they were permitted to live as such, and also to reconstruct their places of religious worship (Eusebius, Church History VIII.17; Lactantius, How the Persecutors Died 34). Only in those countries of the Orient which were under the sway of Maximinus Daia did the Christians continue to be persecuted. The emperor now gave Pope Miltiades in Rome the right to receive back, through the prefect of the city, all ecclesiastical buildings and possessions which had been confiscated during the persecutions. The two Roman deacons, Strato and Cassianus, were ordered by the pope to discuss this matter with the prefect, and to take over the church properties (Augustinus, "Breviculus collationis cuм Donatistis", iii, 34); it thus became possible to reorganize thoroughly the ecclesiastical administration and the religious life of the Christians in Rome.
Miltiades caused the remains of his predecessor, Eusebius, to be brought back from Sicily to Rome, and had them interred in a crypt in the Catacombs of St. Callistus. In the following year the pope witnessed the final triumph of the Cross, through the defeat of Maxentius, and the entry into Rome of the Emperor Constantine (now converted to Christianity), after the victory at the Milvian Bridge (27 October, 312). Later the emperor presented the Roman Church with the Lateran Palace, which then became the residence of the pope, and consequently also the seat of the seat of the central administration of the Roman Church. The basilica which adjoined the palace or was afterwards built there became the principal church of Rome. In 313 the Donatists came to Constantine with a request to nominate bishops from Gaul as judges in the controversy of the African episcopate regarding the consecration in Carthage of the two bishops, Cæcilian and Majorinus. Constantine wrote about this to Miltiades, and also to Marcus, requesting the pope with three bishops from Gaul to give a hearing in Rome, to Cæcilian and his opponent, and to decide the case. On 2 October, 313, there assembled in the Lateran Palace, under the presidency of Miltiades, a synod of eighteen bishops from Gaul and Italy, which, after thoroughly considering the Donatist controversy for three days, decided in favor of Cæcilian, whose election and consecration as Bishop of Carthage was declared to be legitimate. In the biography of Miltiades, in the "Liber Pontificalis", it is stated that at the time Manichæans were found in Rome; this was quite possible as Manichæism began to be spread in the West in the fourth century. The same source attributes to this pope a decree which absolutely forbade the Christians to fast on Sundays or on Thursdays, "because these days were observed by the heathen as a holy fast". This reason is remarkable; it comes most likely from the author of the "Liber Pontificalis" who with this alleged decree traces back a Roman custom of his own time to an ordinance of Miltiades. The "Liber Pontificalis" is probably no less arbitrary in crediting this pope with a decree to the effect that the Oblation consecrated at the Solemn Mass of the pope (by which is meant the Eucharistic Bread) should be taken to the different churches in Rome. Such a custom actually existed in Rome (Duchesne, "Christian Worship," London, 1903, 185); but there is nothing definite to show that it was introduced by Miltiades, as the "Liber Pontificalis" asserts.
After his death, on 10 or 11 January (the Liberian Catalogue" give it as III id. jan.; the "Depositio Episcoporum" as IIII id. jan.), 314, Miltiades was laid to rest in the Catacomb of St. Callistus and he was venerated as a saint. De Rossi regards as highly probably his [this] location of this pope's burial-chamber (Roma Sotterranea, II, 188 sq.). His feast was celebrated in the fourth century, on 10 January, according to the "Martyrologium Hieronymianum". In the present "Roman Martyrology" it occurs on 10 December.
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:popcorn:
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:popcorn:
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Sorry; that was just my way of bumping it.
Thanks for the posts!
[I am bumping more worthwhile threads to try to crowd the "recent posts" list with better material, and crowd out less desirable stuff, if you get my drift. Somewhat per Matthew's admonition: "There is nothing stopping YOU and other good Trads from starting a thread or two per day to DILUTE HIS POSTS." Just doing my part. ::)]
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Sorry; that was just my way of bumping it.
Thanks for the posts!
[I am bumping more worthwhile threads to try to crowd the "recent posts" list with better material, and crowd out less desirable stuff, if you get my drift. Somewhat per Matthew's admonition: "There is nothing stopping YOU and other good Trads from starting a thread or two per day to DILUTE HIS POSTS." Just doing my part. ::)]
No problem, no problem. I just wasn't sure what you meant :laugh1:
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December 11: Saint Damasus, Pope, Confessor
(https://i.imgur.com/GV3f3iJ.jpg)
Born in Spain, St. Damasus governed the Church from 366 to 384. He commanded St. Jerome to translate the New Testament into Latin, combatted the Apollinarist and Macedonian heresies and confirmed the second ecuмenical council of Constantinople which had condemned the Arian heresy. He died in 384. (Roman Missal)
(https://i.imgur.com/e6rHDeW.jpg)
Collect: O eternal Shepherd, look favorably upon Thy flock, and guard it by Thy continual protection through Blessed Damasus, Thy Supreme Pontiff, whom You made the chief shepherd of the whole Church. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
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Gaudete Sunday
(https://i.imgur.com/SZWlDPu.jpg)
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From the SSPX website;
Rejoice, I say rejoice: Gaudete Sunday
Why does the celebrant wear rose vestments on Gaudete Sunday?
The Third Sunday of Advent is also known as "Gaudete Sunday" and a peculiar Roman custom (which is not obligatory in the Latin Rite) is the vesting of the altar and sacred ministers in rose-colored vestments.
The subdued joy symbolized by the color rose is a softening of the penitential violet to signify that the Advent preparation for Our Lord's Nativity is drawing to a close. The Mass propers particularly emphasize this liturgical sigh of relief with the opening words of the Introit antiphon, "Gaudete in Domino".
In addition to some explanations on the message of the Mass prayers in The Church's Year (https://sspx.org/en/media/books/the-churchs-year-fr-goffine), Fr. Goffine also gives an instruction about comfort and relief in sorrow (which dovetails nicely with the theme of Gaudete Sunday), while explaining the role of St. John the Baptist as the Precursor of the Messiah, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
On this Sunday again, the Church calls on us to rejoice in the Advent of the Redeemer, and at the Introit sings:
INTROIT Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Let your modesty be known to all men: for the Lord is nigh. Be nothing solicitous; but in everything by prayer let your requests be made known to God (Phil. 4). Lord, thou hast blessed thy land; thou bast turned away the captivity of Jacob (Ps. 84). Glory be to the Father.
COLLECT Incline Thine ear, O Lord, we beseech Thee, unto our prayers: and enlighten the darkness of our mind by the grace of thy visitation. Through our Lord.
EPISTLE (Phil. 4:4-7). Brethren, rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Let your modesty be known to all men. The Lord is nigh. Be nothing solicitous; but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What is meant by "rejoicing in the Lord"?
By "rejoicing in the Lord" is meant rejoicing in the grace of the true faith we have received, in the hope of obtaining eternal happiness; rejoicing in the protection of the most High under which we stand; and in the persecution for justice's sake in which Christ Himself exhorts us to rejoice, and in which the Apostle Paul gloried (II Cor. 7:4).
What else does St. Paul teach in this epistle?
He exhorts us to give all a good example by a modest and edifying life, to which we should be directed by the remembrance of God's presence and His coming to judgment (Chrysostom. 33, in Joann.); he warns us against solicitude about temporal affairs, advising us to cast our care on God, who will never abandon us in our needs, if we entreat Him with confidence and humility.
In what does "the Peace of God" consist?
It consists in a good conscience (Ambrose), in which St. Paul gloried and rejoiced beyond measure (II Cor. 1:12). This peace of the soul sustained all the martyrs, and consoled many others who suffered for justice's sake. Thus St. Tibertius said to the tyrant: "We count all pain as naught, for our conscience is at peace." There cannot be imagined a greater joy than that which proceeds from the peace of a good conscience. It must be experienced to be understood.
ASPIRATION The peace of God, that surpasseth all understanding, preserve our hearts in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Comfort and relief in sorrow
“Is any one troubled, let him pray" (Jas. 5:13).
There is no greater or more powerful comfort in sorrow than in humble and confiding prayer, to complain to God of our wants and cares, as did the sorrowful Anna, mother of the prophet Samuel, (I Kings 10) and the chaste Susanna when she was falsely accused of adultery and sentenced to death (Dan. 13:35). So the pious King Ezechias complained in prayer of the severe oppression with which he was threatened by Senacherib (IV Kings 19:14). So also King Josaphat made his trouble known to God only, saying: But as we know not what to do, we can only turn our eyes on Thee (11 Para. 20:12). They all received aid and comfort from God. Are you sad and in trouble? Lift up your soul with David and say:
"To Thee I have lifted up my eyes, who dwellest in heaven. Behold as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters, as the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress: so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until He shall have mercy on us." (Ps. 122:1-3)
"Give joy to the soul of Thy servant, for to Thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul." (Ps. 85:4)
GOSPEL (Jn. 1:19-28). At that time the Jєωs sent from Jerusalem priests and Levites to John, to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and did not deny; and he confessed: I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he said: I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered, No. They said therefore unto him, Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? what sayst thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet, Isaias. And they that were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said to him: Why then dost thou baptize, if thou be not Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet? John answered them, saying: I baptize with water: but there hath stood one in the midst of you, whom you know not: the same is he that shall come after me, who is preferred before me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose. These things were done in Bethania beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Why did the Jєωs send messengers to St. John to ask him who he was?
Partly because of their curiosity, when they saw St. John leading such a pure, angelic and penitential life; partly, as St. Chrysostom says, out of envy, because St. John preached with such spiritual force, baptized and exhorted the people to penance, that the inhabitants of Jerusalem came to him in great numbers; partly, and principally, they were impelled by the providence of God to demand publicly of St. John, if he were the Messiah, and thus be directed to Christ that they might be compelled to acknowledge Him as the Messiah, or have no excuse for rejecting Him.
Why did the Jєωs ask St. John, if he were not Elias or the prophet?
The Jєωs falsely believed that the Redeemer was to come into this world but once, then with great glory, and that Elias or one of the old prophets would come before Him, to prepare His way, as Malachias (4:5) had prophesied of St. John; so, when St. John said of himself that he was not the Messiah, they asked him, if he were not then Elias or one of the prophets. But Elias, who was taken alive from this world in a fiery chariot, will not reappear until just before the second coming of Christ.
Why did St. John say, he was not Elias or the Prophet?
Because he was not Elias, and, in reality, not a prophet in the Jєωιѕн sense of the word, but more than a prophet, because he announced that Christ had come, and pointed Him out.
Why does St. John call himself "the voice of one crying in the wilderness"?
Because in his humility, he desired to acknowledge that he was only an instrument through which the Redeemer announced to the abandoned and hopeless Jєωs the consolation of the Messiah, exhorting them to bear worthy fruits of penance.
How do we bear worthy fruits of penance?
We bear fruits of penance, when after our conversion, we serve God and justice with the same zeal with which we previously served the devil and iniquity; when we love God as fervently as we once loved the flesh-that is, the desires of the flesh-and the pleasures of the world; when we give our members to justice as we once gave them to malice and impurity (Rom. 6:19), when the mouth that formerly uttered improprieties, when the ears that listened to detraction or evil speech, when the eyes that looked curiously upon improper objects, now rejoice in the utterance of words pleasing to God, to hear and to see things dear to Him; when the appetite that was given to the luxury of eating and drinking, now abstains; when the hands give back what they have stolen; in a word, when we put off the old man, who was corrupted, and put on the new man, who is created in justice and holiness of truth (Eph. 4:22-24).
What was the baptism administered by St. John, and what were its effects?
The baptism administered by John was only a baptism of penance for forgiveness of sins (Lk. 3:3). The ignorant Jєωs not considering the greatness of their transgressions, St. John came exhorting them to acknowledge their sins, and do penance for them; that being converted, and truly contrite, they might seek their Redeemer, and thus obtain remission of their offences. We must then conclude, that St. John's baptism was only a ceremony or initiation, by which the Jєωs enrolled themselves as his disciples to do penance, as a preparation for the remission of sin by means of the second baptism, viz., of Jesus Christ.
What else can be learned from this gospel?
We learn from it to be always sincere, especially at the tribunal of penance, and to practice the necessary virtue of humility, by which, in reply to the questions of the Jєωs, St. John confessed the truth openly and without reserve, as shown by the words: The latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose, as the lowest of Christ's servants, giving us an example of humility and sincerity, which should induce us always to speak the truth, and not only not to seek honor, but to give to God all the honor shown us by man. Have you not far more reason than John, who was such a great saint, to esteem yourself but little, and to humble yourself before God and man? "My son," says Tobias (4:14), "never suffer pride to reign in thy mind, or in thy words: for from it all perdition took its beginning."
ASPIRATION O Lord, banish from my heart all envy, jealousy and pride. Grant me instead, to know myself and Thee, that by the knowledge of my nothingness, misery and vices, I may always remain unworthy in my own eyes, and that by the contemplation of Thy infinite perfections, I may seek to prize Thee above all, to love and to glorify Thee, and practice charity towards my neighbor. Amen.
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December 12: Our Lady of Guadalupe
(https://i.imgur.com/xIDuz4x.jpg)
The shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, near Mexico City, is one of the most celebrated places of pilgrimages in North America. On Dec. 9, 1531, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to an Indian convert, Juan Diego, and left with him a picture of herself impressed upon his cloak. Devotion to Mary under this title has continually increased and today she is the Patroness of the Americas. (Roman Missal)
(https://i.imgur.com/G680Qjl.jpg)
Prayer: O God, You have willed that, placed as we are under the special patronage of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, we should accuмulate perpetual favors; grant to us, Thy suppliant people, whose joy it is this day to honor her upon earth, the happiness of seeing her in heaven. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX4SzE_GDRE
Italian lyrics
[th]Italian (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_language) [/th]
[th]English (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language) [/th]
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Sul mare luccica l’astro d’argento.
Placida è l’onda, prospero è il vento.
Sul mare luccica l’astro d’argento.
Placida è l’onda, prospero è il vento.
Venite all’agile barchetta mia,
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
Venite all’agile barchetta mia,
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
Con questo zeffiro, così soave,
Oh, com’è bello star sulla nave!
Con questo zeffiro, così soave,
Oh, com’è bello star sulla nave!
Su passeggeri, venite via!
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
Su passeggeri, venite via!
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
In fra le tende, bandir la cena
In una sera così serena,
In fra le tende, bandir la cena
In una sera così serena,
Chi non dimanda, chi non desia.
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
Chi non dimanda, chi non desia.
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
Mare sì placida, vento sì caro,
Scordar fa i triboli al marinaro,
Mare sì placido, vento sì caro,
Scordar fa i triboli al marinaro,
E va gridando con allegria,
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
E va gridando con allegria,
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
O dolce Napoli, o suol beato,
Ove sorridere volle il creato,
O dolce Napoli, o suol beato,
Ove sorridere volle il creato,
Tu sei l'impero dell’armonia,
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
Tu sei l'impero dell’armonia,
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
Or che tardate? Bella è la sera.
Spira un’auretta fresca e leggera.
Or che tardate? Bella è la sera.
Spira un’auretta fresca e leggera.
Venite all’agile barchetta mia,
Santa Lucia! Santa —Lucia!
Venite all’agile barchetta mia,
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia! | On the sea glitters the silver star
Gentle the waves, favorable the winds.
On the sea glitters the silver star
Gentle the waves, favorable the winds.
Come into my nimble little boat,
Saint Lucy! Saint Lucy!
Come into my nimble little boat,
Saint Lucy! Saint Lucy!
With this breeze, so gentle,
Oh, how beautiful to be on the ship!
With this breeze, so gentle,
Oh, how beautiful to be on the ship!
Come aboard passengers, come on!
Saint Lucy! Saint Lucy!
Come aboard passengers, come on!
Saint Lucy! Saint Lucy!
Inside the tents, putting aside supper
On such a quiet evening,
Inside the tents, putting aside supper
On such a quiet evening,
Who wouldn't demand, who wouldn't desire?
Saint Lucy! Saint Lucy!
Who wouldn't demand, who wouldn't desire?
Saint Lucy! Saint Lucy!
Sea so calm, the wind so dear,
Forget what makes trouble for the sailor,
Sea so calm, the wind so dear,
Forget what makes trouble for the sailor,
And go shout with merriment,
Saint Lucy! Saint Lucy!
And go shout with merriment,
Saint Lucy! Saint Lucy!
O sweet Naples, O blessed soil,
Where to smile desired its creation,
O sweet Naples, upon blessed soil,
Where to smile desired its creation,
You are the kingdom of harmony,
Saint Lucy! Saint Lucy!
You are the kingdom of harmony,
Saint Lucy! Saint Lucy!
Now to linger? The evening is beautiful.
A little breeze blows fresh and light.
Now to linger? The evening is beautiful.
A little breeze blows fresh and light.
Come into my nimble little boat,
Saint Lucy! Saint Lucy!
Come into my nimble little boat,
Saint Lucy! Saint Lucy! |
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St Lucy
Dec 13th
Dear Saint Lucy, whose name doth signify the light, we come to thee filled with confidence: do thou obtain for us a holy light that shall make us careful not to walk in the ways of sin, nor to remain enshrouded in the darkness of error. We ask also, through thy intercession, for the preservation of the light of our bodily eyes and for abundant grace to use the same according to the good pleasure of God, without any hurt to our souls. Grant, O Lucy, that, after venerating thee and giving thee thanks for thy powerful protection here on earth, we may come at length to share thy joy in paradise in the everlasting light of the Lamb of God, thy beloved Bridegroom, Jesus. Amen
(Indulgence of 300 days once a day)
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St. John of the Cross – December 14
Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
Biographical selection:
(https://traditioninaction.org/SOD/SODimages4/159_stjohn_cross.jpg)
St. John of the Cross
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St. John of the Cross (1542-1591) was a confessor and doctor of the Church. He was co-reformer of the Carmelite Order with St. Teresa of Avila. He was a great mystic and left many famous maxims about the spiritual life. Some of them are the following:
* I did not know Thee, my Lord, because I still desired to know and relish trifling things. My spirit became dry because it forgot to rest in Thee.
* If you wish to attain holy recollection, you will do so not by approving but by denying.
* The devil fears a soul united to God as he does God Himself.
* The purest suffering produces the purest understanding.
* Through small things, one reaches the great. The evil that at the beginning appears insignificant, later becomes enormous and without remedy.
Comments of Prof. Plinio:
Let me comment one sentence at a time.
- I did not know Thee, my Lord, because I still desired to know and relish trifling things. My spirit became dry because it forgot to rest in Thee.
The love for trifles is one of the most deeply-rooted things that exist in the human soul. When one of us goes to a public square or a restaurant or when we take a bus where people are chatting, if we observe well, we will see that most of the time they are talking about trifling things. Also, when they are quiet they are usually thinking about trifling matters.
St. John of the Cross said: I didn’t know Thee, My Lord, because I wanted to relish trifles. What he means is that one who likes to taste trifles cannot taste the things of God. What is the reason for this? It is because the two are contrary things and no one is able to love opposite things at the same time. God is infinite, transcendent, and magnificent. A trifle is a very insignificant thing. The person who loves insignificant things cannot love the grandeur of God. So, we should ask Our Lady to free us from our attachments to trifles and prepare us to have true love for God.
The second part of the sentence – My spirit became dry because it forgot to rest in Thee – confirms the first. What kind of souls rest in God? They are persons who like to think about the situation of the Catholic Church, Catholic doctrine, the history of the Church and the supreme interests of God. These persons can say that they rest in God. Such men are sheep who graze and feed themselves on divine grass.
- If you wish to attain holy recollection, you will do so not by approving but by denying.
This is a magnificent sentence! It is based on a very anti-liberal principle. Optimistic and liberal souls who only want to see the positive side of everything do not have holy recollection, according to St. John of the Cross. On the contrary, those souls who vigilantly see the evil around them, discern it, and then deny it – these are the ones who attain true recollection. Therefore, the discernment of evil is the door that opens the way for holy recollection.
- The devil fears a soul united to God as he does God Himself.
It is beautiful! One sees in every day life the hatred of the Devil for the true Catholic, the true counter-revolutionary. It is a hatred that comes from fear. He trembles before a good Catholic as he trembles before God Himself, because he sees God in that person.
- The purest suffering produces the purest understanding.
(https://traditioninaction.org/SOD/SODimages4/159_Nazareno_Seville.jpg)
To suffer well is to carry the cross in union with Christ
Above, the Holy Week procession in Seville
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It is a twofold affirmation. First, it says that each one of us should suffer purely, which is to accept our cross to the end, to honestly and gladly suffer what is asked of us without tricks and frauds.
Second, it states that whoever does this receives a greater capacity to understand the things of God, that is, to reach the highest and noblest part of reality. This understanding is not only the understanding of the intelligence but also of the sensibility of the soul. Therefore, accepting suffering makes the entire soul – the will, intelligence, and sensibility – more perfect and closer to God.
Through small things, one reaches the great. The evil that at the beginning appears insignificant, later becomes enormous and without remedy.
This is an eminently counter-revolutionary principle, eminently anti-liberal. One of the characteristics of the liberal mind is to imagine that everything will end well. Therefore, based on this principle, we should live life without concerns, optimistically. There would be no reason to intervene in affairs, because normally they go in the right direction and rarely finish badly. This liberal facet is also naturalistic. It does not take into account the supernatural and the preternatural, original sin and the chastisement God gave us for that sin. At depth, the man is optimistic because he does not believe in the consequences of original sin.
For this reason, the liberal becomes astonished when something goes wrong. "How could it happen?" he asks. "How could it be that this or that person did such a bad thing?"
The man who is anti-liberal thinks the opposite. He knows that without the help of supernatural grace, man has a strong tendency to evil, and that if he does not take special care, the evil will take root and grow in his soul. He realizes that if he makes a concession to some small vice, it can shortly reach the extreme of evil. Therefore, a bad glance, a bad thought, a first revolt, an initial laziness may lead to extreme consequences.
Let me exemplify this with laziness. Someone takes a lapse position in the face of an important matter regarding the Catholic cause that is being reported to him. Because he is lazy, he does not want to make an effort to think and react on the high plane the topic demands. He does this many times, and he acquires the habit of not responding to serious matters in the Catholic cause.
(https://traditioninaction.org/SOD/SODimages4/159_Execution_18thceDanishschool.jpg)
The Beheading of Louis XVI - Because the King did not rigorously oppose the revolution in the beginning he ended as a victim of it
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After a while, this habit of omission is transformed into indifference toward the great Catholic panoramas. He loses the appetite for the good, which is, according to St. Thomas, related to the death of the love of God. That is to say, something that began as a small concession, in a short time ended in the death of the love of God. For this reason, St. John of the Cross warns us to be vigilant and snuff out evil in its first spark; otherwise we will be facing a wide-ranging fire.
This principle also applies to History. Louis XVI did not take effective action to stop the beginning sparks of the French Revolution, and it ending by cutting off his head. Pope Leo X did not stop Protestantism in the beginning and it went on to sever one-third of Europe from the Church. We could make a sad and long list of catastrophes that should have been stopped in the beginning but were not, and became irreversible calamities.
These are a few of the maxims St. John of the Cross left for us to meditate on. We should ask Our Lady to help us make them firm principles for the good of our souls.
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(https://traditioninaction.org/SOD/SODimages/000Plinio.gif)(https://traditioninaction.org/images/blank.gif) | Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira | |
The Saint of the Day features highlights from the lives of saints based on comments made by the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira. Following the example of St. John Bosco who used to make similar talks for the boys of his College, each evening it was Prof. Plinio’s custom to make a short commentary on the lives of the next day’s saint in a meeting for youth in order to encourage them in the practice of virtue and love for the Catholic Church. TIA thought that its readers could profit from these valuable commentaries.
The texts of both the biographical data and the comments come from personal notes taken by Atila S. Guimarães from 1964 to 1995. Given the fact that the source is a personal notebook, it is possible that at times the biographic notes transcribed here will not rigorously follow the original text read by Prof. Plinio. The commentaries have also been adapted and translated for TIA’s site.
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Complete Works of Saint John of the Cross
https://onemorelibrary.com/index.php/en/books/religion/book/philosophy-and-theory-of-religion-292/the-complete-works-of-saint-john-of-the-cross-2734
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December 16: St. Eusebius, Bishop, Martyr
(https://i.imgur.com/c75ilrn.jpg)
St. Eusebius fought with great valor against the Arian heresy which denied the Divinity of Jesus Christ. He merits the rank of martyr on account of the exiles, torments and privations of every kind to which he was subjected by the Arian sect. He died at Vercelli, Italy, in 371.
(https://i.imgur.com/Z6NjsyL.jpg)
Prayer: O God, You gladden us by the annual feast of Blessed Eusebius, Thy martyr and Bishop; mercifully grant that we, who venerate his heavenly birthday, may also rejoice in his protection. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
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Saint of the Day: December 15th - Saint Eusebius - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92Y4aOMwx3c)
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Advent And Penance Father Benedict Hughes 29NOV2020 - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD6YxoyNHWc)
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(https://i.imgur.com/EfAYPHw.jpg)
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FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Only with an intense desire for the coming of Jesus Christ can we begin to merit His spiritual gifts. The Catholic Liturgy reminds us, during these four weeks, of the time during which the world was without Jesus. Since we can go to God only through this mediator, we implore Him to come soon. (Roman Missal)
(https://i.imgur.com/q2Et1rQ.jpg)
(Luke 3:4)
"Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths."
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An excerpt from an Advent sermon by St. Bernard of Clairvaux;
We know that the coming of the Lord is threefold: the third coming is between the other two and it is not visible in the way they are. At his first coming the Lord was seen on earth and lived among men, who saw him and hated him.
At his last coming All flesh shall see the salvation of our God, and They shall look on him whom they have pierced. In the middle, the hidden coming, only the chosen see him, and they see him within themselves; and so their souls are saved. The first coming was in flesh and weakness, the middle coming is in spirit and power, and the final coming will be in glory and majesty.
This middle coming is like a road that leads from the first coming to the last. At the first, Christ was our redemption; at the last, he will become manifest as our life; but in this middle way he is our rest and our consolation.
If you think that I am inventing what I am saying about the middle coming, listen to the Lord himself: If anyone loves me, he will keep my words, and the Father will love him, and we shall come to him. Elsewhere I have read: Whoever fears the Lord does good things. - but I think that what was said about whoever loves him was more important: that whoever loves him will keep his words.
Where are these words to be kept? In the heart certainly, as the Prophet says, I have hidden your sayings in my heart so that I do not sin against you. Keep the word of God in that way: Blessed are those who keep it.
Let it penetrate deep into the core of your soul and then flow out again in your feelings and the way you behave; because if you feed your soul well it will grow and rejoice. Do not forget to eat your bread, or your heart will dry up. Remember, and your soul will grow fat and sleek.
If you keep God's word like this, there is no doubt that it will keep you, for the Son will come to you with the Father: the great Prophet will come, who will renew Jerusalem, and he is the one who makes all things new. For this is what this coming will do: just as we have been shaped in the earthly image, so will we be shaped in the heavenly image.
Just as the old Adam was poured into the whole man and took possession of him, so in turn will our whole humanity be taken over by Christ, who created all things, has redeemed all things, and will glorify all things.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Boj8Bx3gz0I
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The Feast of St. Thomas: Lively
& Manly Customs
Rachel L. Lozowski
(https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/images_A-E/D047_Rif.jpg)German men shooting in the Alps to scare away demons & salute Christmas
The last days of Advent were always adorned with charming customs as Catholics strove to dispel evil and practice charity in preparation for Christmas.
In parts of central Europe, it was traditional for the men to perform certain vigorous ceremonies to drive away the demons before Christmas. It was common belief that spirits and demons prowled the earth in greater numbers on these nights because the darkness was at its height.
To dispel the demons, men would go into the mountains cracking whips (https://www.bavaria.by/experiences/city-country-culture/traditions-customs/winter-christmas-traditions/whipcrackers/), shooting guns, ringing hand bells and parading with grotesque masks on the days before and after Christmas. In German countries, these nights were called Rauhnächte (Rough Nights). The most important nights for these practices were Thomas Night (December 21), Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve and Epiphany.
(https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/images_A-E/D047_Whi.jpg)‘Whipcrackers’ drive away demons in the region of Berchtesgadener Land
On the eve of the Feast of St. Thomas, the man of the house took one of his sons or farm hands on a walk around the farmyard, barns and fields to drive away the demons by sprinkling holy water and carrying burning incense. The incense was often mixed with pieces of palm branches from Easter and blessed herbs from the Feast of the Assumption.
As the men blessed the home property, the women and the rest of the household gathered by the family altar saying a Rosary for Heavenly aid in that undertaking.
England Thomasing
In England on St. Thomas's Day, it was customary for poor women to go “Thomasing” or “gooding” at the houses of their wealthier neighbors. These poor women, often donning red cloaks, begged in the name of St. Thomas for food (especially wheat for frumenty and flour for Yule bread) and alms to be able to celebrate the coming festival of Christmas in a fitting manner. Many of the recipients of alms would give their benefactors sprigs of holly or mistletoe. In a spirit of hospitality, the benefactors would often invite the poor into their home to give them spiced wine.
(https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/images_A-E/D047_Tho.jpg)English ladies go ‘Thomasing’
From this tradition came the old rhyme: (Christ Lore (https://archive.org/details/ChristLore/page/n207/mode/2up?q=thomas))
Well-a-ay, well-a-day, St. Thomas goes too soon away;
Then your gooding we do pray, for the good time will not stay.
The longest night & the shortest day!
Please remember St. Thomas's Day!
In Finland, it was traditional to clean the house on Thomas's Day. While the washing was being done, the village blacksmith, priest and locksmith went to each house asking for alms to recompense their labors. The men were always well received, given food and drink in addition to money.
The search for an inn
A popular custom was to have people imitate Our Lady and St. Joseph searching for an inn on each of the nine nights before Christmas. In central Europe, this custom was known as “Herbergsuchen” (“Search for an Inn”) and in Mexico it was known as “Posada” (Inn).
In Mexico and some regions in the United States, the custom of Las Posadas takes place on the nine nights before Christmas. A girl is chosen to ride a donkey dressed as Our Lady and a boy plays St. Joseph; sometimes an angel, shepherds and the Three Wise Men accompany them.
(https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/images_A-E/D047_Tuc.jpg)Posadas in Tucson in the 1960s
The Holy Family processes through the streets followed by all the families of the neighborhood or parish to a designated house; St. Joseph knocks on the door singing the traditional song, Para Pedir Posadas (https://www.partitions-pour-tous.fr/pdf/20172/Traditionnel-La-posadas.html). The inhabitants of the chosen houses – the “innkeepers” – refuse entrance multiple times.
Finally, after stops at multiple houses, the last home welcomes the Holy Family, along with the whole neighborhood, to pray the Christmas Novena and Rosary and enjoy a fine repast of good Mexican food and drinks.
On the last evening (Christmas Eve), the procession is at its grandest with two new children being added to act as the godparents of Our Lord. When the procession knocks at the door of the final house, the door is opened to reveal a nativity scene into which the godparents place an effigy of the Christ Child. At this grand final arrival of Christmas night, the Mexicans display their joy with fireworks, piñatas and other festivities followed by Midnight Mass.
In Austria, Herbergsuchen was accompanied by ancient Advent carols and the song, “Wer Klopfet an.” This charming and popular song is played and sung, with St. Joseph and Our Lady going to various inns and being refused by cold innkeepers.
In German Alpine regions and parts of Hungary, families would pass an image of Our Lady – specially blessed by the parish priest on the First Sunday of Advent – from one home to the next on each of the nine nights. The family honored by hosting the image for the day would adorn it with candles, and in an evening ceremony they gathered round her to sing and honor Our Lady as the expectant Mother (A favorite hymn was “Maria, die schönste Schäferin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o6NVr1LDIQ)”.
(https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/images_A-E/D047_Anl.jpg)A family in the Alps returns home after delivering the holy image to a neighbors
After the last hymn, the whole household including the servants, would don their cloaks and lanterns to follow the image, praying all the while, as a young man carried it to the next farm. The new family would receive the treasured image with great joy, giving it due honor before they too would have to accompany it to the next family.
The family who received the image invited the visiting family inside to have drinks and refreshment before the fire. Warmed with good cheer and victuals, the visiting family would traverse the snowy paths back to their home. The last family who received the image or statue would process to the church on Christmas Eve to return the image to its proper place.
In some areas, the image would continue to move from house to house throughout the whole Christmas season until Candlemas, since every family wanted the honor of welcoming the Holy Family to their home.
(https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/images_A-E/D047_An.jpg)Anlocken boys
In some areas of Germany, it was traditional for nine school boys to take turns honoring a statue of St. Joseph on each of the Christmas nights. The boy who had the statue on the first day would pray to St. Joseph in the evening. Then he would bring the statue to the next boy's house and join him in the evening prayers before the statue. By Christmas Eve, all eight boys would join the last boy in his home to give a final homage to St. Joseph.
Then, the boys would process through the town with the statue accompanied by nine girls dressed in white. The procession would end in the church where the statue would be placed in his special place in the Creche.
In Austria and Franconia the custom of Anklöckeln(Knocking) was practiced on the three Thursdays before Christmas. Children or men dressed as shepherds and paraded from house to house. singing Advent carols (especially “Gott griaß enk, Leitln (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lcw39EY8B2Q)”), playing the flute, and reciting poems to spread the good news of the approaching feast. The children were rewarded with food and drink or some other gift.
In parts of England during the week before Christmas, the poor women of the village would process with “Advent Images” (two dolls representing Our Lady and the Christ Child) to every house, begging for a halfpenny. They sang a beautiful carol (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dJ19p7U2jY) about the seven joys of Mary as they processed.
In Yorkshire, the women carried only one “image” of the Christ Child in a box adorned with evergreens and flowers. Every household who gave an alms to these women was allowed to take one flower or piece of greenery from the box, which was believed to cure toothaches.
All over England it was considered a terrible affront to refuse a penny to the bearers of the “Advent Images.” It was also seen as a great misfortune to miss being visited by these holy images. (Book of Days (https://www.thebookofdays.com/months/dec/21.htm))
(https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/images_A-E/D047_Pii.jpg)Pifferari play before Our Lady to ease her expectation
Italians and Latin American peoples prepared for Christmas with a Novena to the Holy Child (La Novena del Nino). A ceremony was performed in the church on each of the nine days preceding Christmas in which joyful songs were sung and ardent prayers said before the empty manger.
In Castelbuono, Italy, people dressed as shepherds and the Holy Family and went from house to house on these nine nights singing the traditional song, Viaggiu Dulurusu. In Marianopoli, local men walked through the streets playing traditional lullabies, ninnaredda (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQd-3Z-KT2I), to herald the imminent coming of the Christ Child.
The pifferari (bagpipe-players) came down from the Italian mountain regions into the cities of Naples and Rome during these nights. These men would play sweet music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-RVJqMjsNE) on their pipes through the streets of the cities stopping before images of Our Lady to soothe her in her expectation of the birth of her Son and before carpenter shops to honor St. Joseph. (Curiosities of Popular Customs… (https://books.google.com/books?id=VKwYAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA567&lpg=PA567&dq=belgian+customs+for+nativity+of+St.+John&source=bl&ots=f3aDJHfZP5&sig=ACfU3U0iwACGjGgfHPTM-hNVWhIm9zADBg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjDxLuwgIXqAhXGCjQIHWhyA64Q6AEwAHoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=advent&f=false))
Restoring the customs
The custom of Herbergsuchen or Posadas can be restored even if merely within the immediate family or household. Every night beginning on December 17, the family – dressed for the parts – can process around the house carrying a statue of Our Lady or image of the Holy Family and singing traditional Advent carols.
Each night the procession can end at a different family member's room where the image can be placed on an altar prepared for it. The person receiving the Holy Image should do so with devotion and seriousness, striving to give due reparation to the Holy Family for the refusal of the inn keepers.
These age old customs seem to fulfill well the supplication of Dom Gueranger: "Let us enter into the spirit of the Church; let us reflect on the great Day which is coming; that thus we may take our share in these the last and most earnest solicitations of the Church imploring her Spouse to come, and to which He at length yields.” (Liturgical Year, vol. 1, p. 484)
(https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/images_A-E/D047_Pif.jpg)Italian sheeperds serenading Our Lady
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Posted December 21, 2020
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Related Topics of Interest
- Expectation of Our Lady (https://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j207sd_OLExpectation_12-18.html)
- ‘O’ Antiphons (https://www.traditioninaction.org/Questions/B667_Pearl.html#anti)
- The Two Advents of Our Lord Jesus Christ (https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/g005-2Advents.htm)
- Venez, Divin Messie - French Advent song (https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/Music_P000_files/P090_Venez.htm)
- Three Advents for Three Kinds of Men (https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/a036rpThreeAdvents.htm)
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St Frances Xaxier Cabrini
(https://i.imgur.com/5t4NpR9.jpg)
The youngest of thirteen children, Frances Cabrini was born on July 15, 1850 in a small village called S’ant Angelo Lodigiano near the city of Milan, Italy. She grew up enthralled by the stories of missionaries and made up her mind to join a religious order. Because of her frail health, she was not permitted to join the Daughters of the Sacred Heart who had been her teachers and under whose guidance she obtained her teaching certificate.
However, in 1880, with seven young women, Frances founded the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She was as resourceful as she was prayerful, finding people who would donate what she needed in money, time, labor and support. She and her sisters wanted to be missionaries in China; she visited Rome to obtain an audience with Pope Leo XIII. The Pope told Frances to go “not to the East, but to the West” to New York rather than to China as she had expected. She was to help the thousands of Italian immigrants already in the United States.
In 1889, New York seemed to be filled with chaos and poverty, and into this new world stepped Mother Frances Cabrini and her sister companions. Cabrini organized catechism and education classes for the Italian immigrants and provided for the needs of the many orphans. She established schools and orphanages despite tremendous odds.
Soon, requests for her to open schools came to Frances Cabrini from all over the world. She traveled to Europe, Central and South America and throughout the United States. She made 23 trans-Atlantic crossings and established 67 institutions: schools, hospitals and orphanages.
Her activity was relentless until her death. On December 22, 1917, in Chicago, she died. In 1946, she was canonized a saint by Pope Pius XII in recognition of her holiness and service to mankind and was named Patroness of Immigrants in 1950.
Today the Missionary Sisters, their lay collaborators and volunteers work as teachers, nurses, social workers, administrators and members of institutional boards of trustees. They can be found on six continents and 17 countries throughout the world – wherever there is a need.
Learn more about Frances Cabrini and the history of the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. (https://www.mothercabrini.org/who-we-are/our-history/)
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St. André Bessette
(https://holycrosscongregation.org/assets/100495/original/standre_as_novice.jpg)
Alfred Bessette was born in Quebec on August 9, 1845, and he was orphaned by the time he was 12. He had to work to support himself and had little formal education, but from an early age he had a lively faith and a strong devotion to St. Joseph. After a few years trying to find work in the United States, he returned to Quebec. There, his childhood pastor encouraged him to consider a vocation to religious life. He sent Alfred to the Congregation with a note that said, “I am sending you a saint.”
Initially, Holy Cross did not accept Alfred because of his poor health. He had been baptized right after birth because they had been afraid that he might not live more than a few days, and he was sickly all his life. Alfred, however, was not discouraged, with the assistance of the Archbishop of Montreal, received entrance into the Holy Cross Novitiate on December 27, 1870.
Upon entering the Novitiate, Alfred took the name André, which was the name of his childhood pastor. Given his frail health and lack of a formal education, Brother André was assigned as doorkeeper of Notre Dame College in Montreal. He continued this assignment as a professed brother. Among his many duties, he greeted visitors and tended to their needs.
(https://holycrosscongregation.org/assets/100496/original/andre_st_joseph_chapel.jpg)
Many people began to experience physical healings after praying with Brother André, and his reputation as a healer began to spread. So many people flocked to see him that the Congregation allowed him to see sick people at a trolley station across the street. Through it all, Brother André remained humble, often seeming confused that people would lavish such praise on him. He knew that the real source of these miraculous cures was St. Joseph’s intercession.
His desire to increase devotion to St. Joseph inspired him to found a shrine to his favorite saint across the street from Notre Dame College. He saved the money he earned from giving haircuts at five cents apiece, eventually earning the $200 he needed to construct a simple structure. This shrine opened on October 19, 1904, and in 1909, Brother André was released from his duties as doorkeeper and assigned full-time as the caretaker of the Oratory of St. Joseph (http://www.saint-joseph.org/).
Explore a Photo Gallery of the Oratory of St. Joseph (https://holycrosscongregation.org/holy-cross-resources/photo-gallery/oratory-of-st-joseph/)
The Oratory attracted large numbers of pilgrims, and plans were made to construct a large basilica. Brother André’s full-time ministry for the rest of his life was to receive the long lines of sick visitors who flocked to the Oratory to see him. He became known as the “Miracle Man of Montreal,” and thousands of miraculous healings were attributed to his intercession over the following decades.
(https://holycrosscongregation.org/assets/100497/original/st_andre_offcial_portrait.jpg)
Brother André died on January 6, 1937 at the age of 91. During the week that his body lay in state outside of St. Joseph’s Oratory, an estimated one million people braved the bitter Montreal winter to pay their respects. The basilica was eventually completed and remains a major pilgrimage site, attracting over two million visitors a year. The side chapels are filled with the crutches of people healed through St. André’s prayers.
On October 17, 2010, St. André Bessette became first saint of the Congregation of Holy Cross when he was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI. On this day, the Church recognized that God chose a very simple man for a remarkable life of service to the Church. He had previously been beatified by Blessed John Paul II on May 23, 1982.
Seek the intercession of St. André (https://holycrosscongregation.org/holy-ones/st-andre-bessette/prayers/)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDe7qmM8zM0
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Indulgenced Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes
O Holy Mary, Mother of God, who to reanimate the faith of the world and draw men to thy divine Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, didst deign to appear at Lourdes; thou who, in order to render more manifest thy maternal tenderness, and to inspire our hearts with greater confidence, didst choose a simple little child as the confidant of thy mercy; thou who didst say: "I am the Immaculate Conception" to make us understand the priceless value of that innocence which is the pledge of the friendship of God; thou who by eighteen successive apparitions didst not cease by thy actions and words to urge men to prayer and penance, which alone can appease Heaven and ward off the blows of divine justice; thou who, by a moving appeal to the world, hast reunited before the miraculous grotto an innumerable multitude of thy children; behold us, Our Lady of Lourdes, prostrate at thy feet, and confident of obtaining blessings and graces from God by thy most powerful intercession. Those who love thee, O Mother of Jesus Christ, Mother of men, desire above everything to serve God faithfully in this world, so as to have the happiness of loving Him eternally in Heaven. Listen to the prayers which we this day address to thee; defend us against the enemies of our salvation, and against our own infirmities; together with the pardon of our sins, obtain for us perseverance in the determination never to fall away again. We implore thee also to take under thy protection our friends and benefactors, and of these in a very special manner those who have abandoned the practice of their christian duties. May they be converted and become thy faithful servants. Amen.
(Indulgence 300 day, Pope Leo XIII)
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Prayer to St. Benedict
(Can be said as a Novena for Nine Consecutive Days)
Saint Benedict (c. 480-543), a man able to read consciences, prophesy the future, and to forestall the attacks of the devil, was born at Nursia in Sabina, Italy. Settling finally on Monte Cassino, he and his followers erected the monastery he was to make famous. There he wrote his Rule, which became the norm for all Western monks.
O holy patriarch, Saint Benedict, who didst establish monastic life in the Church of the West, thou hast been blessed both in name and by God's grace. At the close of thy glorious and fruitful life, having received holy Viaticuм, and, supported by the arms of thy disciples, thou didst stand with thine hands lifted toward heaven and didst happily give up thy angelic soul into the hands of thy creator.
O blessed Saint Benedict, thou hast promised to defend zealously from the snares of the enemy those who call upon thee during their last struggle with death; protect me on this and every day of my life with thy holy blessing, that I may never be separated from our Blessed Lord and the company of the blessed in heaven. Amen.
May the holy cross be my light!
May the dragon never be my guide!
Begone Satan! Never tempt me with your vanities!
What you offer me is evil.
Drink your own poison.
(Say 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary and 1 Glory Be)
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Prayer on the Feast of the Annunciation
O God, Who wast pleased that the eternal Word, according to the declaration of the angel, should take flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Give to our humble petitions; and grant that we, who believe her to be truly the Mother of God, may be helped by her prayers. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.