Lent--2012-1st Sunday

Christ was tempted, and we will be, too.

Let those who must go, on these days, and mingle in the company of worldlings, be guided by St. Francis of Sales, who advises them to think, from time to time, on such considerations as these:--that while all these frivolous, and often dangerous, amusements are going on, there are countless souls being tormented in the fire of hell, on account of the sins they committed on similar occasions; --that, at that very hour of the night, there are many holy religious depriving themselves of sleep in order to sing the divine praises and implore God's mercy upon the world, and upon them that are wasting their time in its vanities;--that there are thousands in the agonies of death, while all that gaiety is going on;--that God and His angels are attentively looking upon this thoughtless group; and finally, that life is passing away, and death so much nearer each moment.

I will be taking some texts from St. Francis de Sales during this Lenten season. We will be hearing about temptation this first Sunday. We are not above Jesus, who Himself was tempted by Satan himself. We are to offer ourselves to God this season, so that we may be made more worthy to sing the great Alleluia! on Easter Sunday.

As St. Francis says: 'If we are led by the Spirit of God to the place of temptation, we should not fear, but should be assured that He will render us victorious. But we must not seek temptation not go out to allure it, however holy and generous we may think ourselves to be, for we are not more valiant than David, not than our Divine Master Himself, who did not choose to seek it. Our enemy is like a chained dog; if we do not approach, it will do us no harm, even though it tries to frighten us by barking at us.

...The great Apostle St. Paul, as soon as he had given himself to the divine service and put himself on the side of Christianity, was immediately tempted for the rest of his. While he was an enemy of God and persecuted the Christians he did not feel the attack of any temptation, or at least he has given us no testimony of it in his writings. But he did when he was converted by Our Lord.'

St. Bernard, referring to words in Psalm 90, which is telling us to have faith in God and He will deliver us. Deliver us from what? There are three kinds of terrors which we might be afraid of. The first fear is that of cowards and slothful souls; the second, that of children; and the third, that of the weak. Fear is the first temptation which the enemy presents to those who have resolved to serve God, for as soon as they are shown what perfection require of them they think, "Alas, I shall never be able to do it." ...But Our Lord does not want this kind of warrior in His army; He wants combatants and conquerors, not sluggards and cowards. He chose to be tempted, and Himself attacked in order to give us an example.

The fear of the child is that they are scared of many things when they are out of sight of mommy. The Psalmist David says, 'why do you fear, you who are encompassed with truth and armed with the strong shield of faith which teaches you that God is your 'Father Almighty.'

The third fear that is experience is that of the weak, These fear not only what can bring evil but what can is any way disturb or trouble their peace. Do you think that in this life you can have a tranquility so permanent as never to meet with disturbance. St. Jerome says: "You are deceived if you think that a Christian can live without persecution. He suffers the greatest who lives under none. Nothing is more to be feared than too long a peace. A storm puts a man upon his guard, and obliges him to exert his utmost efforts to escape shipwreck."

Our beloved Abbot tells us: We have three enemies to fight against; our soul has three dangers; for, as the beloved disciple, St. John, says, all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life! By the concupiscence of the flesh, is meant the love of sensual things, which covets whatever is agreeable to the flesh, and, when not curbed, draws the soul into unlawful pleasures. Concupiscence of the eyes expresses the love of the goods of this world, such as riches and possessions; these dazzle the eye, and then seduce the heart. Pride of life is that confidence in ourselves, which makes us forget that all we have, our life and every good gift, we have from God.

Our Tract for this Sunday explains it all:

He that dwelleth in the aid of the Most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of heaven.

He shall say to the Lord: Thou art my protector, and my refuge: my God, in Him will I trust.

For he hath delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.

He will overshadow thee with his shoulders; and under his wings thou shalt trust.

His truth shall compass thee with a shield; thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night.

Of the arrow that flieth in the day; of the business that walketh in the dark; of ruin, or of the noonday devil.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

For he hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways.

In their hands they shall ear thee up; lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk; and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon.

Because he hoped in me, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he hath known my name.

He will cry to me, and I will hear him; I am with him in trouble.

I will deliver him and I will glorify him; I will fill him with length of days, and I will show him my salvation.

RORATE CÆLI: Plenary indulgence reminder: Fridays in Lent

Not only for after Communion. It sounds like a special indulgence during Lent. Jon

RORATE CÆLI: Plenary indulgence reminder: Fridays in Lent

Ash Wednesday-2012

This is Our Lady of Sorrows. She has plenty to be sorrowful for. It mostly involves us, God's children. We begin Lent tomorrow, and, with it, responsibility. We are suppose to be like Christ Himself, and He has thrown down the challenge once again. He asks us to be faithful, more charitable, and cleaner in our lives. We want to be with Him in the next life, so we have work to do.

St. John the Apostle, in his 1st epistle, 2nd chapter, verse 15, says this: 'Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him.' Nuff said.

St. Francis de Sales tells us the following. He is speaking about all of us who are still trodding the boards on earth. He advises us to think, from time to time, on such considerations as these;--that while all these frivolous, and often dangerous, amusements are going on, there are countless souls being tormented in the fire of hell, on account of the sins they committed on similar occasions;--that, at that very hour of the night, there are many holy religious depriving themselves of sleep in order to sing the divine praises and implore God's mercy upon the world, and upon them that are wasting their time in its vanities;--that there are thousands in the agonies of death, while all that gaiety is going on;--that God and His angels are attentively looking upon this thoughtless group;--and finally, that life is passing away, and death so much nearer each moment.'

This last statement makes me think about a gentleman we met at the 'Catholic Family News' conference last year in Cleveland. He was an ex-NYC policeman and FBI agent, and had helped start a Catholic school for those who he thought weren't getting their hard earned money's worth for. He told the kids, and I think that this is the school's motto: "If you don't make it to heaven, your life has been wasted."

Let's hope and pray and work hard so that our lives are not wasted!

I'm going to end with something from last Saturday's readings. It is from something called 'Complaint to Mary', composed by the monk Euthymius. it is in the Greek liturgy. Think!


O blessed Lady! how shall I worthily lament over my impure life, and the multitude of my grievous sins? I know not how to address thee, most chaste Virgin! I tremble with fear; but do thou help me.

I will speak of my wickedness and my hateful sins; but where shall I begin? Alas! what will become of me, a wretched sinner? Do thou, O blessed Lady, have compassion on me before my departure from this life.

I, having gone in every path that sinner ever trod, how shall I find now the way of salvation, O Immaculate Virgin? Yet have I recourse to thy goodness; despise me not, for I repent from my heart.

My thoughts are ever on the hour of death, and on the dread tribunal; and yet an evil habit violently tempts me to sin. O most pure Virgin, do thou help me.

The deadly enemy of all that is good, seeing me poor and naked, without patron or protector, and most destitute of heavenly virtue, rushes forward that he may devour me. O blessed Lady! forbid him, and drive him far from me.

Alas, unhappy man! in the arrogance of my soul, I have defiled the image of God that was in me. Whither shall I now turn? Hasten to my assistance, O Virgin ever holy!

The choirs and hosts of Angels, the heavenly Powers, tremble in the presence of thy all-powerful Son, O Immaculate Mother! and I, who have nothing wherein to hope, am so devoid of fear!

Suffer me not, O blessed Lady! to perish in the pit of my sins, into which I have fallen. The cruel enemy sees me struggling in despair, and mocks me. Do thou stretch forth thy hand, that can so well deliver me.

Awful is the judgment of God, unhappy senseless soul! and everlasting is the punishment. But turn thee, whilst yet there is time, and prostrate in prayer before the Mother of thy Judge and Lord. Why wouldst thou despair?

O Immaculate Virgin! the multitude of my grievous sins has set a thick darkness around me; the eyes of my soul, and my understanding, are blinded. Wherefore, I beseech thee, quickly lead me by the brightness of thy light, to sweet freedom from my passions.

Grant me an unceasing sorrow, O blessed Lady, and a fount of tears, that I may wash away my countless sins and wounds, and gain eternal life.

Lo! I thy servant, most sinless Virgin! approach thee in deep reverence and love, for I know the power of thy prayer. Great, indeed, with her Son, is the power of the Mother's prayer, and His heart is moved when she asks, O most blessed Mother!

O Mother worthy of the whole world's praise! thy Son will be to me a merciful and compassionate Judge. Despise me not, but let me find favour in His sight, that He may set me on the right hand of His most just tribunal; for in thee have I put my trust.

Quinquagesima Sunday

A couple of weeks ago, we heard about the fall of Adam and Eve, resulting in us all having original sin on our souls. Then, 2 weeks ago, we heard about Noah and the Great Flood. This week we hear about Abraham, who was deemed to be worthy to carry on God's wishes, and to be our spiritual father. As the good Abbot says, 'We are forced to exclaim, with the holy fathers: "O true Christian, even before Christ had come on the earth! He had the spirit of the Gospel, before the Gospel was preached! He was an apostolic man before the apostles existed!" God tells him that He will bless them that bless him and curse them that curse him. I guess that we should do what he does, i.e. follow the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth.

We are to prepare for the coming Lenten season, which begins next Wednesday, even though the penitential season has been upon us for a few weeks already.


I'm going to let the Abbot tell us about this Sunday. Condensed, of course.

'How appropriate for this Sunday is the magnificent eulogy of Charity, here given by our apostle! This virtue, which comprises the love both of god and of our neighbor, is the light of our souls. Without charity we are in darkness, and all our works are profitless. The very power of working miracles cannot give hope of salvation, unless he who does them have charity. Unless we are in charity, the most heroic acts of other virtues are but one snare more for our sols. Let us beseech our Lord to give us this light. But let us not forget that, however richly He may bless us with it here below, the fullness of its brightness is reserved for when we are in heaven; and that the sunniest day we can have in this world, is but darkness when compared with the splendor of our eternal charity. Faith will then give place, for we shall be face to face with all Truth; hope will have no object, for we shall possess all good; charity alone will continue, and, for this reason, is greater than faith and hope, which must needs accompany her in this present life. This being the glorious destiny reserved for man when redeemed and enlightened by Jesus, is it to be wondered at that we should leave all things, in order to follow such a Master? What should surprise us, and what proves how degraded is our nature by sin, is to see Christians, who have been baptized in this faith and this hope, and have received the first-fruits of this love, indulging, during these days, in every sort of worldliness, which is only the more dangerous because it is fashionable. It would seen as though they were making it their occupation to extinguish within their souls the last ray of heavenly light, like men that had made a covenant with darkness. If there be charity within our souls, it will make us feel these offences that are committed against our God, and inspire us to pray to Him to have mercy on these poor blind sinners, for they are our brethren.'

As the blind man in today's Gospel asks of Jesus: "Lord, that I may see."

30 days Prayer to St. Joseph

Here is a novena to our spiritual father, St. Joseph. It starts tomorrow, and ends with his feast day on March 19th. We need all the help we can get.

30 days Prayer to St. Joseph

» “So Long America”: Only Truthful Mainstream News Show Ends Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!

Check out this site, confirming the fact that it the government thinks you are a threat to America, you will be shut down. Judge Napolitano nails it every day, with his insight about the system, and how it is spiraling downhill fast. His show, 'Freedom Watch', on the Fox network, has piqued the conscience of Americans, and, therefore, has to GO! He had become a thorn in the side of the establishment. When you go to the site, in the second set of videos, you see him in his final installment of his show. Enjoy, and WAKE UP, AMERICA! Jon

» “So Long America”: Only Truthful Mainstream News Show Ends Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!

Sexagesima Sunday 2012

First of all, before thinking about this Sunday, I have one thing to say, and I am unanimous in it. I'm talking about all this nonsense about a woman's right to choose to abort their baby, and the right to have contraception pills available at little cost. My stance is this: A woman, and in fact, everyone, has this right to choose. This is the choice to do what God expects them to do or not! PERIOD! The Bishops need to man up and do what they have been chosen to do. Lead us to Christ through His Church and its teachings. Another PERIOD!

Now, on to this week in this penitential season. Last week we heard about Adam, his sin, and how it came onto all of us. This week, we think about Noah; about his being the only person on earth(along with his three sons, their wives, and his wife), who were actually living the way they were suppose to. Think about it. The ONLY people on the entire earth who were doing right. When Christ comes back, will he find anyone faithful enough?

We hear this Sunday about the seeds falling to earth on different types of soil. St. Gregory the Great justly remarks(according to the good Abbot Guerenger), that this parable needs no explanation, since eternal Wisdom Himself has told us its meaning. All that we have to do, is to profit by this divine teaching, and become the good soil, wherein the heavenly seed may yield a rich harvest. How often have we, hitherto, allowed it to be trampled on by them that passed by, or to be torn up by the birds of the air! How often has it found our heart like a stone, that could but choke! We listened to the word of God; we took pleasure in hearing it; and from this we argued well for ourselves. Nay, we have often received this word with joy and eagerness. Sometimes, even, it took root within us. But, alas! something always came to stop its growth. Henceforth, it must both grow and yield fruit. The seed given to us is of such quality, that the divine Sower has a right to expect a hundred-fold. If the soil, that is, our heart, be good; if we take the trouble to prepare it, by profiting by the means afforded us by the Church; we shall have an abundant harvest to show our Lord on that grand day, when, rising triumphant from His tomb, He will come to share with His faithful people the glory of His Resurrection.

Let us end with a hymn taken from the ancient breviaries of the Churches of France:

The days of ease are about to close; the days of holy observance are returning; the time of temperance is at hand; let us seek our Lord in purity of heart.

Our sovereign Judge will be appeased by our hymns and praise. He who would have us sue for grace, will not refuse us pardon.

The slavish yoke of Pharaoh, and the fetters of cruel Babylon, have been borne too long: let man now claim his freedom, and seek his heavenly country, Jerusalem.

Let us quit this place of exile: let us dwell with the Son of God. Is it not the servant's glory, to be made co-heir with his Lord?

O Jesus! be thou our guide through life. Remember that we are thy sheep, for whom thou, the Shepherd, didst lay down thine own life.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son; honour too be to the holy Paraclete: as it was in the beginning, now is, and shall ever be. Amen.

Septuagesima Sunday

"Alleluia!" is gone. Gone for 9 weeks. This word that comes from angels we are not to use during the pentecostal season. As our beloved Abbot Gueranger tells us:

'During this season of Septuagesima, we have to gain a clear knowledge of the miseries of our banishment, under pain of being left for ever in this tyrant Babylon. It was, therefore, necessary that we should be put on our guard against the allurements of our place of exile. It is with this view that the Church, taking pity on our blindness and our dangers, gives us this solemn warning. By taking from us our Alleluia, she virtually tells us that our lips must first be cleansed, before they again be permitted to utter this word of angels and saints; and that our hearts, defiled as they are by sin and attachment to earthly things, must be purified by repentance. She is going to put before our eyes the sad spectacle of the fall of our first parents, that dire event whence came all our woes, and our need of Redemption. This tender mother weeps over us, and would have us weep with her.'

We must be cleansed in order to be able to say in the right way: "Alleluia!"
The following verses are from the Churches in France in the 14th century, signifying the end of the use of the Alleluia:

The sweet Alleluia-song, the word of endless joy, is the melody of heaven's choir, chanted by them that dwell for ever in the house of God.

O joyful mother, O Jerusalem our city, Alleluia is the language of thy happy citizens. The rivers of Babylon, where we poor exiles live, force us to weep.

We are unworthy to sing a ceaseless Alleluia. Our sins bid us interrupt our Alleluia. The time is at hand when it behooves us to bewail our crimes.

We, therefore, beseech thee whilst we praise thee, O blessed Trinity! that thou grant us to come to that Easter of heaven, where we shall sing to thee our joyful everlasting Alleluia. Amen.

'The holy Church calls us together today in order that we may hear from her lips the sad history of the fall of our first parents. This awful event implies the Passion and cruel Death of the Son of God made Man, who has mercifully taken upon Himself to expiate this and every subsequent sin committed by Adam and us his children. It is of the utmost importance that we should understand the greatness of the remedy; we must, therefore, consider the grievousness of the wound inflicted. For this purpose, we will spend the present week in meditating on the nature and consequences of the sin of our first parents.' Abbot Gueranger.

St. Paul will tell us today that we are a race to the end; but only those who run well will win the prize.

In the Gospel from Matthew, we hear about the workers in the vineyard, from the first ones in the morning til the later ones who are hired to work. Abbot Gueranger explains these passages in a way I had never heard till I received 'The Liturgical Year' by the Abbot:

'...Firstly, then, let us recall to mind on what occasion our Saviour spoke this parable, and what instruction He intended to convey by it to the Jews. He wishes to warn them of the fast approach of the day when their Law is to give way to the Christian Law; and He would prepare their minds against the jealousy and prejudice which might arise in them, at the thought that God was about to form a Covenant with the Gentiles. The vineyard is the Church in its several periods, from the beginning of the world to the time when God Himself dwelt among men, and formed all true believers into one visible and permanent society. The morning is the time from Adam to Noah; the Third hour begins with Noah and ends up with Abraham; the sixth hour includes the period which elapsed between Abraham and Moses; and lastly, the ninth hour opens with the age of the prophets, and closes with the birth of the Saviour. The Messias came at the eleventh hour, when the world seemed to be at the
decline of its day. Mercies unprecedented were reserved for this last period, during which salvation was to be given to the Gentiles by the preaching of the apostles. It is by this mystery of mercy that our Saviour rebukes the Jewish pride. By the selfish murmuring made against the 'master of the house' by the early laborers, our Lord signifies the indignation which the scribes and pharisees would show at the Gentiles being adopted as God's children. Then He shows them how their jealousy would be chastised: Israel, that had labored before us, shall be rejected for their obduracy of heart, and we Gentiles, the 'last' comers, shall be made 'first', for we shall be made members of that Catholic Church, which is the bride of the Son of God.'

The Purification of our Blessed Mother

According to our blessed Abott Guerenger, is as follows:

'The Law commanded that a woman who had given birth to a son should not approach the Tabernacle for the term of forty days; after which time she was to offer a sacrifice for her purification. She was to offer up a lamb as a holocaust, and a turtle or dove as a sin-offering. But if she were poor, and could not provide a lamb, she was to offer in its stead a second turtle or dove.'

Go figure! She was offering the Lamb in the tabernacle, but offer two doves as the Law required. Yet, the Abott continues:

'If who considered the spirit of these legal enactments, and why God required the ceremony of Purification, it was evident that she was not bound to them. They for whom these laws had been made were espoused to men; Mary was the chaste Spouse of the Holy Ghost, a Virgin in conceiving and a Virgin in giving birth to her Son; but it received an incalculable increase by her carrying the God of all sanctity in her womb, and bringing him into this world. Moreover, when she reflected upon her Child being the Creator and Sovereign Lord of all things, how could she suppose that he was to be submitted to the humiliation of being ransomed as a slave, whose life and person are not his own?

And yet the Holy Spirit revealed to Mary that she must comply with both these laws. She, the holy Mother of God, must go to the Temple like other Hebrew mothers, as though she had lost something which needed restoring by a legal sacrifice. He that is the Son of God and Son of Man must be treated in all things as though he were a servant, and be ransomed in common with the poorest Jewish boy. Mary adores the will of God, and embraced it with her whole heart.'

'At length the Holy Family enter Jerusalem. The name of this holy City signifies 'Vision of Peace'; and Jesus comes to bring her Peace. Let us consider the names of the three places in which our Redeemer began, continued and ended his life on earth. He is conceived at Nazareth, which signifies 'a Flower'; and Jesus is, as he tells us in the Canticle, the 'Flower of the field and the Lily of the valley', by whose fragrance we are refreshed. He is born at Bethlehem, the 'House of Bread'; for he is the nourishment of our souls. He dies on the Cross in Jerusalem, and, by his Blood, he restores peace between heaven and earth, peace between men, peace within our own souls; and, on this day of his Mother's Purification, we shall find him giving us the pledge of this peace.'

'...But this great event could not be accomplished without a prodigy being wrought by the Eternal God as a welcome to his Son. The Shepherds had been summoned by the Angel, and the Magi had been called by the Star, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem: this time it is the Holy Ghost himself who sends a witness to the Infant, now in the great Temple.

There was then living in Jerusalem an old man whose life was wellnigh spent. He was a 'Man of desires', and his name was Simeon; his heart had longed unceasingly for the Messias, and at last his hope was recompensed. The Holy Ghost revealed to him that he should not see death without first seeing the rising of the Divine Light. As Mary and Joseph were ascending the steps of the Temple, to take Jesus to the altar, Simeon felt within himself the strong impulse of the Spirit of God: he leaves his house, and walks towards the Temple; the ardour of his desire makes him forget the feebleness of age. He reaches the porch of God's House, and there, amidst the many mothers who had come to present their children, his inspired gaze in Isaias, and he presses through the crowd to the Child she is holding in her arms.

Mary, guided by the same Divine Spirit, welcomes the saintly old man, and puts into his trembling arms the dear object of her love, the Salvation of the world. Happy Simeon! figure of the ancient world, grown old in its expectation, and near its end. Not sooner has he received the sweet Fruit of Life, than his youth is renewed as that of the eagle, and in his person is wrought the transformation which was to be granted to the whole human race. He cannot keep silence; he must sing a Canticle; he must do as the Shepherds and Magi had done, he must give testimony: "Now", he says, "O Lord, thou dost dismiss thy servant in Peace, because my eyes have seen thy Salvation, which thou hast prepared--a Light that is to enlighten the Gentiles, and give glory to thy people Israel".

Immediately there comes, attracted to the spot by the same Holy Spirit, the holy Anna, Phanuel's daughter, noted for her piety, and venerated by the people on account of her great age. Simeon and Anna, the representatives of the Old Testament, unite their voices, and celebrate the happy coming of the Child who is to renew the face of the earth; they give praise to the mercy of Jehovah, who in this place, in this second Temple, gives Peace to the world, as the Prophet Aggeus had foretold'(Chapter 2 of Aggeus).

This is a great day, the end of the Christmas season, and another day which the world, at least in the U.S., has given to a rodent, the groundhog. Just another holy day which has been tainted by the world for stupidity. Christ has been given to us, the Jews, in the names of Simeon and Anna, have announced to us, that things will be different, from now to the end of time. Let us end this with the Antiphon of the Magnificat for this day:

The old man carried the Child, but the Child guided the old man. A Virgin bore him, and after childbirth continued a Virgin: she adored him whom she brought forth.

O Almighty and Eternal God, we humbly beseech thy only Son, in the substance of our flesh, was this day presented in the Temple, so our souls, being perfectly cleansed, may be presented to thee. Through the same Father, with the Son, and with the Holy Ghost, one God forever and ever.