'Then, all resplendent with the mystic jewels wherewith the Bridegroom had beautified her on the wedding day, she thrilled with joy at the increase of her children, both in merit and in number; she urged them to ascend to ever greater heights; she offered them to God; she raised them in her arms up towards heaven. Obeyed by them, she was, in all truth, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array. She stretched out her branches as the turpentine tree, and beneath their shadow she sheltered those whom she had begotten against the heat, and the tempest, and the rain. So long, then, as she could she was able to assemble. But her zeal, great as it was, has redoubled from the time she perceived that many, yea very many, had lost their first fervour. Now for many years she is mourning at the sight of how, each day, her Creator is offended, how great are the losses she sustains, and how many of her children suffer death. She that was once robed in scarlet has put on mourning garments; her fragrance is no longer perceived by the world; instead of the rich ornament of her breast, she is vested in haircloth. Her lamentations and tears are ceaseless. Ceaseless is her prayer, striving if, by by some way, she may make the present as beautiful as times past; and yet, as though it were impossible for her to call back that lovely past, she seems wearied with such supplication. The word of the prophet has come true: "They are all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together; there is none that doth good, no, not one!" (Psalms 13:3) The manifold sins committed by the Church's children against the divine precepts show that they who so sin are rotten members, members alien to the body of Christ. Nevertheless the Church forgets not that she gave them birth in the laver of salvation; she forgets not the promises they made to renounce the devil, and the pomps of the world, and all sin. Therefore does she weep over their fall, being their true mother, and never losing the hope of winning their resurrection by her tears. Oh what a flood of tears is thus every day shed before God! What fervent prayers does this spotless virgin send, by the ministry of the holy angels, up to Christ, Who is the salvation of sinners! In the secret of hearts, in lonely retreats, as well as in her public temples, she cries out to the divine mercy, that they, who are now buried in the filth of vice, may be restored to life. Who shall tell the joy of her heart, when she receives back living, the children she mourned over as dead? If the conversion of sinners is such joy to heaven, what must it be to such a mother? According to the multitude of the sorrows of her heart, so will be the consolations, giving joy to her soul.'
It is the duty of us Christians, who by God's mercy have been preserved from the general decay, to share in the anguish of our mother, the Church; we should humbly but fervently co-operate with her in all her zealous endeavors to reclaim our fallen brethren. We surely can never be satisfied with not being of the number of those senseless sons who are a sorrow to their, and despise the labour of her that bore them. Had we not the Holy Spirit to tell us how he that honoureth his mother is as one that layeth up to himself a treasure, the thought of what our birth cost her would force us to do everything that leis in our power to comfort her. She is the dear bride of the Incarnate Word; and our souls, too, aspire to union with Him. Let us prove that such union is really ours by doing as the Church does; that is, by showing in our acts the one thought, the one love which the divine Spouse always imparts to souls that enjoy intimacy with Him, because there is nothing He Himself has so much at heart; the thought of bringing the whole world to give glory to His eternal Father, and the love of procuring salvation for sinners.
Of course, this is NOT the path the Church has taken in the past 50+ years since Vatican II. That council, which was valid, has told us to accept others as they are because everyone goes to heaven, since God loves all and would not punish them, even though Jesus Himself said differently. We are told that others don't need to convert to the Catholic Church anymore. This is a giant PANTLOAD! They DO need to convert and come to the Church that Christ Himself started. It only makes sense! God is a fair and merciful God, but He is also the Just God we all have to face when we die.
Also, it is the feast day of St. Giles, one of the 'Fourteen Holy Helpers' that I wrote about on July 29. St. Giles is invoked against the plague, and for a good Confession. Here is the list:
The fourteen saints represented in the altar are:
• Agathius (or Acacius) (May 8), martyr, invoked against headache
• Barbara (December 4), virgin and martyr, invoked against fever and sudden death
• Blaise (also Blase and Blasius) (February 3), bishop and martyr, invoked against illness of the throat
• Catherine of Alexandria (November 25), virgin and martyr, invoked against sudden death
• Christopher (Christophorus) (July 25), martyr, invoked against bubonic plague
• Cyriacus (Cyriac) (August 8), deacon and martyr, invoked against temptation on the death-bed
• Denis (Dionysius) (October 9), bishop and martyr, invoked against headache
• Erasmus (Elmo) (June 2), bishop and martyr, invoked against intestinal ailments
• Eustachius (Eustace, Eustathius) (September 20), martyr, invoked against family discord
• George (April 23), soldier-martyr, for the health of domestic animals
• Giles (Aegidius) (September 1), hermit and abbot, invoked against plague, for a good confession
• Margaret of Antioch (July 20), virgin and martyr, invoked in childbirth
• Pantaleon (July 27), bishop and martyr, for physician
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