St. Catherine of Siena

SAINT CATHERINE of SIENA
Virgin
(1347-1380)

Catherine, the daughter of a humble Christian tradesman, was raised up to be the guide and guardian of the Church in one of the darkest periods of its history, the fourteenth century. As a child, prayer was her delight. She would say the "Hail Mary" on each step as she mounted the stairs, and was granted in reward a vision of Christ in glory. And He revealed to her the secrets of Christian perfection. When only seven years old she made a vow of virginity, afterwards enduring bitter persecution for refusing to marry.

Her parents persisted long in their refusal to allow her to enter religious life, her only ambition; but she made a kind of spiritual and penitential convent cell in her heart's depths, and there she found her Beloved and conversed with Him each day. At the age of fifteen she was permitted to enter the Third Order of Saint Dominic, but continued to reside in her father's house, where she united a life of active charity to the prayer of a contemplative Saint. Our Lord bestowed on her His Heart in exchange for her own, gave her Communion with His own hands, and imprinted on her body the marks of His wounds. She had asked Our Lord that these be not visible (as some stigmatics had them), so Our Lord made them a golden color. However, she experienced the pain just the same as Our Lord had.

From this obscure home the seraphic virgin was taken by Providence to defend the Church's cause. Her life became a continuing miracle. Armed with Papal authority and accompanied by three confessors, she traveled through Italy, reducing rebellious cities to the obedience of the Holy See, and winning hardened souls to God. In the sight of virtually the whole world she sought out Gregory XI at Avignon, brought him back to Rome (after 60 years), and by her letters to the kings and queens of Europe made good the Papal cause. She was the counselor of Urban VI, and sternly rebuked the disloyal cardinals who took part in electing an antipope.

Long had the holy virgin foretold the terrible schism which began before she died. Day and night she wept and prayed for unity and peace. But in spirit she saw the entire city of Rome full of demons, who were tempting the people to revolt and even to slay the Vicar of Christ. With intense earnestness Saint Catherine begged Our Lord to prevent this enormous crime. Their seditious temper was subdued by her prayers, but they vented their rage by scourging the Saint herself, who gladly endured all for God and His Church. She died in Rome in 1380, at the age of thirty-three years old, the same as Our Lord.


Our beloved Abbot Gueranger has a prayer at the end of his thoughts on St. Catherine. He is asking for prayers for Italy, but the rest of it is quite applicable for these days.

"...Pray, too, for unhappy Italy, which was so dear to thee, and which is so justly proud of its Saint of Siena. Impiety and heresy are now permitted to run wild though the land; the name of thy Spouse is blasphemed; the people are taught to love error, and to hate what they had hitherto venerated; the Church is insulted and robbed; faith has long since bee weakened, but now its very existence is imperilled. Intercede for thy unfortunate country, dear Saint! oh! surely, it is time to come to her assistance, and rescue her from the hands of her enemies. The whole Church hopes that thou mayest effect the deliverance of this her illustrious province: delay not, but calm the storm which seems to threaten a universal wreck!"


Reflection. The seraphic Saint Catherine willingly sacrificed the delights of contemplation to labor for the Church and the Apostolic See. How deeply do the troubles of the Church and the consequent loss of souls afflict us? How often do we pray for the Church and the Pope? This is especially needed these days.

SHOVEL READY?

Now that we have two new 'saints', we need to beware of what to come. As you, I use the word 'pantload' to describe something that is so unbelievable and absurd, and I fail to come up with something comparable to describe these feelings. Well, these 'canonizations' and what will follow because of them will be a real 'pantload' for true believers. As a simile, Jeff Foxworthy the comedian, when talking about baby diapers, states: "When those diaper boxes say 10-12 pounds, that's just about all they will hold." Well, the 'new' evangelicism coming after this past weekend will be something like this: 'You know you're in for something, and you know it's going to be full, and you are pretty sure you're not going to like it when you open it up.'

BE SHOVEL READY! Just sayin'.

ARE YOU PREPARED?

When the great flood happened in the time of Noah, all of the people of the earth were in horrible sin. God only saved eight(8). The Ark Noah built was a symbol of the Church. Only those within the walls will be saved. Remember the Catholic saying: 'Outside the Church there is no salvation'? This still applies today. Only within the walls of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church will sinners be saved! Scripture asks the burning paraphrased question: 'When Jesus comes back, will He find any Faith?' The majority of those Christians and so-called Catholics seem to think that they have faith. NEWSFLASH! If it's not the Faith taught by the Apostles and carried almost 2000 years in its entirety, it is NOT the Faith. This truth also applies to those who are supposed to lead the faithful. I believe that the Truth is being suppressed throughout the world, even by those who should know better. Now, after these 'canonizations', the truly faithful will be attacked and persecuted by the ones who have drunk the koolaid. The upcoming times will be similar to the 'reformation', or as I like to call it, the 'deformation', of the 16th century, when the true believers were hunted down, tortured, and killed because they refused to acknowledge the 'new truth'.

ARE YOU PREPARED?

LEARN THE FAITH! IT IS YOUR ONLY HOPE. SAY YOUR ROSARY. OUR BLESSED MOTHER, MARY, SAID AT FATIMA: "Only I can help you".

Our Lady, Help of Christians, pray for us.

LOW SUNDAY--QUASIMODO SUNDAY

Tomorrow is called 'Low Sunday.' It is apparent that this name signifies the octave of the Easter celebrations, and because it is on a lower scale than the Highness of last Sunday. We hear about 'Doubting' Thomas. He didn't believe the Apostles when they said they had seen our Lord Jesus, he just didn't believe them. Jesus wouldn't do a miracle for Herod, and He won't do one just to make us believe. The following Sunday, Thomas did see and then believed. Jesus told him: "Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed. blessed are they who have not seen and have believed."

Our belief has not been perfect at all times. After hearing about an Apostle, Thomas, let's strive to do better. As our beloved Abbot states: 'Let us go to our Jesus, and say to Him: 'Thou art my Lord and my God! But alas! I have many times thought and acted as though thou wert my Lord and my God in some things, and not in others. Henceforth I will believe without seeing; for I would be of the number of those whom thou callest blessed!'

We believe first, and then we see things more clearly.

My Lord and my God, help my unbelief.

Also, on this, which is called a Greater Double rite; it is such a solemn day, NO feast, however great, is supposed to be kept on it. 'Mercy Sunday'? Could it be that JP2 bypassed the Church Canons when he started this, just as he did when he started the 'Luminous' mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of our Blessed Mother Mary. I think she knew what she was doing and how she wanted it said; better than the Holy Father when she asked for this devotion to begin.


I want to end with something for our Blessed Mother, for this is her day. We will congratulate her upon the Resurrection of her divine Son in the words of this sequence, taken from ancient missals of the churches of Germany. This is Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

Give praise, O mother, to thy risen Jesus, Who reigns triumphant over the prince of death. Cease thy mourning; for Jesus, the Fruit of thy womb, is restored to life, and visits thee.

His death was thy cross; His Passion, the sword that cruelly pierced thy heart; but now, sing a hymn of joy, and be glad, because of His Resurrection.

He was crucified; but now He is risen from the tomb, and has taken thee to His heavenly court: pray to Him for us, we beseech thee, that we may rise from our sins to everlasting joy. Amen.

CANONIZATIONS PART II

Just some more thoughts by another True believer. I have done some editing on my part, and it is in Italics. Of course, JPII will be canonized this coming Sunday, along with John XXIII. This article was written months ago.


If Pope John Paul II is declared a saint, false ecumenism will be canonized as well. How then should we view saints such as Edmund Campion and Fidelis of Sigmaringen, or others,un-canonized,who have upheld the True Faith in the face of adversity?


The dilemma presented by John Paul II’s canonization


In the January 2014 issue (no. 372) of Courrier de Rome, Fr. Jean-Michel Gleize, professor of ecclesiology at St. Pius X Seminary in Econe, published a study entitled “John Paul II: a new saint for the Church?” After recalling that a canonization is infallible(which I don't believe), he asked, “Are the new canonizations binding on all Catholic faithful?” and then “Can John Paul II be canonized?” quoting the Polish pope’s statements to Lutherans, Anglicans, the Orthodox, Jews and Moslems, as well as his remarks on religious liberty.
The following is Fr. Gleize’s epilogue.


If John Paul II is a saint, his theology must be irreproachable, down to the smallest detail. Indeed, the virtue of faith at heroic levels implies a perfect docility to the entire spirit of the Magisterium, and not only to the letter of the teachings of infallible Magisterium and to the lowest common denominator of mandatory dogmas.

If John Paul II is truly a saint, the Catholic faithful must recognize that the Catholic Church and the Orthodox communities are sister churches, responsible together for safeguarding the one Church of God. They must therefore reprove the example of Josaphat Kuncewicz, archbishop of Polotsk (1580–1623). Converted from Orthodoxy, he published a Defence of the unity of the Church in 1617, in which he reproached the Orthodox for breaking the unity of the Church of God, exciting the hatred of these schismatics who martyred him.

If John Paul II is truly a saint, the Catholic faithful must recognize the Anglicans as brothers and sisters in Christ and express this recognition by praying together. They must also condemn the example of Edmund Campion (1540–1581), who refused to pray with the Anglican minister, at the time of his martyrdom.

If John Paul II is truly a saint, the Catholic faithful must hold that what divides Catholics and Protestants—that is, the reality of the holy and propitiatory Sacrifice of the Mass, the reality of the universal mediation of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, the reality of the Catholic priesthood, the reality of the primacy of jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome—is minimal in comparison to that which unites them. They must therefore condemn the example of the Capuchin Fidelis of Sigmaringen (1578–1622), who's day is today, who was martyred by the Protestant reformers, to whom he had been sent as a missionary and for whom he wrote a Disputatio against Protestant ministers, on the subject of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. He said to those who soon were to kill him, "I came to refute your errors, not to embrace them; I will never renounce Catholic doctrine, which is the truth of all ages, and I fear not death."

If John Paul II is truly a saint, the Catholic faithful must recognize the value of the religious witness of the Jewish people. They must then condemn the example of Pedro de Arbues (1440–1485), Grand Inquisitor of Aragon, who was martyred by Jews in hatred of the Catholic faith.

If John Paul II is truly a saint, the Catholic faithful must recognize that after the final resurrection, God will be satisfied with the Moslems and they will be satisfied with Him. They must then condemn the example of the Capuchin Joseph of Leonessa (1556-1612) who worked without counting the cost in Constantinople among Christians reduced to slavery by the followers of Islam. His zeal caused him to be dragged before the sultan for insulting the Moslem religion and he spent three days hung from a set of gallows by a chain attached to hooks in one hand and one foot. Faithful Catholics should also deplore the example of St. Peter Mavimenus, who died in 715 after being tortured for three days for having insulted Mohammed and Islam.

If John Paul II is truly a saint, faithful Catholics must recognize that heads of state may not arrogate to themselves the right to prevent the public profession of a false religion. They must therefore condemn the example of the French king Louis IX, who limited the public practice of non-Christian religions as much as he could.
However, Josaphat Kuncewicz was canonized in 1867 by Pius IX, and Pius XI dedicated an encyclical to him; the Church celebrates his feast on November 14th. Edmund Campion was canonized by Paul VI in 1970 and the Church honors him on December 1st. Fidelis of Sigmaringen was canonized in 1746 and Clement XIV designated him as the “protomartyr of the Propaganda” (of the Faith); his feast in the Church calendar is April 24th. Pedro de Arbues was canonized by Pius IX in 1867. Joseph of Leonessa was canonized in 1737 by Benedict XIV and his feast is celebrated in the Church on February 4th; Pius IX proclaimed him patron of the missions of Turkey. St. Peter Mavimenus, lastly, is honored in the Church on February 21. As for King St. Louis, his fairly well-known example is an ideal illustration of the teachings of St. Pius X, canonized as well.

If John Paul II is truly a saint, all these saints were seriously mistaken and have given the whole Church not the example of authentic sanctity but the scandal of intolerance and fanaticism. It is impossible to avoid this dilemma.
The only way out is to draw the double conclusion that follows: Karol Wojtyla cannot be canonized and the act that would proclaim his sanctity in front of the Church could only be a false canonization.


And as for John XXIII, how can he be canonized, given the fact that he was a Mason, which is condemned by the Church? In addition to this, he persecuted Padre Pio, who had the Truth within himself and had the Stigmata of Our Lord.

CANONIZATIONS?

I'm just venting this day, concerning the upcoming 'canonizations' which are to be this Sunday, 'Mercy Sunday'. I just have a hard time trying to accept the making into saints of those who were responsible for the collapse of the Faith over the past 60+ years, plus, allowing some really bad stuff to keep occurring during their reign. When miracles were eliminated from the process, as well as the 'Devil's Advocate' role, the whole thing has me raising an eyebrow and saying: "Huh?"

The following is taken from the Vatican Council I, in the 19th century. That council defined the infallibility of the Supreme Pontiff. The question is, then, as to whether the pope can infallibly judge and declare a dead person to be a saint? The answer is NO! Tradition portrays a huge part in anything which is declared by the pope, the bishops, or anybody. Any break in that teaching, which comes to us from the Apostles, deems that teaching suspect. PERIOD!

In 1870, the Vatican Council infallibly defined that supernatural revelations which constitute the object of the Catholic Faith ended with the death of the last Apostle and that the pope could only infallibly define these revelations on faith and morals. Therefore the charism of 'papal infallibility' applies only to doctrines on faith and morals that were revealed to the Apostles. Consequently, the process of canonization cannot be infallible because it has no link with Tradition, no link with the revelations given to the Apostles. The canonization process was unknown to the Apostles and all the popes until the 9th century when popes started to canonize saints. Thus canonizations are not subject matter for papal infallibility because the process of canonization was not part of the revelations given to the Apostles.


Therefore, canonizations are NOT subject for our veneration; they are NOT part of Doctrine for our belief; these canonizations are another way for people to be scandalized once again. In ending, I only have to mimic what Our Lord said: "By their fruits shall you them." In my opinion, the 'fruits' of Vat. II are rotten to the core.

Vocations are down; the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is NOT represented anymore at the 'novus ordo'; the Faith is watered down for those in the pews; it is NOT being represented as it should be; non-Catholics are allowed to participate with their own services at our consecrated altars (Assisi); souls of all faiths go to heaven, or is it just for those that we know? Catholics are basically weak in their faith, and thus, their offspring are also weak, some not believing at all. These two 'saints' were instrumental in bringing us this new nonsense, and they were wrong!

I personally will NOT be asking these two 'saints' for their prayers, because I'm trying to hold onto my Faith, the Faith that comes to us from the Apostles themselves. Anything else is a pantload! Nuf said.

REJOICE! HE HAS RISEN!

He is risen! He is not here! The Corpse, laid by the hands of them that loved their Lord, on the slab that lies in that cave, is risen; and, without removing the stone that closed the entrance, has gone forth, quickened with a life which can never die. No man has helped Him. No prophet has stood over the dead Body, bidding it return to life. It is Jesus Himself, and by His own power, that has risen. He suffered death, not from necessity, but because He so willed; and again, because He willed, He has delivered Himself from its bondage. 0 Jesus! Thou, that thus mockest death, art the Lord our God! We reverently bend our knee before this empty tomb, which is now for ever sacred, because, for a few hours, it was the place of thy abode. Behold the place where they laid him! Behold the winding sheet and bands, which remain to tell the mystery of thy having once been dead! The angel says to the women: "Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified!" The recollection makes us weep. Yes, it was but the day before yesterday that Hid Body was carried hither, mangled, wounded, bleeding. Here, in this cave, from which the has now rolled back the stone--in this cave, which his presence fills with a more than midday brightness--stood the afflicted Mother. It echoed with the sobs of them that were at the burial, John and the two disciples, Magdalen and her companions. The sun sank beneath the horizon, and the first day of Jesus's burial began. But the prophet had said: 'In the evening weeping shall have place; and in the morning gladness.' This glorious, happy morning has come, O Jesus! and great indeed is our gladness at seeing that aching hearts, is now but the trophy of thy victory! Thy precious wounds are healed! It was we that caused them; permit us to kiss them. Thou art now living, more glorious than ever, and immortal. And because we resolved to die to our sins, when thou wast dying in order to expiate them, thou willed that we, too, should live eternally with thee; that thy victory over death should be ours; that death should be for us, as it was for thee, a mere passage to immortality, and should one day give back, uninjured and glorified, these bodies which ae to be lent for a while to the tomb. Glory, then, and honour, and love, be to thee, O Jesus! who didst deign not only to die, but to rise again for us!

From 'The Liturgical Year'


Today is the day the Lord has made. Let us be glad and rejoice in it! He has broken the chains of death, and has opened the gates of heaven for all of us if we choose.

HOLY SATURDAY

Today is Holy Saturday. Christ's cold body is in the Holy Sepulchre. His living soul, however, is busy. He visits the souls of the dead to announce to them that their deliverance is at hand. I also think He went , at least to the gates, of hell where the damned souls are to tell them that from now on the Name of Jesus will be revered, and that all knees shall bend in heaven, on the earth, and under the earth. Just my opinion. I will now turn to our beloved Abbot, Gueranger. He has an interesting take:

'In the centre of the earth there are four immense regions, into which no one living can ever enter: it is only by divine revelation that we know of their existence. The farthest from us is the hell of the damned, the frightful abode where satan and his angels and the reprobate are suffering eternal torments. it is here that the prince of darkness is ever forming his plots against God and His creatures. Nearer to us, is the limbo wherein are detained the souls of children, who departed this world before being regenerated (baptized). The opinion which has met most favour from the Church is that these souls suffer no torment; and that, although they can never enjoy the beatific vision, yet are they enjoying a natural happiness, and one that is proportionate to their desires. Above the abode of these children, is the place of expiation, where souls that have departed this life in the state of grace cleanse themselves from any stains of lesser sins, or satisfy for the debt of temporal punishment still due to divine justice. And lastly, still nearer to us, is the limbo where are kept from heaven the saints who died under the old Law. Here are our first parents, Abel, Noe, Abraham, Moses, David, and the prophets; the just Gentiles, such as that great saint of Arabia, Job; and those holy personages who were closely connected with our Lord, such as Joachim and Anne, the parents of His blessed Mother, Joseph her spouse and His own foster-father, and John His precursor, together with his holy parents Zachary and Elizabeth.'


GOSPEL (Matt. XXVIII, 1-7,) , In the end of the Sabbath, when it began to dawn towards the first day of the week,came Mary Magdalen, and the other Mary, to view the sepulchre. And behold there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven: and coming, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. And his countenance was as lightning, and his raiment as snow. And for fear of him, the guards were struck with terror, and became as dead men. And the angel answering, said to the women: Fear not you: for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Come, and see the place where the Lord was laid. And going quickly, tell ye his disciples that he is risen: and behold, he will go before you into Galilee; there you shall see him. Lo, I have foretold it to you.

Do not omit on this day to thank our Lord for the many graces He has given us through His passion and death.

GOOD FRIDAY--Our salvation has begun

I'm going to add something that I have on a tee shirt. The shirt features the Crucifixion and states:
If I'm OK, and you're OK, explain this!

Let the words of St. Augustine touch your heart, when he places the crucified Redeemer before our mind in the following words: "Behold the wounds of Jesus who is hanging on the cross, the blood of the dying, the price of our redemption! His head is bowed to give the kiss of peace; His side is open to love; His arms are extended to embrace us; His whole body sacrificed for our redemption. Let these words be the subject of your meditation that He may be wholly in your heart who is nailed to the cross for you."

I would also like to add a prayer from last night, Maunday Thursday. On this day, Jesus gave a mandate, or 'mandatum', in which Jesus gave the Apostles these instructions:

To offer the Body and Blood of Him in the Most August Sacrament of the Eucharist, and to wash the feet of others, thus humbling themselves.

Here is the prayer, in which we pray for those who are not within the fold of the Divine Shepherd, Jesus. This is an indulgenced prayer (200 days each time said), from Pope Pius VII in 1815:

Jesus, my God, my Saviour, true God and true man, in that lowly homage with which the Faith itself inspires me, with my whole heart I adore and love Thee in the most august Sacrament of the Altar, in reparation for all the acts of irreverence, profanation, and sacrilege, which I myself may ever have committed, as well as for all such like acts that ever have been done and in ages yet to come. I adore Thee, my God, not indeed as Thou deservest, not as much as I am bound to adore, but as far as I am able; and I would that I could adore Thee with all the perfection of which a reasonable creature is capable. Meantime I purpose now and ever to adore Thee, not only for those Catholics who adore and love Thee not, but also for the conversion of all bad Christians, and for all heretics, schismatics, Mohammedans, Jews, and idolators. Jesus, my God, mayest Thou be ever known, adored, loved, and praised every moment, in the most Holy and Divine Sacrament. Amen.

May we all be true to our promises we have made to God throughout our lives. Jesus, have mercy.



MANNER OF CONTEMPLATING CHRIST'S BITTER PASSION
Christ also suffered for us: leaving you an example that you should follow his steps. (I Peter II. 21.)

"Whence does it come," writes St. Alphonsus Ligouri, "that so many of the faithful look with so much indifference at Christ on the cross? They generally assist during Holy Week at the commemoration of His death without any feeling of gratitude or compassion, as if it were a fable or an event in which they had no interest. Know they not, or believe they not what the gospel relates of Christ's passion? Indeed they know it, and believe it, but do not think of it. It is impossible that he who believes and meditates, should fail, to become burning with love for God who suffers and dies for love of him." But why, we may ask here, are there so many who draw so little benefit even from the contemplation of the passion and death of Jesus? Because they fail to consider and imitate the example which Christ gives in His sufferings."

"The cross of Christ," says St. Augustine, "is not only a bed of death, but a pulpit of instruction." It is not only a bed upon which Christ dies, but the pulpit from which He teaches us what we must do. It should now be our special aim to meditate upon the passion of Christ, and to imitate those virtues which shone forth so preeminently in His passion and death. But many neglect to do this: They usually content themselves with compassion when they see Christ enduring such great pains, but they see not with what love, humility, and meekness He bears them; and so do not endeavor to imitate His example. That you, O Christian soul, may avoid this mistake, and that you may draw the greatest possible benefit for your soul, from the contemplation of the passion, and death of Christ, attend to that which is said of it by that pious servant of Gods Alphonse Rodriguez:

We must endeavor to derive from the meditation on the mysteries of the passion and death of Christ this effect, that we may imitate His virtues, and this by slowly and attentively considering each virtue by itself, exercising ourselves in forming a very great desire for it in our hearts, making a firm resolution to practice it in words and works, and also to conceive a holy aversion and horror of the opposite vice; for instance, when contemplating Christ's condemnation to the death of the cross by Pilate, consider the humility of Jesus Christ, who being God, as humble as He was innocent, voluntarily submitted and silently accepted the unjust sentence and the ignominious death. Here you see from the example given by Jesus, how you should despise yourself, patiently bear all evil, unjust judgment; and detraction, and even seek them with joy as giving you occasion to resemble Him. To produce these necessary effects and resolutions, you should at each mystery contemplate the following particulars:

First: Who is it that suffers? The most innocent, the holiest, the most loving; the only-begotten Son of the Almighty Father, the Lord of heaven and earth.

Secondly: What pains and torments, exterior and interior, does He suffer?

Thirdly: In what manner does He suffer, with what patience, humility, meekness and love, does He bear all ignominy and outrage?

Fourthly: For whom does He suffer? For all men, for His enemies and His executioners.

Fifthly: By whom does He suffer? By Jews and heathens, by soldiers and tyrants, by the devil and all impious children of the world to the end of time, and all who were then united in spirit with His enemies.

Sixthly: Why does He suffer? To make reparation for all the sins of the whole world, to satisfy the justice of God, to reconcile the Heavenly Father, to open heaven, to give us His infinite 'merits that we may from them have strength to follow the way to heaven.

At the consideration of each of these points, and indeed at each mystery of the passion of Christ, the imitation of the example of His virtues is the main object, because the true life of the Christian consists in the imitation of Jesus. In considering each stage of the passion of Christ place vividly before your mind the virtue which thee practiced therein; contemplate it and ask yourself whether you possess this virtue, or whether you still cherish the opposite vice. If you find the latter to be the case make an act of contrition, with the firm resolution to extirpate this vice, and excite in yourself a sincere desire for the opposite virtue. In this way you will draw the greatest advantage from the contemplation of Christ's passion, and resemble Christ; and, as the pious Louis of Granada says, "...there can be no greater honor and adornment for a Christian than to resemble his divine Master, not in the way that Lucifer desired, but in that which He pointed out, when He said: "I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so do you also."


We find at the cross on Golgotha the different classes of people of our day represented; namely, the pure and innocent; the repenting sinners, firm adherents of Jesus and His teachings; but also the lukewarm (the 'not so hot' whom He will spit out); the wavering, nominal Christians; obdurate heretics, professed infidels and apostates, and for all those pathetic souls who are clueless. So today, mankind is divided into parties such as these.

To which party do you belong, O Christian soul? To which do you wish to belong? Choose! The time of the division is near. The Lord already holds in His hand the winnowing shovel to clear His floor. If you are not a firm adherent of Jesus and His Church, in the storm that is gathering you will be blown like chaff. If you remain with the small group at the cross, in persevering courage, you will stand firm, and on the day when the cross shall appear in the clouds of heaven, you, with Mary, the Mother of the Faithful, with John and with Magdalen, will triumph forever, as a victorious knight of the cross. DECIDE!


Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, the lamb of the new sacrifice, which forever takes place of the old sacrifice of the Jews, which, at this moment, has ended with the death of Christ on His Cross. This is the Real Bread and Real Blood of our dear Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. This is the True sacrifice which is offered at every Mass throughout the world. May God have mercy on us all!

HOLY THURSDAY

For those who have NOT gone to the services on Holy Thursday, you should take a few hours and do so. If it is done right, it is very awe inspiring. You should be in the dark holding a candle and listening to Scripture from the Old Testament when they were looking forward to the Light. Following is some thoughts concerning this week from St. Alphonsus Liguori:

MEDITATION for Holy Thursday:

Jesus dies upon the Cross

I. Behold how the loving Saviour is now drawing nigh unto death. Behold, O my soul, those beautiful eyes growing dim, that face become all pallid, that heart all but ceasing to beat, and that sacred body now disposing itself to the final surrender of its life.

After Jesus had received the vinegar, He said: It is consummated. He then passed over in review before His eyes all the sufferings that He had undergone during His life, in the shape of poverty, contempt and pain; and then offering them all up to the Eternal Father, He turned to Him and said, It is finished. My Father, behold by the sacrifice of my death, the work of the world’s redemption, which Thou hast laid upon me, is now completed. And it seems as though, turning Himself again to us, He repeated, It is finished; as if He would have said, O men, O men, love me, for I have done all; there is nothing more that I can do in order to gain your love.

II. Behold now, lastly, Jesus dies. Come, ye angels of heaven, come and assist at the death of your King. And thou, O sorrowing Mother Mary, do thou draw nearer to the cross, and fix thine eyes yet more attentively on thy Son, for He is now on the point of death. Behold Him, after having commended His spirit to His Eternal Father, He calls upon death, giving it permission to come to take away His life. Come, O death, says He to it, be quick and perform thine office; slay Me, and save my flock. The earth now trembles, the graves open, the veil of the temple is rent in twain. The strength of the dying Saviour is failing through the violence of the sufferings; the warmth of His body is gradually diminishing; He gives up His body to death: He bows His head down upon His breast, He opens His mouth and dies: And bowing His head, He gave up the ghost. The people behold Him expire, and observing that he no longer moves, they say, He is dead, He is dead; and to them the voice of Mary makes echo, while she too says, “Ah, my Son, Thou art, then dead.”

III. He is dead! O God! Who is it that is dead? The author of life, the only-begotten Son of God, the Lord of the world, - He is dead. O death! Thou wert the amazement of heaven and of all nature. O infinite love! A God to sacrifice His blood and His life! And for whom? For His ungrateful creatures; dying in an ocean of sufferings and shame, in order to pay the penalty due to their sins. Ah infinite goodness! O infinite love!

O my Jesus! Thou art, then, dead, on account of the love which Thou has borne me! Oh, let me never again live, even for a single moment, without loving Thee! I love Thee, my chief and only good; I love Thee, My Jesus, - dead for me! O my sorrowing Mother Mary, do thou help a servant of thine, who desires to love Jesus.

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
The Ascetical Works : The Passion and Death of Jesus Christ
Meditations for Holy Week



Following are more thoughts about today, from

What festival does the Church celebrate today?

The Catholic Church commemorates today the institution, by our Saviour, of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. This commemoration she has celebrated from the first ages of Christianity.


What remarkable things did Christ perform on this day?

He ate with His apostles the Paschal lamb which was a type of Himself; it was eaten with bitter herbs and unleavened bread; they ate it standing with clothes girded, and staff in hand, in remembrance of the hurried escape of the Jews from Egypt. (Exod. XII.) After having eaten the Paschal lamb our Lord with profound humility washed the feet of His apostles, exhorting them to practise the same humility and charity; afterwards, He gave them His Flesh and Blood under the appearance of bread and wine, for spiritual food and drink, thus instituting the Must Holy Sacrament of the Altar, the Sacrifice of the Mass, and the priesthood; for when He said to the apostles: Do this in commemoration of me, he ordained them priests. After this He held His last discourse in which He particularly recommended brotherly love; said that beautiful, high-priestly prayer, in which He implored His Heavenly Father particularly for the unity of His Church. He then went as usual to Mount Olivet, where He commenced His passion with prayer and resignation to the will of His Father, suffering intense, deathlike agony, which was so great that He sweat blood. Here Judas betrayed Him into the hands of the Jews, by a treacherous kiss. They bound Him and led Him to the high-priests, Annas and Caiphas, where He was sentenced to death by the council, and denied by Peter.

The Introit of the Mass reads thus: We ought to glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ: in whom is our salvation, life, and resurrection: by whom we have been saved and delivered. (Gal. VI. I4.) May God have mercy on us, and bless us: may He cause the light of His countenance to shine upon us, and may He have mercy on us. (PS. LXVI. 2.)

COLLECT O God! from whom Judas received the punishment of his sin, and the thief the reward of his confession: grant us the effects of Thy mercy; that as our Lord Jesus Christ at the time of His passion bestowed on each a different recompense of his merits, so having destroyed the old man in us, He may give us the grace of His Resurrection. Who liveth, & c.


What ceremonies are observed in this day's Mass?

The crucifix is covered with a white veil in memory of the sacred institution of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. The priest comes to the altar robed in white vestments; the Gloria in excelsis is solemnly sung, accompanied by the ringing of bells, and all Christians are exhorted to render praise and gratitude to the Lord for having instituted the Blessed Feast of Love; after the Gloria the bells are silent until Holy Saturday to indicate the Church's mourning for the passion and death of Jesus; to urge us also to spend these days in silent sorrow, meditating on the sufferings of Christ, and in memory of the shameful flight of the apostles at the capture of their master, and their silence during these days. At the Mass the priest consecrates two hosts one of which He consumes at the Communion, and the other he preserves in the chalice for the following day, because no consecration takes place on Good Friday. The officiating priest does not give the usual kiss of peace before Communion, because on this day Judas betrayed his master with a kiss. After Mass, the consecrated host in the chalice, and the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle, are taken in procession to the sacristy or repository, in memory of the earliest times of Christianity, when the consecrated hosts for the communicants and the sick, were kept in a place especially prepared, because there was no tabernacle on the altar. Moreover it also signifies Christ's going to Mount Olivet, where His Godhead was concealed. After the procession the priests with the choir say vespers in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.


EPISTLE (I Cor. XI. 20-32.) Brethren, When you come together into one place, it is not now to eat the Lord's supper. For every one taketh before his supper to eat. And one indeed is hungry, and another is drunk. What! have you not houses to eat and drink in? Or despise ye the Church of God? and put them to shame that have not? What shall I say to you? Do I praise you? In this I praise you not. For I have received of the Lord that which also. I delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and giving thanks, broke it, and said: Take ye, and eat: this is my body, which shall be delivered for you: this do for the commemoration of me. In like manner also, the Chalice, after, he had supped, saying: This Chalice is the New Testament in my blood. This do ye, as often as you shall drink it, for the commemoration of me. For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink this chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord, until he come. Wherefore, whoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord. Therefore are there many infirm and weak among you, and many sleep. But if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But whilst we are judged, we are chastised by the Lord, that we be not condemned with this world.

EXPLANATION The early Christians were accustomed after the celebration of the Lord's Supper, to unite in a common repast; those who were able furnished the food, and rich and poor partook of it in common, in token of brotherly love. This repast they called "Agape,” “meal of love.” At Corinth this custom was abused, some ate before Communion that which had been brought, became intoxicated, and deprived the poor of their share. The Apostle condemns this abuse, declaring it an unworthy preparation for Communion, and reminds the Corinthians of the institution of the Blessed Sacrament telling them what a terrible sin it is to partake of the body and blood of the Lord unworthily, for whoever does this makes himself guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, and eats and drinks his own judgment, that is, eternal damnation. Therefore prove yourself, O Christian soul, as often as you communicate, see whether you have committed any grievous sin which you have not confessed, or for which you were not heartily sorry.


GOSPEL (John XIII. 1-15.) Before the festival day of the Pasch, Jesus knowing that his hour was come, that he should pass out of this world to the Father: having loved, his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. And when supper was done, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray him: knowing that the Father had given him all things into his hands, and that he came from God, and goeth to God: he riseth from supper, and layeth aside his garments: and having taken a towel, he girded himself. After that, he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the feet of the disciples, and to wipe them with the towel, wherewith he was girt. He cometh therefore to Simon Peter, and Peter saith to him: Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered, and said to him: What I do, thou knowest not now, but thou shaft know hereafter. Peter saith to him: Thou, shaft never wash my feet. Jesus answered him: If I wash thee, not, thou shaft have no part with me. Simon Peter with to him: Lord! not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him: He that is washed, needeth not but to wash his feet, but is clean wholly. And you are clean, but not all. For he knew who he was that would betray him: therefore he said: You are not all clean. Then after he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, being set down again, he said to them: Know you what I have done to you? You call me Master, and Lord: and you say well, for so I am. If then I, being your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that as I have done to you so do you also.


Why did Jesus wash the feet of His disciples?

To give them a proof of His sincere love and great humility which they should imitate; to teach them that although free from sin, and not unworthy to receive His most holy body and blood, their feet needed cleansing, that is, that they should be purified from all evil inclinations which defile the heart, and prevent holy Communion from producing fruitful effects in the soul.


Why is it that on this day in each church only one priest says Mass at which the others receive Communion?

Because on this day Christ alone offered the unbloody Sacrifice, and having instituted the Blessed Sacrament, fed with His own hands His disciples with His flesh and blood, it is therefore proper that in commemoration of this, the priests in one church should receive the Blessed Sacrament from the hands of one, according to the example of the apostles, but as a sign of the priestly dignity which on this day Christ gave to the apostles and their successors, each priest wears a stole.


Why art the altars stripped on this day?

To show that Jesus took off, as it were, at the time of His passion, His divine glory, and yielded Himself up in utter humiliation into the hands of His enemies to be crucified, (Phil. II. 6. 7.) and that at the crucifixion He was forcibly stripped of His garments, which the soldiers divided among them, as foretold in the twenty-first psalm, which is therefore said during this ceremony. The faithful are urged to put off the old sinful man with his actions, and by humbling themselves become conformable to Christ.


Why is it that spiritual superiors wash the feet of their subjects, as do also the Catholic princes the feet of twelve poor men?

To commemorate the washing of the apostles' feet by Christ, and to teach all, even the highest to exercise the necessary virtues of humility and charity towards all, even the lowest, according to the example given by Jesus. Princes and spiritual superiors therefore kiss the feet after washing them, and the pope presses them to his breast, giving to each person a silver and a gold medal, on which is pictured the washing of the feet by Christ.


What is Tenebrae, and what its meaning?

It is the office which the clergy say on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week, accompanied by the lamentations of the Prophet Jeremias, and other ceremonies. The word Tenebrae means darkness, and represents the prayers formerly said in the dark hours of the morning. In the Tenebrae the Church mourns the passion and death of, Jesus, and urges her children to return to God; she therefore makes use of those mournful words of Jeremias: “Jerusalem! Jerusalem, be converted to the Lord, thy God!"


Why is the Tenebrae said in the evening?

In memory of that time when the early Christians spent the whole night preceding great festivals in prayer, but later, when zeal diminished, it was observed only by the clergy on the eves of such festivals; also in order that we may consider the darkness, lasting for three hours, at the crucifixion of Christ, whence the name Tenebrae; and lastly, to represent by it that mourning, of which darkness is the type.


Why, during the Prayers of the clergy, are the lights in the triangular candlestick extinguished one after another?

Because the Tenebrae, as has been already remarked, in the earliest times of the Church, were held in the night, the candles were extinguished one after another, as the daylight gradually approached they were no longer, necessary; again, at the time of the passion and death of Jesus, His apostles whom He calls the light of the world, one, after another gradually left Him; at the death of Christ the earth was covered with darkness. The Jews, blinded by pride, would not recognize Christ as the Saviour of the world, and therefore fell by His death into the deepest darkness of hardened infidelity.


What is meant by the last candle which is carried lighted behind the altar, and after prayers are finished, is brought back again?

This candle signifies Christ; who on the third day came forth from the grave, by His own power, as the true light of the world, though according to His human nature He died and lay in the grave until the third day.


Why is a noise made with clappers at the end of the Tenebrae?

This was formerly a sign that service was over; it, also signifies the earthquake which took place at Christ's death.


How should we attend the Church service on this day?

The Church commemorates on this day the institution of the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar; we should therefore consider with a lively faith that Jesus, our divine Teacher and Saviour, is really and truly here present; we should adore Him as the Son of God, who became man to redeem us; should admire the love which determined Him to institute the Blessed Sacrament, that He might always be with us; and should thank Him for all the inestimable graces which we derive from this Sacrament.

REMARK In the Cathedrals the holy oils which are used in Baptism, Conformation, Holy Orders, and Extreme Unction, as also in consecrating baptismal fonts and altar stones, are blessed on this day. Let us thank our Lard for the institution of these Sacraments at which blessed oily are used.

HOLY WEEK--Some things to think about

During this week, here's some things to think about. Would we be as strong as those first Apostles?



How the Apostles Died
1. Matthew
Suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound.

2. Mark
Died in Alexandria, Egypt, after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead.

3. Luke
Was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.

4 John
Faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge basin of boiling oil during a wave
of persecution In Rome. However, he was miraculously delivered from death.
John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison Island of Patmos.
He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on Patmos. The apostle John was later freed
and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey. He died as an old man, the
only apostle to die peacefully.

5. Peter
He was crucified upside down on a cross.
According to church tradition it was because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy
to die In the same way that Jesus Christ had died.

6 James
The leader of the church in Jerusalem , was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast
pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he
survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club.
* This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation.

7. James the Great
Son of Zebedee, was a fisherman by trade when Jesus called him to a lifetime of ministry.
As a strong leader of the church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem.
The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial.
Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he
declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian.

8. Bartholomew
Also known as Nathaniel was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey.
Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip.

9. Andrew
He was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras, Greece. After being whipped severely by seven soldiers,
they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that, when he was
led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words: 'I have long desired and expected this happy hour.
The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it.' He continued to preach to his
tormentors for two days until he expired.

10. Thomas
Was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the Sub-continent.

11. Jude
Was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.

12. Matthias
The apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded.

13. Paul
Was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul endured
a lengthy imprisonment, which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had
formed throughout the Roman Empire. These letters, which taught many of the foundational
Doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament.

Perhaps this is a reminder to us that our sufferings here are indeed minor compared to the intense persecution and cold cruelty faced by the apostles and disciples during their times for the sake of the Faith. And ye shall be
hated of all men for my name's sake: But he that endureth to the end shall be saved.


Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God Will!



THE (SCIENTIFIC) DEATH OF JESUS
At the age of 33, Jesus was condemned to death. At the time Crucifixion was the
"worst" death. Only the worst criminals were condemned to be crucified. Yet it was
even more dreadful for Jesus, unlike other criminals condemned to death by
crucifixion Jesus was to be nailed to the Cross by His hands and feet.
Each nail was 6 to 8 inches long. The nails were driven into His wrist. Not
into His palms as is commonly portrayed. There's a tendon in the wrist that
extends to the shoulder. The Roman guards knew that when the nails were being
hammered into the wrist that tendon would tear and break, forcing Jesus to use His back
muscles to support himself so that He could breathe.
His left foot was the first to be nailed, with a short nail, sort of like tacking something to hold it there. Both of His feet were then nailed together with a larger nail. Thus He was forced to support Himself on
the single nail that impaled His feet to the cross. Jesus could not support himself
with His legs because of the pain. So He was forced to alternate between arching His
back then using his legs just to continue to breathe. Imagine the struggle, the pain, the
suffering, the courage.

Jesus endured this reality for over 3 hours. Yes, over 3 hours! Can you imagine this kind of
suffering? A few minutes before He died, Jesus stopped bleeding. He was simply pouring water
from his wounds. From common images we see wounds to His hands and feet and even the
spear wound to His side... But do we realize His wounds were actually made in his body. A hammer
driving large nails through the wrist, the feet overlapped and an even large nail hammered through
the arches, then a Roman guard (Longinus), piercing His side with a spear, from whence the Symbol of the ways of salvation, water and Blood, appeared.

But before the nails and the spear Jesus was whipped and beaten. The whipping was so severe that it tore the flesh from His body. The beating so horrific that His face was torn and his beard ripped from His face. The crown of thorns cut deeply into His scalp, and, as Our Blessed Mother told Mary of Agreda , one went into His eye. Most men would not have survived this torture. He had no more blood to bleed out, only water poured from His wounds. The human adult body contains about 3.5 liters (just less than a gallon) of blood. Jesus poured all 3.5 liters of his blood; He had three nails hammered into His members; a crown of thorns on His head and, beyond that, a Roman soldier who stabbed a spear into His chest, and into His Sacred Heart...all these without mentioning the humiliation He suffered after carrying His own cross for almost 2 kilometers, while the crowd spat in his face and threw stones (the cross was almost 30 kg of weight, only for its higher part, where His hands were nailed). Jesus had to endure this experience, to open the Gates of Heaven, so that you can have free access to God. So that your sins could be "washed" away. All of them, with no exception! Don't ignore this situation.


JESUS CHRIST DIED FOR YOU!

He died for you! It is easy to pass jokes or foolish photos by e-mail, but when it comes to God, sometimes you feel ashamed to forward to others because you are worried of what they may think about you. God has plans for you, show all your friends what He experienced to save you. Now think about this! May God Bless Your Life!

Let's set aside what we're doing and take this opportunity! Let's see if Satan can stop this.. All you have to do is:

1. Simply pray for the person who sent this message to you
2. Then, send this message to people, the more the better.
3. People will pray for you and you will make that many people pray to God
for other people.
4. Take a moment to appreciate the power of God in your life, for
doing what pleases Him.

If you are not ashamed to do this, please, follow Jesus' instructions:

He said (Matthew 10:32 & 33): "Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge
before my Father in heaven; but whosoever denies Me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven".
Yes, I love God. He is my source of life and my Savior. He keeps me alive day and night. Without Him, I am nothing, but with Him "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13.

This is the simple proof. If you love God and you are a believer and trust in salvation through Christ Jesus, send this to all those you love and care for. Maybe we, as a team, can get more people praying and receiving graces and mercy from Jesus.

PALM SUNDAY

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday, the day we think about Jesus entering Jerusalem riding on a donkey. In a few days, the same people who honored Him this day will cry out for His death. How quick some people turn against you! Anyway, our beloved Abott Gueranger describes the scenario for us:

Early in the morning of this day, Jesus sets out for Jerusalem, leaving Mary His Mother, and the two sisters Martha and Mary Magdalene, and Lazarus, at Bethania. The Mother of sorrows trembles at seeing her Son thus expose Himself to danger, for His enemies are bent upon His destruction; but it is not death, it is triumph, that Jesus is to receive today in Jerusalem. The Messias, before being nailed to the gross, is to be proclaimed King by the people of the great city; the little children are to make her streets echo with their to the Son of David; and this in presence of the soldiers of Rome's emperor, and of the high priests and pharisees: the first standing under the banner of their eagles; the second, dumb with rage.

The prophet Zachary had foretold this triumph which the Son of Man was to receive a few days before His Passion, and which had been prepared for Him from all eternity. 'Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion! Shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold thy fling will come to thee; the Just and the Saviour. He is poor, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass.' Jesus, knowing that the hour has come for the fulfilment of this prophecy, singles out two from the rest of His disciples, and bids them lead to Him an ass and her colt, which they would find not far off. He has reached Bethphage, on Mount Olivet. The two disciples lose no time in executing the order given them by their divine Master; and the ass and the colt are soon brought to the place where He stands.

The holy fathers have explained to us the mystery of these two animals. The ass represents the Jewish people, which had been long under the yoke of the Law; the colt, upon which, as the evangelist says, no man yet hath sat, is a figure of the Gentile world, which no one had ever yet brought into subjection. The future of these two peoples is to be decided a few days hence: the Jews will be rejected, for having refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Messias; the Gentiles will take their place, to be adopted as God's people, and become docile and faithful.

The disciples spread their garments upon the colt; and our Saviour, that the prophetic figure might be fulfilled, sits upon him, and advances towards Jerusalem. As soon as it is known that Jesus is near the city, the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of those Jews, who have come from all parts to celebrate the feast of the Passover. They go out to meet our Lord, holding palm branches in their hands, and fondly proclaiming Him to be King. They that have accompanied Jesus from Bethania, join the enthusiastic crowd. Whilst some spread their garments on the way, others out down boughs from the palm-trees, and strew them along the road. Hosanna is the triumphant cry, proclaiming to the whole city that Jesus, the Son of David, has made His entrance as her King.


How these Jews missed seeing what was really happening before their eyes I can't begin to understand. The important ones of that religion knew what was to come, they had read the scriptures. I guess having it happen in their time was beyond their scope of their understanding. Like now, I think I see signs pointing to things at the end, and I think they are here now, but if you tell anyone about it, they think you are nuts! I personally hope that I am put in a detention camp; you know, the ones for all of those dangerous sorts to be kept in. Think of the possible conversions that could happen if we were to be put into one of them. Know your Faith! Be ready to use it to help someone else.

In the next few days, we will be reading the Passion from all four of the Evangelists, keeping in mind about the suffering that Jesus did for us unworthy ones.

Let us pray for a true conversion of our hearts, so that we may be made worthy of His love, forgiveness, and eternal happiness with Him, His Mother, and all of the Saints of all ages. Won't it be awesome finally getting to meet them?!

Lord Jesus, have mercy on us sinners. Please?



Also, while contemplating this coming week, I want to show what is believed to be the pillar that Jesus was scourged on. I don't know about you, but in 'The Passion of the Christ' by Mel Gibson, this scene gets to me more than the Crucifixion in a way. Satan had entered into those who are the doing the scourging, and they turn into savage beasts. Especially when the chunks of His skin are ripped away from His adorable Body, it is most unsettling. Think about this during this week.

PASSION SUNDAY

OUR BLESSED MOTHER

Let us end these first four weeks of Lent with a hymn to our Blessed Mother, the Mother of Mercy. Let us honor her on this first Saturday and beg for her prayers. The following is taken from the ancient Roman-French missals. The Sequence:


Hail Mary, full of grace! The Lord is with thee, O gentle Virgin!

Blessed art thou among women, for thou didst bring forth peace to men and glory to the angels.

And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, Who, by His grace, made us to be His coheirs.

By this Ave, which sounded so sweetly to the world, thou didst conceive, and not by nature's laws. Thou wast the new star that wast to bring forth a new Sun.

Thou, though ever the purest of virgins, wast the temple of our Saviour Jesus Christ (Who united in His Person the little and the great), of Jesus, the Lion and the Lamb.

O Queen of virgins! O rose without thorns! Thou wast made Mother of Him Who is our Sun, our Dew, our Bread, and our Shepherd.

Thou art the city of the just King; thou art the Mother of mercy, bringing grace to Theophilus, by drawing him out of filth and misery.

The heavenly court praises thee, for thou art both Mother and Daughter of its King. By thee, the guilty obtain pardon; by thy prayers, the just receive grace.

Therefore, O star of the sea, O tabernacle of the Word, O aurora of the divine Sun.

O gate of heaven, by whom Light arose to the world! pray for us to thy Son,

That He loose us from sin, and introduce us into the kingdom of brightness, where perpetual light shines forever. Amen.


OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP, pray for us.

St. Mary of Egypt

Today is mainly the feast day of St. Francis of Paola. However, I would like to mention another saint whose day is also today, April 2. Her name is Mary of Egypt. She is a larger saint in the Orthodox Church, but I like her in ours too. She had left her parents and lived in Alexandria as a woman of pleasure, like Mary Magdalene. One day, seventeen years later, she was in Jerusalem, when she noticed celebration of the Holy Cross in the city. She happen to see a picture of the Theotokos, the Mother of God. She made a vow to this beautiful Ikon, that, is she were able to see the life-giving Wood of the Cross, she would do penance. She believed and adored, converted, received the Holy Eucharist, and disappeared into the wilderness for 47 years, living on three loaves of bread she had taken with her. She did NOT receive another piece of the Bread of Life for all that time, (unless she received through an angel), until another future saint, Zozimus, came along and found her.

She asked him to bring to her on Holy Thursday more of that Precious Bread. He did, after she had recited some prayers like the 'Our Father' and the 'Symbol'(of the Apostles, or the Creed as we know it), and received Him once again. Think about this! 47 years without our dear Lord in the Eucharist! It is hard enough if we happen to be sick and can't receive Him even one week! Well, isn't it? Anyway, she asked Zozimus to come back the following year, and this was promised. However, when he returned at that time, he found her body lying on the ground, dead. Near her were these words: "Abbot Zozimus! bury the body of this wretched Mary. Give back to the earth what belongs to it, and add dust unto dust. Yet pray to God for me. This last day of the month of Pharmuthi, on the night of the saving Passion, after the Communion of the Divine and Sacred Supper."


I would like to interject the sequence for this daughter of the Church, which the Orthodox probably read yesterday:


This daughter passes from the Egypt of Pharoah to the espousals with Jesus, our true Solomon. She that was abject, is made a chosen one; she that was deformed, is made fair; the vessel of dishonor is made one of honor.

The Star of the sea shone upon her, and leading her to her beloved Son, has knit the bond of peace. The Mother of God interceded; Christ forgave; the sinner's sins are pardoned.

She that led a carnal life, came to Jerusalem, to be espoused to the King of peace; leaving her false lover, she is united to the true Spouse, honored by the wonderful One.

She strives to enter the house of God, but her unworthiness forbids it; she is compelled to retire. Then does she return to her own heart; she weeps for her sins, and her weeping blots them out.

She flees to the desert; tramples on Leviathan; conquers the world and the flesh; forgets her father's house; neglects the beauty of the body, that her spirit may be made comely.

Rejoice, O daughter of Egypt! Thou, that once wast barren, take up thy harp, and sing. Exult and be joyful, for now thou art chaste and pure, fruitful in virtue, a vine that yields a precious fruit.

He that is our Joy hath loved thee; the shame of thy disorders is effaced by the merit of thy purity. The wisdom of thy heavenly Spouse has given thee, cleansed and all fair, the incorruption of His grace.

Robed in the seven-fold veil of His Spirit, thou wast anointed with the oil of gladness. The scarlet of charity, the lily of chastity, the girdle of modesty--all were upon thee.

Thy feet were decked with violet, for thy affections were changed from earthly to heavenly things. Thy vesture was of every richest hue, and thy couch was decked with flowers, sweeter than those of spring.

Rejoice, O Mary, in that Christ so loved thee, and beautified thee with grace. Be mindful of us sinners; pray for all mankind; feast now in thy eternal glory! Amen.






She did penance for 47 years! She had thought herself unworthy. Maybe we have lost that sense of unworthiness that we all should have in regards to receiving Him in the Eucharist. But Mary, with her perseverance and penance, along with the prayers of the Blessed Virgin, the Theotokos, she made it! So, if we persevere and do penance, along with the help of that same Virgin, we can make it too! St. Mary of Egypt, pray for us wretched sinners so that we may one day join you.