THE END OF DEVOTION TO THE SACRED HEART?

Today is the end of the month of June, which is always set aside to honor the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. This does NOT mean that we can abandon Him now. We must always keep this Heart in mind; after all, It was opened with a lance by Longinus after He died for us on the Cross. Remember the word 'opened', which is what St. John tells us in his Gospel. It was opened for us to tap into; to enter in and learn what He is all about. Upon entering this Heart, the possibilities are endless. Remember always this Sacred Heart.

"Come to me; all you who labor; I will give you rest."

3rd Sunday after Pentecost

Tomorrow is the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost. This year it also coincides with the day set aside to honor the holy Apostles Peter and Paul. We know that Peter is the head of the Church on earth; however, protestants seem to think that Paul should have been the first leader of the Church. They'll never get it; the Church had been in existence for many years before Paul showed up to persecute those pesky Christians, or Nazareans, or whatever the non-believers called them. After his conversion, it was still a long time before Paul even saw Peter. He knew that Peter was the head. These two were martyred on the same day in the year 67A.D. Peter was crucified like Christ. However, since he didn't want to be crucified exactly like Christ, he asked his executioners to be placed upside down. He was. Paul, being a Roman citizen, was beheaded. These two are the pillars of the early Church, and we should emulate them. A prayer concerning them is later.

Now, on to this Sunday's thoughts. We should be hearing about being a soldier of Christ, and how to give all we have to promote the Truth. The world's bishops are doing their best to stifle the old Rite, so I'm not really sure what we will get ! Or, more likely, they don't care; except to push their agenda, which will entail at least getting all the Masses on the same calendar. This will be the start of them trying to end the Mass of all ages! They don't seem to mess with all of the other Rites within the fold, just the Traditional one. Shame on them! They will answer some day, however. Just sayin'.

In a short side note; Here's a good example. I just this week contacted our local Bishop, concerning the 'dress' of those attending the 'new' Mass. You know, the shorts, the sun dresses, halter tops, etc. I mentioned to him that the respect due to our Lord in the tabernacle and in the Eucharist was sorely lacking, as well as being an occasion of sin to those of us who are weak. He pretty much said that he would rather have the people going to Mass instead of correcting them and maybe losing them because they got corrected. He said that the priests are in charge of this correction, even though he is the head priest in the diocese. I answered him back that as a successor of the Apostles that it was his duty to get the ball moving and instruct us as children of God and his 'spiritual children', as it were. His response pretty much said that he didn't like being chastised. All I can say further is: "Good luck with that opinion when you go to the Eternal Judge at your demise." Anyway, moving on:

This Sunday should be about when our first Holy Father, Peter, warns us in his Epistle to be on our toes. He tells us how the devil is to be going around the world seeking souls he can destroy. Up til now, we have learned about Christ, His Heart; His being in the Holy Eucharist; how He is the Bread that has come down from heaven to nourish us. The Holy Ghost has now come to teach us what we need to know. But first, we need to be clean of heart and seek the Eternal Truth, which we need to reach our end goal, heaven. Now, with this knowledge, we are to become soldiers for Christ. From this moment, NOTHING will come easy!



GOOD SOLDIERS OF CHRIST

"A good soldier of Jesus Christ." 2 Timothy 2:3

This is quite additional to the preceding titles. A servant, a disciple, a friend, may become a soldier. But it is a new relationship. It requires peculiar qualities. It imposes peculiar duties. To be a soldier, implies exposure, contest, difficulty. To be a good soldier, implies also courage, fidelity, and success. Let me consider some of the attributes of a good soldier of Jesus Christ. He is one of the great army of the living God. He is engaged in a most important warfare. He has set up his standard toward Zion. He must press on through all opposition, to his glorious end. He will be made a conqueror through the Lord Jesus Christ, Who gives him the victory. Am I such a soldier of Christ?

1. A good soldier has made a final CHOICE of the service in which he is engaged. He has enlisted for a warfare. It is his own choice. He is not ashamed of his uniform, of his duty, of his officers, or of his cause. He glories in the stand which he has taken. He participates in every triumph. He rejoices over all its success. Thus have I enlisted for Christ. He is the great Captain of my salvation. He has a warfare on the earth, which he is carrying on to final victory. I have united with him in it. I bear his name. I am enrolled among his followers. I would not be ashamed of his cause, or of my service and duty for him. My enlistment is for actual duty. It is cheerfully made by the action of my own heart, under the guidance of his Spirit. It is recorded in his own book of remembrance. I am engaged to build up his kingdom, to gather his chosen, to bring in the vessels dedicated to his service, to maintain his authority, and to exalt the glory of his name. This is my final, faithful choice. Let me never shrink from it, or turn back in weariness from the duties which it imposes.

2. A good soldier must have true COURAGE. Ah, how important is this for me! I have many enemies to meet. My enemies are the enemies of Christ. I must continually contend if I would conquer at last. These enemies are temptations around, that would lead me away, or drive me back from my Savior. Evil propensities and habits of thought within, that would entangle and harass me. Evil men who surround me, and oppress me with their hostility to my Lord. The more faithful I am, the more my enemies will multiply, and the more earnestly they will oppose. If I am indolent and careless in my life, they will not trouble me. If they can make me a traitor, or induce me to desert my Master's cause, they will have accomplished their end. But if I strive to do my Master's will, and to follow him truly and fully, then my enemies seem more hostile, and more bitter, and more multiplied. When I would do good, evil is present with me. But what then? Why, I ought to be the more bold and the more decided as a soldier. I must fight on. There is no other path. I see my great Leader before me, and I must follow after him. Soon the contest will be over, and then the victory will be mine. I am resolved rather to displease and to forsake all others, than to forsake or deny my glorious Lord.

3. A good soldier must ENDURE HARDNESS. It is a hard life. The soldier has much to bear--sometimes very much. He must endure suffering without murmuring. His power of endurance is often the very means of his victory. The warfare in which I am engaged, may require me to bear much. It may be long and very trying. But my mind must be fixed and strengthened to bear even to the end. My great Leader, the Captain of my salvation, goes before me. He has endured the cross and despised the shame. Let me follow him to the end. I would make no terms with him for my obedience. I would go with him through all. Patiently abide his will. Resist even unto blood, striving against sin. And allow nothing to separate me from the service or love of my glorious Master and Lord. Other soldiers have freely laid down their lives upon the field. I desire to be willing to do so, if my Lord requires and appoints. Come what will come, by his strength, I am resolved to abide by him.

4. A good soldier has a confident HOPE OF TRIUMPH. He never is despondent. He fights not as uncertainly. He is saved and strengthened by hope. In all human contests there is great uncertainty. But in our warfare there is none. Our Captain has already triumphed. We follow him to the fruits of his own victory. We are sure of success by his power. This hope is an anchor to the soul. The warfare may now be very dark and discouraging. Circumstances and probabilities may be all against me. But God gives me the victory. The crown is certain. The kingdom is sure. And he appoints the darkest as well as the brightest periods of the battle. We cannot be overcome, if we stand our ground. Oh let me never flee, nor be discouraged. I would be found faithful, earnest, engaged, devoted. I have one voice to hear, and one Master to follow. I may lose all beside. It is of little consequence. Whatever can live with Christ, I shall get again in that great day. Oh let me never lose my interest in Christ himself.

5. I am a soldier of Christ. And thus I have enlisted myself for life. And with courage, endurance, and hope, I will press forward. I may not have to fight long. But I will fight faithfully. Let me rest upon his power. Let me give myself up to his care. Let me prize him even as chief among ten thousand. In his favor is life, and his loving-kindness is better than life. He will be my strength and my salvation.

We're soldiers fighting for our God,
Let trembling cowards fly–
We'll stand unshaken, firm, and fixed,
With Christ to live and die.

Let devils rage, and hell assail,
We'll fight our passage through;
Let foes unite, and friends desert,
We'll seize the crown in view.


As our beloved Abbot Gueranger states:

The miseries of this present life are the test to which God puts His soldiers; He passes judgment upon them, and classifies them, according to the degree of courage they have shown. Therefore is it, that we all have our share of suffering. The combat has commenced. God is looking on, watching how each of us comports himself. The day is not far off, when the Judge will pass sentence on the merits of each combatant, and award to each one the recompense he has won. Combat now; peace and rest and a crown, then. Happy they who, during these days of probation, have recognized the mighty hand of God in all the trials they have had, and have humbled themselves under its pressure, lovingly and confidingly! Against such Christians, who have been strong in faith, the roaring lion has not been able to prevail. They were sober, they were watchful, during this their pilgrimage. They were fully convinced of this, that every one has to suffer in the present life; they therefore never sighed and moaned, as though they were the only sufferers; they did not assume the attitude of victims, and call it resignation; but they took each trial as it came, and, without talking to every one about it, they quietly and joyously united it with the sufferings of Christ. O true Christians! you will be joyous for all eternity, when there will be made the manifestation of that eternal glory in Christ Jesus, which He will pass on to you, that you may share it with Him forever!

May God, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have mercy on us and strengthen us til our appointed hour. Amen

The following hymn was written by a Sicilian woman named Elpis, concerning the two great Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul. The last part is attributed to St. Paulinus of Aquileia, and added by St. Pius V:

Lo! beauteous light eternal floods with sacred fires this golden day, which crowns the princes of Apostles and opens out unto the guilty a free path to heaven.

The teacher of the whole earth, as well as the doorkeeper of heaven, both of them fathers of Rome and judges of nations, each a victor of death, the one by the sword, the other by the cross: laurel-crowned, both take their seats in the senate of eternal life.

O happy Rome, by noble gore of princes twain art thou now consecrated; empurpled by the blood of such as these, thou alone dost surpass in beauty all the rest of the earth.

To the Trinity in Unity that governeth all things through ages of ages, may there be eternal glory, honour, power, and jublilation. Amen.



The Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul

Saint Augustine of Hippo

Early Church Father & Doctor of the Church


Peter and Paul - June 29This piece on Sts. Peter and Paul is an excerpt from a sermon (Sermo 295, 1-2, 4, 7-8; PL 38, 1348-1352) by St. Augustine, bishop of Hippo, who died in the year 430AD. It is used in the Roman Office of Readings for the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul on June 29 and shows that as early as the fourth century, Christians celebrated this day in honor of these two apostles and martyrs who laid down their lives for Christ in the Eternal City.


'This day has been consecrated for us by the martyrdom of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul. It is not some obscure martyrs we are talking about. "Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world" (Psalm 19). These martyrs had seen what they proclaimed, they pursued justice by confessing the truth, by dying for the truth.


The blessed Peter, the first of the Apostles, the ardent lover of Christ, who was found worthy to hear, "And I say to you, that you are Peter" (Matthew 16:13-20). He himself, you see, had just said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Christ said to him, "And I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church." Upon this rock I will build the faith you have just confessed. Upon your words, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," I will build my Church; because you are Peter. Peter comes from petra, meaning a rock. Peter, Peter comes from the word for a rock in exactly the same way as the name Christian comes from Christ.


Before his passion the Lord Jesus, as you know, chose those disciples of his whom he called apostles. Among these it was only Peter who almost everywhere was given the privilege of representing the whole Church. It was in the person of the whole Church, which he alone represented, that he was privileged to hear, "To you will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven." After all, it is not just one man that received these keys, but the Church in its unity. So this is the reason for Peter’s acknowledged pre-eminence, that he stood for the Church’s universality and unity, when he was told, "To you I am entrusting," what has in fact been entrusted to all. To show you that it is the Church which has received the keys of the kingdom of heaven, listen to what the Lord says in another place to all his apostles: "Receive the Holy Spirit; and immediately afterwards, Whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven them; whose sins you retain, they will be retained" (John 20:22-23).


Quite rightly, too, did the Lord after his resurrection entrust his sheep to Peter to be fed (Jn. 21: 15-19). It is not, you see, that he alone among the disciples was fit to feed the Lord’s sheep; but when Christ speaks to one man, unity is being commended to us. And he first speaks to Peter, because Peter is the first among the apostles. Do not be sad, Apostle. Answer once, answer again, answer a third time. Let confession conquer three times with love, because self-assurance was conquered three times by fear. What you had bound three times must be loosed three times. Loose through love what you had bound through fear. And for all that, the Lord once, and again, and a third time, entrusted his sheep to Peter.


There is one day for the passion of two apostles. But these two also were as one; although they suffered on different days, they were as one. Peter went first, Paul followed. We are celebrating a feast day, consecrated for us by the blood of the apostles. Let us love their faith, their lives, their labors, their sufferings, their confession of faith, their preaching.'


When the time in Rome was all for killing these Christians, Peter's followers urged him to flee the city, at least for a while. According to St. Ambrose, Peter set out along the Appian Way. Just as he reached the Capuan gate, Christ suddenly appeared to him as if about to enter the city. 'Lord, whither goest thou?' cried out the apostle. Christ replied: "to Rome, to be there crucified again.' Peter understood his Master; he at once retracted his steps, having now no thought but to await his hour of martyrdom.

According to Abbot Gueranger, Peter started to set everything in order, because he now knew his time was short. He laid his hands on Clement, whose nobility of birth recommended him to the consideration of the Romans, while at the same time his zeal and learning merited the esteem of the faithful, was the one on whom the prince of the Apostles fixed his choice. Clement, then, is the first successor of Peter. His name is mentioned in Paul's letters.

After the Church had been established for years, this was when Paul was converted; he went around and reaffirmed the Faith who had already been converted. Protestants don't know any history. They don't realize that the Church had been around way before Paul came along. He had been a persecutor of these same, so the Church must have already been established. DUH! Like all the saints say: 'if anyone were to read history and realize it, they would be streaming to Rome, where Christ's Church was and is today.'
But, they still do not bow to the Holy, Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, because they think it is the whore of Babylon! IDIOTS! Hopefully they will find out and convert before they croak.

SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Today we honor the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, our Redeemer. This is the Heart that has loved much, and, at the same time, is being misused all over the globe by ungrateful souls who don't know what they are giving up. This is why we pray for those who do not know what they are doing. In recent weeks, we have experienced the Death and Resurrection of Jesus; worshiped the Divine Trinity; the feast of Corpus Christi; and now, we acknowledge the Heart where all of our forgiveness comes from. His side was opened up after He died on the Cross, so that we may now start loving the Heart, and thus, maybe start to understand more about Jesus and His Church with its teachings. First we believe, then things will be made clear to us if we ask. As our beloved Abbot Gueranger says concerning this day:

'There is a mysterious connection between these three feasts; of the blessed Trinity, Corpus Christi, and the Sacred Heart. The aim of the Holy Ghost, in all three, is to initiate us more and more into that knowledge of God by faith, which is to fit us for the face-to-face vision in heaven. We have already seen how God, being made known to us, by the first, in Himself, manifests Himself to us, by the second, in His outward works; for the Holy Eucharist is the memorial, here below, in which He has brought together, and with all possible perfection, all those His wondrous works. But by what law can we pass so rapidly, so almost abruptly, from one feast, which is all directly regarding God, to another, which celebrates the works done by Him to and for us? Then again: how came the divine thought, the eternal Wisdom, from the infinite repose of the eternally blessed Trinity, to the external activity of a love for us poor creatures, which has produced what we call the mysteries of our redemption? The Heart of the God-Man is the solution of these difficulties; it answers all such questions, and explains to us the whole divine plan.'

St. Gertrude, who got the whole thing started concerning the Sacred Heart in the 13th century, states that 'It is the one only organum; the one only instrument which finds acceptance with the Most High. Through It must pass all the inflamed praises of the burning Seraphim, just as must the humble homage paid to its God by inanimate creation. By It alone are to come upon this world the favours of heaven. It is the mystic ladder between man and God, the channel of all graces, the way whereby man ascends to God, and God descends to man.'

St. Augustine says that the Evangelist (St. John) made use of a word which has a special import, when he said: 'the soldier opened Jesus' side with a spear. He did not say struck the Side, or wounded the Side, or anything else like that; but he said he opened Jesus' Side. He opened it; for that Side was like the door of life; and when it was opened, the Sacraments (the Mysteries) of the Church came through it...This was predicted by that door which Noe was commanded to make in the side of the Ark, through which were to go those living creatures which were not to be destroyed by the deluge; and all these things were a figure of the Church.'

Blessed Margaret-Mary continued to carry the torch of having this Heart richly honored a couple of centuries later, and, after approx. 15 years, finally getting this Feast instituted by the Church, died shortly after. I guess her work was done here on earth.

Let us honor this Sacred Heart of Jesus, both today the Feast, and forever. Maybe some day we can get called to eternal peace. Amen.

-A partial indulgence is granted to those who recite the following prayer
-- A plenary indulgence is granted if it is publicly recited on the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
--This prayer was prescribed to be recited on this feast by Pope Pius XI.



Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart / Actus reparationis

Most sweet Jesus, whose overflowing charity for men is requited by so much forgetfulness, negligence and contempt, behold us prostrate before Thee, eager to repair by a special act of homage the cruel indifference and injuries to which Thy loving Heart is everywhere subject.

Mindful, alas! that we ourselves have had a share in such great indignities, which we now deplore from the depths of our hearts, we humbly ask Thy pardon and declare our readiness to atone by voluntary expiation, not only for our own personal offenses, but also for the sins of those, who, straying far from the path of salvation, refuse in their obstinate infidelity to follow Thee, their Shepherd and Leader, or, renouncing the promises of their baptism, have cast off the sweet yoke of Thy law.

We are now resolved to expiate each and every deplorable outrage committed against Thee; we are now determined to make amends for the manifold offenses against Christian modesty in unbecoming dress and behavior, for all the foul seductions laid to ensnare the feet of the innocent, for the frequent violations of Sundays and holy days, and the shocking blasphemies uttered against Thee and Thy Saints. We wish also to make amends for the insults to which Thy Vicar on earth and Thy priests are subjected, for the profanation, by conscious neglect or terrible acts of sacrilege, of the very Sacrament of Thy Divine Love; and lastly for the public crimes of nations who resist the rights and teaching authority of the Church which Thou hast founded.

Would that we were able to wash away such abominations with our blood. We now offer, in reparation for these violations of Thy divine honor, the satisfaction Thou once made to Thy Eternal Father on the Cross and which Thou continuest to renew daily on our Altars; we offer it in union with the acts of atonement of Thy Virgin Mother and all the Saints and of the pious faithful on earth; and we sincerely promise to make recompense, as far as we can with the help of Thy grace, for all neglect of Thy great love and for the sins we and others have committed in the past. Henceforth, we will live a life of unswerving faith, of purity of conduct, of perfect observance of the precepts of the Gospel and especially that of charity. We promise to the best of our power to prevent others from offending Thee and to bring as many as possible to follow Thee.

O loving Jesus, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mother, our model in reparation, deign to receive the voluntary offering we make of this act of expiation; and by the crowning gift of perseverance keep us faithful unto death in our duty and the allegiance we owe to Thee, so that we may all one day come to that happy home, where with the Father and the Holy Spirit Thou livest and reignest, God, forever and ever. Amen.

"Come to Me, and I will refresh you"

There's also a plenary indulgence if attending Mass on this day.

JOHN THE BAPTIST

Tomorrow marks the feast day set aside for St. John the Baptist. He is considered the greatest of all the prophets of the old Testament, since he actually got to see the Redeemer in Person. All the others foretold the coming of the 'christ' and his precursor, but John saw Him and proclaimed in common words: "There He is; the one Who takes away the sins of the world." Before he said this, the Jews pretty much listened to him and accepted him. But, since he did NOT say that the Jews were to be saved only, but the whole world, they now have turned against him. Behold, Jesus now makes 'all things new'.

Let's back up a few years now; back to the annunciation of St. John's conception. The angel Gabriel appears to Zachary while he is in the tabernacle (being a priest), celebrating according to the rules of the day. When he probably snickers to the announcing of the conception of a son (since both he and his wife are old). He is struck dumb. He should know that nothing is impossible with God, and still Zachary balks. People wonder what has happened to him. In a few months time, even Mary held back her Magnificat until the infant John leapt in his mother's womb at Mary's greeting when she visited to help Elizabeth. This was an acknowledgement and announcement even then the coming of God in the persona of Jesus. Back again to St. John's birth. Nine months later, he presents his new born son to the temple as was custom. In those days, sons were to named after their dad. However, when Elizabeth is told that her son is to be Zachary, she says: " His name is to be John." They then look to Zachary, hand him something to write on since he had struck dumb, and he writes: "His name is John." Now, the vocal chords are working again, and he goes into the following canticle:


The Canticle of Zachary

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel:
because He hath visited and wrought the redemption of His people.
And hath raised up a horn of salvation to us, in the house of David His servant.
As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who are from the beginning.
Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us.
To perform mercy to our fathers, and to remember His holy testament.
The oath which He swore to Abraham, our father; that He would grant to us.
That being delivered from the hand of our enemies, we may serve Him without fear.
In holiness and justice before Him, all our days.
And thou child, Precursor of the Emmanuel,
shalt be called the prophet of the Most High:
for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord, to prepare His ways.
To give unto His people the knowledge of salvation, unto the remission of their sins.
Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in which the Orient from on high hath visited us.
To enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death;
to direct our feet in the way of peace.

Following is the sequence attributed to Adam of St. Victor for this date; set aside for this great Saint:

In thine honour, O Christ, the Church doth celebrate the natal day of thy Precursor and Baptist.

The King's own praise is heralded when his herald is extolled, whom richly he hath endowed with gifts of virtue, and, sublime in office, hath exalted!

Lo! Gabriel unto the hoary sire a son doth promise. He, hesitating, anon doth forfeit power of speech.

The child is born; of the new Law, of the new King, herald, trumpet, standard-bearer he! The voice before the Word, the paranymph (ceremonial assistant) before the Spouse, the morning star before the rising sun, doth go!

The mother by word, the father by writing, the child's name doth declare; forthwith is loosed from bond the mute tongue of the father.

By heavenly oracle is John foretold; and by himself yet hidden in the womb is he fore-shown.

That in an age too far advanced, an heir should be given, that one so long sterile should become a mother, oh! mystery profound! Yea, contrary indeed to the law of flesh is this conception of John; such birth as this is produced by grace, not by nature.

The virgin in her womb holds God enclosed; the enclosed to the Enclosed doth clap applause, that narrow womb within. The voice crying in the wilderness, the heralding voice of the Word, doth point our the Lamb to open view.

Burning in faith, luminous in word, and unto the true Light leading, he teacheth many thousands. He was not the Light, but yet was indeed the lamp; for Christ is Light eternal, Light enlightening all.

Clad in garment of haircloth, girt with cincture of leather, he was fed on a banquet of locusts and wild honey.

List to Christ attesting of him: None hath arisen greater than this man, of all that are born of woman. Take good heed, however, Christ here excepts himself who of flesh did Flesh accept, yet without flesh's operation.

To capital punishment, in prison, is the just man condemned; whose head the king abhorred not to present as a gift at a banquet table.

Martyr of God! guilty though we be, nor apt unto thy praise, yet, of thy clemency, deign graciously to hear us confiding in thee and praising thee.

On this thy natal day, grant to us the promised joy; nor yet may thy triumphant martyrdom delight us less.

Oh! how many mysteries do we venerate and admire in thee! By thee may Christ grant unto us to enjoy his presence. Amen.


St. John the Baptist, pray for us, that we may know Christ when He comes.

Sunday within the Octave of Corpus Christi

Tomorrow is the Sunday within the octave of Corpus Christi, or the Second Sunday after Pentecost. We will probably get the Corpus Christi Mass, along with all the readings, then. I personally think our leaders have once again missed the boat, since Thursday is the day Christ established the Holy Eucharist. Thursdays should be a most honored day every week.

Watch the fishermen(Bishops) go off into the sunset, leaving behind their catch, the believers, to get choked in the net of today's indifference. This, apparently, is one boat they haven't missed!

The holy Eucharist has been instituted for the very purpose of ceaselessly applying, here on earth, the reality of Christ's Sacrifice.


I am going to insert the hymn for 'Compline' from yesterday because it says soooo much about the Holy Eucharist. If you want to read my thoughts on Corpus Christi, see Thursday's post. Here's the Compline:

Christ is truly our meat, Christ is truly our drink; the Flesh of Christ is truly our meat, the Blood of Christ is truly our drink.

The true Flesh which he took from the Virgin, is what we eat; the true Blood, which He shed for man, is what we drink.

In this banquet, the Word made Flesh is truly eaten; it is on Him that our worship rests, and by Him that we enter heaven.

This Bread, which is all full of sweetness and grace, is the King of eternal glory, that was carried in the Virgin's womb.

Let us feed on the richness of Angel's Bread; that we may find delight in the sweetness of a viaticum so full of mercy.

O thou heavenly banquet! O glory of the redeemed! O repose of the humble! grant us eternal joys.

Grant, O Father, through thy Son, grant, through the Spirit of love, that we, to whom thou givest such nourishment as this, may be brought by thee to a prosperous end. Amen.

In case we do hear the readings from this Sunday, we pretty much hear that we need to get off our rear ends and ACT! This can't be such a bad thing to do. We need to pray for perseverance.

Our Blessed Mother

This is Saturday; let us turn to Mary, who was made for us Gentiles the seat of Wisdom. In her chaste womb was wrought the mystery of mercy, which had been the expectation of all the long ages past. Her most pure blood provided the substance of that spotless Body wherewith the most beautiful of the sons of men contracted the indissoluble alliance of our nature with eternal Wisdom. Mary's soul is enraptured at seeing the ineffable mystery of these divine nuptials effected in her chaste womb. She is that enclosed garden, where, more delightedly than in the early days of the universe, Wisdom enjoys light and love; the flowery couch of the Canticle (Cant. 1-15), perfumed, by the Holy Spirit, with the sweetest fragrance; the glorious tabernacle, incomparably more holy than that of Moses. It is within her, under the immaculate veil of her flesh, that, by the unspeakable embrace of the two natures in the unity of God's only-begotten Son, the Holy Ghost pours forth the unction, which makes Him Spouse, and, at the same time, Priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech.

Taken from 'The Liturgical' by Abbot Gueranger

CORPUS CHRISTI CONT'D

I know that the feast day Corpus Christi was yesterday. However, I really like the Sequence before the Gospel. It was written by St. Thomas Aquinas. It says it all.
The Mass of Corpus Christi features the beautiful Sequence, Lauda Sion Salvatorem, just after the Gradual and Alleluia chants. This Eucharistic hymn of praise is a befitting doctrinal tribute to the great mystery of the Sacrament of Sacraments instituted during by Our Lord.

The opening words (used as a title of the sequence composed by St. Thomas Aquinas, about the year 1264, for the Mass of Corpus Christi. That the sequence was written for the Mass is evidenced by the sixth stanza:

Dies enim solemnis agitur
In qua mensae prima recolitur
Hujus institutio.

("for on this solemn day is again celebrated the first institution of the Supper").



Lauda, Sion, Salvatorem,
Lauda ducem et pastorem
In hymnis et canticis.
Quantum poses, tantum aude:
Quia major omni laude
Nec laudare sufficis.

Praise, O Sion, thy Savior,
praise thy Leader and thy Shepherd
in hymns and canticles.
As much as thou canst, so much darest thou,
for He is above all praise,
nor art thou able to praise Him enough.

Laudis thema specialis,
Panis vivus et vitalis Hodie proponitur;
Quem in sacrae mensa coenae
Turbae fratrum duodenae
Datum non ambigitur.

Today there is given us a special theme of praise,
the Bread both living and life-giving,
which, it is not to be doubted,
was given to the assembly of the brethren,
twelve in number, at the table of the holy Supper.

Sit laus plena, sit sonora,
Sit iucunda, sit decora
Mentis iubilatio.
Dies enim solemnis agitur,
In qua mensae prima
recolitur Huius institutio.

Let our praise be full and sounding;
let the jubilations of the soul
be joyous and becoming;
for that solemn day is now being celebrated,
on which is commemorated the
first institution of this table.

In hac mensa novi Regis Novum
Pascha novae legis
Phase vetus terminat.
Vetustatem novitas,
Umbram fugat veritas,
Noctem lux eliminat.

At this table of the new King,
the new Pasch of the New Law
puts an end to the ancient Pasch.
The new supplants the old,
truth puts to flight the shadow,
day banishes night.

Quod in coena Christus gessit,
Faciendum hoc expressit
In sui memoriam
Docti sacris institutis,
Panem, vinum in salutis
Consecramus hostiam.

What Christ did at that Supper,
the same He commanded
to be done in remembrance of Him.
Taught by His sacred precepts,
we consecrate bread and wine
into the Victim of salvation.

Dogma datur Christianis,
Quod in carnem transit panis
Et vinum in sanguinem.
Quod non capis, quod non vides,
Animosa firmat fides
Praeter rerum ordinem.

This is the dogma given to Christians,
that bread is changed into Flesh
and wine into Blood.
What thou dost not understand,
what thou dost not see, a lively faith confirms
in a supernatural manner.

Sub diversis speciebus,
Signis tantum, et non rebus,
Latent res eximiae:
Caro cibus, sanguis potus;
Manet tamen Christus totus
Sub utraque specie.

Under different species in externals
signs only, and not in reality,
wondrous substances lie hidden.
Flesh is food, Blood is drink:
nevertheless Christ remains entire
under each species.

A sumente non concisus,
Non confractus, non divisus
Integer accipitur.
Sumit unus, sumunt mille;
Quantum isti, tantum ille:
Nec sumptus consumitur.

By the recipient the whole is received;
He is neither cut, broken, nor divided.
One receives Him; a thousand receive Him:
as much as the thousand receive,
so much does the one receive;
though eaten He is not diminished.

Sumunt boni, sumunt mali:
Sorte tamen inaequali,
Vitae vel interitus.
Mors est malis, vita bonis:
Vide, paris sumptionis
Quam sit dispar exitus.

The good receive Him, the bad receive Him,
but with what unequal consequences
of life or death.
It is death to the unworthy, life to the worthy:
behold then of a like reception,
how unlike may be the result!

Fracto demum Sacramento,
Ne vacilles, sed memento,
Tantam esse sub fragmento,
Quantum toto tegitur.
Nulla rei fit scissura,
Signi tantum fit fractura,
Qua nec status nec statura
Signati minuitur.

When the Sacrament is broken,
doubt not, but remember,
that there is just as much hidden in a fragment,
as there is in the whole.
There is no division of the substance,
only a breaking of the species takes place,
by which neither the state nor stature
of the substance signified is diminished.

Ecce panis Angelorum,
Factus cibus viatorum,
Vere panis filiorum,
Non mittendus canibus.
In figuris praesignatur,
Cum Isaac immolatur;
Agnus Paschae deputatur,
Datur manna patribus.

Lo, the Bread of Angels
is made the food of earthly
pilgrims: truly it is the Bread of children,
let it not be cast to dogs.
It was prefigured in types,
—when Isaac was immolated,
when the Paschal Lamb was sacrificed,
when Manna was given to the fathers.

Bone Pastor, panis vere,
Jesu, nostri miserere,
Tu nos pasce, nos tuere,
Tu nos bona fac videre,
In terra viventium.
Tu, qui cuncta scis et vales,
Qui nos pascis hic mortales,
Tuos ibi commensales,
Cohaeredes et sodales,
Fac sanctorum civium. Amen.


O Good Shepherd, True Bread,
O Jesus, have mercy
on us: feed us and protect us:
make us see good things in
the land of the living.
Thou who knowest all things
and canst do all things,
who here feedest us mortals,
make us there be Thy guests, the co-heirs,
and companions of the heavenly citizens. Amen.


For on this solemn day is again celebrated the first institution of the Supper.

No other day. THIS DAY!

CORPUS CHRISTI

May our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament be praised, adored, and loved, with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world, even to the end of time!

O Sacrament most holy! O Sacrament divine! All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!

Corpus Christi, or the Body of Christ. He has left us a constant reminder of this to take advantage of until the end of time. Scripture from the Old to the New Testaments has told it to us.

'He, (the Lord) hath made a remembrance (a memorial) of His wonderful works: He hath given Food to them that fear Him.' Ps. cx. 4,5

'Come! eat my Bread, and drink my Wine which I have mingled for you...' Ps. 9

'Taste and see that the Lord is sweet.' Ps. 33

And let us not forget Melchisedech, a precursor of Christ and the Apostles, who offered bread and wine to Abram.

'I am the Bread of life: your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead: this is the Bread coming down from heaven; that if any man eat thereof, he may not die.

(Read the 6th Chapter of the Gospel of St. John. This really ticks the protestants and unbelievers off, mainly because they don't understand. They would have to convert if they did.)

'My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that abideth in me, and I in him...This is the bread that came down from heaven...he that eateth this Bread, shall liver forever.'

St. Leo writes: "The participation of the Body and Blood of Christ transforms us into that which we receive,"

And St. Paul: 'therefore, whosoever 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 judgement unto himself, not discerning the body of the Lord.'

St. Augustine says:

'No one partakes of this Body until he has first adored, and we not only do not sin when we adore It, but would sin if we did not adore It.'

The Council of Trent excommunicates those who assert that it is not allowable to adore Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, in the Blessed Sacrament. How unjust are those unbelievers who sneer at this adoration, when it has never entered into the mind of any Catholic to adore the external appearances of this Sacrament, but the Savior hidden under the appearances; and how grievously do those indifferent Catholics sin who show Christ so little veneration in this Sacrament, and seldom adore Him if at all!

Trent also states:
Whoever denies that in the venerable Sacrament, of the Eucharist the whole Christ is present in each of the forms and in each part of each form, where a separation has taken place, let him be anathema.

This should be a problem for those who insist on drinking of the cup at the N.O. mass, so that they can receive His Blood also. They just don't get it!

Let us go to Confession so that we can be made worthy to receive His Body in the Holy Eucharist.


Note: This Feast should be today, since it recalls to us that Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist on a Thursday. It was always held on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. Also, in the new 'nervous order' way of things, this day will probably be mentioned this upcoming Sunday. The Bishops order it. They are trying to get us to use the new calendar. If they succeed, we will miss out on all of these Feast days, which honor Christ, His Mother, and all of the saints as they should be honored. I guess they wouldn't want to make anyone come to church twice in a week?!!! Once again, the 'newchurch' misses the point of holiness!!!!! Pray much, especially for our pathetic, weak-kneed leaders.

St. Ephrem

Today we honor one of the great saints of the Church, St. Ephrem the Syrian. He is also honored with the title: 'Doctor of the Church", in Latin and Greek. He was near the beginning of the 4th century, when the Arians began to take the churches out of the hands of believers, and teach that Jesus was NOT divine. He also was among the first to proclaim the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mother. From reading my limited resources, he sounded like someone you would want to be around, just to listen to him speak. Like Someone else we all know. I'm going to just put a couple of his sayings here, so you can know what I am talking about. In the first, he is paraphrasing Jesus when He gave Peter the keys to heaven. The second is here, mainly because he is talking about the Holy Eucharist. Since tomorrow is the feast day of Corpus Christi, I thought it appropriate.

With his energy and his remarkable doctrinal precision, he states(in the Person of Jesus):

"I have established you, Simon my disciple, as the foundation of holy Church. Formerly I called you Peter because you upheld my building, you are the overseer of those who construct the Church upon earth. If they wish to build that which is evil, you, who are the foundation, will prevent them. You are at the source of my doctrine, you are the chief of my disciples, it is through you that I will quench the thirst of all nations, the quickening sweetness that I give belongs to you, I have chosen you as the first-fruits of my disciples to be the inheritor of my treasures. I have given you the keys of my kingdom; I have given all my treasures into your power."

It is interesting to receive such testimony from the mouth of him whom all the Eastern Christians reverence as their greatest Doctor and consider their special glory. But few of the Fathers of the first centuries of Christianity have spoken so explicitly on the subject of the Holy Eucharist as the Deacon of Edessa. He discredits in advance all the sophristry(wise guys teaching philosophy) which was put forth at the time of the 'Reformation', and thus comments on the words of the institution of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Lord:

"Do not believe that what I have just given to you is bread, receive it, eat it, do not crumble it away. That which I have called My Body, truly is so. The smallest morsel is sufficient to sanctify millions of souls and suffices to give life to those who receive it. Receive and eat with faith, do not waver, for it is my body, and he who partakes of it with faith partakes of the fire of the Holy Spirit. It seems to him who partakes without faith to be ordinary bread, but to him who with faith partakes of the Bread consecrated in My Name, if he be pure it preserves his purity; if a sinner it obtains his pardon. Let those who reject, despise or outrage this Bread know that of a certainty they do outrage to the Son, Who has called and has made bread to be His Body. Take and eat, and by it partake of the Holy Spirit, for it truly My Body, and he who eats thereof has eternal life. It is the Bread of heaven come down from on high unto us. The manna which the Israelites ate in the desert, the manna which they gathered and which they despised although it fell from heaven, was a figure of the spiritual food you have just received. Take ye all of it and eat, in eating this Bread you eat My Body, the True source of the redemption."

St. Ephrem, please pray for our leaders, that they be on fire for the Holy Ghost, and teach us what we need to know to reach eternal happiness.

TRINITY SUNDAY

Most sublime of all mysteries: the HOLY TRINITY

O most holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He Himself is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners. (Third Angel apparition, Fatima, 1916)

I totally believe that this prayer from the angel was meant for our times. Think about all the abuses taking place at Mass each time there is a Mass. And I mean in the new Mass. Christ is still in the Sacrament and in the tabernacle, but He is being badly abused. Especially, by Communion in the hand. First of all, our hands are NOT consecrated as the priests' hands are. Second, think about the possible crumbs falling onto the floor because of this travesty, and which we will now walk on, or probably to get sucked up into a vacuum cleaner. I'm so sorry, Lord.

Tomorrow we celebrate Trinity Sunday. We believe in the Trinity, without totally understanding it. It is impossible to, anyway. Anybody who thinks he understands it is a liar, or another 'legend in his own mind'. From Romans xi: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God: how incomprehensible are His judgements, and how unsearchable His ways!

St. Paul says the same thing is his Epistle to the Romans, which we hear tomorrow.

EPISTLE (ROM XI. 33-36.) O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and recompense shall be made him? For of him, and by him, and in him, are all things: to him be glory forever. Amen.

And, notice this. In the Gospel when Jesus tells the Apostles to baptize, He says: "In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Not 'names', but NAME. Not many gods, but by ONE Name. Jehovah's Witnesses don't see this, among others.

GOSPEL (Matt. XXVIII. 18-20.) At that time Jesus said to His disciples: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going, therefore; teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.

Why do we celebrate this festival?

That we may openly profess our faith in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, which is the first of Christian truths, the foundation of the Christian religion, and the most sublime of all mysteries; and that we may render thanks, to the Father for having created us, to the Son for having redeemed us, and to the Holy Ghost for having sanctified us.


From our beloved Abbot Gueranger, commenting on the Holy Trinity:

'Blessed union! whereby God is in man, and man is in God! Union that brings us to adoption by the Father, to brotherhood with the Son, to our eternal inheritance! But how has this indwelling of God in His creature been formed? Gratuitously, by God's eternal love. And how long will it last? Forever, unless man himself refuse to give love for love. Mortal sin admitted into the soul, the divine indwelling is at an end: the very moment that sanctifying grace is lost, the Three divine Persons who had taken us their abode in that soul, and were united with her, abandon her; God is no longer in her, save by His immensity; the soul does not possess Him as she did before. Satan then again sets up his wretched kingdom within her, the kingdom of his vile trinity: concupiscence of the flesh, concupiscence of the eyes, and pride of life. Woe to the man who would dare to defy his God by such rebellion, and put evil in the place of infinite good! Hell and eternal torments are the consequences of the creature's contempt of his Creator. God is a jealous God; if we drive Him from the dwelling of our souls, the deep abyss must be our everlasting abode.'

This doesn't mean that we give up; we can still ask forgiveness from God, and once again be on the right path. God indeed forgives, but we must first ask.

This picture is the last vision Sister Lucy from Fatima had in Tuy, Spain, in 1929. It represents everything we need to know concerning the Most Holy Trinity. It's my opinion on this awesome Subject at hand, and I am unanimous in that. Amen



And now, last, but not least, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all those applicable. Don't forget to say this to your priest!

Remember the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Do you remember that the month of June is dedicated to the Most Sacred of Jesus? Many these days don't. And, since this is Friday, which is always dedicated to His Sacred Heart, I thought I'd share just a few short prayers which I do each day of the year. There are thousands of these prayers, but these are just a few. I also do these in the same order. That way I can remember them better. Anyway, here goes:

All for Thee, Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Sweet Heart of Jesus, be my love.

Divine Heart of Jesus, save the dying, convert sinners, deliver the holy souls in purgatory.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, grant that I may love Thee evermore.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, make my heart like unto Thine.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I offer Thee my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day, in reparation for my countless sins, for the conversion of sinners, for the intentions of the Holy Father, and for the intentions of all our associates. (I also pray that the intentions of the Holy Father are God's will).

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us and on our separated brethren.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, burning with Love for us, grant that we may love Thee forevermore.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I believe in Thy Love for me and I put all my trust in Thee; for I fear all things for my own weaknesses, but I hope for all things for Thy Goodness.

May the Passion of Our Lord Jesus save us.

May the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary protect us.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I give myself to Thee through Mary.


After this I do the Litany of Loreto, which is dedicated to Mary, asking for her prayers. And, I believe that Vatican II had a blind squirrel moment(*), when they added the prayer: 'Mother of the Church, pray for us.' This follows:

'Mother of our Creator, pray for us.
Mother of our Saviour, pray for us.'

To me this makes sense. She is the Mother of the Holy Trinity. Being made the mother of the Creator, the Saviour and the Church is just that. The society of Pope Pius X misses out on this petition, since they only go by the missal of 1962, and this petition hadn't been added as yet.

I hope you can get something out of these petitions, especially during this month dedicated to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.







NOTE: '*' This refers to the fact that even a blind squirrel can find a nut.

WATCH OUT!

Beware, this email is not for lite-hearted! This is that time of the year when we are outside, working and playing. It is also the time of the year when the critters come out. Beware of some of them! The following is from someone who met up with one of these creatures. The results were not good.

Very Important send out to everyone you know
About 4 years ago I had a Doctor appointment. That morning they called and postponed it because our Dr. was in surgery. Two days later they called back and cancelled my appointment because our Doctor had died on the operating table. We thought that he was the one doing the operating. He had been bitten by a Brown Recluse. He had tried treating himself instead of getting help. He was fairly young (late 40’s) and the best Doctor we had ever had.
Very sad.

Brown Recluse Spider . . ..
At this time of year, this is worth seeing.

Show these pictures to your spouse, your kids, grand kids, and friends. It could save their lives. Remember what this Spider looks like and be careful while cleaning, as told below.

It's summertime & cleanup is going on. Be careful where you put your hands. They like dark spaces & woodpiles.Also cool areas in the attic............................................This guy was bitten by a Brown Recluse spider.

Day 3:

The following illustrates the
progression
of a brown recluse spider bite.
The affected skin actually dies on his body.

Day 5:

Some of the pictures towards the end are pretty nasty, but take a look at the last one -- it is a picture of the spider itself.

Day 6:
The Brown Recluse Spider is the most
dangerous spider that we have here in the USA.Day 9: A person can die from it’s bite. We all should know what the spider looks like.


Day 10:

Send this around to people you love, because it is almost summer time.

People will be digging around, doing yard work, spring cleaning, and sometimes in their attics.


The Dangerous Brown Recluse Spider

Please be careful.
Spider bites are dangerous and can have permanent and highly negative consequences.

They like the darkness and tend to live in storage sheds or attics or other areas that might not be frequented by people or light.

If you have a need to be in your attic, go up there and turn on a light and leave it on for about 30 minutes before you go in to do your work.
PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO YOUR RELATIVES AND FRIENDS!

ECUMENISM?

Following is the Encyclical by Pope Pius XI. He is talking about ecumenism. He doesn't talk like the leaders do now. He actually has the Faith. Remember, the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church is the only one with the entire Truth. All others are wrong, period! We need to bring them all into the One True fold of the Church for their salvation. We must understand our faith so that we can pass it on in a way that those outside the Faith can understand also. The Catholic Faith is the only faith that actually makes sense. Reach out for the common sense in others, if they have any. You will, not might, find that even those within the Church don't have a clue what the Faith really is. To them, it's just generic. 'All religions are good.' To us, it's specific. The encyclical is rather long, but maybe it will hold you for a few days.

MORTALIUM ANIMOS

ON RELIGIOUS UNITY

ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XI JANUARY 6, 1928

To Our Venerable Brethren the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and other Local Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See.

Venerable Brethren, Health and Apostolic Benediction.

Never perhaps in the past have we seen, as we see in these our own times, the minds of men so occupied by the desire both of strengthening and of extending to the common welfare of human society that fraternal relationship which binds and unites us together, and which is a consequence of our common origin and nature. For since the nations do not yet fully enjoy the fruits of peace -- indeed rather do old and new disagreements in various places break forth into sedition and civic strife -- and since on the other hand many disputes which concern the tranquillity and prosperity of nations cannot be settled without the active concurrence and help of those who rule the States and promote their interests, it is easily understood, and the more so because none now dispute the unity of the human race, why many desire that the various nations, inspired by this universal kinship, should daily be more closely united one to another.

2. A similar object is aimed at by some, in those matters which concern the New Law promulgated by Christ our Lord. For since they hold it for certain that men destitute of all religious sense are very rarely to be found, they seem to have founded on that belief a hope that the nations, although they differ among themselves in certain religious matters, will without much difficulty come to agree as brethren in professing certain doctrines, which form as it were a common basis of the spiritual life. For which reason conventions, meetings and addresses are frequently arranged by these persons, at which a large number of listeners are present, and at which all without distinction are invited to join in the discussion, both infidels of every kind, and Christians, even those who have unhappily fallen away from Christ or who with obstinacy and pertinacity deny His divine nature and mission. Certainly such attempts can nowise be approved by Catholics, founded as they are on that false opinion which considers all religions to be more or less good and praiseworthy, since they all in different ways manifest and signify that sense which is inborn in us all, and by which we are led to God and to the obedient acknowledgment of His rule. Not only are those who hold this opinion in error and deceived, but also in distorting the idea of true religion they reject it, and little by little. turn aside to naturalism and atheism, as it is called; from which it clearly follows that one who supports those who hold these theories and attempt to realize them, is altogether abandoning the divinely revealed religion.

3. But some are more easily deceived by the outward appearance of good when there is question of fostering unity among all Christians.

4. Is it not right, it is often repeated, indeed, even consonant with duty, that all who invoke the name of Christ should abstain from mutual reproaches and at long last be united in mutual charity? Who would dare to say that he loved Christ, unless he worked with all his might to carry out the desires of Him, Who asked His Father that His disciples might be "one."[1] And did not the same Christ will that His disciples should be marked out and distinguished from others by this characteristic, namely that they loved one another: "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another"?[2] All Christians, they add, should be as "one": for then they would be much more powerful in driving out the pest of irreligion, which like a serpent daily creeps further and becomes more widely spread, and prepares to rob the Gospel of its strength. These things and others that class of men who are known as pan-Christians continually repeat and amplify; and these men, so far from being quite few and scattered, have increased to the dimensions of an entire class, and have grouped themselves into widely spread societies, most of which are directed by non-Catholics, although they are imbued with varying doctrines concerning the things of faith. This undertaking is so actively promoted as in many places to win for itself the adhesion of a number of citizens, and it even takes possession of the minds of very many Catholics and allures them with the hope of bringing about such a union as would be agreeable to the desires of Holy Mother Church, who has indeed nothing more at heart than to recall her erring sons and to lead them back to her bosom. But in reality beneath these enticing words and blandishments lies hid a most grave error, by which the foundations of the Catholic faith are completely destroyed.

5. Admonished, therefore, by the consciousness of Our Apostolic office that We should not permit the flock of the Lord to be cheated by dangerous fallacies, We invoke, Venerable Brethren, your zeal in avoiding this evil; for We are confident that by the writings and words of each one of you the people will more easily get to know and understand those principles and arguments which We are about to set forth, and from which Catholics will learn how they are to think and act when there is question of those undertakings which have for their end the union in one body, whatsoever be the manner, of all who call themselves Christians.

6. We were created by God, the Creator of the universe, in order that we might know Him and serve Him; our Author therefore has a perfect right to our service. God might, indeed, have prescribed for man's government only the natural law, which, in His creation, He imprinted on his soul, and have regulated the progress of that same law by His ordinary providence; but He preferred rather to impose precepts, which we were to obey, and in the course of time, namely from the beginnings of the human race until the coming and preaching of Jesus Christ, He Himself taught man the duties which a rational creature owes to its Creator: "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all, in these days, hath spoken to us by his Son."[3] From which it follows that there can be no true religion other than that which is founded on the revealed word of God: which revelation, begun from the beginning and continued under the Old Law, Christ Jesus Himself under the New Law perfected. Now, if God has spoken (and it is historically certain that He has truly spoken), all must see that it is man's duty to believe absolutely God's revelation and to obey implicitly His commands; that we might rightly do both, for the glory of God and our own salvation, the Only-begotten Son of God founded His Church on earth. Further, We believe that those who call themselves Christians can do no other than believe that a Church, and that Church one, was established by Christ; but if it is further inquired of what nature according to the will of its Author it must be, then all do not agree. A good number of them, for example, deny that the Church of Christ must be visible and apparent, at least to such a degree that it appears as one body of faithful, agreeing in one and the same doctrine under one teaching authority and government; but, on the contrary, they understand a visible Church as nothing else than a Federation, composed of various communities of Christians, even though they adhere to different doctrines, which may even be incompatible one with another. Instead, Christ our Lord instituted His Church as a perfect society, external of its nature and perceptible to the senses, which should carry on in the future the work of the salvation of the human race, under the leadership of one head,[4] with an authority teaching by word of mouth,[5] and by the ministry of the sacraments, the founts of heavenly grace;[6] for which reason He attested by comparison the similarity of the Church to a kingdom,[7] to a house,[8] to a sheepfold,[9] and to a flock.[10] This Church, after being so wonderfully instituted, could not, on the removal by death of its Founder and of the Apostles who were the pioneers in propagating it, be entirely extinguished and cease to be, for to it was given the commandment to lead all men, without distinction of time or place, to eternal salvation: "Going therefore, teach ye all nations."[11] In the continual carrying out of this task, will any element of strength and efficiency be wanting to the Church, when Christ Himself is perpetually present to it, according to His solemn promise: "Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world?"[12] It follows then that the Church of Christ not only exists to-day and always, but is also exactly the same as it was in the time of the Apostles, unless we were to say, which God forbid, either that Christ our Lord could not effect His purpose, or that He erred when He asserted that the gates of hell should never prevail against it.[13]

7. And here it seems opportune to expound and to refute a certain false opinion, on which this whole question, as well as that complex movement by which non-Catholics seek to bring about the union of the Christian churches depends. For authors who favor this view are accustomed, times almost without number, to bring forward these words of Christ: "That they all may be one.... And there shall be one fold and one shepherd,"[14] with this signification however: that Christ Jesus merely expressed a desire and prayer, which still lacks its fulfillment. For they are of the opinion that the unity of faith and government, which is a note of the one true Church of Christ, has hardly up to the present time existed, and does not to-day exist. They consider that this unity may indeed be desired and that it may even be one day attained through the instrumentality of wills directed to a common end, but that meanwhile it can only be regarded as mere ideal. They add that the Church in itself, or of its nature, is divided into sections; that is to say, that it is made up of several churches or distinct communities, which still remain separate, and although having certain articles of doctrine in common, nevertheless disagree concerning the remainder; that these all enjoy the same rights; and that the Church was one and unique from, at the most, the apostolic age until the first Ecumenical Councils. Controversies therefore, they say, and longstanding differences of opinion which keep asunder till the present day the members of the Christian family, must be entirely put aside, and from the remaining doctrines a common form of faith drawn up and proposed for belief, and in the profession of which all may not only know but feel that they are brothers. The manifold churches or communities, if united in some kind of universal federation, would then be in a position to oppose strongly and with success the progress of irreligion. This, Venerable Brethren, is what is commonly said. There are some, indeed, who recognize and affirm that Protestantism, as they call it, has rejected, with a great lack of consideration, certain articles of faith and some external ceremonies, which are, in fact, pleasing and useful, and which the Roman Church still retains. They soon, however, go on to say that that Church also has erred, and corrupted the original religion by adding and proposing for belief certain doctrines which are not only alien to the Gospel, but even repugnant to it. Among the chief of these they number that which concerns the primacy of jurisdiction, which was granted to Peter and to his successors in the See of Rome. Among them there indeed are some, though few, who grant to the Roman Pontiff a primacy of honor or even a certain jurisdiction or power, but this, however, they consider not to arise from the divine law but from the consent of the faithful. Others again, even go so far as to wish the Pontiff Himself to preside over their motley, so to say, assemblies. But, all the same, although many non-Catholics may be found who loudly preach fraternal communion in Christ Jesus, yet you will find none at all to whom it ever occurs to submit to and obey the Vicar of Jesus Christ either in His capacity as a teacher or as a governor. Meanwhile they affirm that they would willingly treat with the Church of Rome, but on equal terms, that is as equals with an equal: but even if they could so act. it does not seem open to doubt that any pact into which they might enter would not compel them to turn from those opinions which are still the reason why they err and stray from the one fold of Christ.

8. This being so, it is clear that the Apostolic See cannot on any terms take part in their assemblies, nor is it anyway lawful for Catholics either to support or to work for such enterprises; for if they do so they will be giving countenance to a false Christianity, quite alien to the one Church of Christ. Shall We suffer, what would indeed be iniquitous, the truth, and a truth divinely revealed, to be made a subject for compromise? For here there is question of defending revealed truth. Jesus Christ sent His Apostles into the whole world in order that they might permeate all nations with the Gospel faith, and, lest they should err, He willed beforehand that they should be taught by the Holy Ghost:[15] has then this doctrine of the Apostles completely vanished away, or sometimes been obscured, in the Church, whose ruler and defense is God Himself? If our Redeemer plainly said that His Gospel was to continue not only during the times of the Apostles, but also till future ages, is it possible that the object of faith should in the process of time become so obscure and uncertain, that it would be necessary to-day to tolerate opinions which are even incompatible one with another? If this were true, we should have to confess that the coming of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles, and the perpetual indwelling of the same Spirit in the Church, and the very preaching of Jesus Christ, have several centuries ago, lost all their efficacy and use, to affirm which would be blasphemy. But the Only-begotten Son of God, when He commanded His representatives to teach all nations, obliged all men to give credence to whatever was made known to them by "witnesses preordained by God,"[16] and also confirmed His command with this sanction: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned."[17] These two commands of Christ, which must be fulfilled, the one, namely, to teach, and the other to believe, cannot even be understood, unless the Church proposes a complete and easily understood teaching, and is immune when it thus teaches from all danger of erring. In this matter, those also turn aside from the right path, who think that the deposit of truth such laborious trouble, and with such lengthy study and discussion, that a man's life would hardly suffice to find and take possession of it; as if the most merciful God had spoken through the prophets and His Only-begotten Son merely in order that a few, and those stricken in years, should learn what He had revealed through them, and not that He might inculcate a doctrine of faith and morals, by which man should be guided through the whole course of his moral life.

9. These pan-Christians who turn their minds to uniting the churches seem, indeed, to pursue the noblest of ideas in promoting charity among all Christians: nevertheless how does it happen that this charity tends to injure faith? Everyone knows that John himself, the Apostle of love, who seems to reveal in his Gospel the secrets of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and who never ceased to impress on the memories of his followers the new commandment "Love one another," altogether forbade any intercourse with those who professed a mutilated and corrupt version of Christ's teaching: "If any man come to you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into the house nor say to him: God speed you."[18] For which reason, since charity is based on a complete and sincere faith, the disciples of Christ must be united principally by the bond of one faith. Who then can conceive a Christian Federation, the members of which retain each his own opinions and private judgment, even in matters which concern the object of faith, even though they be repugnant to the opinions of the rest? And in what manner, We ask, can men who follow contrary opinions, belong to one and the same Federation of the faithful? For example, those who affirm, and those who deny that sacred Tradition is a true fount of divine Revelation; those who hold that an ecclesiastical hierarchy, made up of bishops, priests and ministers, has been divinely constituted, and those who assert that it has been brought in little by little in accordance with the conditions of the time; those who adore Christ really present in the Most Holy Eucharist through that marvelous conversion of the bread and wine, which is called transubstantiation, and those who affirm that Christ is present only by faith or by the signification and virtue of the Sacrament; those who in the Eucharist recognize the nature both of a sacrament and of a sacrifice, and those who say that it is nothing more than the memorial or commemoration of the Lord's Supper; those who believe it to be good and useful to invoke by prayer the Saints reigning with Christ, especially Mary the Mother of God, and to venerate their images, and those who urge that such a veneration is not to be made use of, for it is contrary to the honor due to Jesus Christ, "the one mediator of God and men."[19] How so great a variety of opinions can make the way clear to effect the unity of the Church We know not; that unity can only arise from one teaching authority, one law of belief and one faith of Christians. But We do know that from this it is an easy step to the neglect of religion or indifferentism and to modernism, as they call it. Those, who are unhappily infected with these errors, hold that dogmatic truth is not absolute but relative, that is, it agrees with the varying necessities of time and place and with the varying tendencies of the mind, since it is not contained in immutable revelation, but is capable of being accommodated to human life. Besides this, in connection with things which must be believed, it is nowise licit to use that distinction which some have seen fit to introduce between those articles of faith which are fundamental and those which are not fundamental, as they say, as if the former are to be accepted by all, while the latter may be left to the free assent of the faithful: for the supernatural virtue of faith has a formal cause, namely the authority of God revealing, and this is patient of no such distinction. For this reason it is that all who are truly Christ's believe, for example, the Conception of the Mother of God without stain of original sin with the same faith as they believe the mystery of the August Trinity, and the Incarnation of our Lord just as they do the infallible teaching authority of the Roman Pontiff, according to the sense in which it was defined by the Ecumenical Council of the Vatican. Are these truths not equally certain, or not equally to be believed, because the Church has solemnly sanctioned and defined them, some in one age and some in another, even in those times immediately before our own? Has not God revealed them all? For the teaching authority of the Church, which in the divine wisdom was constituted on earth in order that revealed doctrines might remain intact for ever, and that they might be brought with ease and security to the knowledge of men, and which is daily exercised through the Roman Pontiff and the Bishops who are in communion with him, has also the office of defining, when it sees fit, any truth with solemn rites and decrees, whenever this is necessary either to oppose the errors or the attacks of heretics, or more clearly and in greater detail to stamp the minds of the faithful with the articles of sacred doctrine which have been explained. But in the use of this extraordinary teaching authority no newly invented matter is brought in, nor is anything new added to the number of those truths which are at least implicitly contained in the deposit of Revelation, divinely handed down to the Church: only those which are made clear which perhaps may still seem obscure to some, or that which some have previously called into question is declared to be of faith.

10. So, Venerable Brethren, it is clear why this Apostolic See has never allowed its subjects to take part in the assemblies of non-Catholics: for the union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return to the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it, for in the past they have unhappily left it. To the one true Church of Christ, we say, which is visible to all, and which is to remain, according to the will of its Author, exactly the same as He instituted it. During the lapse of centuries, the mystical Spouse of Christ has never been contaminated, nor can she ever in the future be contaminated, as Cyprian bears witness: "The Bride of Christ cannot be made false to her Spouse: she is incorrupt and modest. She knows but one dwelling, she guards the sanctity of the nuptial chamber chastely and modestly."[20] The same holy Martyr with good reason marveled exceedingly that anyone could believe that "this unity in the Church which arises from a divine foundation, and which is knit together by heavenly sacraments, could be rent and torn asunder by the force of contrary wills."[21] For since the mystical body of Christ, in the same manner as His physical body, is one,[22] compacted and fitly joined together,[23] it were foolish and out of place to say that the mystical body is made up of members which are disunited and scattered abroad: whosoever therefore is not united with the body is no member of it, neither is he in communion with Christ its head.[24]

11. Furthermore, in this one Church of Christ no man can be or remain who does not accept, recognize and obey the authority and supremacy of Peter and his legitimate successors. Did not the ancestors of those who are now entangled in the errors of Photius and the reformers, obey the Bishop of Rome, the chief shepherd of souls? Alas their children left the home of their fathers, but it did not fall to the ground and perish for ever, for it was supported by God. Let them therefore return to their common Father, who, forgetting the insults previously heaped on the Apostolic See, will receive them in the most loving fashion. For if, as they continually state, they long to be united with Us and ours, why do they not hasten to enter the Church, "the Mother and mistress of all Christ's faithful"?[25] Let them hear Lactantius crying out: "The Catholic Church is alone in keeping the true worship. This is the fount of truth, this the house of Faith, this the temple of God: if any man enter not here, or if any man go forth from it, he is a stranger to the hope of life and salvation. Let none delude himself with obstinate wrangling. For life and salvation are here concerned, which will be lost and entirely destroyed, unless their interests are carefully and assiduously kept in mind."[26]

12. Let, therefore, the separated children draw nigh to the Apostolic See, set up in the City which Peter and Paul, the Princes of the Apostles, consecrated by their blood; to that See, We repeat, which is "the root and womb whence the Church of God springs,"[27] not with the intention and the hope that "the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth"[28] will cast aside the integrity of the faith and tolerate their errors, but, on the contrary, that they themselves submit to its teaching and government. Would that it were Our happy lot to do that which so many of Our predecessors could not, to embrace with fatherly affection those children, whose unhappy separation from Us We now bewail. Would that God our Savior, "Who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth,"[29] would hear us when We humbly beg that He would deign to recall all who stray to the unity of the Church! In this most important undertaking We ask and wish that others should ask the prayers of Blessed Mary the Virgin, Mother of divine grace, victorious over all heresies and Help of Christians, that She may implore for Us the speedy coming of the much hoped-for day, when all men shall hear the voice of Her divine Son, and shall be "careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."[30]

13. You, Venerable Brethren, understand how much this question is in Our mind, and We desire that Our children should also know, not only those who belong to the Catholic community, but also those who are separated from Us: if these latter humbly beg light from heaven, there is no doubt but that they will recognize the one true Church of Jesus Christ and will, at last, enter it, being united with us in perfect charity. While awaiting this event, and as a pledge of Our paternal good will, We impart most lovingly to you, Venerable Brethren, and to your clergy and people, the apostolic benediction.

Given at Rome, at Saint Peter's, on the 6th day of January, on the Feast of the Epiphany of Jesus Christ, our Lord, in the year 1928, and the sixth year of Our Pontificate.

REFERENCES:
1. John xvii, 21.
2. John xiii, 35.
3. Heb. i, I seq.
4. Matt. xvi, 18 seq; Luke xxii, 32; John xxi, 15-17.
5. Mark xvi, 15.
6. John iii, 5; vi, 48-59; xx, 22 seq; cf. Matt. xviii, 18, etc.
7. Matt. xiii.
8. cf. Matt. xvi, 18.
9. John x, 16.
10. John xxi, 15-17.
11. Matt. xxviii, 19.
12. Matt. xxviii, 20.
13. Matt. xvi, 18.
14. John xvii, 21; x, 16.
15. John xvi, 13.
16. Acts x,41.
17. Mark xvi, 16.
18. 11 John 10.
19. Cf. I Tim. ii, 15.
20. De Cath. Ecclesiae unitate, 6.
21. Ibid.
22. I Cor. xii, 12.
23. Eph. Iv, 16.
24. Cf. Eph. v, 30; 1, 22.
25. Conc. Lateran IV, c. 5.
26. Divin. Instit. Iv, 30. 11-12.
27. S. Cypr. Ep. 48 ad Cornelium, 3.
28. I Tim. iii, 15.
29. I Tim. ii, 4.
30. Eph. iv, 3.