ALL SAINTS DAY

BLESSED ARE THEY THAT ARE CALLED TO THE MARRIAGE-SUPPER OF THE LAMB!

"I saw a great multitude which no man could number, of all the nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne, and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands: and they cried with a loud voice, saying: 'Salvation to our Lord.'" Apoc. vii. 9,10

This is the day we honor all those who have actually made it into eternal happiness. Good for them. I hope people I know are there. I hope a dream I had years ago is true. I saw my mom, with her usual big smile standing in front of me, get her crown placed on her head by Jesus on one side and His Mother Mary on the other. Then the vision immediately left. It was a really different feeling. Woke me right up!

We honor all of the holy saints who have gone before us, and now rest in the bosom of God Himself, just as He promised. And, as our beloved Abbot Gueranger states: 'Yet the soul faints not, lifting up her eyes to the mountains, she feels that she can rely upon her Lord, and that she is abandoned neither by heaven, which is expecting her arrival, nor by her mother the Church still here on earth. Although purgatory, where justice and peace meet and embrace, is so near the region of endless weeping, it is still accessible to the angels. These august messengers comfort the soul with divine communications: while the blessed in heaven and the just on earth assist her with their prayers and sufferings. She is well assured that sin, the only real evil, can never touch her.

...But as in this world every grace from Jesus comes to us through Mary, so in the next world it is through her that deliverance and all good things are obtained. The Mother of God is queen over all whom her Son has redeemed. Thus the revelations of the saints tell us that she is truly the queen of purgatory: whether she graciously sends the angels of her guard to represent her there, or deigns herself, the beautiful dawn of eternal day, to enter its gloomy precincts, and shed upon its flames the abundant dew of morning.'

This is me: The Sabbantine privilege is that Mary herself will come and get us on the first Saturday after our death if we are faithful to her. I like this promise.

Let us, therefore, offer to her this prayer. It was composed in the 14th century by John IV de Langoueznou, abbot of Landevenec, and speaks of his love for our Blessed Mother:


To the suffers in purgatory, whom the burning flame is cleansing and sharp pains are tormenting, may thy compassion bring assistance, O Mary!

Fount accessible to all and washing away their sins, thou aid all, despise none: to the dead who languish in unceasing tortures, stretch forth thy hand, O Mary!

How lovingly do the departed souls sigh towards thee, yearning to be delivered from their sufferings and to be admitted to the sight of thee in the enjoyment of eternal bliss, O Mary!

Hear their groans, and hasten, O Mother, to show the love of thy heart, obtain of Jesus that He would deign to heal them through His own wounds, O Mary!

Thou art the true hope of them that call upon thee: lo! united multitudes cry to thee for their brethren, that thou would appease thy Son, and obtain for them the heavenly reward, O Mary!

In thy goodness, cause the tears thou sees us shed before the feet of the Judge, to extinguish speedily the flames of the avenging fire, that the dear souls may join the angelic choirs, O Mary!

And when the strict examination shall take place at God's terrible judgment, oh, then implore thy Son, the Judge, that we may share the inheritance of the saints, O Mary! AMEN!

ALL HALLOWS 'EEN

When you think of Halloween, what comes to mind? For a lot of people, Halloween has become synonymous with candy, costumes, scary stuff, witches, ghosts and pumpkins. But do you know the Christian connection to the holiday?

The true origins of Halloween lie with the ancient Celtic tribes who lived in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany. For the Celts, November 1 marked the beginning of a new year and the coming of winter. The night before the new year, they celebrated the festival of Samhain, Lord of the Dead. During this festival, Celts believed the souls of the dead, including ghosts, goblins and witches, returned to mingle with the living. In order to scare away the evil spirits, people would wear masks, light bonfires, and carve pumpkins with ugly faces.

When the Romans conquered the Celts, they added their own touches to the Samhain festival, such as making centerpieces out of apples and nuts for Pomona, the Roman goddess of the orchards. The Romans also bobbed for apples and drank cider; traditions which may sound familiar to you. But where does the Christian aspect of the holiday come into play? In 835, Pope Gregory IV moved the celebration for all the martyrs (later ALL SAINTS) from May 13 to November 1. The night before became known as All Hallows Eve, or holy evening. Eventually the name was shortened to the current Halloween. On November 2, the Church celebrates All Souls Day.

Another version states that in England after the 'reformation', the heretics knew who the Catholics were. They also knew that these people are going to pray for the souls on November 1. They would go to these houses, and for a fee (treat), would NOT vandalize their house (trick). Just sayin'.

The purpose of these feasts is to remember those who have died, whether they are officially recognized by the Church as saints or not. It is a celebration of the Communion of Saints, which reminds us that the Church is not bound by space or time.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that through the communion of saints a perennial link of charity exists between the faithful who have already reached their heavenly home, those who are expiating their sins in purgatory and those who are still pilgrims on earth. Between them there is, too, an abundant exchange of all good things.

Plenary Indulgence for the holy souls in Purgatory

Plenary Indulgence Reminders for First Week in November
November, the month especially dedicated to the Poor Souls, begins tomorrow, with the most richly indulgenced week of the year - we could call it Indulgence Week, for the great generosity with which the spiritual wealth of indulgences is made available by the Church.

There are several plenary indulgences available for the first week in November. They are the following:


For the faithful departed

§ 1. A plenary indulgence, applied exclusively to the souls in Purgatory, is granted to the Christian faithful who:

1° on each single day, from the first to the eighth day in November, devoutly visit a cemetery and, even if only mentally, pray for the faithful departed; [Note: one plenary indulgence for each day, if the usual conditions are met]

2° on the day of Commemoration of All Faithful Departed [November 2] (or, according to the Ordinary, on the preceding or subsequent Sunday, or on the day of the solemnity of All Saints) piously visit a church or oratory and there recite the Pater and the Credo.

The souls in Purgatory need your prayers and sacrifices to expiate their sins so they can enter into glory in Heaven.

VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JUST A NOTE BEFORE VOTING

Just a note to pass along before the voting day is here. I have thought for a long time that the Democratic party is the amoral party. I figured it is time to say it where more people might read it, so here it is. Everything the Democrats seem to champion is against God's wishes: Abortion, same-sex 'marriage', immoral sexual acts, euthanasia, etc. Hopefully, they have time to repent before they meet the Judge. We have to pray for that. And, I know that some Republicans are 'rino's, (Republican in name only); however, for the most part, they still seem to have some morals, even if not Catholic ones. All I'm saying is this: "Don't drink the koolaid of the democrats. It will leave a bad taste in your mouth, and possible cause the loss of your soul. This will be the last post until All Saints day. Take some time and really think about your vote.

Following is this picture I found, and it pretty much sums up some things. Not just for her, but also for those who think like her.

Not that our vote matters anymore; since everything is now electronic and easy to manipulate (I know this since I was in programming for a time), but we have to keep on trying!


Voting the Catholic way, WAKE UP PEOPLE!

Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics

This voter’s guide helps you cast your vote in an informed manner consistent with Catholic moral teaching. It helps you avoid choosing candidates who endorse policies that cannot be reconciled with moral norms that used to be held by all Christians.

On most issues that come before voters or legislators, the task is selecting the most effective strategy among several morally good options. A Catholic can take one side or the other and not act contrary to the faith. Most matters do not have a "Catholic position." I know that the pickings are slim, and that having a Catholic viewpoint on things gets you labelled, but here goes.

But some issues concern 'non-negotiable' moral principles that do not admit of exception or compromise. One’s position either accords with those principles or does not. No one endorsing the wrong side of these issues can be said to act in accord with the Church’s moral norms, or be in good standing with the Judge!

This voter’s guide identifies five issues involving 'non-negotiable' moral values in current politics and helps you narrow down the list of acceptable candidates, whether they are running for national, state, or local offices.

You should avoid to the greatest extent possible voting for candidates who endorse or promote intrinsically evil policies. As far as possible, you should vote for those who promote policies in line with the moral law.
This statement takes into account those who call themselves 'catholic', but don't have a clue of what Catholic teaching truly is.

In many elections there are situations where all of the available candidates take morally unacceptable positions on one or more of the 'non-negotiable' issues.

In such situations, a citizen will be called upon to make tough choices. In those cases, citizens must vote in the way that will most limit the harm that would be done by the available candidates.

In this guide we will look first at the principles that should be applied in clear-cut races where there is an unambiguously good moral choice. These same principles help lay the groundwork for what to do in situations that are more difficult.

Knowing the principles that are applied in ideal situations is useful when facing problematic ones, so as you review the principles you should keep in mind that they often must be applied in situations where the choice is more difficult. At the end of the guide I will attempt to offer practical advice about how to decide to cast your vote in those cases.

YOUR ROLE AS A CATHOLIC VOTER

Catholics have a moral obligation to promote the common good through the exercise of their voting privileges. It is not just civil authorities who have responsibility for a country. "Service of the common good require[s] citizens to fulfill their roles in the life of the political community". This means citizens should participate in the political process at the ballot box.

But voting cannot be arbitrary. "A well-formed Christian conscience does not permit one to vote for a political program or an individual law that contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals". A citizen’s vote most often means voting for a candidate who will be the one directly voting on laws or programs. But being one step removed from law-making doesn’t let citizens off the hook, since morality requires that we avoid doing evil to the greatest extent possible, even indirectly.

Some things are always wrong, and no one may deliberately vote in favor of them. Legislators, who have a direct vote, may not support these evils in legislation or programs. Citizens support these evils indirectly if they vote in favor of candidates who propose to advance them. Thus, to the greatest extent possible, Catholics must avoid voting for any candidate who intends to support programs or laws that are intrinsically evil. When all of the candidates endorse morally harmful policies, citizens must vote in a way that will limit the harm likely to be done.

FIVE NON-NEGOTIABLE TOPICS:

These five current issues concern actions that are intrinsically evil and must never be promoted by the law. Intrinsically evil actions are those that fundamentally conflict with the moral law and can never be deliberately performed under any circumstances. It is a serious sin to deliberately endorse or promote any of these actions, and no candidate who really wants to advance the common good will support any action contrary to the non-negotiable principles involved in these issues.

1. Abortion

The Church teaches that, regarding a law permitting abortions, it is "never licit to obey it, or to take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law, or to vote for it". Abortion is the intentional and direct killing of an innocent human being, and therefore it is a form of homicide. We MUST pray for the so-called 'Catholic' politicians who support this, so that maybe they will repent before they face the Judge!

The unborn child is always an innocent party, and no law may permit the taking of his life. Even when a child is conceived through rape or incest, the fault is not the child’s, who should not suffer death for others’ sins.

2. Euthanasia

Often disguised by the name "mercy killing," euthanasia is a form of homicide. No person has a right to take his own life, and no one has the right to take the life of any innocent person.

In euthanasia, the ill or elderly are killed, by action or omission, out of a misplaced sense of compassion, but true compassion cannot include intentionally doing something intrinsically evil to another person.


3. Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Human embryos are human beings. "Respect for the dignity of the human being excludes all experimental manipulation or exploitation of the human embryo".

Recent scientific advances show that often medical treatments that researchers hope to develop from experimentation on embryonic stem cells can be developed by using adult stem cells instead. Adult stem cells can be obtained without doing harm to the adults from whom they come. Thus there is no valid medical argument in favor of using embryonic stem cells. And even if there were benefits to be had from such experiments, they would not justify destroying innocent embryonic humans.

4. Human Cloning

"Attempts . . . for obtaining a human being without any connection with sexuality through ‘twin fission,’ cloning, or parthenogenesis (a form of asexual reproduction in which growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization), are to be considered contrary to the moral law, since they are in opposition to the dignity both of human procreation and of the conjugal union".

Human cloning also involves abortion because the "rejected" or "unsuccessful" embryonic clones are destroyed, yet each clone is a human being.

5. Homosexual "Marriage"

True marriage is the union of one man and one woman. Legal recognition of any other union as "marriage" undermines true marriage, and legal recognition of homosexual unions actually does homosexual persons a disfavor by encouraging them to persist in what is an objectively immoral and deranged arrangement.

"When legislation in favor of the recognition of homosexual unions is proposed for the first time in a legislative assembly, the Catholic lawmaker has a moral duty to express his opposition clearly and publicly and to vote against it. To vote in favor of a law so harmful to the common good is gravely immoral".


WHICH POLITICAL OFFICES SHOULD I WORRY ABOUT?

Laws are passed by the legislature, enforced by the executive branch, and interpreted by the judiciary. This means you should scrutinize any candidate for the legislature, anyone running for an executive office, and anyone nominated for the bench. This is true not only at the national level but also at the state and local levels.

True, the lesser the office, the less likely the office holder will take up certain issues. Your city council, for example, perhaps will never take up the issue of human cloning but may take up issues connected with abortion clinics. It is important that you evaluate candidates in light of each non-negotiable moral issue that will come before them in the offices they are seeking.

Few people achieve high office without first holding a lower office. Some people become congressional representatives, senators, or presidents without having been elected to a lesser office. But most representatives, senators, and presidents started their political careers at the local level. The same is true for state lawmakers. Most of them began on city councils and school boards and worked their way up the political ladder.

Tomorrow’s candidates for higher offices will come mainly from today’s candidates for lower offices. It is therefore prudent to apply comparable standards to local candidates. One should seek to elect to lower offices candidates who support Christian morality so that they will have a greater ability to be elected to higher offices where their moral stances may come directly into play.


HOW TO DETERMINE A CANDIDATE’S POSITION

1. The higher the office, the easier this will be. Congressional representatives and senators, for example, repeatedly have seen these issues come before them and so have taken positions on them. Often the same can be said at the state level. In either case, learning a candidate’s position can be as easy as reading newspaper or magazine articles, looking up his views on the Internet, or studying one of the many printed candidate surveys that are distributed at election time.

2. It is often more difficult to learn the views of candidates for local offices because few of them have an opportunity to consider legislation on such things as abortion, cloning, and the sanctity of marriage. But these candidates, being local, often can be contacted directly or have local campaign offices that will explain their positions.

3. If you cannot determine a candidate’s views by other means, do not hesitate to write directly to the candidate, asking for his position on the issues covered above.

HOW NOT TO VOTE

1. Do not vote based just on your political party affiliation, your earlier voting habits, or your family’s voting tradition. Years ago, these may have been trustworthy ways to determine whom to vote for, but today they are often not reliable. You need to look at the stands each candidate takes. This means that you may end up casting votes for candidates from more than one party.

2. Do not cast your vote based on candidates’ appearance, personality, or 'media savvy.' Some attractive, engaging, and "sound-bite-capable" candidates endorse intrinsic evils, while other candidates, who may be plain-looking, uninspiring, and ill at ease in front of cameras, endorse legislation in accord with basic Christian principles.

3. Do not vote for candidates simply because they declare themselves to be Catholic. Unfortunately, many self-described Catholic candidates reject basic Catholic moral teaching. They have, in fact, excommunicated themselves from the Church, but they're still here.

4. Do not choose among candidates based on "What’s in it for me?" Make your decision based on which candidates seem most likely to promote the common good, even if you will not benefit directly or immediately from the legislation they propose.

5. Do not vote for candidates who are right on lesser issues but will vote wrongly on key moral issues. One candidate may have a record of voting in line with Catholic values except for, say, euthanasia. Such a voting record is a clear signal that the candidate should not be chosen by a Catholic voter unless the other candidates have voting records even less in accord with these moral norms.

HOW TO VOTE

1. For each office, first determine how each candidate stands on each of the issues that will come before him and involve non-negotiable principles.

2. Rank the candidates according to how well their positions align with these non-negotiable moral principles.

3. Give preference to candidates who do not propose positions that contradict these principles.

4. Where every candidate endorses positions contrary to non-negotiable principles, choose the candidate likely to do the least harm. If several are equal, evaluate them based on their views on other, lesser issues.

5. Remember that your vote today may affect the offices a candidate later achieves.

WHAT TO DO WHEN THERE IS NO "ACCEPTABLE" CANDIDATE

In some political races, each candidate takes a wrong position on one or more issues involving non-negotiable moral principles. In such a case you may vote for the candidate who takes the fewest such positions or who seems least likely to be able to advance immoral legislation, or you may choose to vote for no one.

A vote cast in such a situation is not morally the same as a positive endorsement for candidates, laws, or programs that promote intrinsic evils: It is only tolerating a lesser evil to avoid an even greater evil. As Pope John Paul II indicated regarding a situation where it is not possible to overturn or completely defeat a law allowing abortion, "an elected official, whose absolute personal opposition to procured abortion was well known, could licitly support proposals aimed at limiting the harm done by such a law and at lessening its negative consequences at the level of general opinion and public morality".

Catholics must strive to put in place candidates, laws, and political programs that are in full accord with non-negotiable moral values. Where a perfect candidate, law, or program is not on the table, we are to choose the best option, the one that promotes the greatest good and entails the least evil. Not voting may sometimes be the only moral course of action, but we must consider whether not voting actually promotes good and limits evil in a specific instance. The role of citizens and elected officials is to promote intrinsic moral values as much as possible today while continuing to work toward better candidates, laws, and programs in the future.

THE ROLE OF YOUR CONSCIENCE

Conscience is like an alarm. It warns you when you are about to do something that you know is wrong. It does not itself determine what is right or wrong. For your conscience to work properly, it must be properly informed; that is, you must inform yourself about what is right and what is wrong. Only then will your conscience be a trusted guide.

Unfortunately, today many Catholics have not formed their consciences adequately regarding key moral issues. The result is that their consciences do not "sound off" at appropriate times, including on Election Day.

A well-formed conscience will never contradict Catholic moral teaching. For that reason, if you are unsure where your conscience is leading you when at the ballot box, place your trust in the unwavering moral teachings of the Church. (The Catechism of the Catholic Church is an excellent source of authentic moral teaching. Older version is best.)

WHEN YOU ARE DONE WITH THIS VOTER’S GUIDE

Please do not keep this voter’s guide to yourself. Read it, learn from it, and prepare your selection of candidates based on it. Then give this voter’s guide to a friend, and ask your friend to read it and pass it on to others. The more people who vote in accord with basic moral principles, the better off our country will be.

Last Sunday in October-CHRIST THE KING!

CHRIST THE KING
(Last Sunday of October)

This Sunday is the last one of October. It is designated to honor the Kingship of Christ over the entire world.
Pope Pius XI, in instituting the feast of the Kingship of Christ, desired to make solemn proclamation of the social dominion of our Lord Jesus Christ over the world. Christ, the King of souls and consciences, of intellects and will, is also the King of families and cities, peoples and nations. He is King of the whole universe. As Pius XI showed in his Encyclical Quas Primas of December 11, 1925, secularism is the direct denial of this Kingship of Christ. By organizing social life as if God did not exist it leads to the apostasy of the masses and the ruin of society.


The whole of this day's Mass and Office are a solemn assertion of the universal royalty of Christ against the great heresy of our days which is secularism. Occurring as it does on the last Sunday of October, towards the end of the liturgical year and just before the feast of All Saints, the feast of the Kingship of Christ appears as the crowing glory of all the mysteries of the life of Christ and as an anticipation in time, of the external royalty which He exercises over all the elect in the glory of heaven. The great reality of Christianity is the Risen Christ reigning in all the glory of His victory among the elect, who are the fruits of his triumph.


'Christ Himself speaks of His Own kingly authority: in His last discourse, speaking of the rewards and punishments that will be the eternal lot of the just and the damned; in His reply to the Roman magistrate, who asked Him publicly whether He were a king or not; after His resurrection, when giving to His Apostles the mission of teaching and Baptizing all nations, He took the opportunity to call Himself king, confirming the title publicly, and solemnly proclaimed that all power was given Him in Heaven and on earth. These words can only be taken to indicate the greatness of his power, the infinite extent of His kingdom. What wonder, then, that He Whom St. John calls the "prince of the kings of the earth" appears in the Apostle's vision of the future as He Who "hath on His garment and on His thigh written 'King of kings and Lord of lords!'." It is Christ Whom the Father "hath appointed heir of all things"; "for He must reign until at the end of the world He hath put all his enemies under the feet of God and the Father."

It was surely right, then, in view of the common teaching of the sacred books, that the Catholic Church, which is the kingdom of Christ on earth, destined to be spread among all men and all nations, should with every token of veneration salute her Author and Founder in her annual liturgy as King and Lord, and as King of Kings. And, in fact, she used these titles, giving expression with wonderful variety of language to one and the same concept, both in ancient psalmody and in the Sacramentaries.'

Pope Pius XI, Encyclical Letter, QUAS PRIMAS, #11-12; 1925



Let us end with the Gradual for this Sunday:

He shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.

And all kings of the earth shall adore Him: all nations shall serve Him.

His power is an everlasting power, that shall not be taken away: and His Kingdom that shall not be destroyed. Alleluia.



Christ, the King of Heaven, Earth, and all things, have mercy on us.

'May the Most Holy, Most Sacred, Most Adorable, Most Mysterious and unutterable Name of God be always praised, blessed, loved, adored and glorified in heaven, on earth and under the earth, by all the creatures of God, and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Amen.'

Just a thought, from 500 years ago:
'We're in the midst of climate change--one that's getting colder and colder toward religion.'
Council of Trent, on the Sacraments.

Let us try to make it warmer, with our fastings and prayers. We desperately need the King and Queen of heaven in these times.

ST. RAPHAEL

When I was still a Protestant, I had never heard about Raphael, or about any of these helpers of God, to say the least. When I converted, I learned about all of these extra books of Scripture, especially Tobias. I found them fascinating. All of these Angels, messengers of God, can help us in our daily dealings, if we ask.

SAINT RAPHAEL the ARCHANGEL

This holy Archangel identified himself to the exiled Jew Tobias as "one of the Seven who stand before God" (Tob. 12:15). His name means the healing of God, and he is thought to be the Angel who came down and agitated the water of the pool of Bethsaida in Jerusalem. The sick, who always lay around the pool, strove to be the first to enter the water afterwards, because that fortunate one was always cured. We read of this in the story of the paralytic cured by Jesus, who had waited patiently for thirty-eight years, unable to move when the occasion presented itself. (Cf. John 5:1-9)

Saint Raphael is best known through the beautiful history of the two Tobias, father and son, exiled to Persia in the days of the Assyrian conquest in the eighth century before Christ. In their story, the Archangel plays the major role.

The father Tobias was a faithful son of Jacob and was old and worn out by his manifold good works; for many years he had assisted his fellow exiles in every possible way, even burying the slain of Israel during a persecution by Sennacherib, and continuing this practice despite the wrath that king manifested towards him. Having been stripped of all his possessions, he desired to have his son recover a substantial sum of money he had once lent to a member of his family in a distant city. He needed a companion for the young Tobias. God provided that guide in the Archangel Raphael, whom the son met providentially one day, in the person of a stranger from the very area where he was to go, in the country of the Medes. Raphael to all appearances was a young man like himself, who said his name was Azarias (Assistance of God). Everything went well, as proposed; the young Tobias recovered the sum and then was married, during their stay in Media, to the virtuous daughter of another relative, whom Providence had reserved for him.

All aspects of this journey had been thorny with difficulties, but the wise guide had found a way to overcome all of them. When a huge fish threatened to devour Tobias, camped on the shores of the Tigris, the guide told him how to remove it from the water, and the fish expired at his feet; then remedies and provisions were derived from this creature by the directives of Azarias. When the Angel led Tobias for lodging in the city of Rages, to the house of his kinsman Raguel, father of the beautiful Sara, the young man learned that seven proposed husbands had died on the very day of the planned marriage. How would Tobias fare? The Angel reassured him that this would not be his own fate, and told him to pray with his future spouse for three nights, that they might be blessed with a holy posterity. Sara was an only daughter, as Tobias was an only son, and she was endowed with a large heritage.

During the absence of the young Tobias, his father had become blind when the droppings of a pigeon had fallen into his eyes. When the two travelers returned after an extended absence, which had cost his mother many tears, the young Tobias was deeply grieved to find his father unable to see him and his new daughter-in-law. But Raphael told the son how to cure his father's blindness by means of the gall of the fish; and after the remedy had proved efficacious, all of them rejoiced time in their blessings.

When Tobias the son narrated his story and told his father that all their benefits had come to them through this stranger, both father and son wished to give Azarias half of the inheritance. Raphael declined and revealed his identity, saying he was sent to assist the family of the man who had never failed to obey and honor the blessed God of Israel. Raphael, before he disappeared, said to the family: "It is honorable to reveal and confess the works of God. Prayer is good, with fasting and alms, more than to lay up treasures, for alms deliver from death and purge away sins, and cause the giver to find mercy and life everlasting... When thou didst pray with tears and didst bury the dead, and didst leave thy dinner to hide the dead by day in thy house, and bury them by night, I offered thy prayer to the Lord. And because thou wast acceptable to God, it was necessary that trials prove thee... I am the Angel Raphael, one of the seven who stand before the Lord."


How cool is that? God's messengers help us every day, especially our guardians. Let's implore their help. We too will celebrate the blessings of heaven. For as surely as Tobias beheld with his bodily eyes the Archangel Raphael, we know by Faith that the angel of the Lord accompanies us from the cradle to the tomb. Let us have the same trustful confidence in him. Then, along the path of life, more beset with perils than the road to the country of the Medes, we shall be in perfect safety; all that happens to us will be for the best, because prepared by the Lord; and, as though we were already in heaven, our angel will cause us to shed blessings upon all around us.

The following is from the Ambrosian breviary in honor to this Archangel:

O Raphael, divinely sent guide, graciously receive the hymn we suppliants address to thee with joyful voice.

Make straight for us the way of salvation, and forward our steps: lest at any time we wander astray, and turn from the path to heaven.

Look down upon us from on high; reflect into our souls the splendour shining from above, from the holy Father of lights.

Give perfect health to the sick, dispel the darkness of the blind: and while driving away diseases of the body, give spiritual strength to our souls.

Thou who standest before the sovereign Judge, plead for the pardon of our crimes: and as a trusty advocate appease the avenging wrath of the Most High.

Renewer of the great battle, crush our proud enemy: against the rebel spirits give us strength, and increase our grace.

To God the Father be glory, and to His Son, together with the Paraclete Spirit, now and forevermore. Amen.

THE POPE IS JUST THE VICAR!

Just thought I'd pass this along. The writings of this priest need to be read, I think. French Fr. Roger-Thomas Calmel (1914-1975), Dominican priest and Thomist philosopher. Fought against the changes of Vat.II

THE POPE IS JUST THE VICAR

by Cristiana de Magistris on 'conciliovaticanosecondo'. It and published also in Corrispondenza Romana.

When, in the years of Vatican Council II and the immediate post-Council, with revolutionary winds blowing over the Church of Christ, a Dominican theologian, Father Roger-Thomas Calmel, raised his counter-revolutionary banner, with his pen and his word, his voice was heard calling the faithful to relentless resistance in fidelity to Tradition always with an attitude of peace and even spiritual joy amongst trial.

The message of Father Calmel has never ceased to be relevant. But it becomes of particular interest when one is faced with it anew - and it is our case - of truth "always, everywhere and by all" established begins to waft the breath of the baleful doubt, starting from the top of the Catholic hierarchy.

The prophetic spirit of Father Calmel, is like few in the past 50 years, he had foreseen this tragic possibility and warned the faithful by providing them with the weapons to remain faithful to the Church at all times and thereby avoid the temptation of sedevacantism or even that which is more deadly, despair.



Since this is a crisis of authority, by which the errors are advocated by those who would have the task of condemning them, the point of departure , which is fundamental and indispensable, is to understand where the power of Authority comes from, starting at its vertex, the Pope.

Father Calmel began by stating that the Head of the Church is one, our Lord Jesus Christ, who "is always infallible, always sinless, always holy [...]. He is the only Head, because everyone else, including the highest, have no authority except by Him and through Him." "Going up to the sky, this invisible Head left to his Church a visible head as His Vicar, the Pope, "who only enjoys a supreme jurisdiction." "But if the Pope is the Vicar of Jesus, [...], he is only the Vicar: vicens regens, taking the place of Jesus Christ, but remains distinct from Him. " Evidently the Pope's prerogatives are quite exceptional, guarding the means of grace, the sacraments, and the revealed truth. He enjoys , in some cases, well-circumscribed and determined infallibility. For the rest, "he could be lacking in many regards." "Church history - apart from a bunch of Pope Saints and a small number of unworthy Popes –is full of mediocre and imperfect Popes. This should neither surprise nor frighten. On the contrary, it is precisely in weakness, and sometimes even in the unworthiness, of the popes that brings out the Lordship of our Savior, who is the only Head of the Church, on which he exercises His government "holding in His hand even the insufficient Popes as well as their failures and limits ".

Now, Father Calmel warns, because this trust in the invisible Head of the Church is so profound as to exceed all possible deficiencies of His Vicar on earth, it is necessary that our spiritual life "is referring to Jesus Christ and not to the Pope; that our interior life, which embraces - no need to say it - even the Pope and the hierarchy, is based not on hierarchy and the Pope, but on the divine Pontiff [...] from whom the visible supreme Vicar depend even more than other priests ".

And for good reason, obvious to all as well as very basic: "The Church - writes this illustrious son of St. Dominic - it is not the mystical body of the Pope. The Church, with the Pope, is the mystical body of Christ. When the interior life of Christians is increasingly oriented to Jesus Christ, they do not fall into despair, even when they suffer unto agony from the shortcomings of the pope, be it an Honorius I or the antagonist popes at the end of the Middle Ages; or be it, in the extreme case of a pope who is lacking according to the new possibilities offered by modernism. "Even if a pope had come to the extreme limit to change the Faith ", or blindness or spirit or fantasy (chimera) or to a mortal illusion " (among many offered by modernism), well, "the pope who could come to this point would not deprive the Lord Jesus His infallible government, who holds him in His hand, the pope mislead, and He would prevents him from committing to the perversion of faith, the authority received from above. "

But even in these unfortunate cases, the interior life of Christians cannot exclude the Pope, without ceasing to be Christian. A real interior life, necessarily centered on Jesus Christ, always includes his Vicar and the obedience due to him, but "this obedience, far from being unconditional, is always practiced in the light of theological faith and natural law."

And here comes the thorny issue of obedience to the Vicar of Christ. Thorny, notes once again Father Calmel, only for those who want to ignore or disregard the articles of the Catholic faith regarding the Supreme Pontiff. It should be recalled that every Christian lives "through Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ, through His Church, which is governed by the Pope, to whom we obey in all that is within his competence. We do not live totally, by and for the Pope, as though it were he that had purchased eternal redemption; that's why Christian obedience can neither always nor in all things identify the Pope with Jesus Christ. "

A Christian who wants to be unconditionally acceptable to the Pope, always and in everything "has necessarily abandoned himself to human respect" and he "demonstrates much superficiality and complicity." It is also true, recognizes the Dominican theologian, he who often preached obedience to the Vicar of Christ, which has more than the stench of servitude than the perfume of virtue, sometimes to make a career, or to prepare his head for the cardinal's hat, or to give luster to his Order or to his Congregation. But note well, "neither God nor the service of the Pope are in need of our lie: Deus non eget nostro mendacio." We must always remember the subordination of obedience to the truth and authority of Tradition. The Pope, like all men of the Church, cannot legitimately use of his authority if not to define or clarify the truth that has always been taught. If one depart from this path, it would cease the duty of our obedience and would be worth the admonition of St. Peter: "We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).

The Pope – in as much as he is Pope - it is not always infallible, and - as a man - is never flawless. "We should not be shocked if trials, sometimes very cruel, came upon, the Church precisely by its visible head. We should not be shocked if, although subject to the Pope, we cannot follow him blindly, unconditionally, always and in everything. "But what can we do if a situation of this kind become the sad and unfortunate reality? In this case it should even more strongly orient one's interior life to the only Savior and Lord of the world, feeding of the Apostolic Tradition, with its dogmas, its immortal Missal and the Catechism, as well as prayer and penance."

On the other hand, Revelation has never taught that the Vicar of Christ is immune from inflicting on the Church such trials of this sort. And modernism, reigning for fifty years, it is certainly a fertile ground for them to sprout. But, if that happens - as seems to be happening - even though a sort of bewilderment and vertigo assail the souls of the faithful, we must remember that the Church is the Bride of Christ and it is He who - despite the human failures – guides us in His ineffable and often to us, incomprehensible providence. Father Calmel compares the state of our interior life overwhelmed by such a test to the prayer of the Lord Jesus in Gethsemane, when he said to the apostles while the soldiers were advancing: Sinite usque huc (Lk 22,51). "It's as if the Lord said: Scandal can get to this point; but leave it be, and according to my recommendation, watch and pray ... With my consent to drink the chalice, I have merited all grace for you, while you were asleep and you left me alone; for you in particular I have obtained a grace of supernatural strength, that will be the measure of all your trials, also of the trials that could come to the Holy Church by the part of the Pope. I've now given you the ability of escaping this vertigo. "

The Christian soul that founds their interior life on the perennial Tradition has nothing to fear, even in what Father Calmel believes the worst of the trials for the Church: the betrayal of the Vicar.

With the optimism of the holy souls, while recognizing the immense tragedy that grips the Bride of Christ, he holds it to be, however, a grace to live in these times of trial, in which the greatest suffering of the children of the Church is precisely that it cannot follow the Pope as they would like. "We are docile children of the Pope, but we refuse to enter into complicity with the papal directives that lead to sin." Cardinal Cajetan does not hesitate to say that "We must resist the Pope who publicly destroys the Church." It is, in these cases, of a kind of "eclipse of the Papacy". This test, however, notes Father Calmel, cannot be "neither entire nor too long" and - above all - "we have the grace to sanctify ourselves" in this eclipse in which the Church is the Bride of Christ, despite everything. As was his habit, to elevate his gaze toward heaven and said, "We have the grace to suffer and endure without making it a tragedy. The Holy Virgin defends us. “


So, what to do?

The true children of the Church, as most wish to again see their Mother clothed in her glorious splendor, beginning with the visible Head, all the more they must put their lives, with the grace of God and preserving the Tradition, in the wake of the Saints. "Then the Lord Jesus will ultimately grant to His flock the shepherd of which he will endeavored to render himself worthy. To the Insufficiencies or the defection of the Head, we must not add our own personal negligence. That the apostolic Tradition will live at least in the hearts of the faithful, even if, at the moment, languishing in the heart and in the decisions of those who are responsible at the level of the Church. Then surely the Lord will have mercy.” The True kind.

19th Sunday after Pentecost

Tomorrow is the 19th Sunday after Pentecost. First, I'm going to speak my mind about some things going on in the Church. Our Holy Father, Francis, has canonized two previous popes, John XXIII and John Paul II, with a third one, Paul VI, at the end of the month of October, which is the 'Month of the Most Holy Rosary'. This is yet another slap in the face to Our Lord and our Lady. These popes helped start a movement within the Church which has led to many people leaving the Church, and also for a great number denying the Truth, and thus, excommunicating themselves from its fold. The first one, called a council in the 60's, maybe to see some of his cronies, and to discuss events of the world. But he was overrun by modernists, who took over the council, and brought forth ideas which would ruin the truth as we know it. The Truth is still there, but those who hold those beliefs which should be held, are called 'radicals'. That pope was pretty spineless, if you ask me. He let them run him and the council and refused to correct them....fast forward through the years. The second pope on this list, though he was very popular, has led many people astray by his actions(ie. Assisi). He was instrumental at the council, and that was probably why he was chosen to be the successor of Peter. He, as well as his predecessors, were to push all of the bad ideas of the council. John Paul I apparently was going to make the 'Mass of all time' again the normal. This is probably why he was, I believe, killed. Can't have that notion anymore. The third pope in this tight little grouping had the 'new mass' started, which has led to sooooo much sacrilege it's NOT funny. But, at least he said that '...the smoke of satan has entered the Church'. How right that was! To push the ideas of that unfortunate council has led millions leave the Faith or push heresy. The council DID NOT define anything, which is the only reason why I believe that the Holy Spirit was there, after all. The council left a lot of gray area, which led to many interpretations and novelties, which are, for the most part, sacrilege! Our Lord said: "By their fruits you shall know them (the enemy)". Well, the fruits for the last 50+ years are rotten. The first two men on the list were canonized, with another to follow. Thank God, the canonization process is NOT a doctrine of the Faith we have to believe to be saved! As the current Pope says, we are supposed to love all no matter what. Unconditionally. The current summit is putting forth that we are to accept the homosexual agenda in its entirety! Blasphemous! At least some of the Bishops are finally speaking out against this travesty. May God bless them and make their numbers grow. Pray for Cardinal Burke. Remember, there ARE rules to follow. ALL need to conform to these to be saved. This is called DOCTRINE! It can NEVER be changed! Nuf said. Now, on to this Sunday's readings.

We will hear, once again, from the Gospel of St. Matthew about the wedding feast, in which many were called to join in, but they did not. This represents the Church calling all to come in. Those who refuse will be burned. Man, why do people have to be so obtuse? St. Gregory, a holy Pope, explains these passages:

'The kingdom of heaven is the assembly of the just; for, the Lord says by Isaiah: "Heaven is My throne." Solomon says: "The soul of the just man is the throne of wisdom"; and St. Paul calls Christ the Wisdom of God. If therefore, heaven be the throne of God, and the soul of the just man is the throne of Wisdom, this soul is a heaven...The kingdom of heaven, then, is the assembly of the just...If this kingdom is said to be like to a King, Who made a marriage for His Son, your charity at once understands who is this King, who is the Father of a Son, King like Himself. It is He, of whom the psalmist says: "Give to the King Thy judgment, O God, and to the King's Son Thy justice!" God the Father made the marriage of God His Son, when He wished that He, who had been God before all ages, should become Man towards the end of ages. But we must not, on that account, suppose that there are two persons in Jesus Christ, our God and our Saviour...It is, perhaps, clearer and safer to say, that the King made a marriage for His Son, in that, by the mystery of the Incarnation, He united the Church to Him. The womb of the Virgin-Mother was the nuptial chamber of that Bridegroom, of whom the psalmist says: "He hath set His tabernacle in the sun; and He, as a Bridegroom, cometh out of His bride chamber!"'


In this parable the king is our Heavenly Father who has espoused His only-begotten Son to the Church, and on this occasion prepares the most sumptuous marriage-feast by giving the evangelical doctrine, the holy Sacraments, and the heavenly joys. The servants sent to invite the guests are the prophets, apostles and disciples of Christ. Those invited are the Jews who despised the honor and grace of the divine King, destined for them, abused and killed His servants, and were, therefore, cast aside and with their city Jerusalem, destroyed by the armies of their enemies, as a just punishment; in their stead the heathens and all those nations were called, who were on the broad road to destruction, and who now occupy the places of the unfortunate Jews at the marriage feast of the Church, and shall also occupy them in heaven. In the Jews to whom Christ addressed this parable, is verified that many of them, nay, all are called, but few chosen, because they would not heed the invitation.
When Divine Providence calls, RESPOND!

Let us end with the prayer after the Antiphon of the Magnificat:

O almighty and merciful God, graciously keep away from us all things that are adverse: that being free in mind and body, we may, with unimpeded minds, attend to the things that are thine.

This is what it's all about, in Truth!

ST. LUKE

The writer of the third Gospel comes from yet another prospective. Matthew tells the Jews that God has become Man. Mark, who was like a scribe to St. Peter the first Pope, writes from Peter's authority and actions. Luke, meanwhile, writes from the viewpoint of the Blessed Virgin, whom I'm sure he eventually had met, since he did the first painting of her. Then along came John, whose writing clearly shows that he was on a different plane because of the things he had seen and experienced. So now we know that Jesus was God, His first Pope follows with his thoughts, followed by the Virgins' thoughts, followed by what we need to do spiritually in our lives. Just in the order it should be.

SAINT LUKE
Evangelist
(† First Century)

Saint Luke, a physician at Antioch and a painter, was also an excellent rhetorician in Greek, his native language. He became a disciple of Saint Paul, the Apostle's fellow-worker and his faithful friend during his two imprisonments, and is best known to us as the historian of the New Testament acts of both Christ and the Apostles. Though not an eye-witness of Our Lord's life, the meticulous Evangelist diligently gathered information from those who had followed or listened to Jesus of Nazareth, and wrote, as he tells us, all things in order. His command of Greek is much admired. Saint Clement of Alexandria, Saint Jerome and Saint Thomas Aquinas state that it is he who translated Saint Paul's famous Epistle to the Hebrews, written in the language of the Jerusalem Christians, into the admirable Greek which we presently possess as the only ancient version. No matter what protestants tell you, the majority of the New Testament was originally written in Greek. Just look where the cities that St. Paul wrote to. In Greece! Why would he write to them in Hebrew?!

The Acts of the Apostles were written by the Evangelist as a sequel to his Gospel, bringing the history of the Church down to the first imprisonment of Saint Paul in Rome, in the year 64. The humble historian never names himself, but by his occasional use of "we" instead of "he" or "they", we are able to detect his presence in the scenes of Saint Paul's life which he describes. We thus find that he sailed with Paul and Silas from Troas to Macedonia, where he remained behind, apparently, for seven years at Philippi. Finally, after remaining near Saint Paul during the time he was imprisoned in Palestine, he accompanied him, still a prisoner, when he was transported to Rome. Thus he shared the shipwreck and perils of that memorable voyage, narrated in Chapter 27 of Acts - which book no Christian should fail to read, along with the four Gospels. He then narrates the two years of Saint Paul's first imprisonment, ending in his liberation.

There his narrative ends, but from Saint Paul's Epistles we learn that Saint Luke was his faithful companion to the last. His paintings of Our Lady are still conserved with care in a number of places in Europe. Saint Luke certainly learned from the Mother of Christ Herself, the story of the Annunciation, the Visitation, and the Angelic mission to the shepherds of Bethlehem. After the martyrdom of the Apostle to the Gentiles, Saint Epiphanus says that Saint Luke preached in Italy, Gaul, Dalmatia and Macedonia. Others say he went to Egypt and preached in the Thebaid, the region of the Fathers of the desert. Saint Hippolyte says he was crucified in Greece. His mortal remains were transferred to the Church of the Apostles, built by Constantine the Great at Constantinople, with those of Saint Andrew and Saint Timothy. Some of his relics remain in the Greek monastery of Mount Athos.

Luke, the writer of the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, has been identified with St. Paul's "Luke, the beloved physician" (Colossians 4:14). We know few other facts about Luke's life from Scripture and from early Church historians.

It is believed that Luke was born a Greek and a Gentile. In Colossians 10-14 speaks of those friends who are with him. He first mentions all those "of the circumcision" -- in other words, Jews -- and he does not include Luke in this group. Luke's gospel shows special sensitivity to evangelizing Gentiles. It is only in his gospel that we hear the parable of the Good Samaritan, that we hear Jesus praising the faith of Gentiles such as the widow of Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian (Lk.4:25-27), and that we hear the story of the one grateful leper who is a Samaritan (Lk.17:11-19). According to the early Church historian Eusebius Luke was born at Antioch in Syria.

In our day, it would be easy to assume that someone who was a doctor was rich, but scholars have argued that Luke might have been born a slave. It was not uncommon for families to educate slaves in medicine so that they would have a resident family physician. Not only do we have Paul's word, but St. Eusebius, St. Jerome, Sts. Irenaeus and Caius, a second-century writer, all refer to Luke as a physician.

We have to go to Acts to follow the trail of Luke's Christian ministry. We know nothing about his conversion but looking at the language of Acts we can see where he joined Saint Paul. The story of the Acts is written in the third person, as an historian recording facts, up until the sixteenth chapter. In Acts 16:8-9 we hear of Paul's company "So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.' " Then suddenly in 16:10 "they" becomes "we": "When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them."

So Luke first joined Paul's company at Troas at about the year 51 and accompanied him into Macedonia where they traveled first to Samothrace, Neapolis, and finally Philippi. Luke then switches back to the third person which seems to indicate he was not thrown into prison with Paul and that when Paul left Philippi Luke stayed behind to encourage the Church there. Seven years passed before Paul returned to the area on his third missionary journey. In Acts 20:5, the switch to "we" tells us that Luke has left Philippi to rejoin Paul in Troas in 58 where they first met up. They traveled together through Miletus, Tyre, Caesarea, to Jerusalem.

Luke is the loyal comrade who stays with Paul when he is imprisoned in Rome about the year 61: "Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers" (Philemon 24). And after everyone else deserts Paul in his final imprisonment and sufferings, it is Luke who remains with Paul to the end: "Only Luke is with me" (2 Timothy 4:11).

Luke's inspiration and information for his Gospel and Acts came from his close association with Paul and his companions as he explains in his introduction to the Gospel: "Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus" (Luke 1:1-3).

Luke's unique perspective on Jesus can be seen in the six miracles and eighteen parables not found in the other gospels. Luke's is the gospel of the poor and of social justice. He is the one who tells the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man who ignored him. Luke is the one who uses "Blessed are the poor" instead of "Blessed are the poor in spirit" in the beatitudes. Only in Luke's gospel do we hear Mary 's Magnificat where she proclaims that God "has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty" (Luke 1:52-53).

Luke also has a special connection with the women in Jesus' life, especially Mary. I personally think that Luke met the Blessed Virgin, and she told him of all that happened. It is only in Luke's gospel that we hear the story of the Annunciation, Mary's visit to Elizabeth including the Magnificat, the Presentation, and the story of Jesus' disappearance in Jerusalem. It is Luke that we have to thank for the Scriptural parts of the Hail Mary: "Hail Mary full of grace" spoken at the Annunciation and "Blessed are you and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus" spoken by her cousin Elizabeth.

Forgiveness and God's mercy to sinners is also of first importance to Luke. Only in Luke do we hear the story of the Prodigal Son welcomed back by the overjoyed father. Only in Luke do we hear the story of the forgiven woman disrupting the feast by washing Jesus' feet with her tears. Throughout Luke's gospel, Jesus takes the side of the sinner who wants to return to God's mercy.

Reading Luke's gospel gives a good idea of his character as one who loved the poor, who wanted the door to God's kingdom opened to all, who respected women, and who saw hope in God's mercy for everyone.

The reports of Luke's life after Paul's death are conflicting. Some early writers claim he was martyred, others say he lived a long life. Some say he preached in Greece, others in Gaul. The earliest tradition we have says that he died at 84 Boeotia after settling in Greece to write his Gospel.

A tradition that Luke was a painter seems to have no basis in fact. Several images of Mary appeared in later centuries claiming him as a painter but these claims were proved false. Because of this tradition, however, he is considered a patron of painters of pictures and is often portrayed as painting pictures of Mary.

The most famous painting attributed to Luke is the 'Black Madonna'.

Another famed painting by Luke is the Madonna Nikopeia (left) in Venice’s Basilica di San Marco. I’ve actually visited that basilica—but despite its great beauty and the great artworks displayed there, the thing that sticks most in my memory is the fishy smell! With Venice gradually sinking below sea level, the piazza is frequently flooded with sea water; and pilgrims stay dry as they approach the basilica by walking along an elevated wooden platform.

Anyway, according to legend, Luke painted this portrait of Mary from life, with her actually posing—perhaps telling stories about Jesus as she sat quietly. One version of the legend says that Luke created this particular painting on a wooden tabletop which had been constructed by Joseph and Jesus. Mary infused the painting with her blessings and grace, turning it into a miracle-working icon that would transmit her power and love through the centuries.





Luke is often shown with an ox or a calf because these are the symbols of sacrifice -- the sacrifice Jesus made for all the world.

Luke is the patron of physicians and surgeons. Ask for his prayers when having procedures by a doctor.

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Even though the month of the Sacred Heart is June, this is the day we honor the person responsible for the devotion. 'TAN' books had books about St. Margaret Mary and her sayings, and I'm sure they're still available.


SAINT MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE
Virgin, Apostle of the Sacred Heart
(1647-1690)

Saint Margaret Mary, a soul of divine predilection, was born at Terreau in Burgundy, on July 22, 1647. During her infancy she showed a wonderfully sensitive revulsion to the very idea of sin, and while still a young child always recited the entire Rosary every day. She lost her father at the age of eight years, and her mother placed her with the Poor Clares. She was often sick and for four years was bedridden, losing almost entirely the use of her members. She made a vow to Our Lady to become one of Her daughters if She cured her, and was suddenly entirely well.

She was of a light-hearted temperament and her heart became easily attached to human affections. God began her purification when the charge of her mother's house was confided to persons who reduced the family to a sort of servitude. Margaret Mary turned to God for strength and consolation when she was accused of various crimes she had not committed. In short, the 'Saint of the Sacred Heart' learned to suffer for Christ, with patience, what innocence can suffer in such situations.

She desired to be a religious, but her mother could not bear to hear a word of that desire. Finally God came to her assistance through a Franciscan priest, who told her brother that he would answer to God for the vocation of his sister. In 1671 she entered the Order of the Visitation of Mary, at Paray-le-Monial, and was professed the following year. She followed all the practices of the monastery in perfect obedience, spending as much time as she could in the chapel with her Lord. After sanctifying her by many trials, Jesus appeared to her in numerous visions, displaying to her His Sacred Heart, sometimes burning as a furnace, and sometimes torn and bleeding on account of the coldness and sins of men. "Behold this Heart which has so loved men, and been so little loved by them in return!"
Or, in another vision, Jesus appears and presents Himself to her as the 'ECCE HOMO', all torn and disfigured, saying: "I have found no one willing to offer Me a place of rest in this suffering and painful state."

In 1675, she was told by Our Lord that she, with the aid of Father Claude de la Colombiere of the Society of Jesus, was to be His instrument for instituting the feast of the Sacred Heart, and for spreading that devotion everywhere. This was not accomplished without great sufferings. The good Jesuit did all in his power to make known and loved the Heart of Jesus, but when it seemed all obstacles were about to disappear, his credit diminished, and his Superiors sent him to England. He returned to France exhausted and soon died.

Saint Margaret Mary was for a time Mistress of Novices, and in this office exercised a true apostolate, working to win for the Heart of Jesus the hearts of the young girls who were aspiring to religious consecration. She was persecuted when she sent one of them home, not having seen in her the indications of a genuine vocation; the family attempted to have her deposed. She remained in the charge but was deprived of Holy Communion on the First Friday of the month. This practice was one of Our Lord's specific requests; for souls who communicate nine First Fridays in succession, He promised the most wonderful graces. The demons also persecuted her visibly; nonetheless her entire Community was finally won over to devotion to the Divine Heart.

Saint Margaret Mary died at the age of forty-two years, on October 17, 1690, and everywhere was heard in the city: "The Saint is dead! The Saint is dead!" She was beatified in 1864 by Pope Pius IX, and canonized in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.

We should strive to emulate this great saint in giving our entire selves to Him. One of many thoughts that she had was as following:

"In order to console my Jesus for the contempt, insults, sacrileges, profanations and other indignities heaped upon Him...I will neither complain nor excuse myself."


"The Crown will be given neither to beginners, nor to the advanced, but to the victorious, to those who persevere to the end." St. Margaret Mary Alacoque



Reflection: Love for the Sacred Heart especially honors the Incarnation, and makes the soul grow rapidly in humility, generosity, patience, and union with its Beloved.

St. Therese of Avila

SAINT TERESA of AVILA
Virgin, Reformer of the Carmelite Order
(1515-1582)

"By their fruits you will know them," says Our Lord of those who claim to be His followers. The fruits which remain of the life, labors and prayer of Saint Teresa of Avila bear to her virtue a living and enduring testimony which none can refuse to admit. She herself wrote her life and many other celebrated spiritual works, and much more can still be said of this soul of predilection, whose writings and examples have led so many souls to high sanctity.

Born in 1515 in the kingdom of Castile in Spain, she was the youngest child of a virtuous nobleman. When she was seven years old, Teresa fled from her home with one of her young brothers, in the hope of going to Africa and receiving the palm of martyrdom. Brought back and asked the reason for her flight, she replied: "I want to see God, and I must die before I can see Him." She then began, with her same brother, Rodriguez, to build a hermitage in the garden, and was often heard repeating: "Forever, forever!" She lost her mother at the age of twelve years, and was led by worldly companions into various frivolities. Her father decided to place her in a boarding convent, and she obeyed without any inclination for this kind of life. Grace came to her assistance with the good guidance of the Sisters, and she decided to enter religion in the Carmelite monastery of the Incarnation at Avila.

For a time frivolous conversations there, too, checked her progress toward perfection, but finally in her thirty-first year, she abandoned herself entirely to God. A vision showed her the very place in hell to which her apparently light faults would have led her, and she was told by Our Lord that all her conversation must be with heaven. Ever afterwards she lived in the deepest distrust of herself. When she was named Prioress against her will at the monastery of the Incarnation, she succeeded in conciliating even the most hostile hearts by placing a statue of Our Lady in the seat she would ordinarily have occupied, to preside over the Community.

God enlightened her to understand that He desired the reform of her Order, and her heart was pierced with divine love. The Superior General gave her full permission to found as many houses as might become feasible. She dreaded nothing so much as delusion in the decisions she would make in difficult situations; we can well understand this, knowing she founded seventeen convents for the Sisters, and that fifteen others for the Fathers of the Reform were established during her lifetime, with the aid of Saint John of the Cross. To the end of her life she acted only under obedience to her confessors, and this practice both made her strong and preserved her from error. Journeying in those days was far from comfortable and even perilous, but nothing could stop the Saint from accomplishing the holy Will of God. When the cart was overturned one day and she had a broken leg, her sense of humor became very evident by her remark: "Dear Lord, if this is how You treat Your friends, it is no wonder You have so few!" She died October 4, 1582, and was canonized in 1622.

The history of her mortal remains is as extraordinary as that of her life. After nine months in a wooden coffin, caved in from the excess weight above it, the body was perfectly conserved, though the clothing had rotted. A fine perfume it exuded spread throughout the entire monastery of the nuns, when they reclothed it. Parts of it were later removed as relics, including the heart showing the marks of the Transverberation, and her left arm. At the last exhumation in 1914, the body was found to remain in the same condition as when it was seen previously, still recognizable and very fragrant with the same intense perfume.

You know, in her writings she passed to us some things which we should try to immolate. She says we should remember this: ...'the enemy tries to keep us from doing good in order to avoid doing evil. We must rise above this train of thought. Endeavor to keep your conscience always pure; strengthen yourself in humility; tread under foot all earthy things; be inflexible in the Faith of our mother the holy Church; and doubt not, after that, that you are on the right road.' It is too true that 'when a soul finds not in herself that vigorous Faith, and her transports of devotion do not strengthen her attachment to holy Church, she is in a way full of perils. The Spirit of God never inspires anything that is not conformable to holy Scripture; if there were the slightest divergence, that, of itself alone, would suffice to prove so evidently the action of the evil spirit, that, were the whole world to assure me it was the divine Spirit, I would never believe it.'

She lived her life as a life of suffering. Her motto was: "O Lord, let me suffer or die." Let us warm our hearts at the sight of this great example. "If we are true Christians, we must desire to be ever with Jesus Christ. Now, where are we to find this loving Saviour of our souls? In what place may we embrace Him? He is found in two places: in His glory and in His sufferings; on His throne and on His cross. We must, then, in order to be with Him, either embrace Him on His throne, which death enables us to do; or else share in His cross, and this we do by suffering; hence we must either suffer or die, if we would never be separated from our Lord. Let us suffer then, O Christians; let us suffer what it pleases God to send us: afflictions, sicknesses, the miseries of poverty, injuries, calumnies; let us try to carry, with steadfast courage, that portion of His cross, with which He is pleased to honor us."

Our Blessed Gueranger concludes: 'To the triumph of the Faith, and the support of its defenders, thou didst their prayers and fasts; what an immense field now lies open to their zeal! With them and with thee, we ask of God 'two things: first, that among so many men and so many religious, some may be found having the necessary qualities for usefully serving the cause of the Church, on the understanding that one perfect man can render more services than a great many who are not perfect. Secondly, that in the conflict our Lord may uphold them with His hand, enabling them to escape all dangers, and to close their ears to the songs of sirens...O God, have pity on so many perishing souls; stay the course of so many evils which afflict Christendom; and, without further delay, cause Thy light to shine in the midst of this darkness!" With St. Theresa of Avila, we have found this light. We should try immolate her as much as possible.

Reflection: The devotion of Saint Teresa of Avila to Saint Joseph, virginal father of Jesus, is proverbial. She said she had never asked anything of him without receiving what she requested. In the eighteenth century the Carmelite churches named for him numbered over one hundred and fifty. Let us imitate this holy Foundress and invoke Saint Joseph for our needs, both spiritual and temporal.

HIPPOCRATIC OATH

The following is what doctors used to adhere to when treating patients. However, it seems soooo different these days. This is from the 5th century:

THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH

I swear by Apollo Physician, by Asclepius, by Hygiaea, by Panacea, and by all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will carry out, according to my ability and judgment, this oath and this indenture. To hold my teacher in this art equal to my own parents; to make him partner in my livelihood; when he is in need of money to share mine with him; to consider his family as my own brothers, and to teach them this art, if they want to learn it, without fee or indenture; to impart precept, oral instruction, and all other instruction to my own sons, to the sons of my teacher, and to indentured pupils who have taken the physician's oath, but to nobody else. I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment, but never with a view to injury and wrongdoing. Neither will I administer a poison to anybody when asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a course. Similarly I will not give to a woman a pessary (an inserted device) to cause abortion. But I will keep pure and holy both my life and my art. I will not use the knife, not even, verily, on sufferers from stone, but I will give place to such as are craftsmen therein. Into whatsoever houses I enter I will enter to help the sick, and I will abstain from all intentional wrongdoing and harm, especially from abusing the bodies of man or woman, bond or free. And, whatsoever I shall or hear in the course of my profession, as well as outside my profession in my intercourse with men, if it be what should not be published abroad, I will never divulge, holding such things to be holy secrets. Now if I carry out this oath, and break it not, may I gain forever reputation among all men for my life and for my art; but if I transgress it and forswear myself, may the opposite befall me.


The only thing a lot of modern medicine seems to remember from this oath is 'Doctor/patient' information NOT being passed out to the media. Of course there are some very good doctors who actually and genuinely care about the patient instead of the fees so that they can pay for their medical schooling.


I always say: "What do you call the person who finished low in medical school?"
>
>
>
>
>
>
DOCTOR!"

18th Sunday after Pentecost

Tomorrow we hear from the 'God with us' Gospel, Matthew. It tells us about the man in sin(the paralytic), whose friends prayed for him and brought him to Jesus to be freed from the chains of sin. Jesus obliges. The Church continues to this day to forgive us our many sins, and will until the end of time, no matter what non-Catholics say, this is how it is. Jesus said it, I believe it, that settles it!

We will hear about the Jewish leaders, and about their habits. We can compare these words to our leaders, the hierarchy of the Church. To them I say: 'Listen up!' And for us also.

I'm going to let our beloved Abbot Gueranger tell it like he does so beautifully, concerning this Sunday:

'...Our Lord, speaking of the Jewish doctors, said: "All whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do; but according to their works, do ye not: for they say, and do not." Contrariwise to these unworthy guardians of the Law, they that are seated on the chair of doctrine 'should teach, and act conformably to their teaching.' The Abbot Rupert adds, 'let them first do what it is their duty to do, that they may afterwards teach with authority; let them not seek after honors and titles, but make this their one object, to bear on themselves the sins of the people, and to merit to avert the wrath of God from those who are confided to their care.'

'...our Gospel at present this Sunday equally directs our thoughts to the consideration of the superhuman powers of the priesthood, which are the common boon of regenerated humanity. The faithful, whose attention is to be fixed on the right of teaching which is confided to the pastors of the Church, are now invited to meditate upon the prerogative which these same men have of forgiving sins and healing souls. Even if their conduct be in opposition to their teaching, it in no way interferes with the authority of the sacred chair, from which, for the Church and in her name, they dispense the bread of doctrine to her children. Moreover, whatever unworthiness may happen to be in the soul of a priest, it does not lessen the power of the keys which have been put into his hands to open heaven and to shut hell. For it is the Son of Man, Jesus, who,by the priest, be he a saint, or be he a sinner, rids of their sins His brethren and His creatures, whose miseries He has taken upon Himself, and whose crimes He has atoned for by His Blood.

Notice that Christ did not heal the man sick of the palsy until He had forgiven him his sins, by this He wished to teach us, that sins are often the cause of sicknesses and other evils, by which we are visited, and which God would remove from us if we were truly repentant. This doctrine Jesus confirmed, when He said to the man, who had been sick for thirty-eight years: Sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee. (John V. 14.) Would that this were considered by those who so often impetuously demand of God to be freed from their evils, but do not intend to free themselves from their sins, which are the cause of these evils, by a sincere repentance.

The miracle of the cure of the paralytic, which gave an occasion to Jesus of declaring His power of forgiving sins inasmuch as He was Son of Man, has always been especially dear to the Church...From the very beginning of Christianity, heretics had risen up denying that the Church had the power, which her divine Head gave her, of remitting sin. Such false teaching would irretrievably condemn to spiritual death an immense number of Christians, who, unhappily, had fallen after their Baptism, but who, according to Catholic dogma, might be restored to grace by the sacrament of Penance. With what energy, then, would our mother the Church defend the remedy which gives life to her children! She uttered her anathemas upon, and drove from her communion, those pharisees of the new law, who, like their Jewish predecessors, refused to acknowledge the infinite mercy and universality of the great mystery of the Redemption.

Like to her divine Master, who had worked under the eyes of the scribes, His contradictors, the Church, too, in proof of her consoling doctrine, had worked an undeniable and visible miracle in the presence of the false teachers; and yet she had failed to convince them of the reality of the miracle of sanctification and grace invisibly wrought by her words of remission and pardon. The outward cure of the paralytic was both the image and the proof of the cure of his soul, which previously had been in a state of moral paralysis; but he himself represented another sufferer; the human race, which for ages had been a victim to the palsy of sin. Our Lord had already left the earth, when the faith of the Apostles achieved this, their first prodigy, of bringing to the Church the world grown old in its infirmity. Finding that the human race was docile to the teaching of the divine messengers, and was already an imitator of their faith, the Church spoke as a mother, and said: 'Be of good heart, son! thy sins are forgiven thee!' At once, to the astonishment of the philosophers and skeptics, and to the confusion of hell, the world rose up from its long and deep humiliation; and, to prove how thoroughly his strength had been restored to him, he was seen carrying on his shoulders, by the labor of penance and the mastery over his passions, the bed of his old exhaustion and feebleness, on which pride, lust, and covetousness had so long held him. From that time forward, complying with the word of Jesus, which was also said to him by the Church, he has been going on towards his house, which is heaven, where eternal joy awaits him! And the angels, beholding such a spectacle of conversion and holiness, are in amazement, and sing glory to God, who gave such power to men.

Let us also give thanks to Jesus, whose marvelous dower, which is the Blood He shed for His bride, suffices to satisfy, through all ages, the claims of eternal justice. It was at Easter time that we saw our Lord instituting the great Sacrament, which thus in one instant restores the sinner to life and strength. But how doubly wonderful does its power seem, when we see it working in these times of effeminacy and of well-nigh universal ruin! Iniquity abounds; crimes are multiplied; and yet, the life-restoring pool, kept full by the sacred stream which flows from the open side of our crucified Lord, is ever absorbing and removing, as often as we permit it, and without leaving one single vestige of them, those mountains of sins, those hideous treasures of iniquity which had been amassed, during long years, by the united agency of the devil, the world, and man himself.'

Let us give thanks to Almighty God with these words of the Post-communion of this Sunday:

'Being fed, O Lord, with the sacred gift, we give Thee thanks, humbly beseeching thy mercy, that Thou wouldst make us worthy of its reception.'

MATERNITY of the Blessed Mother

October 11

The DIVINE MATERNITY of MARY

When Mary of Nazareth conceived in Her womb the Word of God, that conception was the effect of the fullness of Her grace, and of an action of the Holy Spirit which occurred in Her soul first of all, thereby making of Her flesh a tabernacle and a sanctuary. The dignity of the Mother of God is Her great sanctity, it is the incomparable grace which raises Her above all the Angels, the grace in which She was predestined and created for this glorious purpose. By the acts of Her blessed Maternity, She bordered on divinity while remaining entirely human. In this way She seems to exhaust, as it were, the power of God - the fullness of the grace accorded Her cannot be surpassed. It is easier for us to conceive of the greatness of Mary, however, when we consider Her maternity of the Mystical Body, the Church, which like Herself is entirely human, and composed of persons who are very far indeed from being what our Saviour was, a Divine Person incarnate.

We understand better what Mary is for the Church by listening to Saint Louis Mary de Montfort, Apostle of the Cross and of the Rosary of Our Lady. As Mary was necessary for God in the Incarnation of the Word, so She is necessary for Him to sanctify souls and bring about their likeness to Christ, and She is much needed by us, in our great infirmity:

"The Holy Ghost gives no heavenly gift to men which He does not have pass through Her virginal hands...; such is the sentiment of the Church and its holy Fathers. Mary, being altogether transformed into God by grace and by the glory which transforms all the Saints into Him, asks nothing, wishes nothing, does nothing contrary to the eternal and immutable Will of God. When we read then in the writings of Saints Bernard, Bernardine, Bonaventure and others, that in heaven and on earth everything, even God Himself, is subject to the Blessed Virgin, they mean that the authority which God has been well pleased to give Her is so great that it seems as if She had the same power as God; and that Her prayers and petitions are so powerful with God that they always pass for commandments with His Majesty, who never resists the prayer of His dear Mother, because She is always humble and conformed to His Will. If Moses, by the force of his prayer, stayed the anger of God against the Israelites in a manner so powerful that the most high and infinitely merciful Lord, being unable to resist him, told him to let Him alone that He might be angry with and punish that rebellious people, what must we not, with much greater reason, think of the prayer of the humble Mary, the worthy Mother of God, which is more powerful with His Majesty than the prayers and intercessions of all the Angels and Saints both in heaven and on earth?"

"The sin of our first father has spoiled us all, soured us, puffed us up and corrupted us... The actual sins which we have committed, whether mortal or venial, pardoned though they may be, have nevertheless increased our concupiscence, our weakness, our inconstancy and our corruption, and have left evil remains in our souls... We have nothing for our portion but pride and blindness of spirit, hardness of heart, weakness and inconstancy of soul, revolted passions, and sicknesses in the body... Let us say boldly with Saint Bernard that we have need of a mediator with the Mediator Himself, and that it is the divine Mary who is most capable of filling that charitable office. It was through Her that Jesus Christ came to us, and it is through Her that we must go to Him. If we fear to go directly to Jesus Christ, our God, whether because of His infinite greatness or because of our vileness, or because of our sins, let us boldly implore the aid and intercession of Mary, our Mother. She is good, She is tender, She has nothing in Her that is austere and forbidding, nothing too sublime and too brilliant... She is so charitable that She repels none of those who ask Her intercession, no matter how great sinners they have been; for, as the Saints say, never has it been heard, since the world was the world, that anyone has confidently and perseveringly had recourse to our Blessed Lady and yet been repelled." (True Devotion to Mary)


The Maternity of Mary

by Alfred McBride, O.Praem.

Cardinal Newman wrote a touching and remarkable comment about the impact of Mary's maternity. To Newman it was plain that Jesus was so close to Mary that he must even have physically looked like her.


He imbibed, He absorbed into his divine Person, her blood and the substance of her flesh; by becoming man of her, He received her lineaments and features, as the appropriate character in which he was to manifest Himself to mankind. The child is like the parent, and we may well suppose that by His likeness to her was manifested her relationship to Him.
—Ian Ker, Newman on Being a Christian

Mary passed on to Jesus his physical features, as Newman strikingly attests. Her motherhood went beyond that as she formed his human character. Mary trained and educated him as any mother brings up a child. Her virtues would have an impact on him. All of us realize that our mother's influence is recognizable in us and we can reasonably conclude that Mary's influence was evident in Jesus.

Mary was more than merely the biological mother of the Lord Jesus. Mary's task in the Incarnation was not over after the event in the stable at Bethlehem. Birth was followed by education. Mary exercised a continuous formation of the young Jesus as he grew from infancy to childhood to the teen years to young manhood.

The New Testament does not tell us how this happened. There is only one brief glimpse given by Luke 2:41-52 in the narrative of the losing and finding of the boy Jesus in the Temple. Mary acts like a typical mother, with the emotions of loss and anxiety and with the maternal demand to know why her son would go off without telling her and Joseph.

It is interesting that Luke cites her words and not Joseph's. "Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety" (2:48). These are words we expect a mother to say. Mary is not shy about asserting her maternal authority. It flows from her love, of course. Why should she not have worried about him? The passage closes with words about Jesus continuing to grow in wisdom and grace before God and all others.

Aside from this brief anecdote, we know nothing else about what happened between mother and son all those years. Her maternal training style, her motherly witness of virtues, her approach to parenting is not recorded for us. Nonetheless, we should not forget that it happened. Mary was indeed mother of God. But she was also a human mother of a son who had a human upbringing, however that occurred.

I share this reflection with you because I believe that just as Mary knew how to be a mother of Jesus, she knows how to be our mother, too. She raised him in a household of faith. She had the remarkable experience of forming him in a human and spiritual sense while at the same time contemplating his mystery. How this happens is not revealed to us.

This should move us to be eager to have Mary offer us her maternal care. Ask Mary, as I do, to mother us in faith, hope and love of the Lord Jesus. When your heart is anxious, turn to Mary and say, "Mary, put my heart at peace." When your mind is too busy, look to Mary and pray, "Mary, settle down my mind." When you want to grow and deepen your life, look to Mary and beg, "Mary, just as you helped Jesus grow in wisdom and grace, help me also to advance on the spiritual path which God has laid out for me."

—From the book Images of Mary


I just happened to insert this last part, mainly because I re-noticed that I have first-class relic of Cardinal Newman. I don't really believe in 'coincidence'. Everything happens for a reason. If you really want to learn about the 'formative' years of our Lord, get a hold of the City of God by Mary of Agreda. It is our Lady describing our Lord's life, as well as her own. Four volumes, not the abridged.