11th Sunday after Pentecost

"And they bring to Him one deaf and dumb, and they besought Him that He wouls lay His hands upon him."--Mark 7, 32.


Today is the 11th Sunday after Pentecost. First of all, St. Paul will tell us about him being the least of the Apostles, since he had been instrumental in persecuting the early Christians. We have all been guilty of this at some time or other. Whether we talk bad about someone, being intolerant of others at times, and, generally not doing all the time what God expects from us. Admit it. The great saint, St. Augustine, was this way for 30+ years, doing whatever he wanted, disregarding all that is good. Thanks to his holy mother, Monica, and St. Ambrose, he reformed his life and became one of the Doctors of the Church, and one of its most prolific writers. As our beloved Abbot Gueranger says, he (Augustine)was as Saul was for a period of time:

'Like Augustine, who was but imitating Paul, 'he glorifies the just and the good God by publishing both the good he has received and the evil of his own acts; and this in order to win over to the one sole Object of his praise and his love the minds and hearts of all who hear him.' Augustine, in his 'Confessions', talks about himself: 'Great art Thou, O Lord, and exceedingly to be praised. Great is Thy power, and of Thy wisdom there is not number.' 'And yet,' says the saint, 'man wishes to praise Thee--man, a mere speck of Thy creation, who carries about him his own mortality, and the testimony of his sin, and the testimony that Thou resists the proud; and yet this man wishes to praise Thee--man, a mere speck of Thy creation. Receive, then, the homage which is offered by the tongue that was formed for the purpose of praising Thee. Let my flesh and all my bones, that have been healed by Thee, cry out: "Who, O Lord, is like unto Thee?" Let my soul praise Thee, that she may love Thee; and; that she may praise Thee, let her confess Thy mercies. I wish now to go over in my mind all my long wanderings, and I will confess the things which fill me with shame, and will make of them a sacrifice of joy. Not that I love my sins, but it is that I may love Thee, O my God, that I recall them to mind; it is out of love of Thy love that I now recur to those bitter things, that I may taste Thy delights, O Sweetness that never deceives! O Thou that collects all my powers, and recalls them from the painful scattering into which they had been thrown by my separation from Thee. O Thou one centre of all being! What am I to myself, when I have not Thee, but a guide that leads me to the abyss? Or, what am I, when all is well with me, but a little one that is sucking in the milk which Thou provides, or enjoying Thee, the Food that knows not corruption? And what manner of man is any man, for he is but a man? Let them that are strong and mighty--them that have not as yet had the happiness of being laid low and cast down--let them laugh at me! I am a weak man, and poor, and I give Thee praise. For that I need neither voice nor words; the cries of the thought are what Thou hearest. For when I am wicked, my being displeased with myself is a real praise to Thee; but when I am pious, my not attributing it to myself is again a real praise to Thee; for if Thou, O Lord, bless the just man, it is because Thou hast first justified him when he was ungodly.'

Makes you think, doesn't it?


Now we hear about Jesus healing the deaf and dumb man. We know He does it, but here is what the Holy Fathers of the Church tell us:


'This man represents the entire human race, exclusive of the Jewish people. Abandoned for four thousand years in the sides, that is, in the countries of the north, where the prince of this world was ruling as absolute master, it has been experiencing the terrible effects of the seeming forgetfulness on the part of its Creator and Father, which was the consequence of original sin. Satan, whose perfidious craftiness caused man to be driven out of Paradise, has made him his own prey, and nothing could exceed the artifice he has employed for keeping him in his grasp. Wisely oppressing his slave, he adopted the plan of making him deaf and dumb, for this would hold him faster than 'chains of the adamant' could ever do. Dumb, he could not ask God to deliver him; deaf, he could not hear the divine voice; and thus the two ways for obtaining his liberty were shut against him. The adversary of God and man, satan, may boast of his tyranny. The grandest of all God's creations looks like a failure; the human race, in all its branches, and in all nations, seems ruined; for even that people which God had chosen for His own, and which was to be faithful to Him when every other privileges than to deny its Lord and its King, more cruelly than all the rest of mankind...The Church brings him to Jesus, beseeching Him to lay His divine hand upon him. No human power could effect his cure. Deafened by the noise of his passions, it is only in a confused way that he can hear even the voice of his own conscience; and, as to the sounds of tradition, or the speakings of the prophets, they are to him but as an echo, very distant and faint. Worst of all, as his hearing, that most precious of our senses, is gone, so, likewise, is gone the power of making good his losses; for, as the Apostle teaches, the one thing that could save him is Faith, and Faith cometh by hearing.' (Notice that Faith comes by hearing, NOT by reading. Reading can help us, but hearing is the KEY!)


And, by means of God's Holy Word, man is told of the joys of heaven, the glory therein, and of the terrible and eternal torments which are prepared for sinners in hell. It penetrates the ears of the body, but the spiritual hearing is gone. The human race goes recklessly on, living in a state of indifference as if wholly unconcerned for the future. Alas! Christians--Catholics--are no better, if they were only aware of it! They act as did the Jews, when St. Stephen preached to them: "They stopped their ears;" that is, they resolutely avoid attending service at those hours, when they would be reminded of their duties to God; or, when they are present, they attend not to the word of salvation, even if they hear it exteriorly. O folly! folly! To seek after the transitory joys and honors of earth in preference to listening to the Divine Word; to plunge, perhaps, into the vilest dissipations, rather than mortify their passions; to listen to the voice of the worldling or infidel, yet to close their hearts against the warning voice of God's minister, who seeks to win souls for Christ.

O Lord, preserve us from the evil of willful deafness of the soul; for, when it becomes chronic, all hope of salvation is over forever! Amen!

Christ put His finger into the ears of the deaf and dumb man. What signifies this? It admonishes us, that if we take an interest in the conversion of sinners to a holy life, or of heretics to the One True Faith, we should not make use of lengthy arguments and abstruse explanations to lead them to the path of right and truth; for plain reasons, based on admitted truths, and confirmed by experience, have most weight.

For heretics and infidels, the consideration of the following truths would be most beneficial: There is but one God and Creator; as a rational being, I am immortal; therefore, between God and me there exists a relation which is called Religion, and which is founded upon the revelation of God to man, since reason alone, and of itself, is not explicit concerning the consequences of that relationship. Christ was the first teacher of this divinely revealed religion, and after Him, by His own appointment, the Apostles and their successors--the bishops and priests of the Church. This Church, founded by Him, is the Catholic Church, which is therefore the Only True One, and, the only one in which salvation can be found. If those who are separated from the fold of Christ, either by infidelity or some perverted form of religion, show themselves inclined to enter her fold, it is unwise to lose time in lengthy discussions; but go to meet them, rather, with outstretched arms. Show them the truth in all its sublimity, and pray earnestly to God that He may bless your efforts for Christ's dear sake.



Our Jesus groans when they have brought this poor creature before Him...' He opens the ears and loosens the tongue of this man. We should all be attentive to the teachings (ALL OF THEM) and await those words Jesus used to this man; Let Him say in regard to us and our senses: "Ephpheta! Be thou opened!' Let us hear what we're to hear and speak what we are suppose to, and to do it in the manner He expects of us.

The political war begins!

Now that the 'immoral' party has finished its convention, the battle begins. The 'demo', as in demolition, party stands for everything that is immoral. Abortion, same sex anything, socialism, etc. The crazy b***h has won her party's nomination, as if it was ever in question. They have gone right down the script. Bernie was just a huge bump that she and her people squashed. Maybe the majority of his voters hate her enough to cast their votes elsewhere. You know something's wrong when ALL of the media is for her. Those who think differently are just 'stupid'! It's time for thinking people to wake up and see what's really going on in the U.S. and the world. Socialism, communism, the masons, and anything immoral. All supporters of these and their like brothers are for her to become president. What a travesty it will be for us all if that happens.

Just a note for us all: If you are going to call yourself Catholic, you need to know what the Church has ALWAYS taught concerning politicians who support abortion. If you vote for them, you are excommunicated from the Church. If a priest or any leader tells you anything different, they are dead WRONG! They are among those who do not know the Catholic Faith, which is the only church initiated by Jesus Christ Himself. All others are cheap knockoffs. They might have bits and pieces of the eternal Truth, but the Catholic Church has it ALL! We are all called to this One. Anyone who sincerely looks through the history of Christianity; from Jerusalem to Antioch, will eventually end up in Rome. Only if they are sincere, of course.

Anyway, I will be repeating this for the next few months. Even when 'Slick Willy' was in the White House, the Secret Service wondered many times if they should go into rooms when there was arguing to protect Bill, because they were afraid that his wife would cause him bodily harm. He was just as immoral as she is, and, rightly so, because of his infidelity. We shall see in the next couple of months just how nasty she can be.

St. Martha

Martha, sister of Mary Magdalen and Lazarus, is the owner of the house in Bethany, where Jesus spent a good portion of His time. She is the one, when Jesus was visiting, was busy with the housework, while Mary was at His Feet, listening. She was told that Mary had chosen the better portion when she was working. However, it is JUST as important to serve Him, too.

Glory, then, be to this daughter of Sion, of royal descent, who, faithful to the traditions of hospitality handed down from the Patriarchs and early Fathers, was blessed more than all of them in the exercise of this noble virtue! These ancestors of our Faith, pilgrims themselves and without fixed habitation, knew more or less obscurely that the Desired of Israel and the Expectation of the nations was to appear as a wayfarer and a stranger on earth; and they honored the future Saviour in the person of every stranger that presented himself at their tent door; just as we, their sons and daughters, in the Faith of the same promises now accomplished, honor Christ in the guest whom His goodness sends us. This relation between Him that was to come and the pilgrim seeking shelter made hospitality the most honored handmaid of divine charity. More than once did God show His approval by allowing angels to be entertained in human form. If such heavenly visitations were an honor of which our earth was not worthy, how much great was Martha's privilege in rendering hospitality to the Lord of angels! If before the coming of Christ it was a great thing to honor Him in those who prefigured Him, and if now to shelter and serve Him in His mystical members deserves an eternal reward, how much greater and more meritorious was it to receive in person that Jesus, the very thought of whom gives to virtue its greatness and its merit. Again, as the Baptist excelled all the other prophets by having pointed out as present the Messias whom they announced as future, so Martha, by having ministered to the person of the Word made Flesh, ranks above all others who have ever exercised the works of mercy.

Here we recognize a perfect type of the Church, wherein, with the devotedness of fraternal love, and under the eye of our heavenly Father, the active ministry takes the precedence, and holds the place of government over all who are drawn by grace to Jesus. We can understand the Son of God showing a preference for this blessed house; he was refreshed from the weariness of His journeys by the devoted hospitality He there received, but still more by the sight of so perfect an image of that Church for whose love He had come on earth.

Martha, then, understood by anticipation, that He Who holds the first place must be the servant, as the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister; and as, later on, the Vicar of Jesus, the Prince of Prelates in the holy Church, was to call himself the Servant of the servants of God. But in serving Jesus, as she served also with Him and for Him her brother and her sister, who can doubt that she had the greatest share in these promises of the God-Man: "He that ministers to me shall follow me, and where I am, there also shall my minister be, and my Father will honour him."

Nothing more is said of Martha in the Gospel, but it is not doubted that she was, with the other pious women, on Mount Calvary at the time of the Saviour's Passion, and later also present at His Ascension, and the coming of the Holy Ghost. All her biographers agree in the fact that, in the persecution of the Christians, she was placed by the Jews, with her brother and sister, in a boat which had neither sail nor oar, and was cast adrift on the high sea to perish. (You've seen those bumper stickers stating: 'God is my co-Pilot', haven't you?) Well, God was their pilot, and guided them to Marseilles, in France, where they safely landed. This miracle, together with their preaching, brought the people of Marseilles, and of Aix, and of the neighborhood to believe in Christ.

Magdalen, some time later, went into a desert, where she led a penitential life for thirty years. (Apparently, she was carried to heaven every day of this existence by angels, so that she could hear their songs of praise.) Lazarus was made Bishop of Marseilles and Maximin of Aix. Martha, however, after having converted many virgins to the Christian faith by her kind exhortations, and instilled into them a love of virginal chastity, selected a secluded place between Asignon and Arles, where she erected a dwelling. There she lived with her maid Marcella and several virgins, who desired, like herself, to spend their days far from the tumult of the world, in chastity and peace, and to lead a cloistral life; whence St. Martha is by many regarded, if not as the first founder, yet as a model of a religious life. She was a guide to all, and her example served as a rule to them whereby to regulate their conduct.

Thirty years she lived thus in great austerity, abstaining from meat and wine. She was devoted to prayer, and it is written of her, that she threw herself upon her knees to pray one hundred times during the day and as often during the night. Her virginal chastity she preserved until her death, the hour of which was revealed to her a year before she departed. A fever which seized her, and lasted until she died, was regarded by her as a means to become more like her Saviour and increase her merits. Hence she was always cheerful in her suffering, bearing it with angelic patience. Eight days before she died, she heard heavenly music, and saw the soul of her sister, accompanied by many angels, ascend to heaven, which not only filled her soul with divine joy, but also with the fervent desire soon to be re-united with Christ. The Saviour Himself deigned to appear to her, saying: "Come, beloved one; as thou hast received Me in thy terrestrial home, so will I receive thee now in My heavenly mansion." St. Martha was transported with joy, and the nearer the hour of her death approached, the more fervent became her prayers and her desire to be with God. Shortly before her end, she desired to be laid upon the ground, which was strewn with ashes, and after having given her last instructions to those under her, she raised her eyes to heaven and gave her virgin soul to the Almighty, while she pronounced the words her beloved Saviour had spoken: "Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit." Her tomb has been glorified by God with many miracles, and is held in great veneration.


PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS:

Without doubt, you think St. Martha greatly blessed because she had the high honor to receive our Lord into her house and to serve Him. But why do you not estimate your own much greater happiness? Who is He, whom you receive in Holy Communion, in a much more excellent manner, than Martha received Him? Is He not the same Jesus who went into her house? He comes more frequently to you--or is ready to do so--than He ever visited Martha. Ah! recognize this great blessing and use it to your salvation. May you also prepare yourself most assiduously to receive your Lord, and to serve Him well, in order that He may one day receive you into His kingdom. To receive Holy Communion is one of the most effectual means to gain salvation. "He that eateth this Bread shall live for ever," says Christ. (John, vi.) Live, then, in this world, in sanctifying grace, and live in heaven, in the presence of the Almighty.

Martha lived an austere life during thirty years, prayed day and night, preserved her chastity, constantly practiced good works, and suffered sickness with cheerful patience. Whoever lives thus, may well say at the end of his days: "Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit." But whoever employs neither his mind, his body, nor his soul in the service of God, who gratifies every wish of the body and stains his soul with sin, without trying to purify it again, who is indolent in doing good works, who uses the members of the body, the faculties of the mind, more to offend God than to serve Him; who manifests no patience in sickness and trial, who detests penance and austerities; who seldom prays, and is unchaste; cannot truly say with confidence, in his last hour: "Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit." For, how can he hope that God will receive into His hands a soul, which, during a whole lifetime, was rather in the hands of Satan than in those of the Almighty, a soul which lived more according to the will of Satan than the will of God; and, finally, a soul which gave not the body, that clothed it, to the service of the Most High? "He is too arrogant," writes St. Gregory of Nyssa, "who having, during his life, constantly warred against the Almighty by sin and vice, hopes, like another Moses, to die in the arms of the Lord." If you desire, therefore, at your last moment, to commend your soul into the hands of your Saviour with a well-founded hope that He will receive it, employ now your mind and all the faculties of your soul, in the service of your God, as Martha did.

To this effect is the admonition of St. Peter: "They shall commend their souls in good deeds to the faithful Creator." (I. Peter, iv.) If we commend now our mind, our soul to God with good deeds, we can commend it at the end of our lives to Him, with the certain hope of salvation. Now, while on this earth, we must serve God with soul and body; for God has promised eternal life to His servants. If you will not do this, the promise of God was not made for you. "Whoever does not fulfill the commandments of the Lord, vainly expects what the Lord has promised," says St. John Chrysostom.


Prayer:

Now that, together with Magdalene, thou hast entered for ever into possession of the better part, thy place in heaven, O Martha, is very beautiful. For they that have ministered well, says St. Paul, shall purchase to themselves a good degree, and much confidence in the faith which is in Christ Jesus (1 Tim. iii. 13). The same service which the deacons, here alluded to by the Apostle, performed for the Church, thou didst render to the Church's Head and Spouse; thou didst rule well thine, own house, which was a figure of that Church so dear to the Son of God. But God is not unjust, that He should forget your work and the love which you have shown in His name, you who have ministered and do minister to the saints (Heb. vi. 10). And the Saint of saints Himself, thy indebted guest, gave us to understand something of thy greatness, when, speaking merely of a faithful servant set over the family to distribute food in due season, He cried out: Blessed is that servant whom when his lord shall come, he shall find so doing. Amen I say to you, he shall place him over all his goods (St. Matth. xxiv. 46, 47). O Martha, the Church exults on this day, whereon our Lord found thee thus continuing to serve Him in the persons of those little ones in whom He bids us seek Him. The moment had come for Him to welcome thee eternally. Henceforth the Host most faithful of all to the laws of hospitality, makes thee sit at His table in His own house, and girding Himself, ministers to thee as thou didst minister to Him.

From the midst of thy peaceful rest, protect those who are now carrying on the interests of Christ on earth, in His mystical Body, which is the entire Church, and in His wearied and suffering members the poor and the afflicted. Bless and multiply the works of holy hospitality; may the vast field of mercy and charity yield ever-increasing harvests. May the zeal displayed by so many generous souls lose nothing of its praiseworthy activity; and for this end, O sister of Magdalene, teach us all as our Lord taught thee, to place the one thing necessary above all else, and to value at its true worth the better part. After the word spoken to thee, for our sake as well as thine own, whosoever would disturb Magdalene at the feet of Jesus, or forbid her to sit there, would deserve to have his works frustrated by offended heaven.

St. Innocent I, Pope

Pope St. Innocent I

St. Innocent I, a native of Albano, Italy, reigned from 401 to 417 and lived at the same time as Saints Jerome and Augustine. He ascended the throne by compulsion, and considering himself in it with trembling, he never ceased to beg of God the spirit of his holy wisdom and prudence, which he stood the more in need of, as the times in which he lived were more difficult. Alaric the Goth, with an army of barbarians, threatened to carry desolation over all Italy. The pope exhorted the faithful to receive the scourges of heaven with submission and humility, and undertook several journeys to negotiate a reconciliation between the emperor Honorius and Alaric, but in vain. The Goths received a great overthrow from the Roman army commanded by Stilico, in 403. But Alaric led them a second time to attempt the plunder of Rome; and because Honorius refused to make him general of the imperial army, he took that city on the 24th of August, 410, and abandoned it to the fury of his soldiers, excepting the church of SS. Peter and Paul, to which he granted the privilege of a sanctuary. Pope Innocent was at that time absent with the emperor at Ravenna. The year following, Alaric being dead, his brother-in-law and successor Atulphus again plundered Rome.
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After the departure of the barbarians, the good pope hastened there, and by his presence brought comfort and joy to that afflicted people. He taught them to draw an advantage from their sufferings by making a good use of them; and so much were the Heathens edified at the patience, resignation, and virtue with which the Christians suffered the loss of their goods and whatever was dear, without any murmuring or complaint, that they came in crowds desiring to be instructed in the faith and baptized.

This energetic Pope is known for his zealous welfare for the entire Church. His decrees became law in Spain, Gaul and Italy. St. Jerome, writing to the virgin Demetrias says of Innocent: "Hold fast to the Faith of holy Innocent, who is the son of Anastasius of blessed memory and his successor in the Apostolic throne; receive no strange doctrine, however shrewd and prudent you may think yourself."

Orosius writes that, like the just Lot, he was withdrawn by God's providence from Rome, and preserved in safety at Ravenna, that he might not be a witness of the ruin of the Roman people. to the Pope for confirmation. During Innocent's pontificate, he emphasized papal supremacy, commending the bishops of Africa for referring the decrees of their councils at Carthage and Millevis in 416, condemning Pelagianism, to the Pope for confirmation. It was his confirmation of these decrees that caused Augustine to make a remark that was to echo through the centuries: "Roma locuta, causa finitas" (Rome has spoken, the matter is ended). Earlier Innocent had stressed to Bishop St. Victrius and the Spanish bishops that matters of great importance were to be referred to Rome for settlement. Innocent strongly favored clerical celibacy and fought the unjust removal of St. John Chrysostom. He vainly sought help from Emperor Honorius at Ravenna when the Goths under Alaric captured and sacked Rome. Innocent died in Rome on March 12. After the condemnation of Pelagius and Celestinus, he decreed, contrary to their heretical teachings, that children, even though born of a Christian mother, must be born again by water, in order that their second birth may cleanse away the stain they have contracted by the first. He also approved the observance of fasting on the Saturday in memory of the burial of Christ our Lord. He sat fifteen years, one month, and ten days on the throne of Peter. He held four ordinations in the month of December, and made thirty priests, fifteen deacons, and fifty-four bishops for diverse places. He was buried in the cemetery called ad Ursum Pileatum.



In 410, during his pontificate, Rome was ravaged by the barbarians of Alaric. He took the responsibility of rebuilding the city and showed great charity in helping the victims.



Comments of Prof. Plinio Correa de Oliveira:

St. Innocent is one of the greatest Popes of the 5th century. It is beautiful to see how he was entirely faithful amidst a hard struggle in a tragic era.

He lived at the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire, when it seemed as if a multitude of accumulated chastisements fell over the Empire all at once. Historians do not sufficiently emphasize the simultaneous development of two major things at that time. The first, the invasion of the barbarians touched the temporal order, and indirectly shook the Church as well, since those barbarians were either pagans or heretics. The second, various heresies burst out everywhere when the Church emerged from the catacombs. Therefore, the Church faced attacks equal to, or even worse than, those which chastised the State.

However, the two institutions, the Church and the State, had different destinies. While the putrid Roman State disappeared, the Church produced great Popes, not ecumenical Popes but rather warrior Pontiffs who relentlessly fought against the heresies, making continuous excommunications and wounding the enemies of the Church as much as they could.


A city being sacked by soldiers

Pope Innocent I faced the sack of Rome by Alaric in 410

The Roman Emperors adopted a pacifist policy, permitting the barbarians to cross the military posts of the Empire that had been constructed near the natural barriers of the Rhine and Danube rivers. After crossing those lines, the barbarians were allowed to remain inside the Empire and settle land there. Once the Empire’s army became accustomed to their presence and let down its guard, the barbarians started their invasions from within.

On the contrary, the great Popes of those times did not take a pacifist attitude. They energetically fought the enemies of the Church and strongly defended the doctrine of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The result of these two opposite policies is that the Western Roman Empire ended, while the Church - led by Popes like St. Innocent - rose to a most glorious destiny. Those Popes were the first great men who constituted the foundation for the Middle Ages.

These considerations show us how that energetic policy of the Popes to resolve the problems of the Church and defend the truth is the correct one.

Let us pray to Pope St. Innocent I to give us energy like his to defend the cause of the Catholic Church in these days of abomination in which we live, even if the example we receive from high places is the opposite.

St. Anne, Grandmother of Jesus

Saint Anne, chosen by God to be the mother of Mary, His own Blessed Mother on earth, was the spouse of Saint Joachim. Ancestor of the Eternal King and High Priest, Joachim was of the royal house of David, while Anne was of Levitical descent. Their lives were wholly occupied with prayer and good works. One thing only was wanting to their union - they were childless, and this was held as a bitter misfortune among the Jews. At length, when Anne was well advanced in age, Mary was born, the fruit rather of grace than of nature, and the child more of God than of man.

In the words of our Blessed Abbot Gueranger, who puts it so beautifully:

'Anne was, as it were, the starting point of redemption, the horizon scanned by the prophets, the first span of the heavens to be empurpled with the rising fires of dawn; the blessed soil whose produce was so pure as to make the angels believe that Eden had been restored to us. But in the midst of the incomparable peace that surrounds her, let us hail her as the land of victory surpassing the most famous fields of battle; as the sanctuary of the Immaculate Conception, where our humiliated race took up the combat begun before the throne of God by the angelic host; where the serpent's head was crushed, and Michael, now surpassed in glory, gladly handed over to his sweet Queen, at the first moment of her existence, the command of the Lord's armies.'

After much prayer over the years, Anne's prayers are answered: "And behold an angel of the Lord stood by (possibly St. Gabriel), and said to her: "Anne, God has heard thy prayer; thou shalt conceive and bear a child, and thy fruit shall be honored throughout the whole inhabited earth." And in due time Anne brought forth a daughter, and said: "My soul is magnified this hour." (Sound somewhat familiar?) And she called the child Mary; and giving her the breast, she intoned this canticle to the Lord:

"I will sing the praise of the Lord my God: for He has visited me and has taken away my shame, and has given me a fruit of justice. Who shall declare to the sons of Ruben that Anne is become fruitful? Hear, hear, O ye twelve tribes: behold Anne is giving suck!" (From the Protevangelium Jacobi.)

With the birth of Mary the holy matron began a new life; she watched Her every movement with reverent tenderness, and, aware of the little one's destiny, felt herself hourly sanctified by the presence of her Immaculate Child. But she had vowed her daughter to God; to God the child Mary had already consecrated Herself, and to Him Anne gave Her back. Mary was three years old when Anne and Joachim led Her to the Temple steps, saw Her pass by Herself into the inner sanctuary, and then saw Her no more. Thus was Anne left childless in her old age, and deprived of her purest earthly joy. The holiest parents on earth could not, in the plan of God, raise this Child as was needed: Mary had to suffer from Her earliest years. Saint Anne and Saint Joachim humbly adored the Divine Will, and continued to watch and pray, until God called them to unending rest. (Remember Simeon and Anna in the temple? This Anna was to take care of Mary through these years.)

Mary presenting herself to the temple


Let us conclude with this praise and prayer to out Lord, from the Ambrosian Missal of Milan:

'It is right and just to give thanks to Thee, O eternal God, Who by a singular privilege of Thy grace, hast exalted the blessed Anne. To whose desire of fruitfulness thou didst give a gift so magnificent and so far surpassing all others, that from her was born Mary, the Virgin of virgins, the Lady of the angels, the Queen of the world, the star of the sea, the Mother of Thy Son, Who is both God and Man.

O almighty everlasting God, Who didst give to blessed Anne, after the affliction of long barrenness, the grace to bear a glorious fruit; grant, we beseech Thee, that, as her merits intercede with Thee for us, we may be made fruitful in works of salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.'

St. Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin and Grandmother of Our Lord, please pray for us.



A Prayer to be said by Parents
In behalf of their Children



O Lord God, who hast called us to holy matrimony and hast been pleased to render our union fruitful, thus making glad the sublime state of life wherein Thou hast placed us, by a certain likeness to Thine own infinite fruitfulness; we heartily recommend to Thee our dear children; we entrust them to Thy fatherly care and all-powerful protection, that they may grow daily in Thy holy fear, may lead a perfect Christian life and may be a source of consolation, not only to us who have given them life, but also and chiefly to Thee, who art their Creator.

Behold, O Lord, in what a world they must pass their lives; consider the cunning flatteries whereby the sons of men everywhere endeavor to deprave their minds and hearts with false doctrine and wicked example. Be watchful, O Lord, to help and defend them; grant us the grace to be able to guide them aright in the paths of virtue and in the way of Thy commandments, by the righteous pattern of our own life and practice, and our perfect observance of Thy holy law and that of our holy mother the Church; and in order that we may do so faithfully, make us certain of the grave danger that awaits us at the hands of Thy divine justice. Nevertheless all our efforts will be unavailing, unless Thou, O almighty and merciful God, shalt make them fruitful by Thy heavenly blessing.

This Thy blessing, therefore, we humbly ask of Thee, from the bottom of our hearts, trusting in Thy great goodness and mercy hitherto shown unto us; we ask it for ourselves and for the children whom Thou hast been graciously pleased to give unto us. We dedicate them to Thee, O Lord, do Thou keep them as the apple of Thine eye, and protect them under the shadow of Thy wings; do Thou make us worthy to come at last to heaven, together with them, giving thanks unto Thee, our Father, for the loving care Thou hast had of our entire family and praising Thee through endless ages. Amen.



(1943 Raccolta: An indulgence of 300 days)




May St. Joachim and St. Anne pray for us, that we try to imitate them in the raising of our children.

St. James--Apostle

SAINT JAMES the GREATER
Apostle
Patron of Spain
(†44)

Among the twelve Apostles, three were chosen to be the close companions of our Blessed Lord, and of these James was one. He, with Peter and John, was admitted to the house of Jairus when his dead child was raised to life (Luke 8:40 ff.); only these three were taken up to the high mountain of Thabor and beheld the face of Jesus shining as the sun, and His garments white as snow (Mark 9:2-7). These three alone witnessed the fearful agony in Gethsemane. (Luke 22:39-45)

What was it that won James a place among the favorite three? Faith, burning, impetuous and outspoken, the straightforwardness of the true Israelite, were visible in him; but these qualities needed purifying before the "Son of Thunder" could proclaim the Gospel of peace. St. Mark relates that Christ called James and his brother, on account of the vehemence of their zeal, "Boanerges," or children of the thunder, because they announced the Gospel with such earnestness, that their voices penetrated the hearts of men, like the rolling of the thunder, and moved them to recognize and receive the truth. It was James who suggested fire from heaven to consume the inhospitable Samaritans, and who sought a place of honor beside Christ in His kingdom. Yet Our Lord, in rebuking his presumption, prophesied his faithfulness unto death. In the Gospel of St. Matthew, we read that the mother of James and John, Salome, had come to Christ, asking Him to place one of her sons on His right hand, the other on His left in His kingdom. The Saviour reproved the two Apostles for their ambition, saying: "You know not what you ask." After this, He asked them: "Can you drink of the Chalice that I shall drink?" And they resolutely replied: "Yes, we can."

He went to Spain after the death of Our Lord, and remained there for nine years, according to tradition. The famous Basilica of Saint James of Compostello, one of the most frequented pilgrimage sites of Europe, the site also of countless miracles, commemorates the memory of the nation's beloved Apostle. (Let us keep in mind that James overcame the Mussulman (the 'peaceful religion', or is it the 'religion' of submission?) plague in Iberia. We could sure use his help these days)

In the year 44 St. James, who was at that time in Jerusalem, was brought before King Herod Agrippa. The Apostle had been preaching fearlessly there, curing the sick and the blind, and delivering possessed persons. Two magicians were sent by the authorities to stop his doings by their charms, but both were converted. His enemies were not defeated by that, however, and paid two Roman captains to incite a sedition during the Apostle's preaching, then seize him as its author. A certain Josias, a scribe among the Pharisees, put a cord around his neck and took him before the third Herod, grandson of the first, murderer of the Innocents, and nephew of the second, who had the Baptist decapitated. This new sycophant of the Roman Emperors, desiring to conciliate the Jews and make them forget his non-Jewish origins, decided to do so by persecuting the Christians. Without delay he condemned Saint James to die by the sword. When the man who had brought him to the tribunal saw the courage with which he went to martyrdom he declared that he, too, was a Christian.

As they were being hurried to execution, he (Josias), implored James' forgiveness. The Apostle kissed him, saying: "Peace be with you." He was taken with the Apostle to the place of execution, where Saint James and his convert died together.(What strikes me is the fact that one of the 'sons of thunder' is the first of the Apostles to die, while the other one, John, is the last to die. Just sayin' I don't know if it means anything, but I thought it was interesting.)

His body was afterwards translated to Compostella, where it is honoured with the highest veneration; pilgrims flock thither from every part of the world, to satisfy their devotion or pay their vows. The memory of his natalis is celebrated by the Church to-day, which is the day of his translation. But it was near the feast of the Pasch that, first of all the Apostles, he shed his blood, at Jerusalem, as a witness to Jesus Christ.

The Saint one night left the city with his disciples and went to the banks of the river Ebro, to offer his prayer there undisturbed. Suddenly the Blessed Virgin, who at that time was still on earth, appeared to him, surrounded by many angels. James recognized her immediately, and, falling on his knees before her, honored her as the Mother of his Redeemer. She said to him: "Thou shalt build upon this place, a Church in my honor; for I know that the inhabitants of Saragossa will conceive an especial devotion to me, for which reason I will henceforth protect them." James obeyed her words, and erected a Church which although small at the beginning, was afterwards enlarged and rebuilt in its present form. This Church is still called the "Church of the Pillar of St. Mary," because the Blessed Virgin appeared to the Apostle on a pillar which yet remains.


The Apostle won the three crowns of heroism: he is a Doctor par excellence of the Faith, he was the first Apostle to be martyred, and according to St. Epiphanus and other historians, he always conserved his virginity. He is the patron of Spain. A Spanish author by the name of Tamayo reports fifteen different apparitions of Saint James to the kings and princes of Spain, followed each time by some specific assistance for the benefit of the land.

No sooner was James called by Christ to follow Him, than unhesitatingly he left home and everything and followed the Saviour. If he had not done so, or if he had delayed, who knows if a second call would have reached him, and if he would not have gone to eternal destruction? God calls you already so long to follow Him, to do penance, to correct your life, to manifest greater fervor in His service, to avoid all occasions of evil, to break off all sinful associations, to confess your evil deeds, to restore what you have no right to possess, to repair the reputation of your neighbor, which you have injured by your slanders, etc. He calls you by an inner, voice, and by your confessor, or through sermons. Why do you not follow Him? Why do you delay from day to day? Oh! take heed, that the menace of God be not verified in you: "I called and you refused: I stretched out my hand and there was none that regarded. You have despised all my counsel, and have neglected my reprehensions. I will also laugh at your destruction. (Prov. i.)" If you do not wish to become yourself an example of this dreadful menace, resolve to-day to follow the call of your God, and to act according to His exhortations. Delay not longer, or He may cease to invite you, and you will go to destruction.

We must all desire a place in the kingdom of our Father; but, can we drink the chalice which He holds out to each one of us? 'Possumus', we must say with Saint James - "We can!" - but only in the strength of Him who drank it first for us.


Prayer:
O glorious Apostle, Saint James, who by reason of thy fervent and generous heart wast chosen by Jesus to be a witness of His glory on Mount Thabor, and of His agony in Gethsemane; thou, whose very name is a symbol of warfare and victory: obtain for us strength and consolation in the unending warfare of this life, that, having constantly and generously followed Jesus, we may be victors in the strife and deserve to receive the victor's crown in heaven. Amen.


(Indulgence of 300 days)

10th Sunday after Pentecost

This Sunday is the 10th Sunday after Pentecost. Prepare to be humbled! From the Gospel of St. Luke, we hear the Pharisee bragging on just how much he gives to the temple, how much he prays, saying how much he is not like all those others. To me, he, just like so many in our world, have become 'legends' in their own minds. Good luck with that. God will humble you in His own time, and, if you resist, will cast you into everlasting fire. Pure and simple as that.


Our Gospel, taken from St. Luke:

' At that time, Jesus spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves as just, and despised others. "Two men went up into the Temple to pray: the one a Pharisee, and the other a Publican. The Pharisee standing, prayed thus with himself: O God, I give thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, as also is this Publican. I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I possess. And the Publican standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes towards heaven, but struck his breast, saying: O God, be merciful to me a sinner. I say to you: this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: because every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."' (Luke XVIII. 9-14.)


Commenting on this passage from Scripture, Venerable Bede (St. Bede now), explains the mystery:

"The pharisee is the Jewish people, who boasts of the merits he has acquired to himself by observing the precepts of the law; the publican is the Gentile, who, being far off from God, confesses his sins. The pharisee, by reason of his pride, has to depart in humiliation; the publican, by lamenting his miseries, merits to draw nigh to God--that is, to be exalted. It is of these two people, and of every man who is proud or humble, that it is written: 'The heart of a man is exalted before destruction, and it is humbled before he be glorified."

Our beloved Abbot Gueranger speaks: 'Humility, which produces within us this salutary fear, is the virtue that makes man know his right place, with regard both to God and to his fellow men. It rests on the deep-rooted conviction, put into our hearts by grace, that God is everything, and that we, by nature, are nothingness, nay, less than nothingness, because we have degraded ourselves by sin. Reason is able, of herself alone, to convince anyone, who takes the trouble to reflect, of the nothingness of a creature; but such conviction, if it remain a mere theoretical conclusion, is not humility: it is a conviction which forces itself on the devil in hell, whose vexation at such a truth is the chief of his rage. As faith, which reveals to us what God is in the supernatural order, does not come from mere reason, nor remain confined to the intellect alone, so neither does humility, which teaches us what we ourselves are: that it may be true, real virtue, it must move our will also. At the same time that this Holy Spirit fills our souls with the knowledge of their littleness and misery, He also sweetly leads them to the acceptance and love of this truth, which reason, if left entirely to herself, would be tempted to look on as a disagreeable thought.'

The Abbot continues: '...humility is truth; and, as Jesus says: "The Truth shall make you free", by liberating us from the tyranny of the father of lies; and then, having made us free, it makes us holy; it sanctifies us by uniting us to God, Who is living and substantial Truth.

There are men who, like satan, have done all in their power to throw themselves out of the orbit of the divine sun. Rather than acknowledge that they owe all they have to the Most High God, they would sink back into nothingness, if they could. To the heavenly treasures which the common Father opens out to all who own themselves to be His children, they prefer the pleasure of keeping to natural good things; for then, so they say, they owe what they get to their own cleverness and exertions. They are foolish men, not to understand that, do what they please, they owe everything they have to this their forgotten God. They are weak, sickly minds, mistaking these vapors of conceit in which their disordered brain finds delight for principles of which they may be proud. Their high-mindedness is but ignominy; their independence leads but to slavery; for, though they refuse to have God as their Father, they must of necessity have God as their Master; and thus, not being His children, they must be His slaves. As slaves, they keep to the vile food, which they themselves preferred to the pure delights wherewith Wisdom inebriates them that follow her. As slaves, they have acquired the right to the scourge and the fetter. They chose to be satisfied with what they had, and would have neither the throne that was prepared for them, nor the nuptial robe; let them, if they will, prefer their prison, and there deck themselves in the finery which moths will soon be making their food! But, during these short years of theirs, they are branding their bodies with a deeper slavery than ever red-hot iron stamped on vilest bondsmen. All this happens because, with all the empty philosophy which was their boast, they would not listen to the Christian teaching that greatness consists in the Truth, and that humility alone leads to it...

In heaven the humility of the saints is far greater than it was while they were here on earth, because they now see the realities, which then they could only faintly perceive. Their happiness, yonder above, is to be grazing on and adoring that altitude of God, of which they will never have an adequate knowledge, and the more they look up at that infinite perfection, the deeper do they plunge into their own nothingness. Let us get these great Truths well into us, and we shall have no difficulty in understanding how it was that the greatest saints were the humblest creatures here below, and how the same beautiful fact is still one great charm in heaven...'




Some thoughts:

Why did Christ make use of this parable of the Pharisee and the Publican?

To teach us never proudly to condemn or despise a man, even though he should appear impious, for we may be deceived like the Pharisee who despised the Publican, whom he considered a great sinner, while, in reality, the man was justified before God on account of his repentant spirit.

What should we do before entering a Church?

We should reflect that we are going into the house of God, should therefore think what we are about to say to Him, and what we wish to ask of Him. That we may make ourselves less unworthy to be heard, we should humble ourselves as did Abraham, remembering that we are dust and ashes, and on account of our sins unworthy to appear before the eyes of God, much less to address Him , for He listens to the prayers of the humble only, (Ps. CI, 18.) and gives them His grace, while He resists the proud. (James IV. 6.)


Was the Pharisee's prayer acceptable to God?

No, for it was no prayer, but boasting and ostentation; he praised himself, and enumerated his apparent good works. But in despising others and judging them rashly he sinned grievously instead of meriting God's grace.

Was the Publican's prayer acceptable to God?

Yes, for though short, it was humble and contrite. He stood afar off, as if to acknowledge himself unworthy of the presence of God and intercourse with men. He stood with downcast eyes, thus showing that he considered himself because of his sins unworthy to look towards heaven, even confessed himself a sinner, and struck his breast to punish, as St. Augustine says, the sins which he had committed in his heart: This is why we strike our breast at certain times during Mass, for by this we acknowledge ourselves miserable sinners, and that we are sorry for our sins.

ON PRIDE AND VAIN GLORY

We should learn from this gospel that God looks upon the humble and exalts them, but is far from the proud. (Ps. CXXXVII. The Pharisee went to the temple entirely wrapped up in himself, and the good works which he thought he had performed, but returned empty and hated by God; the Publican, on the contrary, appearing before God as a public but penitent sinner, returned justified. Truly, a humble sinner is better in the sight of God than a proud just man!

He who glories in his own good works, or performs them to please men, or to win their praise, loses his merit in the eyes of the most High, for Christ says: Take heed that you do not your justice before men, to be seen by them: otherwise you shall not have a reward of your Father who is in heaven. (Matt. VI. 1.)

In order that we may learn to despise vain glory, these doctrines should be well borne in mind. The ambitious man avariciously seeking glory and honor will find, when dying, that the merit which he might have had for his good works, is now lost to him, because he did not labor for the honor of God. To prevent such an evil, strive at the commencement of every good work which you undertake, to turn your heart to God by a good intention.

But that you may plainly recognize this vice, which generally keeps itself concealed, and that you may avoid it, know that pride is an inordinate love of ostentation, and an immoderate desire to surpass others in honor and praise. The proud man goes beyond himself, so to speak, makes far more of himself than he really is, and, like the Pharisee, despises others; the humble man, on the contrary, has a low estimate of himself, looks upon himself as nothing and, like the Publican, despises no one but himself, and thus is pleasing in the sight of God. (DON'T BE A LEGEND IN YOUR OWN MIND! Remember; 'Blessed are the meek.')

O God, who hears the prayers of the humble, but resists the proud, I earnestly beseech Thee to give me an humble heart, that I may imitate, the humility of Thy only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and thereby merit to be exalted with Him in heaven.

Our Offertory for this Sunday pretty much says it all:

To Thee, O Lord, have I raised up my soul: my God, I put my trust in Thee, let me not be put to shame: neither let mine enemies scoff at me: for none that rely on Thee shall ever be confounded.

Jesus, meek and humble of heart; make my heart like unto Thine.

St. Mary Magdalen

"Wherefore I say to thee: Many sins are forgiven her, because she hath loved much."--Luke 7:47

Today is the day we honor Mary Magdalene, the repentant sinner. Although she is just an honorable mention these days, she is one of the most influential persons of the New Testament. St. Bridget of Sweden stated that Our Lord told her: "Three saints have been more pleasing to me than all others: Mary my Mother, John the Baptist, and Mary Magdalen." The Fathers of the Church tell us that Magdalen is a type of the Gentile Church, called from the depth of sin to perfect holiness; and indeed, better than any other, she personifies both the wanderings and the love of the human race, espoused by the Word of God.

'And behold a woman that was in the city, a sinner, when she knew that He sat at meal in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment; and standing behind at His feet, she began to wash His feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed His feet, and anointed them with the ointment.' "Who is this woman? Without a doubt it is the Church, answers St. Peter Chrysologus, 'the Church, weighed down and stained with sins committed in the city of this world. At the news that Christ has appeared in Judea, that He is to be seen at the banquet of the Pasch, where He bestows His mysteries and reveals the divine Sacrament, and makes known the secret of salvation, suddenly she darts forward; despising the endeavors of the Scribes to prevent her entrance, she confronts the princes of the Synagogue; burning with desire she penetrates into the sanctuary, where she finds Him whom she seeks, betrayed by Jewish perfidy even at the banquet of love; not the passion, nor the Cross, nor the tomb can check her faith, or prevent her from bringing her perfumes to Christ.'

Our beloved Abbot Gueranger (The Liturgical Year)continues:
...Mingling the perfume of her conversion with her tears of repentance, she anoints the feet of her Lord, honoring in them His humanity. Her faith, whereby she is justified, grows equally with her love; soon the Head of the Spouse--that is, His divinity--receives from her the homage of the full measure of pure and precious spikenard--to wit, consummate holiness, whose heroism goes so far as to break the vessel of mortal flesh by the martyrdom of love, if not by that of tortures.

St. Jerome and St. Cyril, along with St. Bede, state that "what Magdalen once did, remains the type of what the whole Church does, and of what every perfect soul must ever do." Also, notice that she wants Him for What and Who He is, and not just for what He can do for her.

It was Mary Magdalen who stood with Our Lady and Saint John at the foot of the cross, representative of the many who have loved much because much has been forgiven them.


St. Albert the Great assures us that, '...in the world of grace as well as in the material creation, God has made two great lights--two Marys, the Mother of our Lord and the sister of Lazarus: the greater, which is the Blessed Virgin, to rule the day of innocence; the lesser, which is Mary the penitent beneath the feet of that glorious Virgin, to rule the night by enlightening repentant sinners. As the moon by its phases points out the feast days on earth, so Magdalen in heaven gives the signal of joy to the angels of God over one sinner doing penance. Does she not also share with the Immaculate One the name of Mary, Star of the Sea, as the Churches of Gaul sang in the Middle Ages, recalling how, though one was a Queen and the other a handmaid, both were causes of joy to the Church: the one being the gate of salvation, the other the messenger of the Resurrection.' (Remember, she was the first who saw Him after His death. At least in scripture, because I think His Mother saw Him first.)

St. Mary Magdalen, pray for us sinners. We need all the help we can get.


Read on concerning the life of this great saint:


St. Mary Magdalen, Penitent
by Father Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876



Mary Magdalen, so highly praised in the Gospel on account of her heroic conversion and fervent love of our Saviour, was born at Bethany, not far from Jerusalem. Her parents, as many authors say, were nobles. She had one brother named Lazarus, and a sister called Martha. When the fortune which her parents had left was divided, the Castle, or as others say, the borough of Magdala, came into her possession from which she also derived her name. St. Luke writes that before her conversion, she had been a sinner in the city, by which some authors understand that she had been addicted to the horrible vice of impurity; while others say that she had given scandal to the whole city by her splendid garments, frivolous manners, and her unrestrained associations with those of the opposite sex. The same evangelist also says that our Lord Jesus Christ delivered her from seven devils, which words many understand literally, believing that on account of her iniquities, she was possessed by several evil spirits, and like many others, was delivered from them by our Saviour.

The generality of the holy Fathers, however, believe that Martha had persuaded her sister to be present at the instructions of Christ, and although Magdalen at first followed this advice, only out of curiosity or to please her sister, it nevertheless proved to be the first step to her conversion. It is beyond all doubt that, moved by divine grace, she saw her guilt and resolved to do penance without delay; for, on hearing that Christ was eating with Simon, a Pharisee, she immediately repaired thither. She was unwilling to wait for an opportunity to speak with the Saviour alone, and to ask pardon for her sins without others being near. She could not wait so long. The unhappy state into which her soul was plunged, since she had come to the knowledge of her sin, made her impatient. Although foreseeing that her public confession would draw upon her the derision of the Pharisees and others, she heeded not; publicly she had sinned and publicly she would do penance. Hence, regardless of all human opinion, she hastened into the room where Christ was at table, and bitterly weeping, she cast herself at His feet, bathing them with a flood of repentant tears. Having wiped them with her hair, she kissed them reverentially and then opening a vase of alabaster, which she had brought, she anointed them with perfumes. It is not recorded whether, during or before the anointment, she spoke a single word, but her penitent heart was seen in her humble attitude at the Saviour's feet, and the abundance of her tears spoke more eloquently than words could have done. It spoke of her repentance, it humbly asked pardon for her sins.

Christ well comprehended this language; for, turning His eyes upon her, He said these comforting words: "Thy sins are forgiven thee;" and afterwards: "Thy faith has made thee safe; go in peace!" Before saying this, He reproved Simon, the Pharisee, and praised Magdalen, because when Simon saw that Christ allowed Magdalen to bathe His feet with her tears and to kiss them, he said to himself: "This man, if He were a prophet, would surely know who and what manner of woman it is that touches Him; for she is a sinner." Christ knowing the Pharisee's thoughts, said to him: "Simon, I have something to say to thee. A certain creditor had two debtors. One of them owed him five hundred pence, the other fifty. As they, however, could not pay him, he forgave them both; which, therefore, of the two, loveth him most?" "I suppose," replied Simon, "he to whom he forgave most." "Thou has judged rightly," said Christ; and turning to the woman, He said to Simon: "Dost thou see this woman? I entered into thy house; thou gavest me no water for my feet; but she bathed my feet with tears and wiped them with her hair. Thou gavest me no kiss; but she has not ceased to kiss my feet. Therefore I say to thee: Many sins are forgiven her, because she has loved much." Oh! what great consolation must have filled Magdalen's heart, when Christ's own words assured her that her sins were forgiven! She certainly went immediately to announce to her brother and sister the inexpressibly-great mercy which the Saviour had bestowed upon her.

From this moment her heart was wholly changed, and entirely consecrated to Christ. She followed Him everywhere and listened with undivided attention to His instructions. One day Christ lodged at the house of her sister Martha, who was greatly concerned to serve Him well, while Magdalen, sitting at the Lord's feet, listened eagerly to His words. Her sister complaining of her, said to our Saviour: "Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister has left me alone to serve? Speak to her that she help me." The Lord, however, praised Magdalen's zeal, saying: "Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about many things. But one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her." These words of the Saviour proved how much pleased He was with Magdalen's eagerness to listen to His holy teaching. He also showed how great His love was to her, when, yielding to her prayers and to Martha's, He raised Lazarus to life. This wonderful event is to be found in the holy Gospel of St. John, Chapter xi., and will be more circumstantially described in the life of St. Lazarus. Here I will relate only the event which occurred six days before the last Easter which our Lord celebrated on earth. Christ came to Bethany, to the house of Simon, the leper, where they had prepared supper for Him. Lazarus, who had shortly before been raised to life, was, with others, sitting at the table. Martha served, and Magdalen brought a costly sweet-scented ointment, and anointed first the head and then the feet of Christ. When Judas murmured against it, saying that they could have sold so costly an ointment and given the money to the poor, Christ again defended Magdalen against the deceitful murmurs of the traitor and of some others, and said: "Why do you trouble this woman? for she has wrought a good work upon me. The poor you have always with you, but me you have not always. Amen I say to you, wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that also which she has done, shall be told for a memory of her."

Soon after this, when the passion and death of our dear Lord took place, the Gospel tells us that Magdalen, with the divine Mother and other pious women, was present upon Calvary at the Crucifixion of the Saviour. Words are too poor to describe the feelings of grief and tenderness with which she kissed and worshipped the holy body when it was taken from the Cross. Although after the burial, she went to Jerusalem with the other women, she returned to the Sepulchre of Christ, with some other women, on the day after the Sabbath. It was their intention again to anoint the holy body of the Saviour with fragrant essences. On the way, they thought of the impediment which the great stone would be which closed the Sepulchre of the Redeemer. They most probably knew nothing of the guard which Pilate had set thereat the request of the High Priest. "Who will remove the stone from the entrance of the Sepulchre?" said they to each other on the way. God had removed this obstruction; for, when they arrived at the Sepulchre, they saw that the stone was rolled away and the Sepulchre was open. They went together into it, but found that the body had disappeared. An angel informed them that He, Whom they looked for, had risen, and commanded them to announce it to His disciples. Soon after, Magdalen was blessed with the appearance of the Lord in the form of a gardener, which is more circumstantially related in the Gospel. There is no doubt that she several times had the grace to see her Divine Master during the forty days He was upon earth. She was also present when He gloriously ascended to heaven; after which He, on Pentecost day, sent the Holy Ghost to His disciples, apostles, and other faithful followers. As long as Magdalen remained at Jerusalem, she was with the Divine Mother and other pious women.

A considerable time after these events, the Christians were cruelly persecuted, and the Jews were determined to suffer Lazarus, the brother of St. Magdalen, no longer in Jerusalem, as he was a living testimony to the divinity of Christ. Hence they placed him, his two sisters, Magdalen and Martha, a servant of theirs, named Marcella, and Maximin, one of the 72 disciples of Christ, in a boat, without rudder, sail, or boatman, took them far from the land into the high sea, and left them, being quite certain that the waves would soon swallow the boat and all its occupants. But God led them safely to France, and they landed at Marseilles amid a crowd of heathens who had come to the shore. This miraculous voyage prepared the hearts of the heathen inhabitants to receive the true Faith. Lazarus, who had been consecrated bishop by the apostles, made his episcopal See in the same city where they had landed. Maximin, as priest, chose the city of Aix as his residence. Martha slowly gathered a great many women around her, and having instructed them in the Christian faith, led a retired, pious, almost a religious life with them, while Magdalen converted a great many by her teachings and her holy life. In the course of time, however, she retired into a desert, far from any habitations of men, and made her abode in the dark cavern of a mountain. There she dwelt during 30 years, leading a most severe life, occupied in praying, contemplating the divine mysteries, and the bitter Passion and death of our Saviour. She repented daily, with floods of tears, of the iniquities of her former days, although she had heard from the lips of Christ that they were forgiven. In one word, her life was much more that of an angel than that of a human being. Hence we may well believe, what many relate of her, that she was frequently visited by angels, who provided her with food and even raised her into heaven to hear the seraphic choir sing the praises of the Most High. Before her death, she was carried by two spirits of light into a little church two miles from her dwelling, where, having received from the hands of St. Maximin the food of the angels, she soon after gave her soul into the keeping of Him Whom she had so fervently loved while upon earth.

The cavern in the mountain where the great penitent so long dwelt, as well as the little church which contains her relics, are renowned for the many miracles wrought there. The most illustrious, however, was the Saint herself, who from so great a sinner became so great a penitent and so fervent a lover of Christ. The holy fathers can hardly find words of praise enough, not only for her heroic conversion, but also for her generous, faithful, and fervent love towards her Saviour. And who can sufficiently admire the austere penance, lasting for 30 years, which she underwent in the cavern, although she knew that her sins were entirely forgiven?




PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS


I. St. Magdalen is an example of a great sinner, a great and true penitent, and at the same time a great Saint. Consider her life well. She was a great sinner; hence the holy Evangelist calls her "a sinner of the city;" but she nevertheless obtained pardon for her sins and gained salvation. Learn from this that you need not despair, although your iniquities may be great and manifold. You can obtain pardon and gain salvation just as well as Magdalen, if you do true penance as she did. The beginning and the road that led Magdalen to repentance was listening to the word of God. Had she neglected this, who can tell if ever she would have come to the knowledge of her sin, and to repentance? May this teach you how necessary sermons are for sinners. Many remain and die in their iniquities because they neglect attending them. Magdalen displayed unusual greatness of heart, when, conquering herself, she entered the house of a stranger, and in the presence of all those at table with Christ, cast herself at His feet and repentantly acknowledged herself a sinner.

Let it be a lesson to you that a sinner must conquer himself, if he will do true penance and obtain pardon for his evil doings. It needs only one firm resolution to overcome himself, should it be a hard task to confess his iniquities. If he was not ashamed to do evil, why should he be ashamed to confess it? It is not required of him to confess his sins publicly before all men, but only to the priest, who, he knows, dares never reveal a word of what is told to him. If he still thinks it impossible to confess his sins, let him remember that it is incomparably easier than to bear the sufferings of hell. Magdalen begged of Christ nothing but the forgiveness of her sins, while others going to Him asked of Him health for themselves or others. "She alone," says St. John Chrysostom, "begged for the health of her soul, for deliverance from sin, and was immediately heard." This should be an example to you, that you should ask nothing of God more frequently, than to forgive your sins, and lead you to everlasting life. This prayer will reach the throne of God much sooner, and be answered by Him much more certainly, than if you request of Him temporal goods, which are often more injurious than wholesome.


II. As soon as Magdalen recognized the gulf into which her sins were precipitating her, she did penance, which she continued until the end of her life, although she was certain that she had obtained pardon. She endeavored to atone for her past offences by following Christ even to His cross, by nourishing a fervent love for Him, by faithfully attending His instructions, by displaying unwearied zeal in converting others. God enlightens you in regard to the misfortune and danger in which you are. You also recognize the necessity to do penance. Oh! do not neglect to tear yourself away from all evil, and do not put off your penance from day to day until death overtakes you. Neither be content with only confessing your sins, but repent of them daily, and practice works of penance as long as your life lasts. Try to expiate, in a measure, the evil deeds of your past life, by great fervor in the service of the Almighty, and by other works of love and charity. Endeavor also to lead others to the feet of your Lord. By following the penitential life of St. Magdalen you may rest assured that you will follow her into eternal bliss. Further, do you not think that Magdalen has oftentimes given humble thanks to God for not having let her die in her sin, but having given her time to do penance? I believe this most certainly; and you have every reason to do the same, since, how long would you be in hell, if you had died in your sin? To whom do you owe thanks for not having died? Oh! to no one else than the infinitely merciful God, to the same God Whom you have so often offended! How do you thank your Saviour for so priceless a grace? " Whom have I to thank," asks St. Augustine, "that the earth has not engulfed me? that heaven has not annihilated me with a thunderbolt? that fire has not burned me to ashes? or that water has not drowned me? Whom have I to thank for it but Lover of my soul! Whose mercy is above all His works." But let me ask you, does God, so inexpressibly kind to you, deserve that you should renew your offences? Oh! what a question! Truly you must be the most ungrateful of all human beings, if you again offend the Almighty, after He has shown such mercy to you. Magdalen acted not thus: but, on the contrary, loved her Saviour with a constant affection; as otherwise, her penance would not have been true. And thus will your penance not be true, not sufficient to save your soul, if you again offend God. "It is a useless penance," says St. Augustine, "if we again tarnish it with new sin. Repentance is idle, if we commit the sin again. To ask pardon for sin committed, and then to sin again, is folly."



O Most merciful Jesus, I give Thee thanks for that work of piety which the blessed Mary Magdalen wrought on Thee when she washed thy feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed them and anointed them with fragrant ointment; whereby she obtained from Thee such signal grace that Thou didst pour into her heart and soul so great love of Thee that she could love nothing apart from Thee: beseeching Thee that by her merits and intercessions Thou wouldst vouchsafe to grant me tears of true repentance, and pour into my heart Thy divine love. Amen.

Retirement humor

Why I Like Retirement ! (and, I've liked it for ten years now)


Question: How many days in a week?
Answer: 6 Saturdays, 1 Sunday

Question: When is a retiree's bedtime?
Answer: Two hours after he falls asleep on the couch.

Question: How many retirees to change a light bulb?
Answer: Only one, but it might take all day.

Question: What's the biggest gripe of retirees?
Answer: There is not enough time to get everything done.

Question: Why don't retirees mind being called Seniors?
Answer: The term comes with a 10% discount. And, you get a discount on the golf course.

Question: Among retirees, what is considered formal attire?
Answer: Tied shoes.

Question: Why do retirees count pennies?
Answer: They are the only ones who have the time.

Question: What is the common term for someone who enjoys work and
refuses to retire?
Answer: NUTS!

Question: Why are retirees so slow to clean out the basement, attic or
garage?
Answer: They know that as soon as they do, one of their adult kids will
want to store stuff there.

Question: What do retirees call a long lunch?
Answer: Normal ...........

Question: What is the best way to describe retirement?
Answer: The never ending Coffee Break.

Question: What's the biggest advantage of going back to school as a
retiree?
Answer: If you cut classes, no one calls your parents.

Question: Why does a retiree often say he doesn't miss work, but misses
the people he used to work with?
Answer: He is too polite to tell the whole truth.

And, my very favorite....

QUESTION: What do you do all week?
Answer: Monday through Friday, NOTHING..... Saturday & Sunday, I rest.



SERENITY

Reporters interviewing a 104-year-old woman:
The reporter asked, 'What is the best thing about being 104?'
Her reply, "No peer pressure"


The nice thing about being senile is
you can hide your own Easter eggs and have fun finding them.


I've sure gotten old!
I've had two bypass surgeries, a hip replacement,
new knees, fought prostate cancer and diabetes.
I'm half blind, can't hear anything quieter than
a jet engine, take 40 different medications that
make me dizzy, winded, and subject to blackouts.
Have bouts with dementia. Have poor circulation;
hardly feel my hands and feet anymore. I'm 85 or 92
can't remember. Have lost all my friends. But,
thank God, I still have my driver's license.



I feel like my body has gotten totally out of shape,
so I got my doctor's permission to join a fitness
club and start exercising. I decided to take an
aerobics class for seniors. I bent, twisted,
gyrated, jumped up and down, and perspired for
an hour. But, by the time I got my leotards on,
the class was over.


My memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
Also, my memory's not as sharp as it used to be.


Know how to prevent sagging?
Just eat till the wrinkles fill out.


It's scary when you start making the same noises
as your coffee maker.



About half the stuff in my shopping cart says,
'For fast relief.'



Always Remember This:
You don't stop laughing because you grow old,
You grow old because you stop laughing!


THE SENILITY PRAYER :

Grant me the senility to
forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do,
and the eyesight to tell the difference.


Now, I think you're supposed to share this with
maybe 10 others. Oh heck, give it to a bunch of
your friends if you can remember who they are!

Another thing to remember: Your older friends can be told your secrets, since they probably won't remember them either.

Ginkgo Biloba, or something like that, is to be taken to help with memory. But, you have to remember to take it, if possible.

Sst. Jerome Emiliani

SAINT JEROME EMILIAN
Founder of the Somascans
(1481-1537)
Patron Saint of:

Orphans, abandoned children

This day we honor a saint who was dedicated to helping the 'little ones', orphans and the less fortunate than most. We should always keep them in mind, because these days they don't seem to have a chance, especially if there is no one to help and teach them. I want to start with some preaching from the 'Golden Mouth' of St. John Chrysostom:

>"The soul of the child is free from all passions. He bears no ill-will towards them that have done him harm, but goes to them as friends, just as if they had done nothing. And though he be often beaten by his mother, yet he always seeks her and loves her more than anyone else. If you show him a queen in her royal crown, he prefers his mother clad in rags, and would rather see her unadorned than the queen in magnificent attire; for he does not appreciate according to riches or poverty, but by love. He seeks not for more than is necessary, and as soon as he has had sufficient milk he quits the breast. He is not oppressed with the same sorrows as we, nor troubled with care for money and the like; neither is he rejoiced by our transitory pleasures, nor affected by corporal beauty. Therefore our Lord said: "...Of such is the kingdom of heaven, wishing us to do of our own free will what children do by nature.


St. Jerome Emiliani, born in 1481, was a member of one of the Christian patrician families of Venice, and in early life a soldier. Showing in his youth much inclination to virtue, he studied the humanities with success until the age of fifteen, when the clash of arms interrupted his peaceful pursuits and his practice of virtue. And then, only his ambition for honors placed limits to his disorders; it was necessary to live honorably in order to receive promotions. He was appointed governor of a fortress in the mountains of Treviso, and while defending his post with outstanding bravery, was made prisoner by the enemy. In the misery of his dungeon he invoked amid tears the great Mother of God, recognizing that his chastisement was just. He promised, nonetheless, if She would set him free, to lead a new and better life, more worthy of his Christian heritage, and to make known Her benefits in every possible way. Our Lady mercifully appeared to him at once, gave him the keys he needed, and commanded him to fulfill faithfully what he had promised. She led him out through the ranks of his enemies to the gate of the city. He went to Her Church at Treviso and dedicated himself to the service of the One who had delivered him, proclaiming Her mercies to all listeners. He consigned to writing, and had notarized, an account of his deliverance.

On reaching his home in Venice he undertook a life of active charity, causing admiration in all who had known him as a worldling. His special love was for the deserted orphan children whom he found wandering in the streets during a famine and an epidemic in 1528. Already he had converted his house into a hospital, selling even its furnishings to clothe and feed the poor folk who came in great numbers to him, when they heard he had procured wheat from other regions. He acquired a house for the children, and after recovering miraculously from the illness which he had contracted during the epidemic, he himself taught them the Christian truths. Soon the accounts of his pious orphanage brought visitors, and financial aid sufficient to sustain the enterprise. He was then entrusted with the Venitian Hospital for the Incurables. When he needed some particular grace, he had four orphans under eight years of age pray with him, and the grace never failed to arrive. In Venice he was aided in his Hospital by his friends, Saint Cajetan of Thienna and Saint Peter Caraffa of Naples.

He founded a hospital in Verona and an orphanage in Padua. At Bergamo, which had been struck by a pestilence and famine, he went out with the reapers he could assemble, and cut wheat in the hottest season of the Italian summer. At their head, he sang Christian hymns in his rich voice, engaging the others to follow his example. There he founded two orphanages and succeeded in closing a number of houses of ill repute; he gave their inhabitants whom he converted a rule of life and procured a residence for them. The bishop was aiding him constantly; and he sent him out to other villages and hamlets to teach the children Christian doctrine. Multiple conversions resulted in all directions. Two holy priests joined him in Bergamo, soon followed by other noble gentlemen. This was the origin of the Congregation of Regular Clerics, called the Somascans because of their residence at Somasca, situated between Milan and Bergamo. The Congregation was approved in 1540 by Pope Paul III, and the Order spread in Italy. Saint Jerome died in 1537 at the age of 56, from the illness he contracted while caring for the sick during an epidemic in the region of Bergamo.

He made himself all to all, refusing no labor, and helping the peasants in the fields, and, while doing this, giving them a catechism.

Very often in our lives it seems to take some kind of “imprisonment” to free us from the shackles of our self-centeredness. When we’re “caught” in some situation we don’t want to be in, we finally come to know the liberating power of Another, Our Saviour. Only then can we become another for “the imprisoned” and “the orphaned” all around us.

Let us all try to learn from Saint Jerome to exert ourselves in behalf of the many hundreds of children whose souls are perishing around us, for want of someone to show them the way to heaven.


Prayer of St. Jerome Emiliani


O Mary, thou art twice Mother of Mercy, because thou hast been made Mother of our most merciful Savior, and furthermore because thou hast given to us so many signs of thy maternal care and love. Turn upon us, we beseech thee, thy glance of compassion, and grant that we may always live free from sin, which is the only impediment to receiving the fruits of the divine mercies. Amen.

(Indulgence 50 days)




O sweetest Jesus, be not unto me a Judge, but a Saviour!

(Indulgence 300 days)

St. Vincent de Paul

Today is the feast day of St. Vincent de Paul. Following is a short synopsis of his life. And, My wife and I have a relic of his, given to us by a very pious priest who actually still believed in intercession and miracles. We shall definitely ask his powerful intercession in our daily duties.


SAINT VINCENT de PAUL
Founder of the Lazarist Fathers
and the Daughters of Charity
(1576-1660)

Saint Vincent was born in 1576 near Dax, south of Bordeaux, of a poor family which survived by means of their labor. It seemed that "mercy was born with him." When sent by his father to the mill to procure flour, if he met a poor man coming home, he would open the sack and give him handfuls of flour when he had nothing else. His Christian father was not angry; seeing his good dispositions, he was sure his son should become a priest, and placed him as a boarding student with a group of religious priests in Dax. Vincent made rapid progress, and after seven years of studying theology at Toulouse and in Saragossa, Spain, was ordained a priest in 1600. He always concealed his learning and followed the counsel of Saint Paul who said, "I have wanted to know nothing in your midst but Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ crucified." (Protestants definitely miss this point, since they have removed Him from their cross. They don't seem to understand that all time from the beginning is present at all time to Him, and that we must continue to remember His suffering always until our demise.)

His charity embraced the poor, the young and the aged, the provinces desolated by civil war, Christians enslaved by the infidels. The poor man, ignorant and degraded, was to him the image of Him who became as "a leper and no man." "Turn the medal," he said, "and you will see Jesus Christ." He went through the streets of Paris at night, seeking the infants and children left there to die - three or four hundred every year. Once robbers rushed upon him, thinking he carried a treasure, but when he opened his cloak, they recognized him and his burden, an abandoned infant, and fell at his feet. Not only was Saint Vincent the providence of the poor, but also of the rich, for he taught them to undertake works of mercy. When in 1648 the work of the foundlings was in danger of failure for want of funds, he assembled the ladies of the Association of Charity, and said, "Compassion and charity have made you adopt these little creatures as your children. You have been their mothers according to grace, when their own mothers abandoned them. Will you now cease to be their mothers? Their life and death are in your hands. I shall take your votes; it is time to pronounce sentence." The tears of the assembly were his only answer, and the work was continued.

St. Vincent offers his opinion:

"What is done for charity's sake is done for God. It is not enough for us that we love God ourselves; our neighbor also must love him; neither can we love our neighbor as ourselves unless we procure for him the good we are bound to desire for ourselves--viz., divine love, which unites us to our Sovereign Good. We must love our neighbor as the image of God and the object of His love, and must try to make men love their Creator in return, and love one another also with mutual charity for the love of God, Who so loved them as to deliver His own Son to death for them. But let us, I beg of you, look upon this Divine Savior as a perfect pattern of the charity we must bear to our neighbor."

St. Vincent de Paul and the Sisters of Charity (painting from 1907)

And again, who went through suffering, taking, through a fraudulent account, being able to take the place of a galley slave who was in chains. Remember, St. Vincent was a pitiless foe to heresy, and NOT just a patron saint to the poor. He would not rest until he had obtained either the banishment or the chastisement of the perpetrators of the heresy. He was one of the first to denounce and prosecute the pernicious error of Jansenism. Never, perhaps, were these words of Holy Scripture better verified: The simplicity of the just shall guide them; and the deceitfulness of the wicked shall destroy them. Though this sect expressed, later on, a supreme disdain for Monsieur Vincent, it had not always been of that mind. Vincent said to a friend: "I am most particularly obliged to bless and thank God, for not having suffered the first and principal professors of that doctrine, men of my acquaintance and friendship, to be able to draw me to their opinions. I cannot tell you what pains they took, and what reasons they propounded to me; I objected to them, amongst other things, the authority of the Council of Trent, which is clearly opposed to them; and seeing that they still continued, I, instead of answering them, quietly recited my Credo; and that is how I have remained firm in the Catholic Faith." (Something to always remember)

The Priests of the Mission or Lazarists, as they are called, and thousands of the Daughters of Charity still comfort the afflicted with the charity of their holy Founder. It has been said of him that no one has ever verified more perfectly than Saint Vincent, the words of Our Lord: "He who humbles himself shall be exalted, and he that exalts himself shall be humbled..." The more Vincent strove to abase himself in the eyes of all, the more God took pleasure in elevating him and bestowing His blessings on him and on all his works. He died in 1660, in an old age made truly golden by his unceasing good works.

Most people who profess piety ask advice of directors about their prayers and spiritual exercises. Many of these are 'legends in their own mind'. Few inquire whether they are not in danger of damnation from neglect of works of charity. But then, since we are told that everybody goes to heaven, why bother? Let us never forget the terrible foretold words of the Final Judge:

"Depart from me, workers of iniquity; I was hungry, and you did not feed Me; I was without shelter, you did not take Me in...; I was sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me, etc." (Cf. Matt. 26:31-46)



From the Pen of Saint Vincent de Paul:


Every time that some unexpected event befalls us, be it affliction, or be it spiritual or corporal consolation, we should endeavor to receive it with equanimity of spirit, since all comes from the hand of God.


He who submits himself to God in all things is certain that whatever men say or do against him will always turn to his advantage.


After knowing the will of God in regard to a work which we undertake, we should continue courageously, however difficult it may be. We should follow it to the end with as much constancy as the obstacles we encounter are great.


We should never abandon, on account of the difficulties we encounter, an enterprise undertaken with due reflection.



We should be cordial and affable with the poor, and with persons in humble circumstances. We should not treat them in a supercilious manner. Haughtiness makes them revolt. On the contrary, when we are affable with them, they become more docile and derive more benefit from the advice they receive.


That which we suffer in the accomplishment of a good work, merits for us the necessary graces to insure its success.


We ought to have a special devotion to those saints who excelled in humility, particularly to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who declares that the Lord regarded her on account of her humility.



The continual labors and cares of St. Vincent had only one aim: the spiritual welfare of others and the prevention of all offences to God. He declaimed against those who incited others to sin and vice, and thus led them to eternal destruction. He fully comprehended the truth of the words of St. Dionysius the Areopagite: "Among all divine works none is more divine than laboring with God for the salvation of souls." Have you no opportunity to perform a work which is so agreeable in the sight of the Lord? Think well, and do not neglect it. St. Vincent was also convinced that among all evil works, there is none more evil and displeasing to God than when we incite others to sin and thus assist the devil in gaining souls. Those who do this are called by the Holy Fathers of the Church messengers, representatives, vicars of the devil, because they are sent and incited by him to execute his plans for the destruction of men. They are his vicars, because they do that which is really the devil's work. Still more severely speaks St. James of Nisibis: "All those," says he, "deserve the name of devils, who prevent others from keeping those commandments, which appear hard to keep, and who advise them to follow the devices of the flesh." He means to say that such people may be regarded as real devils; but I add that they are worse, more hurtful and more to be feared than the devils themselves, as many a person whom Satan cannot tempt, is incited to sin by their flatteries, promises, and still more by their bad example, and, hence is led to destruction. If you, therefore, desire to be a representative of the devil, or his vicar, you ought to be informed that his abiding place belongs also to you. According to the words of Christ, hell is prepared for the devil and his angels: "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels " (Matth. xxv.). Angel means a messenger, a representative. For you and your equals, as angels and messengers of the devil; for you, deceiver, as a representative of the devil, for you is hell, and in hell the eternal fire, if you do not leave your wicked ways. Endeavor to repair the evil you have occasioned, and do penance. What will you do?



Novena Prayer in Honor of
St. Vincent de Paul

O glorious Saint Vincent, heavenly patron of all charitable associations and father of all who are in misery, whilst thou wast on earth thou didst never cast out any who came to thee; ah, consider by what evils we are oppressed and come to our assistance! Obtain from thy Lord help for the poor, relief for the infirm, consolation for the afflicted, protection for the abandoned, a spirit of generosity for the rich, the grace of conversion for sinners, zeal for priests, peace for the Church, tranquillity and order for all nations, and salvation for them all. Yea, let all men prove the effects of thy merciful intercession, so that, being helped by thee in the miseries of this life, we may be united to thee in the life to come, where there shall be no more grief, nor weeping, nor sorrow, but joy and gladness and everlasting happiness. Amen


(Indulgence of 300 days; plenary indulgence once a month, on the usual conditions, for the daly devout recitation of this prayer. --Pius IX., Nov. 23, 1876)