2nd Sunday after Easter

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday, the 2nd Sunday after Easter. Jesus is our good Shepherd. He says: "I know my sheep and my sheep know me." However, He is invisible to us unless we have been given a special grace. But, He left us the road we need to follow to reach our goal, and that is to be with Him and His Mother and all the saints in heaven. That road is the One, Holy, CATHOLIC, and Apostolic Church. He has left Peter, the first Pope, in charge of it, along with his successors until the end of time. Jesus told Peter: "Feed my lambs, feed my lambs, and feed my sheep."
The lambs are us. The sheep are the older and wiser ones, the leaders of His Church. They are suppose to teach the Truth which comes through Jesus to Peter, all of the Popes, the Cardinals, the Bishops, and then to the rest of us. If they fail and do NOT teach us what the Apostles taught, they are wrong, PERIOD!  (And, we need to correct them when they are wrong!  It is our duty)  These last 50+ years we have seen a departure from the original intent of Jesus. Our 'sheep' seem to be making a new church which strongly resembles the protestant churches; thus, not teaching what they ought. We are told: "All churches have a little of the truth, and when we put them altogether, we have the total truth." As I have said before, this is a huge 'PANTLOAD!'

Jesus did NOT found 100,000+ churches, He founded ONE Church. We need to really and sincerely study what the Apostles taught to get to our goal. However, we have the Church to tell us the Truth lest we stray from it. We need to read the 'Syllabus of Errors' which was written by Pope Pius IX, about 150 years ago. He anathamatizes a lot of what has been going on in the Church the past 50+ years. Well worth the read. Get busy!

You know, St. Paul withstood Peter to his face on an error he was promoting (about having to be circumcised to be saved); Peter saw his error and corrected it. Sometimes we need to confront our leaders when they are wrong to help them and their souls. Because, as in my bio, if we don't say something, we are guilty of promoting the same errors. We don't want that.


"Even if Catholics faithful to Tradition are reduced to a handful,
they are the ones who are the True Church of Jesus Christ."St. Athanasius 4th Century

Prayer To God The Son For The Extirpation Of Heresy
O Jesus, the true light which enlighteneth every man coming into this world, grant, I beseech thee, by the merits of Thy passion and death, that all errors and heresies may be driven back into darkness; that all mankind may behold the light of Thy truth, and may hasten into the bosom of Thy holy Church. Oh, good Shepherd, who hast given thy life for Thy sheep, protect Thy flock, and defend it from the strength and the snares of those who come upon it in the clothing of lambs, but are, in reality, ravenous wolves. Grant that all may follow one Shepherd and that all may form only one flock. Stay with us, O Lord, according to thy promise, "Behold I am with you all days, even until the consummation of the world." Show that Thy church is built upon a rock, and that the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. Amen.


Our Father, &c. Hail Mary, &c.


Jesus, Shepherd of our souls, have mercy on us.



Hymn of Thanks to the Good Shepherd
by one who has been brought back to the Fold. (How many of us have been here?)

"I am the Good Shepherd, and I know Mine and Mine, know Me."--John X. 14:


I was wandering and weary.
When my Saviour came unto me;
For the ways of sin grew dreary,
And the world had ceased to woo me.
And I thought I heard Him say,
As He came along His way,
O silly souls, come near Me;
My sheep should never fear Me;
I am the Shepherd true!


At first I would not hearken,
And put off till the morrow;
But life began to darken,
And I was sick with sorrow;
And I thought I heard Him say,
As He came along His way,
O silly souls, come near Me;
My sheep should never fear Me;
I am the Shepherd true!


At last I stopped to listen,
His voice could not deceive me;
I saw His kind eyes glisten,
So anxious to relieve me;
And I thought I heard Him say,
As He came along His way,
O silly souls, come near Me;
My sheep should never fear me;
I am the Shepherd true!


He took me on His shoulder,
And tenderly He kissed me;
He bade my love be bolder,
And said how He had missed me;
And I'm sure I heard Him say,
As He went along His way,
O silly souls, come near Me;
My sheep should never fear Me;
I am the Shepherd true!


I thought His love would weaken,
As more and more He knew me;
But it burned like a beacon,
And its light and heat go through me;
And I ever hear Him say,
As He goes along His way,
O silly souls, come near Me;
My sheep should never fear Me;
I am the Shepherd true!


Let us do, then, dearest Brothers,
What will best and longest please us.
Follow not the ways of others,
But trust ourselves to Jesus;
We shall ever hear Him say,
As He goes along His way,
O silly souls, come near Me;
My sheep should never fear Me;
I am the Shepherd true!

Prayer to St. Michael

The following prayer was written by Pope Leo XIII in 1884.  Consequentially, this vision he saw was on October 13, exactly 33 years before Our Mother visited the three children in Fatima with her love and her warnings.  Coincidence?  I think NOT!


Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel
One day after celebrating Mass, Pope Leo XIII was found staring blankly. A moment later, he suddenly snapped back to the present and quickly shut himself into to his private office. A half an hour later, with his attendants knocking to see if everything was okay, he emerged having composed the Prayer to St. Michael. From that day forward, he was known to regularly recite the prayer.
What did he see that inspired the prayer? In one account, he had a vision of demonic forces circling Rome. In another account, Leo actually heard a conversation between God and Satan, in which God allowed Satan to choose one century in which to do his worst work. And what century did the evil one choose? The 20th century.  (Maybe the 100 years was given to be for the Fatima visits of the Blessed Mother to the three children in 1917, and this the end of that period)
(One of the worst things that Pope Paul VI did was get rid of this prayer, which was to be said after Low Mass by decree of Pope Leo XIII.  I guess that there wasn't to be anymore evil in the world, so this petition is worthless.  Huh?)

Keep praying!

ORIGINAL PRAYER TO ST. MICHAEL “O Glorious Prince of the heavenly host, St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in the battle and in the terrible warfare that we are waging against the principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the evil spirits. Come to the aid of man, whom Almighty God created immortal, made in His own image and likeness, and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of Satan. “Fight this day the battle of the Lord, together with the holy angels, as already thou hast fought the leader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his apostate host, who were powerless to resist thee, nor was there place for them any longer in Heaven. That cruel, ancient serpent, who is called the devil or Satan who seduces the whole world, was cast into the abyss with his angels. Behold, this primeval enemy and slayer of men has taken courage. Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the name of God and of His Christ, to seize upon, slay and cast into eternal perdition souls destined for the crown of eternal glory. This wicked dragon pours out, as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity. “These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on her most sacred possessions. In the Holy Place itself, where the See of Holy Peter and the Chair of Truth has been set up as the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety, with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck, the sheep may be. “Arise then, O invincible Prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and give them the victory. They venerate thee as their protector and patron; in thee holy Church glories as her defense against the malicious power of hell; to thee has God entrusted the souls of men to be established in heavenly beatitude. Oh, pray to the God of peace that He may put Satan under our feet, so far conquered that he may no longer be able to hold men in captivity and harm the Church. Offer our prayers in the sight of the Most High, so that they may quickly find mercy in the sight of the Lord; and vanquishing the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, do thou again make him captive in the abyss, that he may no longer seduce the nations. Amen. V. Behold the Cross of the Lord; be scattered ye hostile powers. R. The Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered the root of David. V. Let Thy mercies be upon us, O Lord. R. As we have hoped in Thee. V. O Lord, hear my prayer. R. And let my cry come unto Thee. Let us pray. O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we call upon Thy holy Name, and as supplicants, we implore Thy clemency, that by the intercession of Mary, ever Virgin Immaculate and our Mother, and of the glorious St. Michael the Archangel, Thou wouldst deign to help us against Satan and all the other unclean spirits who wander about the world for the injury of the human race and the ruin of souls. Amen.” Roman Raccolta, July 23, 1898, supplement approved July 31, 1902, London: Burnes, Oates & Washbourne Ltd., 1935, 12th edition. Short Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander (prowl) throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen. Sáncte Míchael Archángele, defénde nos in proélio, cóntra nequítiam et insídias diáboli ésto præsídium. Ímperet ílli Déus, súpplices deprecámur: tuque, prínceps milítiæ cæléstis, Sátanam aliósque spíritus malígnos, qui ad perditiónem animárum pervagántur in múndo, divína virtúte, in inférnum detrúde. Ámen

St. Peter of Verona

St. Peter of Verona, Martyr (1206-1252)
Father Prosper Gueranger 1870
The Hammer of heretics

The hero deputed this day, by the Church, to greet our risen Lord, was so valiant in the good fight, that martyrdom is part of his name. He is known as Peter the Martyr; so that we cannot speak of him, without raising the echo of victory. He was put to death by heretics, and is the grand tribute paid to our Redeemer by the 13th Century. Never was there a triumph hailed with greater enthusiasm than this. The martyrdom of St. Thomas of Canterbury excited the admiration of the faithful of the preceding century, for nothing was so dear to our forefathers as the liberty of the Church; the martyrdom of St. Peter was celebrated with a like intensity of praise and joy. Let us hearken to the fervid eloquence of the great Pontiff, Innocent IV, who thus begins the Bull of the Martyr's Canonization:

"The truth of the Christian faith, manifested, as it has been, by great and frequent miracles, is now beautified by the new merit of a new Saint. Lo! a combatant of these our own times comes, bringing us new and great and triumphant signs. The voice of his blood shed (for Christ) is heard, and the fame of his martyrdom is trumpeted, through the world. The land is not silent that sweateth with his blood; the country that produced so noble a warrior resounds with his praise; yea, the very sword that did the deed of parricide proclaims his glory. Mother Church has great reason to rejoice, and abundant matter for gladness; she has cause to sing a new canticle to the Lord, and a hymn of fervent praise to her God: the Christian people has cause to give forth devout songs to its Creator. A sweet fruit, gathered in the garden of Faith, has been set upon the table of the Eternal King: a grape-bunch, taken from the vineyard of the Church, has filled the royal cup with new wine. The flourishing Order of Preachers has produced a red rose, whose sweetness is most grateful to the King; and from the Church here on earth, there has been taken a stone, which, after being cut and polished, has deserved a place of honour in the temple of heaven. (The Apostolic Constitution Magnis et crebris, of the 9th of the Kalends of April, 1253)"

Such was the language wherewith the supreme Pontiff spoke of the new Martyr, and the people responded by celebrating his Feast with extraordinary devotion. It was kept as were the ancient Festivals, that is, all servile work was forbidden upon it. The Churches served by the Fathers of the Dominican Order were crowded on his Feast; and the faithful took little branches with them, that they might be blessed, in memory of the triumph of Peter the Martyr. This custom is still observed; and the branches blessed by the Dominicans, on this day, are venerated as being a protection to the houses where they are kept.

How are we to account for all this fervent devotion of the people towards St. Peter? It was because he died in defense of the Faith; and nothing was so dear to the Christians of those days as faith. Peter had received the charge to take up all the heretics, who, at that time, were causing great disturbance and scandal in the country round about Milan. They were called Cathari, but, in reality, were Manicheans; their teachings were detestable, and their lives of the most immoral kind. Peter fulfilled his duty with a firmness and equity, which soon secured him the hatred of the heretics; and when he fell a victim to his holy courage, a cry of admiration and gratitude was heard throughout Christendom. Nothing could be more devoid of truth, than the accusations brought, by the enemies of the Church and their indiscreet abettors, against the measures formerly decreed by the public law of Catholic nations, in order to foil the efforts made by evil-minded men to injure the true Faith. In those times, no tribunal was so popular as that whose office it was to protect the Faith, and to put down all them that attacked it. It was to the Order of St. Dominic that this office was mainly entrusted; and well may they be proud of the honour of having so long held one so beneficial to the salvation of mankind. How many of its members have met with a glorious death in the exercise of their stern duty! St. Peter is the first of the Martyrs given by the Order for this holy cause: his name, however, heads a long list of others, who were his brethren in Religion, his successors in the defense of the Faith, and his followers to martyrdom. The coercive measures that were once, and successfully, used to defend the Faithful from heretical teachers, have long since ceased to be used: but for us Catholics, our judgment of them must surely be that of the Church. She bids us today honour as a Martyr one of her Saints, who was put to death whilst resisting the wolves that threatened the sheep of Christ's fold; should we not be guilty of disrespect to our Mother, if we dared to condemn what she so highly approves? Far, then, be from us that cowardly truckling to the spirit of the age, which would make us ashamed of the courageous efforts made by our forefathers for the preservation of the Faith! Far from us that childish readiness to believe the calumnies of Protestants against an Institution which they naturally detest! Far from us that deplorable confusion of ideas which puts truth and error on an equality, and, from the fact that error can have no rights, concludes that truth can claim none!


The following is the account given us by the Church of the virtues and heroism of St. Peter the Martyr.


Peter was born at Verona, of parents who were infected with the heresy of the Manichees; but he himself, almost from his very infancy, fought against heresies. When he was seven years old, there he nonetheless attended a Catholic school. He was one day asked by an uncle, who was a heretic, what they taught him at the school he went to. He answered, that they taught him the symbol of the Christian Faith, "The Creed," answered Peter: "I believe in God, Creator of heaven and earth." His father and uncle did all they could, both by promises and threats, to shake the firmness of his faith: but all to no purpose. When old enough, he went to Bologna, in order to prosecute his studies. Whilst there, he was called by the Holy Ghost to a life of perfection, and obeyed the call by entering into the Order of St. Dominic.

After his ordination, he preached to the heretics of Lombardy and converted multitudes. Saint Peter was constantly obliged to dispute with heretics, and although he was able to confound them, still the devil took occasion thereby to tempt him one day against faith. Instantly he had recourse to prayer before an image of Our Lady, and heard a voice saying to him the words of Jesus Christ in the Gospel, "I have prayed for thee, Peter, that thy faith may not fail; and thou shalt confirm thy brethren in it." (Luke 22:32)

He often conversed with the Saints, and one day the martyred virgins Catherine, Agnes and Cecilia appeared to him and conferred with him. A passing religious, hearing their feminine voices, accused him to their Superior, who without hesitation or questions, exiled him to a convent where no preaching was being done. St. Peter submitted humbly, but complained in prayer to Jesus crucified that He was abandoning him to his bad reputation. The crucifix spoke: "And I, Peter, was I too not innocent? Learn from Me to suffer the greatest sorrows with joy." Eventually his innocence was brought to light; for his part, he had learned in his solitude to love humiliation and confusion.

Again engaged in preaching, miracles accompanied his exhortations. He traveled all over Italy and became famous. Once when preaching to a vast crowd under the burning sun, the heretics defied him to procure shade. He prayed, and a cloud overshadowed the audience.

Every day at the elevation of the Mass he prayed, "Grant, Lord, that I may die for Thee, who for me didst die." His prayer was answered. His enemies, confounded by him, sought his life. Two of them attacked him in 1252 on the road to Milan and struck his head with an axe. St. Peter fell, commended himself to God, dipped his finger in his own blood, and wrote on the ground, "I believe in God, Creator of heaven and earth." He was then stabbed to death. The brother religious accompanying him also suffered death. The details of the crime were made known by St. Peter's murderer, named Carino, who after fleeing from justice confessed his crime, asking for a penance from the Dominican Fathers. He took the habit, and according to their testimony lived the life of a saint and persevered to the end. Miracles at St. Peter's tomb and elsewhere converted a great many heretics.


Great were his virtues as a Religious man. So careful was he to keep both body and soul from whatsoever could sully their purity, that his conscience never accused him of committing a mortal sin.

He mortified his body by fasting and watching, and applied his mind to the contemplation of heavenly things. He laboured incessantly for the salvation of souls, and was gifted with a special grace for refuting heretics. He was so earnest when preaching, that people used to go in crowds to hear him, and numerous were the conversions that ensued.

The ardour of his faith was such, that he wished he might die for it, and earnestly did he beg that favour from God. This death, which he foretold a short time before in one of his sermons, was inflicted on him by the heretics. Whilst returning from Como to Milan, in the discharge of the duties of the holy Inquisition, he was attacked by a wicked assassin, who struck him twice on the head with a sword. The Symbol of faith, which he had confessed with manly courage when but a child, he now began to recite with his dying lips; and having received another wound in his side, he went to receive a Martyr's palm in heaven, in the year of our Lord twelve hundred and fifty-two. Numerous miracles attested his sanctity, and his name was enrolled the following year by Innocent IV, in the list of the Martyrs.


Prayer:

The victory was thine, O Peter! and thy zeal for the defence of holy Faith was rewarded. Thou ardently desiredst to shed thy blood for the holiest of causes, and, by such a sacrifice, to confirm the Faithful of Christ in their religion. Our Lord satisfied thy desire; he would even have thy martyrdom be in the festive Season of the Resurrection of our Divine Lamb, that His glory might add lustre to the beauty of thy holocaust. When the death-blow fell upon thy venerable head, and thy generous blood was flowing from the wounds, thou didst write on the ground the first words of the Creed, for whose holy truth thou wast giving thy life.

Protector of the Christian people! what other motive hadst thou, in all thy labours, but charity? What else but a desire to defend the weak from danger, induced thee not only to preach against error, but to drive its teachers from the flock? How many simple souls, who were receiving divine truth from the teaching of the Church, have been deceived by the lying sophistry of heretical doctrine, and have lost the Faith? Surely, the Church would do her utmost to ward off such dangers from her children: she would do all she could to defend them from enemies, who were bent on destroying the glorious inheritance, which had been handed down to them by millions of Martyrs! She knew the strange tendency that often exists in the heart of fallen man to love error; whereas Truth, though of itself unchanging, is not sure of its remaining firmly in the mind, unless it be defended by learning or by faith. As to learning, there are but few who possess it; and as to faith, error is ever conspiring against, and, of course, with the appearance of truth. In the Christian Ages, it would have been deemed, not only criminal, but absurd, to grant to error the liberty which is due only to truth; and they that were in authority, considered it a duty to keep the weak from danger, by removing from them all occasions of a fall, just as the father of a family keeps his children from coming in contact with wicked companions, who could easily impose on their inexperience, and lead them to evil under the name of good.

Obtain for us, O holy Martyr, a keen appreciation of the precious gift of Faith, that element which keeps us in the way of salvation. May we zealously do everything that lies in our power to preserve it, both in ourselves and in them that are under our care. The love of this holy Faith has grown cold in so many hearts; and frequent intercourse with heretics or free-thinkers has made them think and speak of matters of Faith in a very loose way. Pray for them, O Peter, that they may recover that fearless love of the Truths of Religion, which should be one of the chief traits of the Christian character. If they be living in a country, where the modern system is introduced of treating all Religions alike, that is, of giving equal rights to error and to truth, let them be all the more courageous in professing the truth, and detesting the errors opposed to the truth. Pray for us, O holy Martyr, that there may be enkindled within us an ardent love of that Faith, without which, it is impossible to please God (Heb. xi. 6). Pray that we may become all earnestness in this duty, which is of vital importance to salvation; that thus our Faith may daily gain strength within us, till at length we shall merit to see in heaven, what we have believed unhesitatingly on earth.




____________________________



From the Life of Saint Dominic:
and a sketch of the Dominican Order
by Sister Agusta Theodosia Drane

It was probably whilst the chapter was still sitting that Dominic gave the habit to one who was eventually to become one of the brightest ornaments of the order. Peter of Verona, the son of heretical parents, but himself destined to die a martyr in defense of the faith, was at that time a student in the university of Bologna, and though a mere youth of sixteen, his learning and holiness had already made his name respected among his fellows. Dominic did not live to see the glory of his future career, yet even now there were sufficient indications of it to make him peculiarly dear to the heart of the saint, who felt himself drawn by a powerful attraction to the youth whose angelic innocence of life had been united, even from infancy, to an extraordinary courage in the profession of the Catholic faith. "The hammer of the heretics," as he was commonly termed, he died by their hand, writing on the ground in his blood the word Credo; and among all the disciples whom St. Dominic left behind him: to continue his work, we may single out St. Peter Martyr as the one on whom his mantle may most surely be said to have fallen.


From his boyhood St. Peter boldly professed his Faith among heretics. He spent his life in preaching the Faith to them and received the glorious and long-desired crown of martyrdom at their hands. Are we, too, courageous, firm, zealous, full of prayer for their conversion, and unflinching in our profession of Faith?

St. Paul of the Cross

Today is the day we read and think about another great Saint who professed and delivered Christ on the Cross and in His Blessed Sacrament, St. Paul of the Cross. It seems to me, when reading about him, that he was another Padre Pio, but this time for those in the 18th century. I'm going to quote just part of today's history of him, taken from 'The Liturgical Year', by our blessed Abbot Gueranger:

'...The fire of the love of god burnt so in his heart that his garments often seemed to be scorched, and two of his ribs raised. He could not restrain his tears, particularly when saying Mass, and he was often rapt in ecstasy and raised into the air, while his face shone as with light from heaven. Sometimes when he was preaching, a heavenly voice was heard prompting him, and at others his words became audible at the distance of several miles. He was distinguished for the gifts of prophecy, of speaking with tongues, of reading the heart, and of power over evil spirits, over diseases, and over the elements. Though Popes regarded him with affection and veneration, he looked upon himself as an unprofitable servant upon whom devils might well trample. He persevered in his austerities until extreme old age, and died at Rome on the day he had himself foretold (October 18, 1775), after having received the Last Sacraments and the consolation of a heavenly vision. He left the spirit of his teaching as an inheritance to his disciples in the beautiful exhortations he made to them on his death-bed. Pope Pius IX enrolled him among the Blessed, and, after renewed signs and wonders, proceeded to his Canonization.'

Paul of the Cross was born at Ovada in Liguria [northern Italy], and was descended from a noble family of Castellazzo near Alessandria [Piedmont]. The brilliance of his future holiness was foreshown by a wonderful light which filled his mother's room at night while she was in labor, and by a remarkable favor of the august Queen of heaven who delivered him unhurt from certain destruction when he fell into a river when a child. From the dawn of reason he was filled with an ardent love for Jesus Christ crucified, and began to devote much time to contemplation of Him. He chastised his innocent flesh with watchings, scourgings, and fasting, on Fridays drank vinegar mingled with gall, and practiced all kinds of severe penances. Burning with desire for martyrdom, he enlisted in the army which was being raised at Venice to fight against the Turks. After he learned in prayer the will of God, he gave up the career of arms to serve in a nobler army, which was to defend the Church and strive with all its might for the eternal salvation of men. When he returned home he refused a very honorable marriage, and the inheritance left him by his uncle; he wished to enter upon the narrower way of the Cross and to receive a coarse tunic from his bishop. Then, by command of the bishop, because of his eminent holiness of life and knowledge of divine things, although not yet a cleric, he tilled the Lord's field by preaching the divine word, with great profit to souls.

He went to Rome, and after having studied the regular course in theology, he was ordained priest by command of the supreme Pontiff Benedict XIII, who also gave him permission to gather companions around him. He withdrew to the solitude of Mount Argentaro, where he had already been summoned by the Blessed Virgin, who had also shown him a black habit bearing the emblems of the Passion of her Son, and there he laid the foundations of a new congregation. In a short time by God's blessing it increased very much, sustained by his arduous labors, and attracted eminent men. It received the confirmation of the apostolic See more than once, together with the rules which Paul had himself received from God in prayer, and the addition of a fourth vow, to promote the blessed remembrance of the Passion of the Lord. He also founded a congregation of holy virgins, who would constantly meditate upon the surpassing love of the divine Spouse. In all these works, his untiring love of souls never caused him to weary in the preaching of the Gospel, and he led almost countless men, even the most abandoned, and those who had fallen into heresy, into the footpath of salvation. Wonderful was the power of his eloquence, especially when he spoke of the Passion of Christ, so that both he and his hearers would shed tears, and the most hardened hearts were moved to repentance. (From the Roman Breviary)



Quotes from St. Paul of the Cross:

 "If, during life, we have been kind to the souls in purgatory, God will see that help will not be denied us after death."

"Let us throw ourselves into the ocean of His goodness, where every failing will be cancelled, and anxiety turned into love."

"The Rosary ought to be recited with great devotion because one is speaking with the Holy Virgin."

Maxims of Christian Perfection
Extracted from the Letters of Blessed Paul of the Cross:


He who desires to be a great saint, must take care that nothing live in him which is not purely God; and this he will know to be the case if all his actions are done for the love of God and united with those of Jesus Christ, who is our way, truth, and life.

The heart of the true servant of God must be like an altar, on which is offered every day the gold of the most ardent charity, the incense of continual humble prayer, and the myrrh of incessant mortification.

When our sins terrify us, and we fear being damned, let us think on the merits of the crucified, and our spirit will be refreshed.

He who rests with great confidence in God, and is humble of heart, poor and miserable though he be, will become a fitting instrument in God's hands for doing great things. But one who takes another course, will never be able to do anything that is good.

Happy the soul which detaches itself from its own pleasure, from its own will, from its own understanding. A sublime lesson is this, and God will teach it to all those who place their happiness in the cross of Jesus Christ.

The moment we know the will of God, we should execute it with all promptness, and conform ourselves to it, exactly as wax coming near the fire takes the shape which the artist wishes to give it.

Whatever may happen to us, we ought not to be disturbed. Let us calmly and quietly say: the will of God be done--let us leave all to God--the Lord be blessed for ever--what he wills, I will in time and in eternity.

In troubles, in disappointments, in tribulations, we must humble ourselves and stoop down our head; because, when God intends to give us one blow, if we lift up our heads He will give us ten--if we stoop them, though He meant to give us ten, He will give us but one.

People like him are what we are all to strive for, in passing on the Eternal Truth to those unknowing and less fortunate. Only God can convert them, with the help of our Blessed Mother, Mary.

St. Peter Canisius

SAINT PETER CANISIUS
Doctor of the Church,(1521-1597)
One of the champions of the 'reformation'Born in 1521 of a distinguished family of Holland, St. Peter Canisius studied in Cologne and received his license as doctor of civil law; he then went to Louvain (Belgium) to learn canon law. These studies followed close upon the days when Luther had burnt the papal bulls at Wittenberg, Germany. Soon Saint Peter, become a Jesuit, was teaching at the University of Cologne; he was there when the unfortunate archbishop of that city fell into the new heresy. The Catholics who desired to depose him needed a deputy to the emperor to present their request, and Saint Peter was chosen.

His mission, seconded by the Holy Spirit, succeeded; and the deputy was remarked by a Cardinal, who desired to send him to the Council of Trent as his representative and theologian. Saint Peter's superior, St. Ignatius of Loyola himself, approved this choice, and the young Jesuit took his place among the Fathers of the Council. He was commissioned to draft a memoir on the exact nature of the errors being propagated in the lands of the reform, in consort with the Pope's theologian, another Jesuit named Jacques Laynez. Their work was admired; the Council was dissolved soon afterwards, however, and Saint Peter was recalled to Rome by Saint Ignatius, to consult with him concerning the formation of the religious and the future of their Order.

To form an idea of his labours, we should have to accompany him on his journeys, and witness his fatigues and sufferings, as well as his battles and his victories. We first find him in Bavaria. He quickly won the admiration of all as professor of theology in Ingoldstadt, and was elected rector of the university. Through his means, an interest in theological science was revived among the students, and the sacred calling of the priesthood came to be held in high honour. His sermons terrified the most hardened sinners, awoke the slumbering faith of the people, and kindled in all hearts a zeal for religion. On account of the veneration he everywhere inspired, the Emperor Ferdinand, placing confidence in him in a case which seemed almost desperate, summoned him to Vienna. Here there was indeed enough to cause him sorrow in the many and deep wounds which the heretics had inflicted on religion. He found the people demoralized, the clergy degraded, God's worship neglected, and most of the towns deprived of their pastors. The once flourishing university had not for twenty years produced a single priest, and there were three hundred parishes without pastors in the territory then belonging to Austria.

Canisius strove with his whole might, by word and example, to combat these evils. His first care was to reintroduce orthodox teaching into the higher schools, and to secure that their authorities should be men of approved faith. But neither did he forget the poor country people. When he learnt how that, far and wide in the country about Vienna, most of the villages were deprived of all spiritual aid, he set forth himself, and made toilsome journeys from place to place, preaching, instructing, and administering the sacraments. And the poor people thanked God with tears of joy, for His mercy in sending to them, as they said, this angel from heaven. From Vienna, Canisius was sent by the Emperor to Bohemia, where religion was attacked by foes still fiercer and more powerful. But nothing could shake the courage of God's servant. The heretics raged against him, insulted him, and pelted him with stones; but in vain. The power of his preaching, his patience, gentleness, and charity, in the end disarmed their wrath, and led back a great part of the people into the bosom of the Church.

Afterwards Saint Peter and two other Jesuits founded a college at Ingolstadt, going there with only two books in their baggage, the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius and the famous Ratio Studiorum, or Plan of Studies of their Order. Saint Peter was named Rector of the University by that institution.

He was in demand everywhere; King Ferdinand of Rome obtained his presence for Vienna. A pestilence broke out there, and he was most often found at the bedside of the dying, caring for the bodies and regenerating the souls of the unfortunate citizens. He opened a boarding school for boys, and Vienna soon found itself reborn in the faith: the famous Catechism of Saint Peter Canisius had much to do with the renovation. During his lifetime it appeared in more than 200 editions, in at least twelve languages. It remains a monument of the triumph of the Church over error in the time of Luther.

Until his death in 1597 the Apostle of Germany continued the valiant and perpetual combat of the Church against error. For a long time forgotten, Saint Peter was canonized and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI in 1927.



Following is a Homily of St. Peter Canisius, followed by a prayer:


I shall always love and reverence the Apostles sent by Christ, and their successors in sowing the seed of the Gospel, those zealous and tireless cooperators in propagating the word, who may justly say of themselves: Let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ and the dispensers of the mysteries of God. For Christ, like a most watchful and most faithful householder, wished that the Gospel lamp should be lighted by such ministers and delegates with fire sent down from heaven, and once lighted, should not be put under a measure, but set upon a candlestick, so that it may spread its brightness far and wide, and put to flight all darkness and error rife among both Jews and Gentiles.

Now it is not enough for the Gospel teacher to be a brilliant speaker in the eyes of the people; he must also be as a voice crying in the desert, and endeavor by his eloquence to help many to lead good lives, lest, if he omit his duty of speaking, he be called the dumb dog that is not able to bark, spoken of by the prophet. Yes, he should also burn in such a way that, equipped with good works and love, he may adorn his evangelical office, and follow the leadership of Paul. He indeed was not satisfied with bidding the bishop of the Ephesians: This command and teach: conduct thyself in work as a good soldier of Christ Jesus; but he unflaggingly preached the Gospel to friend and foe alike, and said with a good conscience to the bishops gathered at Ephesus: You know how I have kept back nothing that was for your good, but have declared it to you, and taught you in public and from house to house, urging Jews and Gentiles to turn to God in repentance and to believe in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Such should be the shepherd in the Church who, like Paul, becomes all things to all men, so that the sick may find healing in him; the sad, joy; the desperate, hope; the ignorant, instruction; those in doubt, advice; the penitent, forgiveness and comfort, and finally, every one whatever is necessary for salvation. And so Christ, when he wished to appoint the chief teachers of the world and of the Church, did not limit himself to saying to his disciples: You are the light of the world; but also added these words: A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a measure, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all who are in the house. Those churchmen err who imagine that it is by brilliant preaching, rather than by holiness of and all-embracing love, they fulfill their office.


O Almighty God, Ruler of the living and the dead, whose hand holds all things in being, look graciously upon all whom we commend to thy mercy, those who have authority over us, our family, relatives, benefactors, and all who have claims on us by reason of relationship or friendship. Bless our family, our home town, our country, that men and women there in every walk of life may live in peace, and, always earnestly seeking by their manner of life to please thee.


 And now, a couple of quotes:

For the sake of obtaining that eternal life no works of piety ought to seem too hard to a true believer; no toil too heavy, no pain too bitter, no time spent in labor and suffering too long or too wearisome. For if nothing is sweeter or more desirable than this present life which is so full of calamities, how much more desirable must that other life be deemed which is so far removed from all sense of evil or fear of it, which will in every conceivable way always abound in the unspeakable and unending joys, delight and happiness of heaven. (De Fide et Symbolo fidei)

Better that only a few Catholics should be left, staunch and sincere in their religion, than that they should, remaining many, desire as it were, to be in collusion with the Church's enemies and in conformity with the open foes of our Faith. (Even if they are within the walls)

St. Mark, Evangelist

St. Mark, Evangelist (by Fr. Prosper Gueranger 1870)

The Cycle of holy mother Church brings before us today, the Lion, who, together with the Man, the Ox and the Eagle, stands before the Throne of God (Ezechiel, i. 10). It was on this day, that Mark ascended from earth to heaven, radiant with his triple aureola of Evangelist, Apostle, and Martyr.

As the preaching made to Israel had its four great representatives, Isaias, Jeremias, Ezechiel, and Daniel; so, likewise, would God have the New Covenant to be embodied in the four Gospels, which were to make known to the world the Life and teachings of his divine Son. The Holy Fathers tell us, that the Gospels are like the four streams which watered the Garden of pleasure (4 Gen. ii. 10), and that this Garden was a figure of the future Church. The first of the Evangelists, the first to register the actions and words of our Redeemer, is Matthew, whose star will rise in September; the second is Mark, whose brightness gladdens us today; the third is Luke, whose rays will shine upon us in October; the fourth is John, whom we have already seen in Bethlehem, at the Crib of our Emmanuel.

Mark was the beloved disciple of Peter; he was the brilliant satellite of the Sun of the Church. He wrote his Gospel at Rome, under the eyes of the Prince of the Apostles. The Church was already in possession of the history given by Matthew; but the Faithful of Rome wished their own Apostle to narrate what he had witnessed. Peter refused to write it himself, but he bade his disciple take up his pen, and the Holy Ghost guided the hand of the new Evangelist. Mark follows the account given by Matthew; he abridges it, and yet he occasionally adds a word, or an incident, which plainly prove to us that Peter, who had seen and heard all, was his living and venerated authority. One would have almost expected, that the new Evangelist would pass over in silence the history of his master's fall, or, at least, have said as little as possible about it; but no, the Gospel written by Mark is more detailed on Peter's denial than is that of Matthew; and as we read it, we cannot help feeling, that the tears, elicited by Jesus' look, when in the house of Caiphas, were flowing down the Apostle's cheeks, as he described the sad event. Mark's work being finished, Peter examined it and gave it his sanction; the several Churches joyfully received this second account of the mysteries of the world's redemption, and the name of Mark was made known throughout the whole earth.

Matthew begins his Gospel with the human genealogy of the Son of God, and has thus realised the prophetic type of the Man; Mark fulfils that of the Lion, for he commences with the preaching of John the Baptist, whose office as precursor of the Messias, had been foretold by Isaias, where he spoke of the Voice of one crying in the wilderness, as the Lion that makes the desert echo with his roar.

Mark having written his Gospel, was next to labour as an Apostle. Peter sent him, first, to Aquileia, where he founded an important Church: but this was not enough for an Evangelist. When the time designed by God came, and Egypt, the source of countless errors, was to receive the truth, and the haughty and noisy Alexandria was to be raised to the dignity of the second Church of Christendom, the second See of Peter, Mark was sent by his master to effect this great work. By his preaching, the word of salvation took root, grew up, and produced fruit in that most infidel of nations; and the authority of Peter was thus marked, though in different degrees, in the three great Cities of the Empire: Rome, Alexandria and Antioch.

St. Mark may be called the first founder of the Monastic life, by his instituting, in Alexandria itself, what were called the Therapeutes. To him, also, may be justly attributed, the origin of that celebrated Christian school, of Alexandria, which was so flourishing, even in the 2nd Century.

But glorious as were these works of Peter's disciple, the Evangelist and Apostle Mark was also to receive the dignity of Martyr. The success of his preaching excited against him the fury of the idolaters. They were keeping a feast in honour of Serapis; and this gave them an opportunity which they were not likely to lose. They seized Mark, treated him most cruelly, and cast him into prison. It was there that our Risen Lord appeared to him, during the night, and addressed him in these words, which afterwards formed the Arms of the Republic of Venice : "Peace be to thee, Mark, my Evangelist!" To which the disciple answered : "Lord" for such were his feelings of delight and gratitude, that he could say but that one word, as it was with Magdalene, when she saw Jesus on the morning of the Resurrection. On the following day, Mark was put to death by the pagans. He had fulfilled his mission on earth, and heaven opened to receive the Lion, who was to occupy near the throne of the Ancient of days the place allotted to him, as shown to the Prophet of Patmos, in his sublime vision (Apoc. iv.).

In the 9th Century, the West was enriched with the Relics of St. Mark. They were taken to Venice; and, under the protection of the sacred Lion, there began for that City a long period of glory. Faith in so great a Patron achieved wonders; and from the midst of islets and lagoons there sprang into existence a City of beauty and power. Byzantine Art raised up the imposing and gorgeous Church, which was the palladium of the Queen of the Seas; and the new Republic stamped its coinage with the Lion of St. Mark. Happy would it have been for Venice, had she persevered in her loyalty to Rome, and in the ancient severity of her morals!

Prayer:

Thou, O Mark, art the mystic Lion, which, with the Man, the Ox and the Eagle, art yoked to the chariot whereon the King of kings pursues His triumphant course through the earth. Ezechiel, the Prophet of the Ancient Testament, and John, the Prophet of the New Law, saw thee standing nigh the Throne of Jehovah. How magnificent is thy glory! Thou art the historian of the Word made Flesh, and thou publishest to all generations His claims to the love and adoration of mankind. The Church reveres thy writings, and bids us receive them as inspired by the Holy Ghost.

It was thou that, on the glad Day of Easter, announcedst to us the Resurrection of our Lord: pray for us, O holy Evangelist, that this divine Mystery may work its effects within us; and that our hearts, like thine own, may be firm in their love of our Risen Jesus, that so we may faithfully follow Him in that New Life, which He gave us by His Resurrection. Ask him to give us His Peace, as He did to His Apostles when He showed Himself to them in the Cenacle, and as He did to thyself when He appeared to thee in thy prison.

Thou wast the beloved disciple of Peter; Rome was honoured by thy presence: pray for the successor of Peter, thy master; pray for the Church of Rome, against which the wildest storm is now venting its fury. Pray to the Lion of the Tribe of Juda: He seems to sleep; and yet we know that He has but to show Himself, and the victory is gained.

Apostle of Egypt! what has become of thy flourishing Church of Alexandria, Peter's second See, the hallowed scene of thy Martyrdom? Its very ruins have perished. The scorching blast of heresy made Egypt a waste, and God, in his anger, let loose upon her the torrent of Mahometanism. Twelve centuries have passed since then, and she is still a slave to error and tyranny: is it to be thus with her till the coming of the Judge? May we not hope that the great movement now preparing may be the dawn of her conversion? Pray, we beseech thee, for the countries thou didst so zealously evangelize, but whose deserts are now the image of her loss of Faith.

And can Venice be forgotten by thee, O thou her dearest Patron? Her glory is fallen, it may be for ever; but her people still call themselves thine, as did the Venetians of old. Let her not swerve from the Faith; bless her with prosperity; obtain for her that she may be purified by her trials, and return to the God Who has chastised her in his justice. A nation that is loyal to the Church must prosper: let, then, Venice return to her former fidelity to Rome, and reject the evil counsels that are now proposed to her; and who knows but that the Sovereign Ruler of the world, being appeased by thy powerful intercession, may make thy Venice what she was before she rebelled against the Holy See, and tarnished the glories she won at Lepanto!

St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen

SAINT FIDELIS of SIGMARINGEN
Martyr
(1577-1622)
Saint Fidelis was born of noble parents at Sigmaringen in what is now Prussia, in 1577. In his youth he frequently approached the Sacraments, visited the sick and the poor, and spent many hours before the altar. For a time he followed the legal profession and was remarkable for his advocacy of the poor and his respectful language towards his opponents.

Finding it difficult to be both a rich lawyer and a good Christian, Fidelis entered the Capuchin Order and embraced a life of austerity and prayer. Hair shirts, iron-pointed girdles, and disciplines were penances too light for his fervor. At Weltkirchen, where he was Superior of the convent during an outbreak of the plague, he devoted himself indefatigably to the care of the sick soldiers and citizens. Animated by a desire for martyrdom, he rejoiced at being sent with several fellow Capuchins on a mission to Switzerland, which the newly-founded Congregation of the Propaganda named him to preside. There he braved every peril to rescue souls from the errors of Calvin.

When preaching one day at Sevis he was fired at by a Calvinist, but fear of death could not deter him from proclaiming divine truth. After his sermon, when leaving the city he was waylaid by a body of his enemies, who attacked him and tried to force him to embrace their so-called reform. But he said, "I came to refute your errors, not to embrace them; I will never renounce Catholic doctrine, which is the truth of all ages, and I fear not death." On this they fell upon him with their daggers; and the first martyr of the Propaganda, losing his life for Christ, went to find in heaven the veritable life his Master promised to all who are losers for His sake.


Our Risen Lord would have around Him a bright phalanx of martyrs.  Its privileged members belong to the different centuries of the Church's existence.  Its ranks open today to give welcome to a brave combatant, who won his palm, not in a contest with paganism, as those did whose feasts we have thus far kept, but in defending his mother, the Church, against her own rebellious children.  They were heretics that slew this day's martyr, and the century that was honored with his triumph was the seventeenth.

Fidelis was worthy of his beautiful name.  Neither difficulty nor menace could make him fail in his duty.  During his whole life, he had but the glory and service of his divine Lord in view:  and when the time came for him to face the fatal danger, he did so, calmly but fearlessly, as behooved a disciple of the Jesus who went forth to meet his enemies.  Honor, then, be today to the brave son of St. Francis, who confronted the Saracens, and was a martyr in desire!

Protestantism was established and rooted by he shedding of torrents of blood; and yet protestants count it as a great crime that, here and there, the children of the True Church made an armed resistance against them.  The heresy of the 16th was the cruel and untiring persecutor of men, whose only crime was their adhesion to the old Faith--the Faith that had civilized the world.  The so-called 'Reformation' proclaimed liberty in matters of religion, and massacred Catholics who exercised this liberty, and prayed and believed as their ancestors had done for long ages before Luther and Calvin were born.  A Catholic who gives heretics credit for sincerity when they talk about religious toleration, proves that he knows nothing of either the past or the present.  there is a fatal instinct in error, which leads it to hate the Truth; and the True Church, by its unchangeableness, is a perpetual reproach to them that refuse to be her children.  Heresy starts with an attempt to annihilate them that remain faithful; when it has grown tired of open persecution it vents its spleen in insults and calumnies; and when these do not produce the desired effect, hypocrisy comes in with its assurances of friendly forbearance.  The history of Protestant Europe, during the last three (five) centuries, confirms these statements; it also justifies us in honoring those courageous servants of God who, during that same period, have died for the ancient Faith.

Reflection. We delight in decorating the altars of God with flowers, lights, and jewels, and it is right to do so; but if we wish to offer to God gifts of higher value, let us, in imitation of Saint Fidelis, labor to save souls who would be lost; that is to offer Him the ornaments of paradise which He so ardently longs to acquire.

Prayer from the Liturgical Year, 1877

How truly couldst thou, O Fidelis! say with the Apostle: I have finished my course (II. Tim. iv. 7)! Yea, thy death was even more beautiful than thy life, holy as that was. How admirable the calmness wherewith thou receivedst death! how grand the joy wherewith thou didst welcome the blows of thine enemies,--thine, because they were those of the Church! Thy dying prayer, like Stephen's, was for them; for the Catholic, while he hates heresy, must love the heretics who put him to death. Pray, O holy Martyr, for the children of the Church. Obtain for them an appreciation of the value of Faith, and of the favour of God bestowed on them when he made them members of the true Church. May they be on their guard against the many false doctrines, which are now current through the world. May they not be shaken by the scandals which abound in this our age of effeminacy and pride. It is Faith that is to bring us to our Risen Jesus: and He urges us to it by the words he addressed to Thomas: Blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed (St. John, xx. 29)!

Of this number we wish to be; and therefore is it, that we cling to the Church, the sovereign mistress of Faith. We wish to believe her, and not Human Reason, which has neither the power to fathom the Word of God, nor the right to sit in judgment over it. Jesus has willed, that this holy Faith should come down to us bearing on itself the strengthening testimony of the Martyrs; and each age has had its Martyrs. Glory to thee, O Fidelis, who didst win thy palm by combating the errors of the pretended Reformation! Take a Martyr's revenge, and pray without ceasing, to our Jesus, that He would bring all heretics back to the Faith and to union with the Church. They are our Brethren by Baptism; pray for them, that they may return to the Fold, and that we may one day celebrate with them the true Paschal Banquet, wherein the Lamb of God gives Himself to be our food, not figuratively, as in the Old Law, but really and truly, as becometh the New Covenant. Amen

 

 

 

Low Sunday-Sunday after Easter

LOW SUNDAY--Quasimodo Sunday

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



According to our beloved Abbot, Gueranger:
'Such is the great Truth, spoken by the lips of the God-Man: it is a most important counsel, given, not only to Thomas, but to all who would serve God and secure their salvation. What is it that Jesus asks of His disciple (Thomas)? Has He not heard him make profession that now, at last, he firmly believes? After all, was there any great fault in Thomas' insisting on having experimental evidence before believing in so extraordinary a miracle as the Resurrection? Was he obliged to trust to the testimony of Peter and the others, under penalty of offending his divine Master? Did he not evince his prudence, by withholding his assent until he had additional proofs of the truth of what his brethren told him? Yes, Thomas was a circumspect and prudent man, and one that was slow to believe what he had heard; he was worthy to be taken as a model by those Christians who reason and sit in judgment upon matters of Faith. Jesus is merciful, and has condescended to the weakness of His disciple as to accept the condition on which alone he declares that he will believe: now the disciple stands trembling before his risen Lord...This stubbornness, this incredulity, deserves a punishment: the punishment is, to have these words said to him: "Thomas! thou hast believed, because thou hast seen! Blessed are they who believe and have not seen."
Then was Thomas obliged to believe before having seen? Yes, undoubtedly. Not only Thomas, but all the Apostles were in duty bound to believe the Resurrection of Jesus even before He showed Himself to them...'
(I myself have often wondered about what Thomas received as a punishment, as it were. He wasn't present on Easter Sunday evening, when the others had Jesus breathe on them and give them the power to forgive or bind sins by the Holy Spirit. Did he, as a kind of punishment, have to wait until Pentecost to receive these gifts? Just wonderin')

Our belief has not been perfect at all times. After hearing about an Apostle, Thomas, let us strive to do better. As our beloved Abbot states: 'Let us go to our Jesus, and say to Him: 'Thou art my Lord and my God! But alas! I have many times thought and acted as though thou were my Lord and my God in some things, and not in others. Henceforth I will believe without seeing; for I would be of the number of those whom thou callest blessed!'
NOTE TO SELF:
We believe first, and then we see things more clearly. It's like our Blessed Mother says in her Magnificat, when she states: "My soul magnifies the Lord". Meaning: If we look closer at her, maybe we can see clearer things concerning her son, Christ.

My Lord and my God, help my unbelief.



Also, on this, which is called a Greater Double rite; it is such a solemn day, that NO feast, however great, is supposed to be kept on it. 'Mercy Sunday'? Could it be that JP2 bypassed the Church Canons and history when he started this, just as he did when he started the 'Luminous' mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of our Blessed Mother Mary. I think she knew what she was doing and how she wanted it said; far better than the Holy Father; when she asked for this devotion to begin in the 13th century. JPII knows better now, wherever he ended up, doesn't he?

We used to participate in this Novena. However, upon reading that NO feast can be held in place of 'Low Sunday' no matter how great we are told it is, I began to wonder if this novena was all that good. NOTE!: all of these intentions which are prayed for during this novena are prayed for on Good Friday. Well, they USED to be. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the prayers for the conversion of the Jews are conveniently missing in the novena. The prayers during this novena are, basically, good. We desperately need to pray for all to convert; and come to the entire Truth, throughout the world.

I guess we are to accept them as they are, instead of fulfilling our Lord's command to convert them and everyone else on the planet. Maybe we should all get together and sing 'Everything is Beautiful'. Maybe this would satisfy our Lord?! The perpetrators will find out some day when they go before the Divine Judge as to whether they have served Him well or not. Final thoughts: GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!


Another take on this Sunday, but saying the same thing.

Image above: St. Augustine presents himself as a catechumen to be baptized by the Bishop of Milan, St. Ambrose, during the Easter Vigil, 387 AD.


Pastor's Corner for Low Sunday (2014)
“Lo and behold” must have been the instinctive reaction of St. Thomas. This man who appears before my eyes, whom my finger and hands are touching and scrutinizing, this is my Rabboni, Jesus! Thanks to this special apparition of the risen Christ to his faithless apostle, Thomas the incredulous was suddenly converted. “My Lord and my God”: he saw a man and he believed God. He was instantaneously turned into a real “apostle”, who was to carry the Good News of Christ. And this conversion would lead him to the bottom tip of India, converting souls by the thousands to the King of Glory!

“Low” is a comparative term which qualifies it relatively to what is “high”! The high Sunday is Easter, certainly the greatest of all liturgical feast. Christ’s resurrection in the flesh was probably the most unbelievable dogma for the Western pagan world, as St. Paul soon found out in Athens, which used to be the center of Western wisdom. The risen Christ is the foundation of our faith: “If Christ has not risen from the dead, our faith is vain!” (On a side note; back when I was still new to the Church in the early 80's, we had a priest, on Easter Sunday, tell us that the stories in the Bible were just that, stories! I didn't know that much about the Catholic Faith then and didn't say anything. Now, I would stand up and say this verse from St. Paul. This priest has moved up in the diocese, but I don't know where. He definitely needs prayers. Or, better yet, a board upside his head. Just sayin') The fact of Easter being a Sunday is also the main reason for moving the day of worship from the Jewish Sabbath to the Christian Sunday.

“Low” is probably said also of the end of the octave of the white catechumens parading in their bright and splendid garments of the faith, not unlike newborns. Low is said of them because it is the day when the neophytes (literally "new plants") shed their new skin and are considered now ordinary Christians, lost in the mass of God’s chosen ones.


Oremus pro Regnante Pontifice!

Oremus pro Sancta Ecclesia Catholica!

Easter Saturday

The seventh day of the gladdest of weeks has risen upon us, bringing with it the memory of the Creator's rest, after the six days of creation. It also reminds us of that other rest, which this same God took in the tomb; like a warrior, who, when sure of the victory, calmly reposes before the final combat with the enemy. Our Jesus slept His rest in the sepulchre, after permitting death to vanquish Him: but when He awoke by His Resurrection, what a victory over the tyrant! Let us, today, visit this Holy Sepulchre and venerate it: it will speak to us of Him we love, and make or love the warmer. Here, we shall say to ourselves, here rested our dear Master, after He had died for us! Here was the scene of the glorious victory, when He arose again, and this, to, for us!

We think about this Sepulchre today and every day, and the prayers for today sum it up for us.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre--Jerusalem


The CAPITULA:

O Christ, the Son of God, thou rest of our souls, Who didst observe the repose of the Sabbath by resting in the tomb, that thou, Who on this day didst heretofore rest from all the work of thy creation, mightest also on the same rest in the sepulchre; hereby truly keeping holy that day, whose evening is the beginning of our first day of the Sabbath, which is likewise the eighth day; that thou, Who commanded light to shine forth out of darkness, mightest, by thy Resurrection, appear in the flesh: so direct the course of our lives in the path of all holiness, that in these seven days of the world's duration, on each of which the Lamb is slain and the Pasch is celebrated for us, we may live in such wise as to secure our salvation, and may daily be found worthy to celebrate the true Pasch, pure from the leaven of malice: that thus, by a holiness pleasing to thee, we may so rest on this day from all our works, that we may deserve to receive the glory of the Resurrection, on the eighth, that is, the eternal day.

I also found in the propers of this day another hymn concerning the Holy Sepulchre, comparing it to the Virginal womb of our Blessed Mother:

Be glad, my soul, and sing the wonders of the glorious sepulchre, whence came thy Christ, as, heretofore, from the womb of His Virgin Mother. Thus was it foretold by the truthful prophets.

He was conceived in the pure womb of a Virgin Mother; so, too, He was buried in a tomb, wherein no other man had been placed; from both He comes the glorious Jesus, as Infant first, and then as man.

The Mother, after long ages of hope, brings Him forth created in mortal Flesh; the tomb, though none had hoped it, restores Him clad in immortality: Mary wrapped Him in swathing-bands; the sepulchre held Him in the winding-wheet.

He is born, for the world's salvation, from the womb of His Mother; He rises from the tomb, after our salvation has been wrought: the Mother nursed Him for the Cross; the tomb, for glory.

O thrice holy sanctuary! beautified with the Blood of the Lamb of God! let earth, and sea, and heaven, venerate thee. How strange to call that a sepulchre, whence life was born!

Glory and honour be, for ever, to the most high God! To the Father, Son, and Holy Paraclete, one praise and power, for everlasting ages. Amen.


I would like to insert some words from St. Augustine, concerning this whole week and our thoughts that should be in our minds:

"As yet, we see not Christ; but we see the Church: therefore let us believe in Christ. The Apostles, on the contrary, saw Christ; but they saw not the Church except by Faith. They saw one thing, and they believed another: so, likewise, let us do. Let us believe in the Christ, Whom as yet we see not; and by keeping ourselves with the Church which we see, we shall come at length to see Him, Whom as yet we cannot see."

And, lastly, let us turn to the Blessed Mother, for this is her day. Let us congratulate her upon the Resurrection of her divine Son, in the words of this devout Sequence, taken from the ancient missals of the churches of Germany:

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

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

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

I'm going to add something here; the Hail Mary in Aramaic:

When Jesus lived here on earth He spoke Aramaic, the language common in Galilee then. It was an old Semitic tongue, related to Hebrew. It's considered traditionally as one language, but it may also be thought of as "a group of closely related languages."

Modern Aramaic is used today by scattered groups in Western Asia, including Christians, Jews and Muslims. It's kept in the form of Syriac by certain Christians. The Syriac pronunciation is presented here.

Shlom lekh bthoolto Mariam - Hail, O Virgin Mary
maliath taibootho - full of grace
moran a'amekh - the Lord is with thee
mbarakhto at bneshey - blessed art thou among women
wambarakhoo feero dabkharsekh Yeshue -
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus

O qadeeshto Mariam - Holy Mary
yoldath aloho - Mother of God
saloy hlofain hatoyeh - pray for us sinners,
nosho wabsho'ath mawtan. - now, and at the hour of our death.
Amin - Amen

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Another version of the words, titled Shlomlech (AveMaria, Hail Mary in Aramaic), as sung by Magda El-Roomy - My Marionite Heritage

šlom-lék Mar-yam - Hail Mary
mal-yat tay-boo-to - full of grace
moran a-mék - the Lord is with thee
mbar-ra-to at bné-šé - blessed art thou among women
wam-ba-ra-koo fee-ro dkar-sék Yé-sooا - and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Mort Mar-yam - Holy Mary
é-méh da-lo-ho - Mother of God
ek-ka-šaf hlo-fayn - pray for us
hnan ha-to-yé - sinners,
ho-šo wab-šoا-to - now, and at the hour
dmaw-tan - of our death
A-meen. - Amen.

St. Anselm

SAINT ANSELM
Archbishop of Canterbury
(1034-1109) Today is the day we honor yet another Bishop and Doctor of the Church. He was a martyr, also, at least in desire and in merit too. When we think about Anselm, we picture to ourselves a man in whom are combined the humility and meekness of the cloister (since he was a monk), and with the zeal and courage of the episcopal dignity; a man who was both a sage and a saint; a man whom it was impossible not to love and respect. We need more like him today, if you ask me. I like his writings. He puts things so simply, yet with a force to be reckoned with, just as our Lord did. As Bishop, his whole life was spent in fighting for the liberty of the Church. Though gentle as a lamb by nature, he was all energy for this great cause. He used to say: "Christ would not have His Spouse be a slave; there is nothing in this world that God loves more than the liberty of His Church." There was a time when the Son of God allowed Himself to be fettered with bonds in order that He might loosen us from the chains of our sins; but now that He has risen in triumph from the dead, He wills that His Spouse should be, like Himself, free.

As our beloved Abbot Gueranger states: 'St. Anselm would have abominated all such theories such as progress and modern society; he knows that there is nothing on earth equal to the Church; and when he sees the world convulsed by revolutions; he knows that all comes from the Church having been deprived of her rights. One of these is that she should not only be recognized, in the secret of our conscience, as the one only True Church, but that, as such, she should be publicly confessed and outwardly defended against every opposition or error. Jesus, her divine Founder, promised to give her all nations as her inheritance; He kept His promise, and she was once the queen and mother of them all. But nowadays, a new principle has been asserted, to the effect that the Church and all sects must be on an equal footing as far as the protection of the State goes. The principle has been received with acclamation, and hailed as a mighty progress achieved by modern enlightenment: even Catholics, whose previous services to religion had endeared them to our hearts and gained our confidence, have become warm defenders of the impious theory.'
Keep in mind that these books (The Liturgical Year) were written over a hundred years ago. Seems like nothing changes, doesn't it? We have leaders today who spit out this same nonsense to us; this tripe; and expect us to say: "Yum"! Don't eat this tripe, and don't drink the grape-flavored drink(cruel-aid).

Saint Anselm of Canterbury - More Quotes (exercising your mind): 'I acknowledge, Lord, and I give thanks that you have created your image in me, so that I may remember you, think of you, love you. But this image is so obliterated and worn away by wickedness, it is so obscured by the smoke of sins, that it cannot do what it was created to do, unless you renew and reform it. I am not attempting, O Lord, to penetrate your loftiness, for I cannot begin to match my understanding with it, but I desire in some measure to understand your truth, which my heart believes and loves. For I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this too I believe, that "unless I believe, I shall not understand." (Isaiah 7:9)'

"I have written the little work that follows . . . in the role of one who strives to raise his mind to the contemplation of God and one who seeks to understand what he believes."

"My God, I pray that I may so know you and love you that I may rejoice in you. And if I may not do so fully in this life let me go steadily on to the day when I come to that fullness . . . Let me receive That which you promised through your truth, that my joy may be full."

"God often works more by the life of the illiterate seeking the things that are God's, rather than by the ability of the learned seeking the things that are their own."

"No created being has anything from itself. For how could a thing which does not exist from itself have anything from itself? Moreover, if there is not anything except the One Who has created and the things created by Him, it is clear that nothing at all can exist except the One Who has created and what He has created."
De Casu Diaboli I. 1085-90.


"[The Devil] freely lost the will which he had. And just as he received the possession of it for as long as he had it, so he was able to receive the permanent keeping of what he deserted. But because he deserted, he did not receive. Therefore, that which he did not receive to keep because he deserted it, he did not receive not because God did not give it, but, rather, God did not give it because he did not receive it."
De Casu Diaboli III. 1085-90.

"Then, since [Satan] cannot be called just or unjust merely because he wills happiness or merely because he wills what is fitting (for he would will these of necessity), and since he neither can nor ought to be happy unless he wills to be happy and wills justly, it is necessary for God to make both wills so agree in him that he wills to be happy and wills justly.."
De Casu Diaboli XIV. 1085-90.

"Since we believe that God is truth, and since we say that truth is in many other things, I would like to know whether in whatever things it is said to be we ought to affirm that truth is God. For in your Monologion, by appealing to the truth of a statement, you too demonstrate that the Supreme Truth has no beginning and no end:"
DeVeritate I. 1080-86.

"By whose evil will it is committed (concipitur), it ought not to be. In this way, then, the Lord Jesus ought not to have undergone death because He alone [among men] was innocent; and no one ought to have inflicted death upon Him; nevertheless, He ought to have undergone death because He wisely and graciously and usefully willed to undergo it."
DeVeritate VIII. 1080-86.


"Let us see, then, how extensive the truth of signification is. For there is a true or a false signification not only in those things which we ordinarily call signs but also in all the other things which we have discussed. For since someone should do only what he ought to do, then by the very fact that someone does something, he says and signifies that he ought to do it. Now, if [morally speaking] he ought to do what he does, he speaks the truth. But if [morally speaking] he ought not [to do what he does], he speaks a lie."
DeVeritate IX. 1080-86.

"0 Lord: my heart is made bitter by its own desolation; sweeten it by Your consolation. I beseech You, 0 Lord, that having begun in hunger to seek You, I may not finish without partaking of You. I set out famished; let me not return still unfed."
Prologion, I. 1077/78.

"To what was I aspiring?, for what do I sigh? I sought after good things and, behold, [here is] turmoil. I was striving unto God but collided with myself."
Prologion, I. 1077/78.

"So even the Fool is convinced that something than which nothing greater can be thought is at least in his understanding; for when he hears of this [being], he understands [what he hears], and whatever is understood is in the understanding. But surely that than which a greater cannot be thought cannot be only in the understanding. For if it were only in the understanding, it could be thought to exist also in reality."
Prologion, II. 1077/78.

"Hence, something than which a greater cannot be thought exists so truly that it cannot even be thought not to exist. And You are this , 0 Lord our God. Therefore, 0 Lord my God, You exist so truly that You cannot even be thought not to exist. And this is rightly the case. For if any mind could think of something better than You, the creature would rise above the Creator and would sit in judgment over the Creator; something which is utterly absurd. Indeed, except for You alone, whatever else exists can be thought not to exist. Therefore, You alone exist most truly of all and thus most greatly of all; for whatever else exists does not exist as truly [as do You] and thus exists less greatly [than do You]. Since, then, it is so readily clear to a rational mind that You exist most greatly of all, why did the Fool say in his heart that God does not exist? Why , except because [he is] foolish and a fool!"
Prologion, III. 1077/78

"Yet, it is also just that You punish those who are evil. For what is more just than for those who are good to receive good things and for those who are evil to receive bad things? But, then, how is it just for You to punish those who are evil and likewise just for You to spare them? Do You justly punish them in one respect and justly spare them in another? For when You punish those who are evil, it is just because suits their merits. But when You spare them, it is just, not because [sparing them] suits their merits but because it befits Your goodness. For in sparing them, You are just in Yourself but are not just from our viewpoint, even as You are merciful from our viewpoint but are not merciful in Yourself. For in saving us whom You could justly damn, You are just not because You requite us as we deserve but because You do what befits You as supremely good, even as You are merciful not because You experience any emotion but because we experience the effect [of Your mercy]. So, then, without inconsistency, You both punish justly and spare justly."
Prologion, X. 1077/78.

"How vast that Truth is in which resides everything that is true and outside of which there is only nothing and what is false! How immense that Truth which beholds in one spectrum all created things and beholds by whom, through whom, and in what manner [all things] were created from nothing! What purity, what simplicity, what assurance and splendor are present there! Surely, [these] surpass what can be understood by any creature."
Prologion, XIV. 1077/78.

"Amidst Your blessedness and light, 0 Lord, You are still hidden from my soul. Therefore, my soul still dwells in darkness and in its own unhappiness. For it looks in all directions but does not see Your beauty. It listens but does not hear Your harmony. It fills its nostrils but does not smell Your fragrance. It tastes but does not savor Your succulence. It feels but does not detect Your softness. For in Your ineffable manner, 0 Lord God, You have these [features] within You; and You have bestowed them, in their own perceptible manner, upon the things created by You. But the senses of my soul have been stiffened and deadened and impaired by the old-time infirmity of sin."
Prologion, XVII. 1077/78.


"Therefore, since it is certain that if compared with one another all good things are either equally or unequally good, it is necessary that all things are good through something which is understood to be identical in different goods; although at times, ostensibly, some things are said to be good through something else."
Monologion, Chapter one. 1075/76.

"Just as something has been found to be supremely good inasmuch as all good things are good through some one thing which is good through itself, so it follows necessarily that something is supremely great inasmuch as whatever things are great are great through some one thing which is great through itself. I do not mean great in size, as is a material object; but that the greater the better or more excellent it is; as in the case of wisdom. Now, since only what is supremely good can be supremely great, it is necessary that something be the greatest and the best, i.e., the highest, of all existing things"
Monologion, Chapter two. 1075/76.


"But to question whether or not [the rational soul] will enjoy Supreme Beatitude endlessly would be very foolish. For while enjoying this Beatitude, [the soul] cannot be tormented by fear or deceived by a false security. Nor having experienced the need of this Beatitude can [the soul] keep from loving it. Nor will Supreme Beatitude forsake [a soul] which loves it. Nor will there be anything more powerful which will separate it and the soul against their wills. Therefore, any soul which once begins to enjoy Supreme Beatitude will be eternally happy."
Monologion, Chapter seventy. 1075/76.

"[And, most clearly, this Spirit is the one] from whom alone good fortune is to be hoped for, to whom alone flight from adversity is to be taken, and of whom alone supplication is to be made for anything whatsoever. Truly, then, this Spirit not only is God but is the only God; ineffably Three and One."
Monologion, Chapter eighty. 1075/76.


Our beloved Abbot Gueranger ends with this:

'Obtain for us, O holy Doctor, that 'our Faith,' like thine, 'may seek understanding.' Nowadays, there are many who blaspheme what they know not (Jude 10); but there are many also who know little or nothing of what they believe. Hence arise a deplorable confusion of ideas, compromises are made between Truth and error, and the only True doctrines are despised, scouted, or at least undefended. Pray to our heavenly Father, O Anselm, that He would bless the world with holy and learned men, who may teach the path of Truth, and dispel the mists of error; that thus the children of the Church may not be led astray.'
Like I said at the beginning, these books were written over a hundred years ago, but seem to be written today, which is experiencing so much turmoil.

And, please pray for my life-long friend Rick, who has his birthday today. Pray for his conversion. He won't know what hit him!