QUEENSHIP OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Pope Pius XII established this feast in 1954. But Mary’s Queenship has roots in Scripture. At the Annunciation, Gabriel announced that Mary’s Son would receive the throne of David and rule forever. At the Visitation, Elizabeth calls Mary “mother of my Lord.” As in all the mysteries of Mary’s life, Mary is closely associated with Jesus: Her Queenship is a share in Jesus’ kingship. We can also recall that in the Old Testament the mother of the king has great influence in court.

In the fourth century St. Ephrem (June 9) called Mary “Lady” and “Queen.” Later Church fathers and doctors continued to use the title. Hymns of the 11th to 13th centuries address Mary as queen: “Hail, Holy Queen,” “Hail, Queen of Heaven,” “Queen of Heaven.” The Dominican rosary and the Franciscan crown as well as numerous invocations in Mary’s litany celebrate her Queenship.

The feast is a logical follow-up to the Assumption and is now celebrated on the octave day of that feast. In his 1954 encyclical To the Queen of Heaven, Pius XII points out that Mary deserves the title because she is Mother of God, because she is closely associated as the New Eve with Jesus’ redemptive work, because of her preeminent perfection and because of her intercessory power.


I love the Virgin Mother. She kept reeling me into the Faith over the years, and finally hooked me like a giant sucker, and helped me, through faithful believers, to enter into the Eternal Truth of God Himself. Deo Gratias. And, thank you, Blessed Mother.

Below is the encyclical of Pope Pius XII, may he rest in peace. I'd bet he is. It is rather long, but, concerning our Mother, it is worth reading:

AD CAELI REGINAM

ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XII ON PROCLAIMING THE QUEENSHIP OF MARY OCTOBER 11, 1954

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

Venerable Brethren, Health and Apostolic Blessing.

From the earliest ages of the Catholic Church a Christian people, whether in time of triumph or more especially in time of crisis, has addressed prayers of petition and hymns of praise and veneration to the Queen of Heaven. And never has that hope wavered which they placed in the Mother of the Divine King, Jesus Christ; nor has that faith ever failed by which we are taught that Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, reigns with a mother's solicitude over the entire world, just as she is crowned in heavenly blessedness with the glory of a Queen.

2. Following upon the frightful calamities which before Our very eyes have reduced flourishing cities, towns, and villages to ruins, We see to Our sorrow that many great moral evils are being spread abroad in what may be described as a violent flood. Occasionally We behold justice giving way; and, on the one hand and the other, the victory of the powers of corruption. The threat of this fearful crisis fills Us with a great anguish, and so with confidence We have recourse to Mary Our Queen, making known to her those sentiments of filial reverence which are not Ours alone, but which belong to all those who glory in the name of Christian.

3. It is gratifying to recall that We ourselves, on the first day of November of the Holy Year 1950, before a huge multitude of Cardinals, Bishops, priests, and of the faithful who had assembled from every part of the world, defined the dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven[1] where she is present in soul and body reigning, together with her only Son, amid the heavenly choirs of angels and Saints. Moreover, since almost a century has passed since Our predecessor of immortal memory, Pius IX, proclaimed and defined the dogma that the great Mother of God had been conceived without any stain of original sin, We instituted the current Marian Year[2] And now it is a great consolation to Us to see great multitudes here in Rome -- and especially in the Liberian Basilica -- giving testimony in a striking way to their faith and ardent love for their heavenly Mother. In all parts of the world We learn that devotion to the Virgin Mother of God is flourishing more and more, and that the principal shrines of Mary have been visited and are still being visited by many throngs of Catholic pilgrims gathered in prayer.

4. It is well known that we have taken advantage of every opportunity -- through personal audiences and radio broadcasts -- to exhort Our children in Christ to a strong and tender love, as becomes children, for Our most gracious and exalted Mother. On this point it is particularly fitting to call to mind the radio message which We addressed to the people of Portugal, when the miraculous image of the Virgin Mary which is venerated at Fatima was being crowned with a golden diadem.[3] We Ourselves called this the heralding of the "sovereignty" of Mary.[4]

5. And now, that We may bring the Year of Mary to a happy and beneficial conclusion, and in response to petitions which have come to Us from all over the world, We have decided to institute the liturgical feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen. This will afford a climax, as it were, to the manifold demonstrations of Our devotion to Mary, which the Christian people have supported with such enthusiasm.

6. In this matter We do not wish to propose a new truth to be believed by Christians, since the title and the arguments on which Mary's queenly dignity is based have already been clearly set forth, and are to be found in ancient documents of the Church and in the books of the sacred liturgy.

7. It is Our pleasure to recall these things in the present encyclical letter, that We may renew the praises of Our heavenly Mother, and enkindle a more fervent devotion towards her, to the spiritual benefit of all mankind.

8. From early times Christians have believed, and not without reason, that she of whom was born the Son of the Most High received privileges of grace above all other beings created by God. He "will reign in the house of Jacob forever,"[5] "the Prince of Peace,"[6] the "King of Kings and Lord of Lords."[7] And when Christians reflected upon the intimate connection that obtains between a mother and a son, they readily acknowledged the supreme royal dignity of the Mother of God.

9. Hence it is not surprising that the early writers of the Church called Mary "the Mother of the King" and "the Mother of the Lord," basing their stand on the words of St. Gabriel the archangel, who foretold that the Son of Mary would reign forever,[8] and on the words of Elizabeth who greeted her with reverence and called her "the Mother of my Lord."[9] Thereby they clearly signified that she derived a certain eminence and exalted station from the royal dignity of her Son.

10. So it is that St. Ephrem, burning with poetic inspiration, represents her as speaking in this way: "Let Heaven sustain me in its embrace, because I am honored above it. For heaven was not Thy mother, but Thou hast made it Thy throne. How much more honorable and venerable than the throne of a king is her mother."[10] And in another place he thus prays to her: ". . . Majestic and Heavenly Maid, Lady, Queen, protect and keep me under your wing lest Satan the sower of destruction glory over me, lest my wicked foe be victorious against me."[11]

11. St. Gregory Nazianzen calls Mary "the Mother of the King of the universe," and the "Virgin Mother who brought forth the King of the whole world,"[12] while Prudentius asserts that the Mother marvels "that she has brought forth God as man, and even as Supreme King."[13]

12. And this royal dignity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is quite clearly indicated through direct assertion by those who call her "Lady," "Ruler" and "Queen."

13. In one of the homilies attributed to Origen, Elizabeth calls Mary "the Mother of my Lord." and even addresses her as "Thou, my Lady."[14]

14. The same thing is found in the writings of St. Jerome where he makes the following statement amidst various interpretations of Mary's name: "We should realize that Mary means Lady in the Syrian Language."[15] After him St. Chrysologus says the same thing more explicitly in these words: "The Hebrew word 'Mary' means 'Domina.' The Angel therefore addresses her as 'Lady' to preclude all servile fear in the Lord's Mother, who was born and was called 'Lady' by the authority and command of her own Son."[16]

15. Moreover Epiphanius, the bishop of Constantinople, writing to the Sovereign Pontiff Hormisdas, says that we should pray that the unity of the Church may be preserved "by the grace of the holy and consubstantial Trinity and by the prayers of Mary, Our Lady, the holy and glorious Virgin and Mother of God."[17]

16. The Blessed Virgin, sitting at the right hand of God to pray for us is hailed by another writer of that same era in these words, "the Queen of mortal man, the most holy Mother of God."[18]

17. St. Andrew of Crete frequently attributes the dignity of a Queen to the Virgin Mary. For example, he writes, "Today He transports from her earthly dwelling, as Queen of the human race, His ever-Virgin Mother, from whose womb He, the living God, took on human form."[19]

18. And in another place he speaks of "the Queen of the entire human race faithful to the exact meaning of her name, who is exalted above all things save only God himself."[20]

19. Likewise St. Germanus speaks to the humble Virgin in these words: "Be enthroned, Lady, for it is fitting that you should sit in an exalted place since you are a Queen and glorious above all kings."[21] He likewise calls her the "Queen of all of those who dwell on earth."[22]

20. She is called by St. John Damascene: "Queen, ruler, and lady,"[23] and also "the Queen of every creature."[24] Another ancient writer of the Eastern Church calls her "favored Queen," "the perpetual Queen beside the King, her son," whose "snow-white brow is crowned with a golden diadem."[25]

21. And finally St. Ildephonsus of Toledo gathers together almost all of her titles of honor in this salutation: "O my Lady, my Sovereign, You who rule over me, Mother of my Lord . . . Lady among handmaids, Queen among sisters."[26]

22. The theologians of the Church, deriving their teaching from these and almost innumerable other testimonies handed down long ago, have called the most Blessed Virgin the Queen of all creatures, the Queen of the world, and the Ruler of all.

23. The Supreme Shepherds of the Church have considered it their duty to promote by eulogy and exhortation the devotion of the Christian people to the heavenly Mother and Queen. Simply passing over the documents of more recent Pontiffs, it is helpful to recall that as early as the seventh century Our predecessor St. Martin I called Mary "our glorious Lady, ever Virgin."[27] St. Agatho, in the synodal letter sent to the fathers of the Sixth Ecumenical Council called her "Our Lady, truly and in a proper sense the Mother of God."[28] And in the eighth century Gregory II in the letter sent to St. Germanus, the patriarch, and read in the Seventh Ecumenical Council with all the Fathers concurring, called the Mother of God: "The Queen of all, the true Mother of God," and also "the Queen of all Christians."[29]

24. We wish also to recall that Our predecessor of immortal memory, Sixtus IV, touched favorably upon the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, beginning the Apostolic Letter Cum praeexcelsa[30] with words in which Mary is called "Queen," "Who is always vigilant to intercede with the king whom she bore." Benedict XIV declared the same thing in his Apostolic Letter Gloriosae Dominae, in which Mary is called "Queen of heaven and earth," and it is stated that the sovereign King has in some way communicated to her his ruling power.[31]

25. For all these reasons St. Alphonsus Ligouri, in collecting the testimony of past ages, writes these words with evident devotion: "Because the virgin Mary was raised to such a lofty dignity as to be the mother of the King of kings, it is deservedly and by every right that the Church has honored her with the title of 'Queen'."[32]

26. Furthermore, the sacred liturgy, which acts as a faithful reflection of traditional doctrine believed by the Christian people through the course of all the ages both in the East and in the West, has sung the praises of the heavenly Queen and continues to sing them.

27. Ardent voices from the East sing out: "O Mother of God, today thou art carried into heaven on the chariots of the cherubim, the seraphim wait upon thee and the ranks of the heavenly army bow before thee."[33]

28. Further: "O just, O most blessed Joseph), since thou art sprung from a royal line, thou hast been chosen from among all mankind to be spouse of the pure Queen who, in a way which defies description, will give birth to Jesus the king."[34] In addition: "I shall sing a hymn to the mother, the Queen, whom I joyously approach in praise, gladly celebrating her wonders in song. . . Our tongue cannot worthily praise thee, O Lady; for thou who hast borne Christ the king art exalted above the seraphim. . . Hail, O Queen of the world; hail, O Mary, Queen of us all."[35]

29. We read, moreover, in the Ethiopic Missal: "O Mary, center of the whole world, . . . thou art greater than the many-eyed cherubim and the six-winged seraphim . . . Heaven and earth are filled with the sanctity of thy glory."[36]

30. Furthermore, the Latin Church sings that sweet and ancient prayer called the "Hail, Holy Queen" and the lovely antiphons "Hail, Queen of the Heavens," "O Queen of Heaven, Rejoice," and those others which we are accustomed to recite on feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary: "The Queen stood at Thy right hand in golden vesture surrounded with beauty"[37]; "Heaven and earth praise thee as a powerful Queen"[38]; "Today the Virgin Mary ascends into heaven: rejoice because she reigns with Christ forever."[39]

31. To these and others should be added the Litany of Loreto which daily invites Christian folk to call upon Mary as Queen. Likewise, for many centuries past Christians have been accustomed to meditate upon the ruling power of Mary which embraces heaven and earth, when they consider the fifth glorious mystery of the rosary which can be called the mystical crown of the heavenly Queen.

32. Finally, art which is based upon Christian principles and is animated by their spirit as something faithfully interpreting the sincere and freely expressed devotion of the faithful, has since the Council of Ephesus portrayed Mary as Queen and Empress seated upon a royal throne adorned with royal insignia, crowned with the royal diadem and surrounded by the host of angels and saints in heaven, and ruling not only over nature and its powers but also over the machinations of Satan. Iconography, in representing the royal dignity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, has ever been enriched with works of highest artistic value and greatest beauty; it has even taken the form of representing colorfully the divine Redeemer crowning His mother with a resplendent diadem.

33. The Roman Pontiffs, favoring such types of popular devotion, have often crowned, either in their own persons, or through representatives, images of the Virgin Mother of God which were already outstanding by reason of public veneration.

34. As We have already mentioned, Venerable Brothers, according to ancient tradition and the sacred liturgy the main principle on which the royal dignity of Mary rests is without doubt her Divine Motherhood. In Holy Writ, concerning the Son whom Mary will conceive, We read this sentence: "He shall be called the Son of the most High, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign in the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end,"[40] and in addition Mary is called "Mother of the Lord";[41] from this it is easily concluded that she is a Queen, since she bore a son who, at the very moment of His conception, because of the hypostatic union of the human nature with the Word, was also as man King and Lord of all things. So with complete justice St. John Damascene could write: "When she became Mother of the Creator, she truly became Queen of every creature."[42] Likewise, it can be said that the heavenly voice of the Archangel Gabriel was the first to proclaim Mary's royal office.

35. But the Blessed Virgin Mary should be called Queen, not only because of her Divine Motherhood, but also because God has willed her to have an exceptional role in the work of our eternal salvation. "What more joyful, what sweeter thought can we have" -- as Our Predecessor of happy memory, Pius XI wrote -- "than that Christ is our King not only by natural right, but also by an acquired right: that which He won by the redemption? Would that all men, now forgetful of how much we cost Our Savior, might recall to mind the words, 'You were redeemed, not with gold or silver which perishes, . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb spotless and undefiled.[43] We belong not to ourselves now, since Christ has bought us 'at a great price'."[44]/[45]

36. Now, in the accomplishing of this work of redemption, the Blessed Virgin Mary was most closely associated with Christ; and so it is fitting to sing in the sacred liturgy: "Near the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ there stood, sorrowful, the Blessed Mary, Queen of Heaven and Queen of the World."[46] Hence, as the devout disciple of St. Anselm (Eadmer, ed.) wrote in the Middle Ages: "just as . . . God, by making all through His power, is Father and Lord of all, so the blessed Mary, by repairing all through her merits, is Mother and Queen of all; for God is the Lord of all things, because by His command He establishes each of them in its own nature, and Mary is the Queen of all things, because she restores each to its original dignity through the grace which she merited.[47]

37. For "just as Christ, because He redeemed us, is our Lord and king by a special title, so the Blessed Virgin also (is our queen), on account of the unique manner in which she assisted in our redemption, by giving of her own substance, by freely offering Him for us, by her singular desire and petition for, and active interest in, our salvation."[48]

38. From these considerations, the proof develops on these lines: if Mary, in taking an active part in the work of salvation, was, by God's design, associated with Jesus Christ, the source of salvation itself, in a manner comparable to that in which Eve was associated with Adam, the source of death, so that it may be stated that the work of our salvation was accomplished by a kind of "recapitulation,"[49] in which a virgin was instrumental in the salvation of the human race, just as a virgin had been closely associated with its death; if, moreover, it can likewise be stated that this glorious Lady had been chosen Mother of Christ "in order that she might become a partner in the redemption of the human race";[50] and if, in truth, "it was she who, free of the stain of actual and original sin, and ever most closely bound to her Son, on Golgotha offered that Son to the Eternal Father together with the complete sacrifice of her maternal rights and maternal love, like a new Eve, for all the sons of Adam, stained as they were by his lamentable fall,"[51] then it may be legitimately concluded that as Christ, the new Adam, must be called a King not merely because He is Son of God, but also because He is our Redeemer, so, analogously, the Most Blessed Virgin is queen not only because she is Mother of God, but also because, as the new Eve, she was associated with the new Adam.

39. Certainly, in the full and strict meaning of the term, only Jesus Christ, the God-Man, is King; but Mary, too, as Mother of the divine Christ, as His associate in the redemption, in his struggle with His enemies and His final victory over them, has a share, though in a limited and analogous way, in His royal dignity. For from her union with Christ she attains a radiant eminence transcending that of any other creature; from her union with Christ she receives the royal right to dispose of the treasures of the Divine Redeemer's Kingdom; from her union with Christ finally is derived the inexhaustible efficacy of her maternal intercession before the Son and His Father.

40. Hence it cannot be doubted that Mary most Holy is far above all other creatures in dignity, and after her Son possesses primacy over all. "You have surpassed every creature," sings St. Sophronius. "What can be more sublime than your joy, O Virgin Mother? What more noble than this grace, which you alone have received from God"?[52] To this St. Germanus adds: "Your honor and dignity surpass the whole of creation; your greatness places you above the angels."[53] And St. John Damascene goes so far as to say: "Limitless is the difference between God's servants and His Mother."[54]

41. In order to understand better this sublime dignity of the Mother of God over all creatures let us recall that the holy Mother of God was, at the very moment of her Immaculate Conception, so filled with grace as to surpass the grace of all the Saints. Wherefore, as Our Predecessor of happy memory, Pius IX wrote, God "showered her with heavenly gifts and graces from the treasury of His divinity so far beyond what He gave to all the angels and saints that she was ever free from the least stain of sin; she is so beautiful and perfect, and possesses such fullness of innocence and holiness, that under God a greater could not be dreamed, and only God can comprehend the marvel."[55]

42. Besides, the Blessed Virgin possessed, after Christ, not only the highest degree of excellence and perfection, but also a share in that influence by which He, her Son and our Redeemer, is rightly said to reign over the minds and wills of men. For if through His Humanity the divine Word performs miracles and gives graces, if He uses His Sacraments and Saints as instruments for the salvation of men, why should He not make use of the role and work of His most holy Mother in imparting to us the fruits of redemption? "With a heart that is truly a mother's," to quote again Our Predecessor of immortal memory, Pius IX, "does she approach the problem of our salvation, and is solicitous for the whole human race; made Queen of heaven and earth by the Lord, exalted above all choirs of angels and saints, and standing at the right hand of her only a Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, she intercedes powerfully for us with a mother's prayers, obtains what she seeks, and cannot be refused."[56] On this point another of Our Predecessors of happy memory, Leo XIII, has said that an "almost immeasurable" power has been given Mary in the distribution of graces;[57] St. Pius X adds that she fills this office "as by the right of a mother."[58]

43. Let all Christians, therefore, glory in being subjects of the Virgin Mother of God, who, while wielding royal power, is on fire with a mother's love.

44. Theologians and preachers, however, when treating these and like questions concerning the Blessed Virgin, must avoid straying from the correct course, with a twofold error to guard against: that is to say, they must beware of unfounded opinions and exaggerated expressions which go beyond the truth, on the other hand, they must watch out for excessive narrowness of mind in weighing that exceptional, sublime, indeed all but divine dignity of the Mother of God, which the Angelic Doctor teaches must be attributed to her "because of the infinite goodness that is God."[59]

45. For the rest, in this as in other points of Christian doctrine, "the proximate and universal norm of truth" is for all the living Magisterium of the Church, which Christ established "also to illustrate and explain those matters which are contained only in an obscure way, and implicitly in the deposit of faith."[60]

46. From the ancient Christian documents, from prayers of the liturgy, from the innate piety of the Christian people, from works of art, from every side We have gathered witnesses to the regal dignity of the Virgin Mother of God; We have likewise shown that the arguments deduced by Sacred Theology from the treasure store of the faith fully confirm this truth. Such a wealth of witnesses makes up a resounding chorus which changes the sublimity of the royal dignity of the Mother of God and of men, to whom every creature is subject, who is "exalted to the heavenly throne, above the choirs of angels."[61]

47. Since we are convinced, after long and serious reflection, that great good will accrue to the Church if this solidly established truth shines forth more clearly to all, like a luminous lamp raised aloft, by Our Apostolic authority We decree and establish the feast of Mary's Queenship, which is to be celebrated every year in the whole world on the 31st of May. We likewise ordain that on the same day the consecration of the human race to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary be renewed, cherishing the hope that through such consecration a new era may begin, joyous in Christian peace and in the triumph of religion.

48. Let all, therefore, try to approach with greater trust the throne of grace and mercy of our Queen and Mother, and beg for strength in adversity, light in darkness, consolation in sorrow; above all let them strive to free themselves from the slavery of sin and offer an unceasing homage, filled with filial loyalty, to their Queenly Mother. Let her churches be thronged by the faithful, her feast-days honored; may the beads of the Rosary be in the hands of all; may Christians gather, in small numbers and large, to sing her praises in churches, in homes, in hospitals, in prisons. May Mary's name be held in highest reverence, a name sweeter than honey and more precious than jewels; may none utter blasphemous words, the sign of a defiled soul, against that name graced with such dignity and revered for its motherly goodness; let no one be so bold as to speak a syllable which lacks the respect due to her name.

49. All, according to their state, should strive to bring alive the wondrous virtues of our heavenly Queen and most loving Mother through constant effort of mind and manner. Thus will it come about that all Christians, in honoring and imitating their sublime Queen and Mother, will realize they are truly brothers, and with all envy and avarice thrust aside, will promote love among classes, respect the rights of the weak, cherish peace. No one should think himself a son of Mary, worthy of being received under her powerful protection, unless, like her, he is just, gentle and pure, and shows a sincere desire for true brotherhood, not harming or injuring but rather helping and comforting others.

50. In some countries of the world there are people who are unjustly persecuted for professing their Christian faith and who are deprived of their divine and human rights to freedom; up till now reasonable demands and repeated protests have availed nothing to remove these evils. May the powerful Queen of creation, whose radiant glance banishes storms and tempests and brings back cloudless skies, look upon these her innocent and tormented children with eyes of mercy; may the Virgin, who is able to subdue violence beneath her foot, grant to them that they may soon enjoy the rightful freedom to practice their religion openly, so that, while serving the cause of the Gospel, they may also contribute to the strength and progress of nations by their harmonious cooperation, by the practice of extraordinary virtues which are a glowing example in the midst of bitter trials.

51. By this Encyclical Letter We are instituting a feast so that all may recognize more clearly and venerate more devoutly the merciful and maternal sway of the Mother of God. We are convinced that this feast will help to preserve, strengthen and prolong that peace among nations which daily is almost destroyed by recurring crises. Is she not a rainbow in the clouds reaching towards God, the pledge of a covenant of peace?[62] "Look upon the rainbow, and bless Him that made it; surely it is beautiful in its brightness. It encompasses the heaven about with the circle of its glory, the hands of the Most High have displayed it."[63] Whoever, therefore, reverences the Queen of heaven and earth -- and let no one consider himself exempt from this tribute of a grateful and loving soul -- let him invoke the most effective of Queens, the Mediatrix of peace; let him respect and preserve peace, which is not wickedness unpunished nor freedom without restraint, but a well-ordered harmony under the rule of the will of God; to its safeguarding and growth the gentle urgings and commands of the Virgin Mary impel us.

52. Earnestly desiring that the Queen and Mother of Christendom may hear these Our prayers, and by her peace make happy a world shaken by hate, and may, after this exile show unto us all Jesus, Who will be our eternal peace and joy, to you, Venerable Brothers, and to your flocks, as a promise of God's divine help and a pledge of Our love, from Our heart We impart the Apostolic Benediction.

53. Given at Rome, from St. Peter's, on the feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the eleventh day of October, 1954, in the sixteenth year of our Pontificate.



REFERENCES:
1. Cf. constitutio apostolica Munificentissirnus Deus: AAS XXXXII 1950, p. 753 sq.
2. Cf. Iitt. enc. Fulgens corona: AAS XXXXV, 1953, p. 577 sq.
3. Cf. AAS XXXVIII, 1946, p. 264 sq.
4. Cf. L'Osservatore Romano, d. 19 Maii, a. 1946.
5. Luc. 1, 32.
6. Isai. IX, 6.
7. Apoc. XIX, 16.
8. Cf. Luc. 1, 32, 33.
9. Luc. 1, 43.
10. S. Ephraem, Hymni de B Mana, ed. Th. J. Lamy, t. II, Mechliniae, 1886, hymn. XIX, p. 624.
11. Idem, Oratio ad Ssmam Dei Matrem; Opera omnia, Ed. Assemani, t. III (graece), Romae, 1747, pag. 546.
12. S. Gregorius Naz., Poemata dogmatica, XVIII, v. 58; PG XXXVII, 485.
13. Prudentius, Dittochaeum, XXVII: PL LX, 102 A.
14. Hom. in S. Lucam, hom. Vll; ed. Rauer, Origenes' Werke, T. IX, p. 48 (ex catena Marcarii Chrysocephali). Cf. PG XIII, 1902 D.
15. S. Hieronymus, Liber de nominibus hebraeis: PL XXIII, 886.
16. S. Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo 142, De Annuntiatione B.M.V.: PL Lll, 579 C; cf. etiam 582 B; 584 A: "Regina totius exstitit castitatis."
17. Relatio Epiphanii Ep. Constantin.: PL LXII, 498 D.
18. Encomium in Dormitionem Ssmae Deiparae (inter opera S. Modesti): PG LXXXVI, 3306 B.
19. S. Andreas Cretensis, Homilia II in Dormitionem Ssmae Deiparae: PG XCVII, 1079 B.
20. Id., Homilia III in Dormitionem Ssmae Deiparae: PG XCVII, 1099 A.
21. S. Germanus, In Praesentationem Ssmae Deiparae, 1: PG XCVIII, 303 A.
22. Id., In Praesentationem Ssmae Deiparae, n PG XCVIII, 315 C.
23. S. Ioannes Damascenus, Homilia I in Dormitionem B.M.V.: P.G. XCVI, 719 A.
24. Id., De fide orthodoxa, I, IV, c. 14: PG XLIV, 1158 B.
25. De laudibus Mariae (inter opera Venantii Fortunati): PL LXXXVIII, 282 B et 283 A.
26. Ildefonsus Toletanus, De virginitate perpetua B.M.V.: PL XCVI, 58 A D.
27. S. Martinus 1, Epist. XIV: PL LXXXVII, 199-200 A.
28. S. Agatho: PL LXXXVII, 1221 A.
29. Hardouin, Acta Conciliorum, IV, 234; 238: PL LXXXIX, 508 B.
30. Xystus IV, bulla Cum praeexcelsa. d. d. 28 Febr. a. 1476.
31. Benedictus XIV, bulla Gloriosae Dominae, d. d. 27 Sept. a. 1748.
32. S. Alfonso, Le glone de Maria, p. I, c. I, 1.
33. Ex liturgia Armenorum: in festo Assumptionis, hymnus ad Matutinum.
34. Ex Menaeo (byzantino): Dominica post Natalem, in Canone, ad Matutinum.
35. Officium hymni Axathistos (in ritu byzantino).
36. Missale Aethiopicum, Anaphora Dominae nostrae Mariae, Matris Dei.
37. Brev. Rom., Versiculus sexti Respons.
38. Festum Assumptionis; hymnus Laudum.
39. Ibidem, ad Magnificat 11 Vesp.
40. Luc. 1, 32, 33.
41. Ibid. 1, 43.
42. S. Ioannes Damascenus, De fide orthodoxa, 1. IV, c. 14; PL XCIV, 1158 s. B.
43. I Petr. 1, 18, 19.
44. I Cor. Vl, 20.
45. Pius Xl, litt. enc. Quas primas: AAS XVII, 1925, p. 599.
46. Festum septem dolorum B. Mariae Virg., Tractus.
47. Eadmerus, De excellentia Virginis Mariae, c. 11: PL CLIX, 508 A B.
48. F. Suarez, De mysteriis vitae Christi, disp. XXII, sect. 11 (ed Vives, XIX, 327).
49. S. Irenaeus, Adv. haer., V, 19, 1: PG VII, 1175 B.
50. Pius Xl, epist. Auspicatus profecto: AAS XXV, 1933, p. 80.
51. Pius XII, litt. enc. Mystici Corporis: AAS XXXV, 1943, p. 247.
52. S. Sophronius, In annuntianone Beatae Mariae Virginis: PG LXXXVII, 3238 D; 3242 A.
53. S. Germanus, Hom. II in dormitione Beatae Mariae Virginis: PG XCVIII, 354 B.
54. S. Ioannes Damascenus, Hom. I in Dormitionem Beatae Mariae Virginis: PG XCVI, 715 A.
55. Pius IX, bulla Ineffabilis Deus: Acta Pii IX, I, p. 597-598.
56. Ibid. p. 618.
57. Leo Xlll, litt. enc. Adiumcem populi: ASS, XXVIIl, 1895-1896,p.130.
58. Pius X, litt enc. Ad diem illum: ASS XXXVI, 1903-1904, p.455.
59. S. Thomas, Summa Theol., I, q. 25, a. 6, ad 4.
60. Pius Xll, litt. enc. Humani generis: AAS XLII, 1950, p. 569.
61. Ex Brev. Rom.: Festum Assumptionis Beatae Mariae Virginis.
62. Cf. Gen. IX, 13.
63. Eccl. XLIII, 12-13.

Also, this holy Pope decreed that on this day "there be renewed the consecration of the human race to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary." Do you really think this happens anymore? Shame on you, all you leaders of the Church. We need her help now more than ever.

St. Felix, Pope/Martyr

SAINT FELIX I
Pope and Martyr
(†274)


Picture of him from the Sistine Chapel in Rome

 Saint Felix was a Roman by birth and the son of the emperor Constance. He was elected Pope after the martyrdom of his predecessor, Saint Dionysius (or Denis), on the last day of the year 269.

Four of his letters are still extant, though one is only a fragment; in the first two he regulates the procedures of justice in the case of accused ecclesiastics and warns against detractors and calumniators. In the third he refutes those who maintain errors still rampant in our day - that Jesus did not behold His Father by the beatific vision and was less than His Father. In the fragmentary fourth letter, the Pope foresees and rejects in advance the heresies of Nestorius and Eutyches, teaching that the Eternal Word is not another Person than Jesus Christ, who is both perfect God and perfect Man.

Saint Felix also wrote against the errors of Sabellius, Paul of Samosate and Manes, head of the Manicheans. He issued many ordinances of great advantage to the Church, such as that the relics of Saints should be enclosed in the altars where the Holy Sacrifice is offered. His life ended in the year 274 under the emperor Aurelian. Although that prince had shown a certain benevolence toward Christians at the beginning of his reign, in that year he ordered a furious persecution which enveloped Saint Felix and was the occasion for his winning a glorious crown of martyrdom (because of the persecution he endured). His body was interred in his own cemetery on the Aurelian Way, where he had also built a church. Saint Felix reigned for five years, ten months and 25 days.

The notice about Felix in the Liber Pontificalis ascribes to him a decree that Masses should be celebrated on the tombs of martyrs ("Hic constituit supra memorias martyrum missas celebrare"). The author of this entry was evidently alluding to the custom of celebrating Mass privately at the altars near or over the tombs of the martyrs in the crypts of the catacombs (missa ad corpus), while the solemn celebration always took place in the basilicas built over the catacombs. This practice, still in force at the end of the fourth century, dates apparently from the period when the great cemeterial basilicas were built in Rome, and owes its origin to the solemn commemoration services of martyrs, held at their tombs on the anniversary of their burial, as early as the third century. Felix probably issued no such decree, but the compiler of the Liber Pontificalis attributed it to him because he made no departure from the custom in force in his time.

The Liber Pontificalis (Latin for 'pontifical book' or Book of the Popes) is a book of biographies of Popes from St. Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the Liber Pontificalis stopped with Pope Adrian II (867–872) or Pope Stephen V (885–891), but it was later supplemented in a different style until Pope Eugene IV (1431–1447) and then Pope Pius II (1458–1464).


The title Liber Pontificalis goes back to the 12th century, although it only became current in the 15th century, and the canonical title of the work since the edition of French priest Louis Duchesne in the 19th century. In the earliest extant manuscripts it is referred to as Liber episcopalis in quo continentur acta beatorum pontificum Urbis Romae (episcopal book in which are contained the acts of the blessed pontiffs of the city of Rome) and later the Gesta or Chronica pontificum.^[

Reflection. The example of our Saviour and of all His Saints ought to encourage us under all trials to suffer with patience and even with joy. We shall soon begin to feel that it is sweet to tread in the steps of the God-Man, and shall find that if we courageously take up our crosses, He will make them light by sharing the burden with us.

MEMORIAL DAY!

In 1868, General John A. Logan, commander of the Civil War veterans' organization 'The Grand Army of the Republic', called for a Decoration Day to be observed annually on May 30. (General Logan was a Senator from the state of Illinois, and was fighting for the abolition of slavery, and should be remembered for his contribution. However, in my city of Lansing, Michigan, he has been replaced by MLK on the street which had been named in his honor. He is probably just another stupid 'honky', who doesn't care about any people other than white folks. Just sayin')


A Memorial Day Tribute Memorial Day is a time to remember the fallen heroes throughout our nation’s history “who gave the last full measure of devotion” to their nation. Mere words cannot capture the enormity of their sacrifice or the anguish of loved ones they left behind.

Honor those who serve today.

On this Memorial Day remember and pray for our troops who are in harm’s way today. And pray for their families and loved ones as they endure the hardship and uncertainty of deployment.


“As we honor their memory today, let us pledge that their lives,
their sacrifices, their valor shall be justified and remembered
for as long as God gives life to this nation.”Ronald Reagan If, as everyone today seems to think, even, sad to say, in the Catholic Church, everybody goes to heaven when they die, my question is this: "Who will be praying for the souls of the dearly departed anymore?"
The sin of presumption is a terrible thing to be happening in these days. Let us faithful Catholics keep praying for these holy souls until we die. Hopefully, someone will take up the slack and pray for us when our time comes..

“As we honor their memory today, let us pledge that their lives, their sacrifices, their valor shall be justified and remembered for as long as God gives life to this nation.” Ronald Reagan


It is the Soldier

It is the soldier, not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer
who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves under the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.


And, let us NOT forget those who have become disabled because of their service to our country. They have given their own sacrifice. The following is from a New Memorial in Washington, D.C., the American Veteran Disabled for Life memorial, which opened in the fall of 2014. The PBS Memorial Day concert brought it into the open even more.

 Bronze Statue

St. Augustine of Canterbury

This is also for Sunday, the 28th of May. 

 

Saint Augustine Bishop, Apostle of England (by Fr. Prosper Gueranger 1870)

Four hundred years had scarcely elapsed, since the glorious death of Eleutherius, when a second Apostle of Britain ascended from this world, and on this same day, to the abode of eternal bliss. We cannot but be struck at this circumstance of our two Apostles' names appearing thus together on the Calendar: it shows us, that God has His own special reasons in fixing the day for the death of each one among us. We have more than once noticed these providential coincidences, which form one of the chief characteristics of the Liturgical Cycle. What a beautiful sight is this which is brought before us today, of this first Archbishop of Canterbury, who, after honouring on this day, the saintly memory of the holy Pontiff from whom England first received the Gospel, himself ascended into heaven, and shared with Eleutherius the eternity of heaven's joy! Who would not acknowledge in this, a pledge of the predilection wherewith heaven has favoured this country, which, after centuries of fidelity to the Truth, has now, for three hundred years, been an enemy to her own truest glory!

The work begun by Eleutherius had been almost entirely destroyed by the invasion of the Saxons and Angli; so that a new Mission, a new preaching of the Gospel, had become a necessity. It was Rome that again supplied the want. St. Gregory the Great was the originator of the great design. Had it been permitted him, he would have taken upon himself the fatigues of this Apostolate to our country. He was deeply impressed with the idea that he was to be the spiritual Father of those poor Islanders, some of whom he had seen exposed in the market-place of Rome, that they might be sold as slaves. Not being allowed to undertake the work himself, he looked around him for men whom he might send as Apostles to our Island. He found them in the Benedictine Monastery, where he himself had spent several years of his life. There started from Rome forty Monks, with Augustine at their head, and they entered England under the Standard of the Cross.

Thus the new race, that then peopled the Island, received the Faith, as the Britains had previously done, from the hands of a Pope; and Monks were their teachers in the science of salvation. The word of Augustine and his companions fructified in this privileged soil. It, of course, took him some time before he could provide the whole nation with instruction; but neither Rome, nor the Benedictines, abandoned the work thus begun. The few remnants, that were still left of the ancient British Christianity, joined the new converts; and England merited to be called, for long ages, the "Island of Saints."

When Saint Augustine arrived, ruined churches, scarcely a Christian to be found to narrate a tradition, attested to the sacrilegious and incendiary hand of paganism, despite the labors of Saint Palladius and Saint Germain d'Auxerre in the fifth century. The last Christian Britons had taken refuge in the mountains of Wales. And England, the land of the Angles, had become a land of infamous slave-traders for the continent, including Rome; its merchants did not spare their own people when profit was at stake. In this way did Saint Gregory the Great come to purchase the English boys he saw marketed at the Roman Forum, and raise them in his house, which he had transformed into a monastery. Thus the definitive conversion of England began, in his compassionate heart, when in the sixth year of his pontificate he chose the prior of his own monastery for the mission to England.

Saint Augustine and his companions during their journey heard many reports of the barbarism and ferocity of the pagan English. They were alarmed and wished to turn back. But Saint Gregory sent word to them saying, "Go on, in God's name! The greater your hardships, the greater your crown. May the grace of Almighty God protect you, and permit me to see the fruit of your labor in the heavenly country! If I cannot share your toil, I shall yet share the harvest, for God knows that it is not good-will which is wanting."

The history of St. Augustine's Apostolate in England is of a thrilling interest. The landing of the Roman Missioners, and their marching through the Country, to the chant of the Litany; the willing and almost kind welcome given them by king Ethelbert; the influence exercised by his queen Bertha, (who was French and Catholic,) in the establishment of the Faith among the Saxons; the baptism of ten thousand Neophytes, on Christmas Day, and in the bed of a river; the foundation of the metropolitan See of Canterbury, one of the most illustrious Churches of Christendom by the holiness and noble doings of its Archbishops; yes, all these admirable episodes of England's conversion are eloquent proofs of God's predilection of our dear Land. Augustine's peaceful and gentle character, together with his love of contemplation amidst his arduous Missionary labours, gives an additional charm to this magnificent page of the Church's history. But, who can help feeling sad at the thought, that a country, favoured, as ours has been, with such graces, should have apostatized from the Faith? have repaid with hatred that Rome, which made her Christian? and have persecuted, with unheard-of cruelties, the Benedictine Order, to which she owed so much of her glory?

We subjoin the following Lessons on the Life of our Apostle,
taken from an Office approved of by the Holy See.

Augustine was a Monk of the Monastery of Saint Andrew, in Rome, where also he discharged the office of Prior, with much piety and prudence. He was taken from that Monastery, by St Gregory the Great; and sent by him, with about forty Monks of the same Monastery, into Britain. Thus would Gregory carry out, by his disciples, the conversion of that Country to Christ, a project which he at first resolved to effect himself. They had not advanced far on their journey, when they got frightened at the difficulty of such an enterprise; but Gregory encouraged them by letters, which he sent to Augustine, whom he appointed as their Abbot, and gave him letters of introduction to the kings of the Franks, and to the Bishops of Gaul. Whereupon, Augustine and his Monks pursued their journey with haste. He visited the Tomb of St. Martin, at Tours. Having reached the town of Pont-de-Ce, not far from Angers, he was badly treated by its inhabitants, and was compelled to spend the night in the open air. Having struck the ground with his staff, a fountain miraculously sprang up; and, on that spot, a Church was afterwards built, and called after his name.

Having procured interpreters from the Franks, he proceeded to England, and landed at the Isle of Thanet. He entered the Country, carrying, as a Standard, a silver Cross, and a painting representing our Saviour. Thus did he present himself before Ethelbert, the king of Kent, who readily provided the heralds of the Gospel with a dwelling in the city of Canterbury, and gave them leave to preach in his kingdom. There was, close at hand, an Oratory which had been built in honour of St. Martin, when the Romans had possession of Britain. It was in this Oratory that his queen Bertha, (who was a Christian, as being of the nation of the Franks,) was wont to pray. Augustine, therefore, entered into Canterbury with solemn religious ceremony, amidst the chanting of psalms and litanies. He took up his abode, for some time, near to the said Oratory; and there, together with his Monks, led an apostolic life. Such manner of living, conjointly with the heavenly doctrine that was preached and confirmed by many miracles, so reconciled the Islanders, that many of them were induced to embrace the Christian Faith. The king himself was also converted, and Augustine baptized him and a very great number of his people. On one Christmas Day, he baptized upwards of ten thousand English, in a river at York; and it is related, that those among them, who were suffering any malady, received bodily health, as well as their spiritual regeneration.

Meanwhile, the man of God Augustine, received a command from Gregory to go and receive Episcopal ordination in Gaul, at the hands of Virgilius, the Bishop of Arles. On his return, he established his See at Canterbury, in the Church of our Saviour, which he had built, and he kept there some of the Monks to be his fellow-labourers. He also built in the suburbs the Monastery of Saint Peter, which was afterwards called " Saint Augustine's." When Gregory heard of the conversion of the Angli, which was told to him by the two Monks Laurence and Peter, whom Augustine had sent to Rome, he wrote letters of congratulation to Augustine. He gave him power to arrange all that concerned the Church in England, and to wear the Pallium. In the same letters, he admonished him to be on his guard against priding himself on the miracles, which God enabled him to work for the salvation of souls, but which pride would turn to the injury of him that worked them.

Having thus put in order the affairs of the Church in England, Augustine held a Council with the Bishops and Doctors of the ancient Britons, who had long been at variance with the Roman Church in the keeping of Easter, and other rites. And in order to refute, by miracles, these men, whom the Apostolic See had often authoritatively admonished, but to no purpose, Augustine, in proof of the truth of his assertions, restored sight to a blind man, in their presence. But, on their refusing to yield even after witnessing the miracle, Augustine, with prophetic warning, told them of the punishment that awaited them. At length, after having laboured so long for Christ, and appointed Laurence as his successor, he took his departure for heaven, on the seventh of the Calends of June (May 26th,) and was buried in the Monastery of Saint Peter, which became the burying place of the Archbishops of Canterbury, and of several Kings. The Churches of England honoured him with great devotion. They decreed that, each year, his Feast should be kept as a day of rest, and that his Name should be inserted in the Litany, immediately after that of St. Gregory, together with whom Augustine has ever been honoured by the English as their Apostle, and as the propagator of the Benedictine Order in their country.

Reflection. The work of an apostle is the work of the right hand of God. He often chooses weak instruments for His mightiest purposes. The most sure augury of lasting success in missionary labor is obedience to superiors and mistrust of self.  (God doesn't always find qualified messengers, but He will always use the willing)

 

 

 

Sunday after the Ascension

(I'm posting this today, as I will be gone tomorrow.  Gives you more time to think about what has happened these last few days.)

This Sunday is within the octave of the glorious Ascension of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. It is NOT the Ascension Itself, even though we might be told otherwise!

Think about it; what an awesome sight it must have been to the believers who saw it! Of course we are to hear from St. Peter and from St. John in our readings, but I'm going to pass on something from the 'Liturgical Year' by Abbot Gueranger. We can think about this while we're waiting for the Holy Ghost appear once again. Here it is:

'...Glory then, be to the justice of the Father, who has dealt thus with His Son! Let us rejoice at seeing the Man of sorrows become now the King of glory; and let us, with all the transport of our souls, repeat the 'Hosanna' wherewith the angels welcomed Him into heaven.

Nor must we suppose that the Son of Man now that He is seated on the throne of His Divinity, is inactive in His glorious rest. No; the sovereignty bestowed upon Him by the Father, is an active one. First of all, He is appointed Judge of the living and of the dead, before whose judgment seat we must all stand. No sooner shall our soul have quit the body, than she shall be presented before this tribunal, and receive from the lips of the Son of Man the sentence she will have deserved. O Jesus! by the glory Thou didst receive on the day of Thine Ascension, have mercy on us at that moment whereon depends eternity...'
GOSPEL (John XV. 26-27., to XVI. 1-4.) At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: "When the Paraclete cometh, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the Father, he shall give testimony of me: and you shall give testimony, because you are with me from the beginning. These things have I spoken to you, that you may not be scandalized. They put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh, that whomsoever killeth you will think that he doth a service to God. And these things will they do to you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. But these things I have told you, that, when the hour shall come, you may remember that I told you." The Offertory of this Sunday describes to us the glories of Jesus's Ascension: 'God ascended in triumph, and the Lord at the sound of the trumpet, alleluia.' Holy Church wishes to impress the thought of this triumph well upon us, that our hearts may be fixed on the fact that Jesus awaits us.

While offering to God the bread and wine, which are soon to be changed into the Body and Blood of Christ, the Church, in the Secret, prays that we may not only be made pure by our contact with these divine mysteries, but may also receive the vigor and energy which are so indispensably needed by every Christian. 'May these unspotted sacrifices purify us O Lord, and invigorate our souls with heavenly grace.'


Remember, there is but one God, who has created and governs all things; that God is a just judge, who rewards the good and punishes the wicked; that there are in the Deity three persons; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; that the Son of God became man for love of us, taught us, and by His death on the cross redeemed us; that the Holy Ghost sanctifies us by His grace, without which we cannot become virtuous or be saved; that man's soul is immortal.


Come, Holy Ghost, into our hearts; teach us what we need to know and save us.

Saturday after the Ascension

Jesus, then, the Man who dwelt on the earth and was perfect in all holiness, has ascended into heaven. This earth, accursed of God as it was, has produced the fairest fruit of heaven; and heaven with its gates shut against our race, has had to open them for the entrance of a Son of Adam. It is the mystery of the Ascension; but it is only a part, and it behooves us to know the mystery in its fullness. The following is taken from the Gothic Church of Spain. We are presenting our petitions this day to heaven. We are going to get instructions that this glorious Feast gives us:


We beseech you, dearly beloved brethren, that, laying aside the weight of worldly thoughts, you would raise up your minds, and soar to heavenly things, and see, with the attentive eye of the heart, how Christ placed your own human nature, which He had assumed, in the highest heavens. The incomparable brightness on which we are invited to fix our astonished gaze, is Jesus our Lord. He exchanges the lowliness of this earthly dwelling for the glory of heaven. How quick must our sight be, that it may see the land, whither we are to follow Him! Today our Saviour, after assuming our human nature, returned to the throne of the Godhead. Today, He offered to His Father that same human nature, which He had previously offered to the endurance of His Passion. He exalted in heaven the Humanity that He had seen in the tomb. He Who conferred on us His own death, that He might put ours to death, gave us the example of His Resurrection, that He might gladden us with the hope of life. Today, He returned to the Father, though He had not been here on earth without possessing all the power of the Father, Who is co-equal with Him. Today, He ascended into heaven, though He had not lost the adoration of the angels when He descended upon our earth. One with the Father in unity of substance, He so entered into heaven as the new Man, that He was not new to God. Let us, therefore, ask the almighty Father, through the Name of His Son, our Saviour, that He grant us admission into a spiritual life of grace, the gift of eternal happiness, an ascension into the mansion of bliss, an increase of Catholic Faith, and the destruction of heretical disbelief. He, surely, will hear us, now that we praise Him Who went in search of us when we were lost. He will assist us that are now His people, who abandoned us not when we were aliens. He will be with us now that we know Him, for He was not absent from us even when we knew Him not. He will not suffer us to be orphans now that we are devoted to Him, for He vouchsafed to make us His children when we were His enemies. He will grant us what we ask, for He promised to send us the Holy Ghost. Amen.


So you see, our life is NOT just a happy-clappy, balloon and butterfly filled existence (as we see in the new 'dis-ordo' of things). We still have some work to do if we want to reach the heavenly kingdom He has promised to those who are devoted and loyal to Him. He has not left us orphans, but will continue to help us and hear us if we but ask.

St. Bede

ST. BEDE the VENERABLE
Father and Doctor of the Church
(673-735)

Saint Bede, the illustrious ornament of the Anglo-Saxon Church and its first English historian, was consecrated to God in 680 at the age of seven, and entrusted to the care of Saint Benedict Biscop at Weremouth. He became a monk in the sister-house of Jarrow, which he would never leave, and there he trained no fewer than six hundred scholars, whom his piety, learning, and sweet disposition had gathered around him.

He was ordained a priest in 702. To the toils of teaching and the exact observance of his Rule he added long hours of private prayer, with the study of every branch of science and literature then known. He was familiar with Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. In a treatise which he compiled for his scholars, still extant, he assembled all that the world had then conserved of history, chronology, physics, music, philosophy, poetry, arithmetic, and medicine. In his Ecclesiastical History he has left us beautiful lives of Anglo-Saxon Saints and holy Fathers, while his commentaries on the Sacred Scriptures are still in use by the Church.

It was to the study of the Divine Word that he devoted the whole energy of his soul, and at times his compunction was so overpowering that his voice would break with weeping, while the tears of his scholars mingled with his own. Once he was accused of heresy by certain jealous ones, but this scholar who had always made a great effort not to depart from tradition, wrote a letter which vindicated him and stopped the bad reports. He had little aid from others, and during his later years suffered from constant illness; yet he worked and prayed up to his last hour. It has been said of him that it is easier to admire him in thought than to do him justice in expression.

The Saint was employed in translating the Gospel of Saint John from the Greek, even to the hour of his death, which took place on the eve of the Ascension in the year 735. "He spent that day joyfully," writes one of his scholars. In the middle of the afternoon he said: "It is time that I return to the One who gave me being, creating me out of nothing... The moment of my liberty is approaching; I desire to be freed from the bonds of the body and to join Jesus Christ. Yes, my soul longs to see Jesus Christ its king, in the splendor of His glory." In the evening a scribe attending him said, "Dear master, there is yet one chapter unwritten; would you be disturbed if we asked you additional questions?" He answered, "No; take your pen, and write quickly. It is finished. Take my head in thy hands and support me over against the Oratory, for it is a great place where I have so often prayed Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost." The disciple did. He prayed then until his last breath. His body gave forth a very sweet odour of sanctity.

In the 'Imitation of Christ'says: "The more a man is at peace within himself and interiorly simple, the more and deeper things does he understand without labor; for he receives the light of understanding from on high."

Following are some quotes from this great student of divinity:

He alone loves the Creator perfectly who manifests a pure love for his neighbor.

And I pray thee, loving Jesus, that as Thou hast graciously given me to drink in with delight the words of Thy knowledge, so Thou wouldst mercifully grant me to attain one day to Thee, the fountain of all wisdom and to appear forever before Thy face.

“Whenever we enter the church and draw near to the heavenly mysteries, we ought to approach with all humility and fear, both because of the presence of the angelic powers and out of the reverence due to the sacred oblation; for as the Angels are said to have stood by the Lord’s body when it lay in the tomb, so we must believe that they are present in the celebration of the Mysteries of His most sacred Body at the time of consecration.” (I truly believe this. In my early years of being a Catholic, I wanted to get involved, so I had volunteered to be Commentator at the N.O. Mass. I had been told when learning the Faith that, at the Consecration, angels were present. This made sense, but I understood very little concerning the Faith at that time. However, on Easter one year, I was up on the altar, receiving while kneeling and on the tongue, the Holy Eucharist. After receiving Him, I returned to my spot on the side. A man approached on my left carrying a little of approx. 3-4 years of age. The little boy pointed at the area above the altar and asked his dad: "Who are all those people?" All there was at this church was a Crucifix and nothing else. The father replied: "There's nobody there." I know that this was a message for me. The angels ARE there! Too bad the father didn't have the Faith! And, woe to those who were supposed to teach him.)


“‘You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and they tremble.’ (James 2:19)
They alone know how to believe in God who love God, who are Christians not only in name but also in action and [way of] life, because without love faith is empty. With love, it is the faith of a Christian —without love, the faith of a demon.”

“Better a stupid and unlettered brother who, working the good things he knows, merits life in Heaven than one who though being distinguished for his learning in the Scriptures, or even holding the place of a doctor, lacks the Bread of love.”

Friday after the Ascension

I'm going to enter prayers for this Friday and tomorrow, in memory of the Ascension. This first one is taken from the Armenian Church. We are uniting with this Church, sharing in the joy felt by the holy angels, when they saw the God-Man rising form earth, and taking possession of the Highest throne in heaven. Enjoy, and think about how great these things truly are.


The Powers of heaven trembled, when they witnessed thine Ascension, O Christ, and said to each other in fear: 'Who is this King of glory?' This is God the Word made Flesh, Who put sin to death upon the Cross, and ascending in glory, entered heaven: the Lord, mighty in His power.

This is He that rose from the tomb, and destroyed death, and now comes by a glorious Ascension, to the Father: He is the Lord, mighty in war.

This is He that ascended today, by His divine power, in His Father's chariot: choirs of angels ministered to Him, and sang, saying: 'Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and the King of glory shall enter in!

The heavenly powers were amazed, and cried unto each other with tremulous voice: 'Who is this King of glory, that cometh in the Flesh and in wondrous power? Lift up, lift up your gates, O ye princes, and the King of glory shall enter in!'

The Principalities of heaven were heard singing a new canticle, and saying in a tone of glad admiration: 'It is the King of glory, the Saviour and deliverer of mankind! Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and the King of glory shall enter in!'

We have been planted together in the likeness of thy death, O Son of God! Make us worthy to be made like unto thee, O King of glory! Let the Churches of the saints sing to thee their spiritual canticles!

Thou didst crucify together with thyself the old man, and thou tookest away the sting of sin; thou gavest us liberty, by the life-giving Tree to which thou wast fastened, and thy Blood has inebriated the whole earth. Let the Churches of the saints sing to thee their spiritual canticles.

Through the mercy that led thy divine nature to assume ours, thou hast made us partakers of thy Body and Blood, by the Sacrifice of the Body thou hadst taken to thyself, a Sacrifice which thou offeredst to the Father in an odour of sweetness. Then didst thou ascend, on a bright cloud, and wast seen by the Powers and Principalities, who asked each other in wonderment: 'Who is this that cometh, in haste, from Edom?' The faithful have been taught thy manifold wisdom. Let the Churches of the saints sing to thee their spiritual canticles!
I can't imagine our Church leaders today saying anything like this. We are told that things such as this are just really 'nice' stories. What a pantload!

St. Philip Neri

 

Today we honor one of the greatest saints of the 16th century, Philip Neri. Joy is the leading feature of this Pentecostal season--a supernatural joy which springs from our delight at seeing the glorious triumph of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We feel the happiness at knowing that we have been delivered from the bonds of death. Philip Neri had such a joy throughout his entire life. The Book of Proverbs states: A secure mind is like a continual feast. (Prov. 15:15) Love of God was what Philip's whole life was centered around. His entire existence seemed to be but one long transport of love for his Creator; and had it not been for a miracle of God's power and goodness, this burning love would have soon put an end to his mortal career. He was 29, when one day, within the octave of Pentecost--he was seized with such a vehemence of divine charity that two of his ribs broke, and this made room for the action of the heart to respond freely to the intensity of the love of the soul. The fracture never healed, and it caused a distinct protrusion which was visible to all. Owing to this miraculous enlargement of the region of his heart, he was enabled to live 50 extra years, and his love for God was so great, and his fervor so great, that he would honor anyone already in heaven.

Philip had the Gift of reading souls (like Padre Pio, now a Saint). He would remind those in Confession of what they had neglected to confess. (Imagine having a priest like this, so that, if when leaving the confessional, and you would die, your soul would be spotless, making passage to heaven a reality) He also had the Gift of miracles; and though seeking to be forgotten and despised, he was continually surrounded by people who begged for his prayers for their temporal and spiritual well-being. He was stationed in Rome, and the prince, Paul Massimo, was dying. He asked for someone to get Philip before he died. Philip was at the time saying Holy Mass. When it was over, he hastened to the prince's side. However, he was too late: the prince had died. Philip feel upon his knees; and after a fervent prayer, he placed his hand on the head of the corpse, and called the prince by name. Awakened from the sleep of death, the prince opened his eyes and said: "My Father!" He then added these words: "I only wished to go to Confession." The assistants left the room, and Philip remained alone with the prince. After a few moments, the family was called back; and, in their presence, Paul began to speak to Philip regarding his mother and sister who had been taken from him by death, and whom he loved with the tenderest affection. During the conversation, the prince's face regained all it had lost by his illness. His animation was that of one in perfect health. Philip then asked him if he wished to die again. "Oh yes", said the prince, "Most willingly; for I should then see my mother and sister in heaven." Philip answered: "Take then thy departure for heaven, and pray to the Lord for me." At these words, the young prince expired once more, and entered into the eternal bliss of heaven.


He was often visited by heavenly spirits and the Blessed Virgin. He would, when celebrating Holy Mass, sometimes be lifted up, and be surrounded by a bright light. His charity to others knew no bounds, and he never denied anything to anyone who needed help, especially delivering souls back to God.


To paraphrase a prayer by our beloved Abbot Gueranger:...Pray for us, O Philip, that our heart and our flesh may rejoice in the Living God! Now that we have relished the mystery of the Pasch, lead us to that of the Ascension; prepare our souls to receive the Holy Spirit at Pentecost; and when the august mystery of the Eucharist beams upon us, with all its loveliness, in the approaching festival, the very day that ushered thee into the unveiled vision of thy Jesus, intercede for us, that we may receive and relish that Living Bread, which giveth life to the world!...Pray for the Faithful of our times, and come to the assistance of so many souls that are anxiously pursuing systems of spirituality which have been coined by the hands of men, and which but too frequently retard or even impede the intimate union of the creature with his Creator...The successful efforts of heresy stimulated thy zeal: oh! obtain for us that keen sympathy for our holy Faith which will make us take an interest in all that concerns its progress. It is not enough for us that we save our own souls; we must, moreover, ardently desire and do our utmost to obtain the advancement of God's kingdom on earth; the extirpation of heresy, and the exaltation of our holy Mother the Church: if these are not our dispositions, how can we call ourselves children of God?

Anything else need to be said? RERUN

I have noticed so many views of this post from last year, I decided to run it again.  Besides, it is so important!

Mother Teresa said that the greatest sin of the 20th century was 'Communion in the Hand'.(*There is a dispute as to whether she actually said this.  My question would be for you:  "If she did say it, would you think the world, especially the leaders of the Church, would actually acknowledge it, considering that the whole world does it?")

(Anyway, here is what was actually said to a very good Priest whom I have served at Holy Mass approx. 1990.  He is also a convert, coming from the Anglican church.)

"Wherever I go in the whole world, the thing that makes me the saddest is watching people receive Communion in the hand."- As reported by Fr. George Rutler in his 1989 Good Friday sermon at St. Agnes Church, New York. When Mother Teresa of Calcutta was asked by Fr. Rutler, "What do you think is the worst problem in the world today?" without pausing a second she gave the above reply. She stated that to her knowledge, all of her sisters receive  Communion only on the tongue.

 

 

People with dirty hands before handling Him for Holy Communion; Particles falling to the floor, to be swept up into a Hoover and thrown in a trash receptacle; and general disbelief in the Real Presence, have all led to Him be thrown away like common garbage. Protestants at Vat. II 'helped' to make our Mass acceptable to themselves, and they have gotten their way And, our leaders have let them! I think that this just shows how little belief in the Real Presence is in the Church. Anyway, I think this picture shows it all.

It was painted by Rodrigo Garcia for the "Remnant' newspaper, March 23rd, 2016 issue.

When I converted 34 years ago, and heard that Jesus Himself, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity was in the Host, I had a decision to make. I had always received communion at my protestant church, first taking the wafer from the dish, then taking a cup of grape juice, and consuming. No big deal. Now, after my conversion, I didn't deem myself worthy to touch Him, and I have NEVER held Him in my grubby little hands. I had strange looks from priests early on when I was going to the N.O. Mass, but it didn't deter me, even when I started to kneel. My wife and I started kneeling after a great deal of praying. We needed strength. On our first time, knowing that our priest would not be very happy about it, we had a visiting priest from South America. I told him of our intentions to kneel, he told me that if I was to lay prostrate on the floor, he would get down there and give me Communion. On my way to read the announcements, I told my wife that we were good to go. What a relief! I have never regretted my decision.

Here is another story. When I converted, I took Bible study classes. Someone there mentioned that the angels were present at the Consecration. It made sense to me, if He Himself was present. Anyway, I was the commentator then, reading the announcements and so forth. So, after receiving Holy Communion, I was kneeling at the side of the altar. To my left, a man came to Communion carrying a little boy of approx. 2-3 years. The boy pointed toward the ceiling and asked his dad: "Who are all those people?" The man responded: "There's no one there." I knew then and there that what I had heard at Bible class was absolutely true. The angels WERE there! Keep in mind that this was Easter morning, and all that was on the altar was the risen Christ. And flowers.

A last thought: How many of these heavenly beings cry at the thought of Jesus being trampled upon at Masses these days, when Particles are surely falling on the floor?

ASCENSION!!!!!

Today is Ascension Thursday. Notice I said THURSDAY, NOT Sunday! I just wanted to make myself clear. It is always 40 days after Easter, and always on a Thursday. Those who hold the belief that it is not a Holy day are sadly mistaken, and are supposed to be leading us to salvation, and will be held accountable one day because of all the people they have led astray. Or, maybe, we should have Pentecost on, let's say, a Wednesday. The number 40 means a lot in the history of the world. The Flood and Noah, the Jews in wandering, Moses on Mt. Sinai, Jesus in the desert, Jesus appearing to believers during the forty days encouraging them, etc. 43 doesn't mean jack. 40 days after Easter. He fulfills His promises. Our leaders need a refresher course in the Faith, or get a spine, or grow some, or, whatever it takes. Of course, we wouldn't want people to actually have to go to Church more than one day a week, would we? We'll leave that nonsense to the Protestants, I guess.

Can you imagine being there when this happened? Seeing Jesus, leading the way with all those blessed souls who have been waiting for this day. Probably, St. Joseph is one of the first, if not the first; then the Patriarchs, followed by millions (I'm guessing) going to the Heavenly Jerusalem. And, all of the angels that are probably present. The Apostles see this, as well as all of the disciples, and of course, Mary, His and our Blessed Mother. What a truly awesome sight it must have been! No wonder the Apostles just stood there, gaping! Then, to bring them back to reality, the two angels ask them what they're doing staring up at the sky. "He has risen, as He said." Maybe they are used to seeing sights such as these, but NOT us humans! In a way, this always gives me a chuckle when I think of it.

He ascends to Heaven from the top of Mount Olivet, where His sufferings began, by which we learn, that where our crosses and afflictions begin which we endure with patience and resignation, there begins our reward. Christ ascended into heaven by His own power, because He is God, and now in His glorified humanity He sits at the right hand of His Father, as our continual Mediator.  (And remember, if He does not go, He can't send the Holy Spirit)

May Jesus, Mary, and St. Joseph help us in our hours of need! And, deliver many souls this day, a THURSDAY!



The Ascension of Our Lord(by Fr. Prosper Gueranger 1870)

The sun of the fortieth day has risen in all his splendor. The earth, which shook with gladness at the Birth of our Emmanuel (Ps. xcv. xcvi. xcvii.), now thrills with a strange emotion. The divine series of the mysteries of the Man-God is about to close. Heaven has caught up the joy of earth. The Angelic Choirs are preparing to receive their promised King, and their Princes stand at the Gates, that they may open them when the signal is given of the mighty Conqueror's approach (Ibid. xxiii. 7). The holy souls, that were liberated from Limbo on the morning of the Resurrection, are hovering round Jerusalem, waiting for the happy moment when Heaven's gate, closed by Adam's sin, shall be thrown open, and they shall enter in company with their Redeemer: a few hours more, and then to Heaven! Meanwhile, our Risen Jesus has to visit His Disciples and bid them farewell, for they are to be left, for some years longer, in this vale of tears.

They are in the Cenacle, impatiently awaiting His coming. Suddenly He appears in their midst. Of the Mother's joy, who would dare to speak? As to the Disciples and the holy Women, they fall down and affectionately adore the Master, Who has come to take His leave of them. He deigns to sit down to table with them; He even condescends to eat with them, not, indeed, to give them proof of His Resurrection, for He knows that they have no further doubts of the mystery, but now that He is about to sit at the right hand of the Father, He would give them this endearing mark of familiarity. O admirable repast! in which Mary, for the last time in this world, is seated side by side with her Jesus, and in which the Church, (represented by the Disciples and the holy Women,) is honored by the visible presidency of her Head and Spouse.

What tongue could describe the respect, the recollected mien, the attention of the guests? With what love must they not have riveted their eyes on the dear Master? They long to hear him speak; his parting words will be so treasured! He does not keep them long in suspense; He speaks, but his language is not what they perhaps expected it to be, all affection. He begins by reminding them of the incredulity wherewith they heard of His Resurrection (St. Mark, xvi. 14). He is going to entrust His Apostles with the most sublime mission ever given to man; He would, therefore, prepare them for it by humbling them. A few days hence, and they are to be lights of the world; the world must believe what they preach, believe it on their word, believe it without having seen, believe what the Apostles alone have seen. It is by Faith that man approaches His God: they themselves were once without it, and Jesus would have them now express their sorrow for their former incredulity, and thus base their Apostolate on humility.

Then assuming a tone of authority, such as none but a God could take, He says to them: Go ye into the whole world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not, shall be condemned (Ibid. xvi. 15, 16). And how shall they accomplish this mission of preaching the Gospel to the whole world? how shall they persuade men to believe their word? By Miracles. And these signs, continues Jesus, shall follow them that believe: in My name, they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover (St. Mark, svi. 17, 18). He would have Miracles to be the foundation of his Church, just as He had made them the argument of His own divine mission. The suspension of the laws of nature proves to us that it is God Who speaks; we must receive the word, and humbly believe it.

Here, then, we have men unknown to the world and devoid of every human means, and yet commissioned to conquer the earth and make it acknowledge Jesus as its King! The world ignores their very existence. Tiberius, who sits on the imperial throne, trembling at every shadow of conspiracy, little suspects that there is being prepared an expedition which is to conquer the Roman Empire. But these warriors must have their armour, and the armour must be of heaven's own tempering. Jesus tells them that they are to receive it a few days hence. Stay, says He, in the city, till ye be endued with power from on high (St. Lluke, xxiv. 49). But what is this armour? Jesus explains it to them. He reminds them of the Father's promise, that promise, says He, which ye have heard by my mouth: for John, indeed, baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence (Acts, i. 4, 5).

But the hour of separation is come. Jesus rises: His blessed Mother, and the hundred and twenty persons assembled there, prepare to follow Him. The Cenacle is situated on Mount Sion, which is one of the two hills within the walls of Jerusalem. The holy group traverses the city, making for the eastern Gate, which opens on the Valley of Josaphat. It is the last time that Jesus walks through the faithless City. He is invisible to the eyes of the people who denied Him, but visible to His Disciples, and goes before them, as, heretofore, the pillar of fire led on the Israelites. How beautiful and imposing a sight! Mary, the Disciples, and the holy Women, accompanying Jesus in His Heaven-ward journey, which is to lead Him to the right hand of His Eternal Father! It was commemorated in the Middle-Ages by a solemn Procession before the Mass of Ascension Day. What happy times were those, when Christians took delight in honouring every action of our Redeemer! They could not be satisfied, as we are, with a few vague notions, which can produce nothing but an equally vague devotion.

They reflected on the thoughts which Mary must have had during these last moments of her Son's presence. They used to ask themselves, which of the two sentiments were uppermost in her maternal heart, sadness, that she was to see her Jesus no more? or joy, that He was now going to enter into the glory He so infinitely deserved? The answer was soon found: had not Jesus said to His Disciples: If ye loved me, ye would indeed be glad, because I go to the Father (St. John, xiv. 28)? Now, who loved Jesus as Mary did? The Mother's heart, then, was full of joy at parting with Him. How was she to think of herself, when there was question of the triumph of her Son and her God? Could she that had witnessed the scene of Calvary do less than desire to see Him glorified, Whom she knew to be the Sovereign Lord of all things, Him Whom, but a short time ago, she had seen rejected by His people, blasphemed, and dying the most ignominious and cruel of deaths?

The holy group has traversed the Valley of Josaphat; it has crossed the brook Cedron, and is moving onwards to Mount Olivet. What recollections would crowd on the mind! This torrent, of which Jesus had drunk on the day of His humiliation, is now the path He takes to triumph and glory. The Royal Prophet had foretold it (Ps. cix. 7). On their left, are the Garden and Cave, where He suffered His Agony and accepted the bitter Chalice of His Passion. After having come as far as what St. Luke calls the distance of the journey allowed to the Jews on a sabbath-day (Acts, i. 12), they are close to Bethania, that favoured village, where Jesus used to accept hospitality at the hands of Lazarus and his two Sisters. This part of Mount Olivet commands a view of Jerusalem. The sight of its Temple and Palaces makes the Disciples proud of their earthly city: they have forgotten the curse uttered against her; they seem to have forgotten, too, that Jesus has just made them citizens and conquerors of the whole world. They begin to dream of the earthly grandeur of Jerusalem, and, turning to their Divine Master, they venture to ask him this question: Lord, wilt thou, at this time, restore again the kingdom to Israel (Acts, i. 6)?

Jesus answers them with a tone of severity: It is not for you to know the times or moments which the Father hath put in His own power (Ibid. 7). These words do not destroy the hope that Jerusalem is to be restored by the Christian Israel; but, as this is not to happen till the world is drawing towards its end, there is nothing that requires our Saviour's revealing the secret. What ought to be uppermost in the mind of the Disciples, is the conversion of the pagan world, the establishing the Church. Jesus reminds them of the mission He has just given to them: Ye shall receive, says He, the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth (Acts, i. 8).

According to a tradition, which has been handed down from the earliest ages of Christianity (Constit. Apost., lib. v. cap. xix), it is mid-day, the same hour that He had been raised up, when nailed to His Cross. Giving His Blessed Mother a look of filial affection, and another of fond farewell to the rest of the group that stand around him, Jesus raises up His hands and blesses them all. Whilst thus blessing them, He is raised up from the ground whereon He stands, and ascends into heaven (St. Luke, xxiv. 51). Their eyes follow Him, until a cloud comes and receives Him out of their sight (Acts, i. 9).

Yes, Jesus is gone! The earth has lost her Emmanuel! For four thousand years had He been expected: the Patriarchs and Prophets had desired His coming with all the fervour of their souls: He came: His love made Him our captive in the chaste womb of the Virgin of Nazareth. It was there He first received our adorations. Nine months after, the Blessed Mother offered Him to our joyous love in the Stable at Bethlehem. We followed Him into Egypt; we returned with Him; we dwelt with Him at Nazareth. When He began the three years of His public Life, we kept close to His steps; We delighted in being near Him, we listened to His preaching and parables, we saw His miracles. The malice of His enemies reached its height, and the time came wherein He was to give us the last and grandest proof of the love that had brought Him from heaven, His dying for us on a Cross; we kept near Him as He died, and our souls were purified by the Blood that flowed from His Wounds. On the third day, He rose again from His Grave, and we stood by exulting in His triumph over Death, for that triumph won for us a like Resurrection. During the Forty days He has deigned to spend with us since His Resurrection, our faith has made us cling to Him: we would fain have kept Him with us forever, but the hour is come; He has left us; yes, our dearest Jesus is gone! O happy the souls that He had taken from Limbo! they have gone with Him, and, for all eternity, are to enjoy the heaven of His visible presence.

The Disciples are still steadfastly looking up towards heaven, when lo! two angels, clad in white robes, appear to them, saying: Ye men of Galilee! why stand ye looking up to heaven? This Jesus, Who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come as ye have seen Him going into heaven (Acts, i. 10, 11)! He has ascended, a Saviour; He is to return, as Judge; between these two events is comprised the whole life of the Church on earth. We are therefore living under the reign of Jesus as our Saviour, for He has said: God sent not His Son into the world to Judge the world, but that the world might be Saved by Him (St. Joh, iii. 17): and to carry out this merciful design He has just been giving to His Disciples the mission to go throughout the whole world, and invite men, whilst yet there is time, to accept the mystery of Salvation.

What a task is this He imposes on the Apostles! and now that they are to begin their work, He leaves them! They return from Mount Olivet, and Jesus is not with them! And yet, they are not sad; they have Mary to console them; her unselfish generosity is their model, and well do they learn the lesson.

They love Jesus; they rejoice at the thought of His having entered into His rest. They went back into Jerusalem with great joy (St. Luke, xxiv. 52). These few simple words of the Gospel indicate the spirit of this admirable Feast of the Ascension: it is a Festival, which, notwithstanding its soft tinge of sadness, is, more than any other, expressive of joy and triumph. During its Octave, we will endeavour to describe its mystery and magnificence: we would only observe, for the present, that this Solemnity is the completion of the Mysteries of our Redemption; that it is one of those which were instituted by the Apostles (St. Augustine, EP. ad Januar); and finally, that it has impressed a character of sacredness on the Thursday of each week, the day already so highly honoured by the institution of the Eucharist.

We have alluded to the Procession, whereby our Catholic forefathers used, on this Feast, to celebrate the journey of Jesus and His Disciples to Mount Olivet. Another custom observed on the Ascension, was the solemn blessing given to bread and to the new fruits: it was commemorative of the farewell repast taken by Jesus in the Cenacle. Let us imitate the piety of the Ages of Faith, when Christians loved to honour the very least of our Saviour's actions, and, so to speak, make them their own, by thus interweaving the minutest details of His Life into their own. What earnest reality of love and adoration was given to our Jesus in those olden times, when His being Sovereign Lord and Redeemer was the ruling principle of both individual and social life! Now-a-days, we may follow the principle, as fervently as we please, in the privacy of our own consciences, or, at most, in our own homes; but publicly, and when we are before the World, no! To say nothing of the evil results of this modern limitation of Jesus' rights as our King, what could be more sacrilegiously unjust to Him Who deserves our whole service, everywhere and at all times? The Angels said to the Apostles: This Jesus shall come, as ye have seen Him going into heaven: happy we, if, during His absence, we shall have so unreservedly loved and served Him, as to be able to meet Him with confidence when He comes to judge us!

Following is a hymn written by St. Ambrose, a Doctor of the Church, especially for this day:

O Jesus Redeemer of mankind, joy of our hearts, Creator of the world redeemed, and chaste light of them that love thee.

What mercy was it that led thee to take upon thee our sins? and suffer death, O innocent victim, that thou mightest free us from death?

Thou brokest the gates of hell, and the chains of them that were bound. A conqueror, with noblest triumph, thou now sittest at the right hand of the Father.

May thy clemency lead thee to repair our losses. Oh! give us to see thy Face, and enrich us with the blessed light.

Be thou our guide and path to heaven; be thou the object of our heart's desire; be thou the joy of our tears, and the sweet recompense of a life spent for thee! Amen.

V. The Lord, in heaven, alleluia.
R. Hath prepared his throne, alleluia.