St. Pius V

SAINT PIUS V
Pope
(1504-1572)

A DOMINICAN friar from his fifteenth year, Michael Ghislieri, as a simple religious, as inquisitor, as bishop, and as cardinal, was famous for his intrepid defence of the Church's faith and discipline, and for the spotless purity of his own life. His first care as Pope was to reform the Roman court and capital by the strict example of his household and the severe punishment of all offenders. He next endeavored to obtain from the Catholic powers the recognition of the Tridentine decrees, two of which he urgently enforced—the residence of bishops, and the establishment of diocesan seminaries. He revised the Missal and Breviary, and reformed the ecclesiastical music. Nor was he less active in protecting the Church without. We see him at the same time supporting the Catholic King of France against the Huguenot rebels, encouraging Mary Queen of Scots, in the bitterness of her captivity, and excommunicating her rival the usurper Elizabeth, when the best blood of England had flowed upon the scaffold, and the measure of her crimes was full. But it was at Lepanto that the Saint's power was most manifest; there, in October, 1571, by the holy league which he had formed, but still more by his prayers to the great Mother of God, the aged Pontiff crushed the Ottoman forces, and saved Christendom from the Turk and the Moslem religion. Six months later, St. Pius died, having reigned but six years. St. Pius was accustomed to kiss the feet of his crucifix on leaving or entering his room. One day the feet moved away from his lips. Sorrow filled his heart, and he made acts of contrition, fearing that he must have committed some secret offense, but still he could not kiss the feet. It was afterwards found that they had been poisoned by an enemy.

"Thy cross, O Lord, is the source of all blessings, the cause of all graces: by it the faithful find strength in weakness, glory in shame, life in death."—St. Leo.

We need to ask the prayers of this truly 'great' pope, who fought against what was wrong in the world at that time in history, that he help the Church in our time.


Prayer:

O God, Who didst choose Blessed Pius as supreme Pontiff in order to shatter the enemies of Thy Church and to restore the purity of the Sacred Liturgy; grant us his protection so that cleaving to Thy service we may overcome the snares of all our enemies and enjoy perpetual peace. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.



In 1570 a new version of the Roman Missal, ordered by the Council of Trent, was published in Rome by command of Pope Pius V. This edition of the Missal had been carefully amended to purify it of all errors that had crept into the Mass books during the course of centuries. This Missal of the roman Rite was made obligatory for use throughout the Latin Church (only such rites as had been in use in certain churches for more than two hundred years were permitted to remain unchanged). Pope St. Pius, in his Bull “Quo Primum” declared that this Missal should remain valid in perpetuity; that nothing should be ever added, omitted, or changed in it; that no priest at any future time could ever be forced to use any other way of saying Mass. “We decree and determine that this Our present Order and Decree is to last in perpetuity and can never be legally revoked or amended. It has merely been disregarded. It cannot be denied that by changing the Roman rite and the language of the Mass, great disorders, doubts, and sorrows have now come upon the Roman Church. The Bull “Quo Primum” ends with the customary words that “if anyone should attempt any action contrary to this Order of Ours, let him know that he has incurred the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul.”


In the 60's, those in charge did an end run around this Bull. They created a new rite, complete with new beliefs, new words, new teachings, and, an entirely new mass, which is just like a protestant service in everything except Christ in the Eucharist. Hopefully, their heads can be extracted before that fateful day when they meet their Maker.

St. Monica

On this fourth day of May, there rises, near to Mary and Salome, another woman, another mother. She, too, is fervent in her love of Jesus. She, too, gives to our Holy Church a treasure--the child of her tears--a Doctor, a Bishop, and one of the grandest Saints of the New Law. This woman is named Monica.

Saint Monica, the mother of Saint Augustine, was born in 332 of a Christian family of the ancient city of Tagasta in northern Africa. After a girlhood of singular innocence and piety, she was given in marriage to Patricius, a pagan. She at once devoted herself to his conversion, praying for him always and winning his reverence and love by the holiness of her life and her affectionate forbearance. She was rewarded by seeing him baptized a year before his death.

When her son Augustine went astray in faith and habits, her prayers and tears were incessant. She once begged a learned bishop that he would talk to her son, in order to bring him to a better disposition, but he declined, despairing of success with a young man at once so gifted and so headstrong. At the sight of her prayers and tears, he nonetheless bade her be of good courage, for it could not happen that the child of those tears should perish.

Augustine, by going to Italy, was able for a time to free himself from his mother's importunities, but he could not escape from her prayers, which encompassed him like the providence of God. She followed him to Italy; and there, by his marvelous conversion, her sorrow was turned into joy. Here, in Milan, she had befriended the Great St. Ambrose, who was the instrument for the conversion of her son.

At Ostia, shortly before they were to re-embark for Africa, Augustine and his mother sat at a window conversing on the life of the blessed. She turned to him and said, "My son, there is nothing now I care for in this life. What I shall now do, or why I remain on this earth, I know not. The one reason I had for wishing to linger in this life a little longer was that I might see you a Catholic Christian before I died. This grace God has granted me superabundantly, seeing you reject earthly happiness to become His servant." A few days afterwards she had an attack of fever and died at the age of fifty-six, in the year 388.

It is impossible to set any bounds to what persevering prayer may do. It gives man a share in the Divine Omnipotence. Saint Augustine's soul lay bound in the chains of heresy and an illegitimate union, both of which had by long habit grown inveterate. They were broken by his mother's prayers.

St. Augustine himself says: She had a very great affection for Ambrose, because of what he had done for my soul; and he too loved her, because of her extraordinary piety, which led her to the performance of good works, and to fervent assiduity in frequenting the Church. Hence, when he saw me, he would frequently break out in her praise, and congratulate me on having such a mother.

The saintly mother had fulfilled her mission: her son was regenerated to Truth and virtue, and she had given to the Church the greatest of her Doctors.

St. Monica is the patron of 'burdened parents', so, if you have kids that have strayed, pray to her. She had to wait 30+ years for her prayers to be answered, so DON'T GIVE UP!

'It's hard to kick against the goad.' (Acts) This phrase was used to Saul before his conversion. Apparently, "to kick against the goads" was a common expression found in both Greek and Latin literature—a rural image, which rose from the practice of farmers goading their oxen in the fields. Though unfamiliar to us, everyone in that day understood its meaning.

Goads were typically made from slender pieces of timber, blunt on one end and pointed on the other. Farmers used the pointed end to urge a stubborn ox into motion. Occasionally, the beast would kick at the goad. The more the ox kicked, the more likely the goad would stab into the flesh of its leg, causing greater pain.

Saul’s conversion could appear to us as having been a sudden encounter with Christ. But based on the Lord's expression regarding his kicking back, I believe He’d been working on him for years, prodding and goading him.

Stubborn people, like some of our children, needed to be goaded, sometimes for years before they submit to the Truth. All we can do is keep trying.

Finding of the True Cross

The above picture is the Reliquary made to encase the True Cross.
Today is the day that we honor the finding by St. Helena of the True Cross of Jesus's Crucifixion. The crosses from that day, three in all, were hidden by the Jews, but were found 300+ years later by St. Helena, the mother of Constantine. After they were found, they were put to the test. Each was applied to a woman who had a dangerous malady. The first two did nothing, while the Third, when applied to this woman, was restored to perfect health, thus proving which one had been the True One. Pieces have been shipped all the world to help us with our faith. A very holy priest I knew(God rest his soul) had such a piece, which he put into a monstrance which he had found in a dumpster when Detroit was shutting down churches. I wonder, what else was thrown away, never to be seen again? I will now borrow from our beloved Abbot Gueranger about this day:

'How dear, then, to us should this day be, which blends together the recollection of the holy Cross and the joys of the Resurrection of that Jesus who by the Cross has won the throne to which we shall soon see his having restored to mankind a treasure so immensely precious as is the Cross. Until the day comes for it to appear with Himself in the clouds of heaven, Jesus has entrusted it to his spouse(the Church), as a pledge of his second coming. On that day, he will collect together all the fragments by his divine power; and the Tree of Life will then gladden the elect with its dazzling beauty, and invite them to eternal rest beneath its refreshing shade.'


The reliquary of Jerusalem was committed to the care of Saint Macarius and kept with singular care and respect in the magnificent church which Saint Helen and her son built there. Saint Paulinus relates that, though chips were almost daily cut off from it and given to devout persons, yet the sacred wood suffered thereby no diminution. It is affirmed by Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, twenty-five years after the discovery, that pieces of the cross were spread all over the earth; he compares this wonder to the miraculous feeding of five thousand men, as recorded in the Gospel. The discovery of the cross would have happened in the spring, after navigation began on the Mediterranean Sea, for Saint Helen went the same year to Constantinople and from there to Rome, where she died in the arms of her son (Constantine) on the 18th of August of the same year, 326.

Thought for the day: In all pious undertakings, above all in the sanctification of the soul, the mere beginning does not suffice. "Whoever perseveres to the end, he shall be saved." (Matt. 24:13)

Our beloved Abbot continues: Oh! that we had St. Helena's spirit, dear Jesus, and knew, as she did, the breadth, and length, and height, and depth of the mystery of thy Cross. Her love of the mystery made her so earnest in her search for the Cross. And how sublime is the spectacle offered to us by this holy Empress! She adorns thy glorious Sepulchre; she raises Thy Cross from its grave; who was there, that ever proclaimed with such solemnity as this, the Paschal Mystery? The Sepulchre cries out to us: "He is risen: He is not here!' The Cross exclaims: 'I held Him captive but for a few passing hours: He is not here!'...O Cross! dear object where our Jesus has left thee. Be its shield against Satan. Help us to remember that union of sacrifice and triumph which will support us in all our crosses, for it is by thee, O Cross! that Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands.

CHRISTUS VINCIT, CHRISTUS REGNAT, CHRISTUS IMPERAT!


The Church sure has had some extraordinary people within her walls. May we be blessed with such in our time, even though we don't deserve it. In fact, we are probably blessed with some of these holy people today; however, they are called 'old-fashioned', 'stuck in the past', intolerant, judgmental, 'better than everyone else', 'Trads', etc. So, apparently, everyone who doesn't teach what should be taught are to be called from this time on, 'saints'.

Let us call to mind what we should focus on today, and for that fact on all days, even though finding the Cross was spectacular, to say the least:

"Let us adore Christ our King, who hung upon the wood, and not the wood."
St. Ambrose


Adoramus te, christe, et benedicimus tibi,

quia per crucem tuam redemisti mundum.

We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee,
for by thy Cross, thou hast redeemed the world.

4th Sunday after Easter

Christ has been with the Apostles since the Resurrection, teaching them what He wants them to know. He tells them that in a few days, they won't see Him anymore, but that He would be sending them another teacher, the Holy Spirit. This 'Teacher' will help them in everything, and remind them all that Jesus taught. This will be passed down through the ages, being the oral 'Tradition' that Scripture tells us about. They will set up the Church, make the rules that will be our guide to salvation. The Church will NOT be going into hiding for 1500+ years, but will be the bulwark which will steer the world right. The Sacraments will be set up. They will be the visible signs of the unity of the Church. Our beloved Abbot Gueranger, who always seems to have the right words, speaks: "...the Sacraments, being visible signs, are an additional bond of union between these members of the Church: we say additional, because these members have the two other strong links of union--submission to Peter and to the pastors sent by him and profession of the same Faith. The Holy Ghost tells us, in the sacred Volume, that a threefold cord is not easily broken.(Eccles. iv: 12). Now we have such a one; and it keeps us in the glorious unity of the Church: hierarchy, dogma, and sacraments; all contribute to make us one Body. The risen Jesus has set the number of these Sacraments at seven, the seven Pillars of the Faith(Prov. ix: i)...Turning our eyes to the kingdom of satan, we see him mimicking God's work, and setting up a 'seven' of his own. Seven capital and deadly sins are the instruments whereby he makes man his slave." (They are as follows: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony). Who hasn't been a slave to at least one of these?

When our Lord in this week's reading from St. John's Gospel tells the Apostles about the Holy Ghost, Who is to come and 'convince the world of sin', He also shows them how awful and terrible this Coming will be to them who have rejected the Messias. St. Augustine, the Doctor of doctors, explains: "When the Holy Ghost is come, He will convince the world of sin, because they have not believed in Me. How great must, indeed, be the responsibility of them that have been witnesses of Jesus' wonderful works, and yet will not receive His teaching! Jerusalem will be told that the Holy Ghost has come down upon the disciples: and she will receive the news with the same indifference as she did the miracles which proved Jesus to be her Messias. The coming of the Holy Ghost will serve as a sort of signal of the destruction of the 'deicide' city. Jesus adds: The Paraclete will convince the world of justice, because I go to the Father, and ye shall see me no longer. The Apostles, and they that believe their word, shall be just and holy by Faith: they will believe in Him that is gone to the Father--in Him Whom they are to see no longer in this world. Jerusalem, on the contrary, will remember Him only to blaspheme Him: the holiness, the Faith, the justice of them that shall believe, will be her condemnation, and the Holy Ghost will leave her to her fate. Jesus continues: The Paraclete will convince the world of judgment, because the prince of this world is already judged.
They that follow not Christ Jesus, follow Satan: he is their prince, but his judgement is already pronounced. The Holy Ghost warns the followers of the world that their leader is already in eternal torments. Let them reflect well upon this; for, the pride of man has no right to reckon upon indulgence; let it but think of the hell into which even the angels were cast because they were proud."


I will end with the Antiphon of the Magnificat for this day:

I go to Him that sent me: but because I have spoken these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.

O God, Who makes the faithful to be of one mind, grant that thy people may love what Thou commands, and desire what thou promises: that, amidst the uncertainties of this world, we may place our affections where there are true joys.

St. Athanasius

What we need today--a St. Athanasius

Today is the day we honor St. Athanasius, defender in the 4th century. He fought against the Arian heresy, and eventually won because Christ promised that His Church, with ALL the teachings, would prevail forever. Today, in these times, we need St. Athanasius and people like him, to defend the Faith as taught by Jesus Christ. These days, we have, spoken by St. Pope Pius X, the synthesis of all heresies, Modernism. Christ has been reduced, as well as His teachings, to not much more just another Christian denomination. We are told that if we put them all together, we can have the entire truth. All are saved regardless. This is a huge and full, 'oversized', 'pantload'!!!!! Those who profess this sentiment are bass ackwards! The Catholic Church has the entirety of Truth, and all others are offshoots of it. What we need is teaching the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Faith. This is what St. Athanasius, who fought Bishops who taught that Christ was NOT divine. The pope of that time, Liberius, is the first pope since Peter to not be listed among the saints. Go figure!? Here's what St. Athanasius stated in his Creed:


Athanasian Creed

1. Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith;

2. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.

3. And the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;

4. Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.

5. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit.

6. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.

7. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.

8. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated.

9. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.

10. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.

11. And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal.

12. As also there are not three uncreated nor three incomprehensible, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible.

13. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty.

14. And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty.

15. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;

16. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.

17. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord;

18. And yet they are not three Lords but one Lord.

19. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord;

20. So are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say; There are three Gods or three Lords.

21. The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten.

22. The Son is of the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten.

23. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

24. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.

25. And in this Trinity none is before or after another; none is greater or less than another.

26. But the whole three persons are co-eternal, and coequal.

27. So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.

28. He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.

29. Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

30. For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man.

31. God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of substance of His mother, born in the world.

32. Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.

33. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood.

34. Who, although He is God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ.

35. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of that manhood into God.

36. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person.

37. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ;

38. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead;

39. He ascended into heaven, He sits on the right hand of the Father, God, Almighty;

40. From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

41. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies;

42. and shall give account of their own works.

43. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.

44. This is the Catholic Faith, which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved.


I'm just going to end using part of a prayer to this wonderful saint, since it is so appropriate for our times, taken from 'The Liturgical Year', by the Abbot Gueranger. Keep in mind that these were put together in the 1920's:

'...O Athanasius, glorious Doctor of Holy Mother Church! humble these modern Arians; expose their proud ignorance and sophistry; how this false doctrine leads either to the abyss of the abominations of pantheism, or to the chaos of skepticism, where all truth and morality are impossibilities.

Preserve within us, by the influence of thy prayers, the precious gift of faith, wherewith our Lord has mercifully blessed us. Obtain for us that we may ever confess and adore Jesus Christ as our eternal and infinite God; 'God of God, Light of Light; True God of True God; Begotten, not made; who, for us men, and for our salvation, took Flesh, of the Virgin Mary.' May we grow each day in the knowledge of this Jesus, until we join thee in the face-to-face contemplation of His perfections. Meanwhile, by means of holy faith, we will live with Him on this earth that has witnessed the glory of His Resurrection. How fervent, O Athanasius, was thy love of this Son of God, our Creator and Redeemer! This love was the very life of thy soul, and the stimulus that urged thee to heroic devotedness to His cause. It supported thee in the combats thou had to sustain with the world, which seemed leagued together against thy single person. It gave thee strength to endure endless tribulations. Oh! pray that we may obtain this love--a love which is fearless of danger, because faithful to Him for Whom we suffer--a love which is so justly due, seeing that He, through the Brightness of His Father's glory, and Infinite Wisdom, emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the Cross. How else can we make Him a return for His devotedness to us except by giving Him all our love, as thou didst, O Athanasius! and by ever singing His praise in compensation for the humiliations which He endured in order to save us?

St. Athanasius, pray for us to keep and defend the Faith.

Quote from: Athanasius
“As we walk the unerring and life-bringing path, let us pluck out the eye that scandalizes us - not the physical eye, but the spiritual one. For example, if a bishop or presbyter - who are the eyes of the Church - conduct themselves in an evil manner and scandalize the people, they must be plucked out. For it is more profitable to gather without them in a house of prayer, than to be cast together with them into the Gehenna of fire together with Annas and Caiaphas.”

WAKE UP, ALL YOU LEADERS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, AND DO YOUR JOB !!!!!!!!!!!

Another brave Bishop

The following is taken from the 'The Universal Living Rosary Assoc. of St. Philomena', which is based in Texas, and promotes the Living Rosary, and this group has helped thousands by praying the Rosary. If you go to the site: , you can sign up to recite one decade of the rosary. They will give you which decade. By doing this, the entire Rosary is said numerous times during the day. I have stated in previous posts, that I personally don't think that it is the number of Rosaries that are being recited, but the number of people reciting them.

Anyway, in a mailing I received today, there is a Bishop in Nigeria who is standing up to the Boko Haram. (we need more like him) Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme, head of the Diocese of Maiduguri in Nigeria's Borno State, was in a chapel praying before the Blessed Sacrament last December when, he says, something extraordinary happened: Jesus Christ appeared holding a sword, which He offered to the prelate.

According to Bishop Dashe, the moment he took the sword from Jesus' hands, it transformed into Rosary beads. He then heard Christ repeat three times: "Boko Haram is gone."

The Bishop recalls, "I didn't need any prophet to give the explanation. It was clear that with the Rosary we would be able to expel Boko Haram."

Boko Haram is the Islamic group that's been massacring Christian civilians in Nigeria and beyond for several years. (This doesn't include all those who have been kidnapped, mutilated, and sold into slavery). It originally was tied to Al Quaeda, but now formally pledges allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Bishop Doeme says he's seen the size of his diocese cut in half since Boko Haram started ramping up its violent activity in 2009. Most fled for safer grounds.

"Despite all this," the Nigerian prelate says, "we do not give up or public witness to our Faith." He affirms, "I wear my episcopal robes publicly, because on the day I agreed to be Bishop I knew I was signing my death sentence."

Boko Haram has reportedly been used in the recent past as a bargaining tool by the United States. Bishop Emmanuel Badejo of Oyo, Nigeria, states, "The United States actually said it would help Nigeria with Boko Haram only if we will modify our laws concerning homosexuality, family planning and birth control."

Bishop Dashe also has problems with the West, which he notes isn't free of problems itself. "In Europe and America you have your own demons: abortion, homosexual pseudo-marriage and secularism."

The Bishop hesitated in the beginning to tell anyone about the apparition, but soon began getting strong urges from the Holy Spirit to share its message. So he started to tell priests in his diocese what happened. Eventually, he announced it at a Catholic event in Spain supporting Christian victims of Islamic violence.

He's since gone on a 'consolation tour' through diocesan communities, promoting prayer, forgiveness and persistent Faith. He believes Jesus wants him to advocate praying the Rosary in order to assist them in these efforts. "Our Faith is unwavering. Even when we suffer killings, Christians still go to Church, and Christian activities in ublic life continue. they can destroy our buildings and our lives, but they cannot destroy our Faith in Christ."

He continues: "Boko Haram is evil, demonic, and can only be removed through prayer."

Citing Jesus' words in the apparition, he insists that no matter how long it takes, with faith in the Most Holy Rosary, "Boko Haram is gone."


I'm going to end, since this is Saturday in honor of our Blessed Mother, with this quote from Father F.W. Faber, written on November 21, 1862.

"Devotion to Mary must be the prominent characteristic of our religion. Jesus is obscured because Mary is kept in the background. Thousands of souls perish because Mary is withheld from them. It is the miserable, unworthy shadow which we call our devotion to the Blessed Virgin that is the cause of all our wants and blights. It is at the root of our decline! If Mary were but known how much happier, how much holier, how much less worldly we would and how much more we would be living images of Our Lord and Savior, her dearest and most Blessed Son!"

St. Joseph the Worker

Today is the day we honor St. Joseph the Worker. I'm going to use something I found on the 'American Catholic' site. I hope they don't mind. This feast day does not in any way take away St. Joseph's feast day on March 19.

Apparently in response to the “May Day” celebrations for workers sponsored by Communists, Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of St. Joseph the Worker in 1955. But the relationship between Joseph and the cause of workers has a much longer history.

In a constantly necessary effort to keep Jesus from being removed from ordinary human life, the Church has from the beginning proudly emphasized that Jesus was a carpenter, obviously trained by Joseph in both the satisfactions and the drudgery of that vocation. Humanity is like God not only in thinking and loving, but also in creating. Whether we make a table or a cathedral, we are called to bear fruit with our hands and mind, ultimately for the building up of the Body of Christ.


“The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it” (Genesis 2:15). The Father created all and asked humanity to continue the work of creation. We find our dignity in our work, in raising a family, in participating in the life of the Father’s creation. Joseph the Worker was able to help participate in the deepest mystery of creation. Pius XII emphasized this when he said, “The spirit flows to you and to all men from the heart of the God-man, Savior of the world, but certainly, no worker was ever more completely and profoundly penetrated by it than the foster father of Jesus, who lived with Him in closest intimacy and community of family life and work. Thus, if you wish to be close to Christ, we again today repeat, ‘Go to Joseph’” (see Genesis 41:44).


Joseph is accredited with making a staircase in New Mexico. I know for a fact he answers prayers quickly. Anyway, here's the story of this amazing feat of carpentry:


The Miraculous Stairs of St. Joseph

In September 1852 the Sisters of Loreto came, by paddle steamer and by covered wagon, to the Southwest. Their trip, which had begun in Kentucky the previous May on a riverboat steamer which took them up the Mississippi to St. Louis, was at the specific request of Bishop Jean Lamy, who had been appointed Vicar-Apostolic of the New Mexico Territory in 1850. From St. Louis to Independence, Missouri, the Sisters took the steamer “Kansas,” but on the way a sorrowful adversity befell the little community. Their beloved Superior, Mother Matilda, came down with cholera and died shortly after arriving in Independence. Two other Sisters also had the disease, but they slowly recovered.

After more months of struggles and fears, broken axles and wheels, and scorching days, what was left of the missionary team finally arrived in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Sisters Magdalen, Catherine, Hilaria, and Roberta made up the community. At the direction of Bishop Lamy, Sister Magdalen was appointed Superior of the Sisters. She was a woman of strong faith and firm resolution, and the situation she and her Sisters faced was a difficult one.

It was only because these Sisters of Loreto were great-hearted women, thoroughly permeated with an all-consuming love of God, that they were able to brave the hardships of those first years. Bishop Lamy was in the midst of a valiant struggle to preserve the Catholic Faith in “New” Mexico. The formerly Spanish Catholic territory was still groaning under its hostile “takeover” from Mexico in 1848, and the Sisters were not particularly welcome, as far as territorial officials were concerned. Thus, they certainly had no comfortable Convent waiting for them upon their arrival. They lived at first in a little, one-room adobe house. At that time the population of the little city of Santa Fe was still made up mostly of Catholic Mexicans and Indians. Today Santa Fe is a large modern city, the State Capitol, though, with its quaintly narrow streets and Spanish architecture, it still keeps alive the ancient climate of the old “Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Assisi” (The Royal City of the Holy Faith of St. Francis of Assisi), which is its proper name, founded by Spanish Catholic conquistadors and missionaries in 1610.

But back in 1852 it soon became quite evident that, if the Sisters were to fulfill the intentions of Bishop Lamy, who had brought them to Santa Fe for the specific purpose of helping him to preserve the Catholic Faith of the people, they would need a Convent and a school to teach their children. Mexican carpenters zealously began to build for the Sisters. The school was swiftly completed and was called “Loreto Academy of Our Lady of Light.” Plans were made next for a beautiful Chapel. According to the Sisters’ annals for the year 1873, the Chapel was begun on July 25th of that year. It was designed by the same architect, Mr. Mouly, who had designed the Bishop's Cathedral in Santa Fe. Because Bishop Lamy was from France, he wished the Sisters to have a Chapel that was similar to his beloved Sainte Chapelle in Paris. That meant that it was to be strictly European Gothic, in fact, the first Gothic structure west of the Mississippi. It was to be, in many ways, a visible symbol of the courageous Bishop's opposition to “Americanism,” which would be condemned by Pope Leo XIII in 1899.

French and Italian masons immediately went to work on the new structure. It would be large—larger in fact—than most of the mission Chapels in that area. It was to be 25 feet by 75 feet with a height of 85 feet.

Mother Magdalen recorded in the annals that the erection of the Chapel was placed under the patronage of St. Joseph “in whose honor we communicated every Wednesday, that he might assist us.” Then she adds, “Of his powerful help we have been witnesses on several occasions.”

The Chapel work progressed with some financial worries and a maximum of faith on the part of the Sisters. It was not until it was nearly finished that they realized that a dreadful mistake had been made. The Chapel itself was beautifully done, and the choir loft was wonderful too, but there was no connecting link between the two. There was no stairway and, because the loft was exceptionally high, there was no room for a stairway as ordinary stairways go. Mother Magdalen called in many carpenters to try to build a stairway; but each, in his turn, measured and thought and then shook his head sadly saying, “It can't be done, Mother.” It looked as if there were only two alternatives: to use a ladder to get to the choir which seemed impractical in any case, or to tear the whole thing down and rebuild it differently. The latter would have been a heartbreaking task. However, anyone who knows true Catholic Sisters and their trust in Divine Providence, knows they will not plunge into such a drastic solution to a problem without first saying something like, “Let's wait awhile and make a novena.” So the Sisters of Loreto made a novena to St. Joseph for a suitable solution to the problem.

On the very last day of the novena, a gray-haired man came up to the Convent with a burro and a tool chest. Approaching Mother Magdalen, he asked if he might try to help the Sisters by building a stairway! Mother gave her consent gladly, and he set to work. According to the story that was later told by some of the Sisters present at the time and passed on to others, the only tools he had were a hammer, a saw and a T-square, and some of the Sisters remembered seeing a few tubs of water for soaking the wood to make it pliable. It is not clear how long he took to complete the work, for when Mother Magdalen went to pay him, he had vanished. She went to the local lumber yard to pay for the wood, at least. They knew nothing of it there. To this day there is no record stating that the job was ever paid for.

Santa Fe Stairway as it Appeared without Bannisters The winding stairway that the kindly man had left for the Sisters is a masterpiece of beauty and wonder. It makes two complete 360 degree turns. There is no supporting pole up the center as most circular stairways have. This means that it hangs there with no support! The entire weight is on the base. Some architects have said that by all laws of gravity, it should have crashed to the floor the minute anyone stepped on it, and yet it was used daily for over 80 years.

The stairway was put together only with wooden pegs – there is not a single nail in it. At the time it was built, the stairway had no banisters. These were added later. Among the girls who attended the Academy at the time the stairway was constructed was a girl of about thirteen years. She later became a Loreto Sister, and she never tired of telling how she and her friend were among the first to climb up the stairway. She said that they were so frightened when they got up to the choir that they came down on their hands and knees!

Visitors have come from all over the world to see the wonderful stairway. Among them have been architects who, without exception, declare that they cannot understand how the stairway was constructed nor how it remains as sturdy as it is after a century of use. Mr. Urban Weidner, a Santa Fe architect and wood expert, says that he has never seen a circular wooden stairway with 360 degree turns that did not have a supporting pole down the center. One of the most baffling things about the stairway, however, is the perfection of the curves of the stringers. According to Mr. Weidner, the wood is spliced along the sides of the stringers with nine splices on the outside and seven on the inside, each fitted with the greatest precision. Each piece is perfectly curved. How this was done in the 1870's by a single man in an out-of-the-way place with only the most primitive tools is inexplicable to modern architects.

Many experts have tried to identify the wood and surmise where it came from. No one has ever been able to give a satisfactory answer to this mystery. The treads were constantly walked on for over 80 years since the stairway was built, but they showed signs of wear only on the edges. Mr. Weidner identifies this wood as “edge-grained fir of some sort.” (Others say it is long-leaf yellow pine.) He knows definitely that this hard-wearing wood did not come from New Mexico. Where the mysterious carpenter got this wood is a secret known to him alone.

Holy Mother Church is always cautious about making statements concerning things of a supernatural nature. Therefore, the good Loreto Sisters whose prayers were so wonderfully answered, as well as Bishop Lamy, in this spirit, refrained from saying anything definitive about the stairway. But Mother Magdalen and her community of Sisters and students knew that the stairway was St. Joseph’s answer to their fervent prayers. Many were convinced that the humble carpenter was St. Joseph himself, as his silent, prayerful labors were precisely the virtues one would expect of the foster-Father of Our Divine Lord.

He is AWESOME!
To you, Blessed Joseph, do we come with our tribulations.

This is also the day we honor the Apostles, James the Less and Philip. Apparently, their bones were transported to Rome, to be installed with the other Apostles' bones. We need to beg for the Apostles' prayers for ourselves and especially for the Church which they help get started on earth. Their relics repose in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles at Rome. St. Philip was crucified, like His Lord, and then stoned to death. the cruelty of which man is capable is incredible! St. James was 96 years old, when he was taken to the highest part of the Temple in Jerusalem after being stoned while praying, was thrown off the top which broke his legs, and, while lying on the ground, he was beaten on the head with a fuller's club. And, while this was going on, James ceased not to pray for his tormenters, saying, as our Lord did: "Forgive them, O Lord! for they know not what they do."




Final thoughts, keeping mind that we are now in the month of May, or month of Mary:

God the Father wishes Mary to be the mother of his children until the end of time and so he says to her, "Dwell in Jacob", that is to say, take up your abode permanently in my children, in my holy ones represented by Jacob, and not in the children of the devil and sinners represented by Esau.

Just as in natural and bodily generation there is a father and a mother, so in the supernatural and spiritual generation there is a father who is God and a mother who is Mary. All true children of God have God for their father and Mary for their mother; anyone who does not have Mary for his mother, does not have God for his father. This is why the reprobate, such as heretics and schismatics, who hate, despise or ignore the Blessed Virgin, do not have God for their father though they arrogantly claim they have, because they do not have Mary for their mother. Indeed if they had her for their mother they would love and honor her as good and true children naturally love and honor the mother who gave them life.

An infallible and unmistakable sign by which we can distinguish a heretic, a man of false doctrine, an enemy of God, from one of God's true friends is that the heretic and the hardened sinner show nothing but contempt and indifference for Our Lady. He endeavors by word and example, openly or insidiously - sometimes under specious pretexts - to belittle the love and veneration shown to her. God the Father has not told Mary to dwell in them because they are, alas, other Esaus.

St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort
Treatise on True Devotion