.....
this missal is hereafter to be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience
or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment or censure, and may freely and
lawfully be used ..... Nor are
superiors, administrators, canons, chaplains, and other secular priests, or
religious, of whatever title designated, obliged to celebrate the Mass
otherwise than as enjoined by Us.
..... Accordingly, no one whatsoever is permitted to infringe or rashly
contravene this notice of Our permission, statute, ordinance, command, precept,
grant, direction, will, decree and prohibition. Should any person venture to
do so, let him understand he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the
Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul.
Pope
St. Pius V, Papal Bull, QUO PRIMUM,
Tridentine
Codification of the “received and approved” traditional Roman Rite of the Mass.
Purification of the Blessed
Virgin Mary
(Candlemass)
Fourth Sunday after the
Epiphany
Our Lady of Good Success of
the Purification
With the feast of the Purification ends the Sanctoral Cycle of the Season after Epiphany. In the Temporal cycle it continues until the
feast of Septuagesima. The feast is one
of the oldest of our Lady and in Rome in the seventh century it ranked after
the Assumption. The feast is kept on
February 2 because Mary, wishing to obey the Mosaic law, had to go to Jerusalem
forty days after the birth of Jesus to
offer the prescribed sacrifice. Mothers
were to offer a lamb, or if their means did not allow, “two doves or two young
pigeons.”
The Blessed Virgin took with her to Jerusalem the
infant Jesus, and the Candlemas procession recalls
the journey of Mary and Joseph ascending to the temple to present “the Angel of
the Covenant” (Epistle, Introit) as Malachy had
prophesied.
“The
wax of the candles signifies the virginal flesh of the Divine infant,” says St.
Anselm, “the wick figures His soul and the flame His divinity.”
The
Purification to which the mother of the Saviour was
not obliged to conform, as her motherhood was beyond ordinary laws, is not placed
in the foreground by the liturgy and the Presentation of Jesus is the principle
object of this feast.
If
this solemnity is considered as belonging to the Season of Christmas, Jesus
will be seen manifested by Simeon as the God who “shall illumine the Gentiles
with His light and shall be the glory of the people of Israel” (Gospel); and
if, as belonging to the Season after Epiphany, we shall adore Jesus in the
accomplishment of this prophecy, either at the marriage feast at Cana, where He
commences to “manifest His glory” (Gospel of the 2nd Sun), or in the midst of
the multitude, when He spreads the light of His doctrine (Gospel of the 5th and
6th Sundays).
If
the feast of the Purification falls on a privileged Sunday, it is transferred
to the following day; nevertheless the blessing of the candles takes place
before the Sunday Mass.
The
Gospel for the 4th Sunday after Epiphany is taken from the same chapter of St.
Matthew as that for the Third Sunday after Epiphany and gives an account of a
further miracle. Our Lord shows His
divinity by commanding the angry sea and raging wind, powerful and intractable
forces in creation. The wonderful
character of the miracle is brought out clearly by the sacred writer in the
contrast which he draws, between the fierce turmoil of the waves and the “great
calm” that followed (Gospel). Since it
is in the Church that the kingship of Christ is most fully carried out, the
Fathers saw in the howling wind of the storm a type of the devils whose pride
stirs up persecutions against God’s people, and in the troubled sea the passions and malice of men, the great source of
disobedience to authority and fraternal strife.
On
the other hand, in the Church the great law of charity prevails, for while in
the first three commandments the duty of loving God is laid upon us, by the
remaining seven, as a natural result, we are bound to the love of our neighbor
(Epistle). Indeed God Himself is in our
neighbor since in a sense, we each form a fresh human nature for our Blessed
Lord. Herein is the whole mystery of the Epiphany. Our Lord manifests Himself as the Son of God,
and all those who acknowledge Him as such, and accept Him as their Leader and
Head, become members of His mystical body.
Being one in Christ, all Christians should love one another.
“This
ship,” says St. Augustine, “was a type of the Church,” which through the
centuries shows forth the divinity of our Lord.
To His all-powerful protection indeed, she owes the fact, that in spite
of her frailty (Collect, Secret) she has not been swallowed up by the dangers
which threatened her (Collect). St. John
Chrysostom remarks, “Our Lord seems to sleep that He may oblige us to have
recourse to Him, nor does He ever fail to save those who call upon Him.”
INTROIT:
Ps.
47. We have received thy mercy O God, in
the midst of thy temple: as is thy name, O God, so also is thy praise, unto the
ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of justice.
Ps. Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be
praised: in the city of our God, in his holy mountain. Glory be, etc. We have recieved,
etc.
COLLECT:
Almighty, everlasting God, we humbly beseech Thy majesty that, as Thine only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in the substance of our flesh, so Thou wouldst grant that we too, with souls made clean, may be presented unto Thee. Through the same Lord, etc.
O God, who knowest us to be set in the midst of so great dangers that, by reason of the frailty of our nature, we cannot stand, grant to us health of mind and body, that those things which we suffer for our sins we may by Thy aid overcome. Who livest and reignest, etc.
EPISTLE: Mal. 3:1-4
Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I send my angel, and he shall prepare the way before my face. And presently the Lord, whom you seek, and the angel of the testament, whom you desire, shall come to his temple. Behold he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts. And who shall be able to think of the day of his coming? and who shall stand to see him? for he is like a refining fire, and like the fuller' s herb: And he shall sit refining and cleansing the silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and shall refine them as gold, and as silver, and they shall offer sacrifices to the Lord in justice. And the sacrifice of Juda and of Jerusalem shall please the Lord, as in the days of old, and in the ancient years: saith the Lord almighty.
GRADUAL:
Ps 47. We have
received thy mercy, O God, in the midst of thy temple: as is thy name, O God,
so also is thy praise, unto the ends of the earth. As we have heard, so have we seen, in the
city of our God, and in his holy mountain.
Alleluia,
alleluia. The old man carried the child:
but the child governed the old man.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL: Luke 2:
22-32
At that time: After the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they carried him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord: As it is written in the law of the Lord: Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord: And to offer a sacrifice, according as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons: And behold there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Ghost was in him. And he had received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when his parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, He also took him into his arms, and blessed God, and said: Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace; Because my eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples: A light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
OFFERTORY:
Ps. 44. Grace is poured forth on thy lips: therefore
hath God blessed thee forever, and for ages of ages.
SECRET:
Hear our
prayers, O Lord: and that the gifts we offer in the sight of Thy majesty may be
worthy, grant us the aid of Thy loving-kindness. Through
our Lord, etc.
Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that the
offering of this sacrifice may ever purify and fortify our frailty against all
evil. Through our Lord, etc.
PREFACE OF THE NATIVITY:
It
is truly meet and just, right and profitable unto salvation, that we should at
all times and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father
almighty, everlasting God. For by the
mystery of the Word made flesh the light of Thy glory hath shone anew upon the
eyes of our mind: so that while we acknowledge Him as God seen by men, we may
be drawn by Him to the love of things unseen.
And therefore with the angels and archangels, the thrones and dominions,
and the whole host of the heavenly army we sing a hymn to Thy glory, saying
again and again: Holy, Holy, Holy, etc.
COMMUNION:
Simeon received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that
he should not see death, until he had seen the Christ of the Lord.
POSTCOMMUNION:
We beseech
Thee, O Lord our God, that the most holy mysteries which Thou hast given to
preserve our redeemed life may, through the intercession of the blessed Mary
ever Virgin, be to us, both now and always, a healing remedy. Through our Lord,
etc.
May Thy gifts, O Lord, set us free from earthly and
sensual attractions, and ever give us new strength by heavenly
nourishment. Through our Lord, etc.
LAST GOSPEL: Matt.
8, 23-27
At
that time, when Jesus entered into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold,
a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves; but
he was asleep. And they came to him and awaked him, saying: Lord, save us, we
perish. And Jesus saith to them Why are ye fearful, O
ye of little faith? Then rising up, he commanded the winds and the sea, and
there came a great calm. But the men wondered, saying: What manner of man is
this, for the winds and the sea obey him?
Why did Christ sleep in the
boat?
To test the faith and confidence of His disciples; to exercise them in enduring the persecutions which they were afterwards to endure; to teach us that we should not waver in the storms of temptations. St. Augustine writes: “Christ slept, and because of the danger the disciples were confused. Why? Because Christ slept. In like manner thy heart becomes confused, thy ship unquiet, when the waves of temptation break over it. Why? Because thy faith sleeps. Then thou shouldst awaken Christ in thy heart; then thy faith should be awakened, thy conscience quieted, thy ship calmed.”
Why did Christ reproach His
disciples when they awaked Him and asked for help?
Because of their little faith and trust; for if they firmly believed Him to be true God, they would necessarily believe He could aid them sleeping as well as waking.
Nothing so displeases God as to doubt His powerful assistance. Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh (mortal man) his arm (aid), and whose heart departeth from the Lord. Blessed be the man that trusteth in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his confidence (Jer. 17, 5-7). God sometimes permits storms to assail us, such as poverty, persecution, sickness, so that we may have occasion to put our confidence in Him alone. Of this St. Bernard very beautifully says: “When the world rages, when the wicked become furious, when the flesh turns against the spirit, I will hope in Him. Who ever trusted in Him, and was put to shame?” We should therefore trust in God only, and take refuge to Him, invoking Him as did the disciples: Lord, save us, we perish; or cry out with David: Arise, why sleepest thou, O Lord? Arise, and cast us not off to the end (Ps. 43, 23).
Why did Jesus stand up and
command the sea to be still?
To show His readiness to aid us, and His omnipotence to which all things are subject. His disciples who saw this miracle, wondered and said: What manner of man is this, for the winds and the sea obey Him?
We see daily in all creatures the
wonders of the Omnipotence, the wisdom, and the goodness of God, and yet we are
not touched; we continue cold and indifferent. The reason is, that we look upon
all with the eyes of the body and not with the eyes of the soul; that is, we do
not seek to ascend by meditation to the Creator, and to judge from the manifold
beauty and usefulness of created things the goodness and the wisdom of God. The
saints rejoiced in all the works of the Lord; a flower, a little worm of the
earth would move the heart of St. Francis of Sales, and St. Francis the Seraph,
to wonderment and to the love of God; they ascended, as on a ladder, from the
contemplation of creatures to Him who gives to every thing
life, motion, and existence. If we were to follow their example, we would
certainly love God more, and more ardently desire Him; if we do not, we live
like irrational men, we who were created only to know and to love God.
ASPIRATION Grant us, O good Jesus! in all our needs, a great confidence in Thy divine assistance, and do not allow us to become faint-hearted; let Thy assistance come to us in the many dangers to which we are exposed; command the turbulent winds and waves of persecution to be still, and give peace and calmness to Thy Church, which Thou hast redeemed with Thy precious blood, that we may serve Thee in sanctity and justice, and arrive safely at the desired haven of eternal happiness. Amen.
“A
light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.”
In our time more than ever before, the
greatest asset of those disposed toward evil is the cowardice and weakness of good
men, and all the vigor of Satan’s reign is due to the easy going weakness of
Catholics. Oh! If I might ask the Divine
Redeemer, as the Prophet Zachary did in spirit: “What are those wounds in the
midst of Thy hands” (Zach. 13:6)? The answer would not be doubtful: “… With
these I was wounded in the house of them that loved Me” (Zach. 13:6). I was wounded by My friends, who did nothing
to defend Me, and who, on every occasion, made themselves the accomplices of My
adversaries. And this reproach can be
leveled at the weak and timid Catholics of all countries.
St. Pius X, December 13, 1908, the
beatification of St. Joan of Arc
PROPER OF THE SAINTS FOR THE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 2nd:
Date Day
Feast
Rank Color F/A Time
2
|
Sun
|
Purification of the Blessed
Virgin Mary
4th Sunday after Epiphany
Our
Lady of Good Success
|
d2cl
|
W
|
|
Mass 9:00 AM & Noon; Confessions 8:00
AM; Rosary of Reparation 8:30 AM
|
3
|
Mon
|
St. Blaise, BpM
|
sp
|
R
|
|
Mass 8:30 AM; Rosary of Reparation before
Mass
|
4
|
Tue
|
St. Andrew Corsini,
BpC
|
d
|
W
|
|
Mass 8:30 AM; Rosary of Reparation
before Mass
|
5
|
Wed
|
St. Agatha, VM
|
d
|
R
|
|
Mass 8:30 AM; Rosary of Reparation before
Mass
|
6
|
Thu
|
St. Titus, BpC
St. Dorothy,VM
|
d
|
W
|
|
Mass 8:30 AM; Rosary of Reparation before
Mass
|
7
|
Fri
|
St. Romuald, Ab
First Friday
|
d
|
W
|
A
|
Mass 8:30 AM; Rosary of Reparation before
Mass; Benediction & Holy Hour of Reparation
|
8
|
Sat
|
St. John of Matha,
C
|
sd
|
W
|
|
Mass 9:00 AM; Confessions & Rosary of
Reparation 8:30
|
9
|
Sun
|
5th Sunday after Epiphany
St. Cyril of Alesandria,
BpCD
St. Apollonia,
VM
|
sd
|
V
|
|
Mass 9:00 AM & Noon; Confessions 8:00 AM;
Rosary of Reparation 8:30 AM
|
Feast of the Purification
Take courage, O Zorobabel, saith the Lord; and
take courage, O Jesus, the son of Josedec, the High
Priest; and take courage, all ye people of the land; for thus saith the Lord of Hosts: Yet one little while, and I will
move the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. And I will move all nations; and the Desired
of all nations shall come; and I will fill this House with glory. Great shall be the glory of this House, more
than of the first; and in this place I will give Peace, saith
the Lord of hosts. Aggeus
2, 5-10
Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I send my Angel, and he shall
prepare the way before my face. And
presently the Lord whom you seek, and the Angel of the Testament whom you
desire, shall come to his Temple. Behold
he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts: and who shall be
able to think of the day of his coming? And who shall stand to see him? For he
is like a refining fire, and like the fuller’s herb: and he shall sit refining
and cleansing the silver, and he shall purity the sons of Levi, and shall
refine them as gold and as silver, and they shall offer sacrifices to the Lord
in justice. Malachi 3
O Lord, Thou dost
dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word in Peace, because my eyes
have seen Thy Salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all
peoples- a Light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people
Israel.
St. Luke 2, 29
O eternal God, I know
that Your arm is powerful and strong, that it will deliver the Church and Your
people, rescue them from the hands of the demon, and put an end to
persecution. I know that the Wisdom of
Your Son, who is one with You, can illumine our intellects and scatter the
clouds which hover around Your dear Spouse, the Church. Then, eternal Father, I beg and implore Your
power, the Wisdom of Your only-begotten Son and the clemency of the Holy Ghost,
abyss and fire of charity, to show mercy to the world and restore the warmth of
charity so that peace and union may reign in the holy Church. Alas, I do not want to wait any longer: I
pray that Your infinite goodness may constrain You not to close the eye of Your
mercy on Your holy Spouse, O sweet Jesus, Jesus-love.
St. Catherine of Siena,
her prayer for the Church.
Fight, therefore, with
great determination. Do not let the weakness of your nature be an excuse. If
your strength fails you, ask more from God. He will not refuse your request.
Consider this------if the
fury of your enemies is great, and their numbers overwhelming, the love which
God holds for you is infinitely greater. The Angel who protects you and the
Saints who intercede for you are more numerous… All He asks of you is that you
defend yourself courageously, and that, despite any wounds you may receive, you
never lay down your arms or leave the battleground. You must not shirk your
duty. This war is unavoidable, and you must either fight or die. The obstinacy
of your enemies is so fierce that peace and arbitration with them is utterly
impossible.
Dom Lorenzo Scupoli, The Spiritual Combat
“The more we subject ourselves to
men, having no other will but that of those who are over us, the more we
shall master our will, so as to conform it to the will of God.”
St. Teresa of Jesus
As in the order of
nature a child must have a father and a mother, so likewise in the order of
grace, a true child of the Church must have God for his Father and Mary for his
Mother; and if anyone should glory in having God for his Father and yet has not
the love of a true child for Mary, he is a deceiver, and the only father he has
is the devil.
St. Louis de Montfort, The Secret of Mary
But he was asleep (Matt 8, 24).
It
is an article of faith in the holy Catholic Church that God has not only
created the world, but that He sustains and governs it; this preservation and
ruling of the whole world and of each individual creature is called Providence.
There are people who think that God is too great a Lord to busy Himself about
the care of this world, that to do so is beneath His majesty; it was enough for
Him to create the world, for the rest, He leaves it to itself or to fate,
enjoys His own happiness, and, as it were, sleeps in regard to us. Thus think
some, but only the ignorant and impious. Were He as these imagine Him, He would
not or could not have aught to do with creation. If
He could not, then He is neither all-wise nor almighty, if He would not, then
He is not good; and if He knows nothing of the world, then He is not omniscient.
If we once believe that God created the world, (and what rational man can doubt it?) then we must also believe He rules and sustains it. Can any work of art, however well constructed and arranged, subsist without some one to take charge of and watch aver the same? Would not the greatest of all master-pieces, the world, therefore come to the greatest confusion and fall back into its original nothingness, if God, who created it from nothing, did not take care of its further order and existence? It is indeed true that the method of Divine Providence with which God controls all things is so mysterious that, when considering some events, one is persuaded to admit a necessary fate, an accident, the course of nature, the ill will of the devil or man, as the fundamental cause. Yet in all this the providence of God is not denied, for nothing does or can happen accidentally, not the smallest thing occurs without the knowledge, permission, or direction of God. Not one sparrow shall fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered (Matt. 10, 29-30). Chance, fate, and luck are but the ideas of insane or wicked men, which even the more rational heathens have rejected, and the course of nature is but the constant, uninterrupted, all-wise and bountiful preservation and government of creation through God. The perverted will of men or of the devil is but the instrument which God in His all-wise intention, uses to effect the good, for He knows how to produce good from evil, and, therefore, as St. Augustine says, “permits the evil that the good may not be left undone.” If we peruse the history of our first parents, of Abraham, of Joseph in Egypt, of Moses, of the people of Israel, of Job, Ruth, David, Tobias, Esther, Judith and others, we will easily see everywhere the plainest signs of the wisest Providence, the best and most careful, absolute power, by virtue of which God knows how to direct all things according to His desire, and for the good of His chosen ones. The gospel of this day furnishes us an instance of this? Why did Christ go into the boat? Why did a storm arise? Why was He asleep? Did all this occur by accident? No, it came about designedly by the ordinance of Christ that His omnipotence might be seen, and the faith and confidence of His disciples be strengthened.
Thus it is certain that God foresees, directs, and governs all; as Scripture, reason, and daily experience prove. Would we but pay more attention to many events of our lives, we would certainly notice the providence of God, and give ourselves up to His guidance and dispensations. The Lord ruleth me, and I shall want nothing, says David (Ps. 22, 1). And we also, we shall want nothing if we resign ourselves to God's will, and are contented with His dispensations in our regard; while, on the contrary, if we oppose His will, we shall fall into misfortune and error. God must rule over us with goodness, or with sternness, He is no slumbering God. Behold! He shall neither slumber nor sleep, that keepeth Israel (Ps. 120, 4).
St. Romuald
is a son of the great patriarch St. Benedict, and like him, is the father of
many children. The Benedictine family
has a direct line from the commencement, even to this present time; but, from the trunk of this venerable tree there
have issued four vigorous branches, to each of which the Holy Spirit has
imparted the life and fruitfulness of the parent stem. These collateral branches of the Benedictine
Order are: Camaldoli, founded by St. Romuald; Cluny, by St. Odo; Vallombrosa, by St. John Gaulbert;
and Citeaux, by St. Robert of Molesmes.
Dom Gueranger,
The Liturgical Year, Feast of St. Romuald
THE PURIFICATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY FEBRUARY SECOND
PRESENCE OP GOD - O Lord, I come to You and beg You, through
the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to purify my soul.
MEDITATION:
I. Today’s Feast, which marks
the end of the Christmas season, is a feast both of Jesus and of Mary : of
Jesus, because He is presented by His Mother in the Temple forty days after His
birth, according to the requirements of the law; of Mary, because she submits
herself to the rite of purification.
The liturgy celebrates, primarily, the entrance for the first time of
the Infant Jesus into the Temple : “Behold the Lord, the Ruler, cometh into His
holy Temple : rejoice and be glad, O Sion, and hasten
to meet your God” (RB). Let us, too, go to meet Him, emulating the holy
sentiments of the old Simeon who “came by the Spirit into the Temple” (Gosp. Lk. 2, 22-32), and filled
with joy, received the Divine Child into his arms.
In order to celebrate this event more fittingly, the Church today
blesses candles and gives them to us; with burning tapers, we enter the Temple
in procession. The lighted candle is a symbol of the Christian life, of the
faith and grace which should shine in our soul. It is also the image of Christ,
the light of the world, “a light to the revelation of the Gentiles,” according
to Simeon’s canticle. The lighted candle reminds us that we must always bear
Christ in us, the source of our life, the author of faith and grace. By His
grace, Jesus Himself disposes us to go to meet Him with livelier faith and
greater love. May our meeting with Him today be particularly intimate and
sanctifying!
Jesus is taken to the Temple to be offered to the Father, although,
being God, He was not subject to the prescriptions of the Jewish law as were
the other firstborn of the Hebrews. He is the Victim who will be immolated for
the salvation of the world. His presentation in the Temple is, so to speak, the
offertory of His life; the sacrifice will be consummated later, on Calvary. Let
us offer ourselves with Jesus.
2. Jesus was presented in the
Temple by His Mother. Let us therefore contemplate Mary in her office of Co-Redemptrix. Mary knew that Jesus was the Savior of the
world, and through the veil of prophecy she sensed that His mission would be
accomplished in a mystery of sorrow in which she would participate, in her role
as Mother. Simeon’s prophecy: “And thy own soul a sword shall pierce,”
confirmed her intuition. Deep in her heart, Mary at that moment must have
repeated her fiat: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according
to Thy word” (ibid. 1 , 38). At the same time that she offered her Son, she
offered herself, being always closely united to His destiny.
But, before entering the Temple to present Jesus, Mary wanted to submit
to the law of legal purification. Although she knew she was a virgin, she put
herself on the level of all the other mothers, and standing with them, humbly
awaited her turn, carrying “a pair of turtle-doves,” the offering of the poor.
We see Jesus and Mary submitting themselves to laws by which they are not bound
: Jesus does not need to be redeemed, nor Mary to be purified. These are
lessons in humility and respect for the law of God.
There may be some laws by which we are bound and from which our pride by
false pretexts seeks to exempt us. Such dispensations are abuses sought in the
name of rights which do not really exist. Whereas Mary had no need to be
purified, let us humble ourselves and acknowledge our extreme need of interior
purification.
COLLOQUY:
“O Jesus, You went to the Temple to offer Yourself. Who offered You? The
Virgin Mary, who has never had, and never will have, an equal. You were offered
by Mary who, through the mouth of Wisdom, was called by Your Father the
‘all-beautiful, all-fair’. To whom were You offered? To God, the infinite
Being, sublime in His creation, fruitful in His heritage, unfathomable in His
designs, gracious and sweet in His love. What did she offer? She offered You,
the eternal Word, substance of the divine essence, Son of the Most High, the
Lawgiver of the universe, You, who have been called by so many great and
beautiful names : O Key of David, O King of nations, O Emmanuel!
“What do You teach me, O Lord, offering Yourself thus in the Temple? You
show me respect for the law by Your willingness to observe it. You teach me
adoration, for You offered Yourself to the Father, not as His equal, which You
really were, but as man. Here You have given me a model of the respect which I
owe to Your law, not only to the Ten Commandments, but also to my Holy Rule and
Constitutions. This law is all sweetness and delight for me, but I make it
bitter when I do not renounce myself, for then, instead of my bearing it
sweetly, the law is obliged to bear me” (St. Mary Magdalen
dei Pazzi).
O Jesus, through the hands of Mary, I wish to offer myself today with
You to the eternal Father. But You are a pure, holy, and immaculate Host, while
I am defiled with misery, and sin. O Mary, my Mother, you were willing to be
purified, although you were free from the slightest shadow of imperfection;
purify, I beseech you, my poor soul, so that it may be less unworthy to be
offered to the Father along with Jesus, who is your Son as well as His.
O Virgin most pure, lead me along the way of a serious, and thorough
purification; accompany me yourself, so that my weakness will not make me faint
because of the roughness of the road.
The religion of Christ
alone can produce in timid women, like St. Dorothy, an energy which at times
surpasses that of the most valiant martyrs among men. Thus does our Lord glorify His infinite
power, by crushing Satan’s head with what is by nature so weak. The enmity put by God between the woman and
the serpent, is for ever showing itself in those
sublime Acts of the Martyrs, where the rebel angel is defeated by an enemy whom
he knew to be weak, and therefore scorned to fear; but that very weakness,
which made her victory the grander, made his humiliation the bitterer.
Dom Gueranger,
The Liturgical Year, Feast of
St. Dorothy
Behold, then the whole
of Christian perfection: love and sacrifice. Who cannot with
God's grace, fulfil this twofold condition? Is it,
indeed, so difficult to love Him Who is infinitely lovable and infinitely
loving? The love that He asks of us is nothing extraordinary; it is the
devotedness of love - the gift of oneself - consisting chiefly in conformity to
the divine will. To want to love is to love. To keep the commandments for God's
sake is to love. To pray is to love. To fulfil our
duties of state in view of pleasing God, this is likewise to love. Nay more, to
recreate ourselves, to take our meals with the like intention is to love. To
serve our neighbor for God's sake is to love. Nothing then is easier, God's
grace helping, than the constant exercise of divine love and through this,
steady advance toward perfection.
Rev. Adolphe Tanquewrey, S.S., D.D.,
The Spiritual Life
Vatican II and
the Leap of Faith for the Hermeneutics of Continuity
Vatican II pastoral
opinion:
And
we now ask: What does it mean to restore the unity of all Christians?... This
unity, we are convinced, indeed subsists in the Catholic Church, without
the possibility of ever being lost (Unitatis
Redintegratio) the Church in fact has not totally
disappeared from the world. On the other hand, this unity does not
mean what could be called ecumenism of the return: that is, to deny and to
reject one’s own faith history. Absolutely not!
Pope
Benedict XVI, to Protestants at World Youth Day, August 19, 2005
Catholic Doctrine:
… the
union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return to
the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it…
Pope Pius XI, Mortalium
Animos
Vatican II pastoral
opinion:
The
Council further declares that the right to religious freedom has its foundation
in the very dignity of the human person... This right to religious freedom is
to be recognized in the constitutional law whereby society is governed. Thus it
is to become a civil right.
Vatican II, Declaration on Religious Liberty, Dignitatis
Humanae
Catholic Doctrine:
And from this wholly false idea of social organization they do not fear to
foster that erroneous opinion, especially fatal to the Catholic Church
and the salvation of souls, called by our predecessor, Gregory XVI, insanity,
namely that the liberty of conscience and worship is the proper right of every
man, and should be proclaimed by law in every correctly established society...
Each and every doctrine individually mentioned in this letter, by Our Apostolic
authority We reject, proscribe and condemn; and We wish and command that
they be considered as absolutely rejected by all the sons of the Church.
Pope
Pius IX, Quanta Cura
ON
SALVATION
Vatican II pastoral
opinion:
The separated churches and communities as such,
though we believe they suffer from the defects already mentioned, have been by
no means deprived of significance and importance in the mystery of salvation. For
the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as means of salvation
which derive their efficacy from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted
to the Catholic Church.
Vatican II, Decree
on Ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio
Catholic Doctrine:
The most Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that none of
those existing outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and
heretics and schismatics, can have a share in life
eternal; but that they will go into the eternal fire which was prepared for the
Devil and his angels, unless before death they are joined with her...
Pope Eugene IV, Council
of Florence
Vatican II pastoral
opinion:
May the faithful,
therefore, live in very close union with the men of their time. Let them strive
to understand perfectly their way of thinking and feeling as expressed in their
culture. Let them blend modern science and its theories and the understanding
of the most recent discoveries with Christian morality and doctrine.... Thus
their religious practice and morality can keep pace with their scientific
knowledge and with an ever - advancing technology...
Vatican II, Decree on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes
Catholic Doctrine:
The Roman pontiff can and must reconcile
himself with human progress, with liberalism and with modern and human culture.
– condemned.
Blessed Pope Pius IX, Syllabus of Errors
Vatican II pastoral
opinion:
Upon
the Moslems, too, the Church looks with esteem...They adore the one God...though
they do not acknowledge Jesus as God they revere Him as a prophet.... In
addition they await the day of judgment when God will give each man his due....
and give worship to God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.
Vatican II,
Decree on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, Nostra Aetate
Catholic Doctrine:
...that
false opinion which considers all religions more or less good and
praiseworthy... Not only are those who hold this opinion in error and deceived,
but also in distorting the idea of true religion they reject it, and little by
little, turn aside to naturalism and atheism...from which it clearly follows
that one who supports those who hold on these theories and attempt to realize
them, is altogether abandoning the divinely revealed religion.
Pope
Pius XI, Mortalium Animos
Whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin (Jn. 8, 34).
No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the
other : or he will sustain the one, and despise the other (Mt. 6, 24).
He that is not with me, is against me: and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth
(Mt. 12, 30).
If any man will come
after Me, let him deny himself (Mt. 16, 24).
Sacred Scripture is the art of
arts, the science of sciences: it is the Pandora of Wisdom. In our own time,
St. Theresa, a woman endowed with the spirit of prophecy, and renowned
throughout all Spain for the glory of her miracles, and the sanctity of her
life, was taught by God that all the troubles of the Church, all the evils in the
world, flow from this source, that men do not, by clear and sound knowledge,
and serious consideration, penetrate into the verities of Sacred Scripture.
Rev. Cornelius de Lapide taken from Rev. Francisco de Ribera, Life of St. Teresa
In May 1550 Bishop Ridley of London ordered the
abolition of altars everywhere in his diocese.
This was not formally extended to the whole country by the Privy Council
till November, but altars were coming down all over the country by then, as the
now Protestant episcopate and their officials brought pressure to bear. The pressure was applied with extraordinary
minuteness, and not just on the question of altars or the celebration of
Communion. Bishop Hooper of Gloucester
expected his clergy to police even the prayers and words of encouragement used
by midwives at childbirth, lest any saint should be invoked. He set on foot enquiries about any clergy
using preambles to parishioners’ wills which mentioned the saints. He demanded to know if any reverenced the
Sacrament while it was being carried to the sick, or whether anyone showed
particular respect or honour to the oils that the
dying asked to be anointed.
Eamon Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, recounting
the “Catholic” bishops destroying the Faith in England
The Second Vatican Council has not been treated as a
part of the entire living Tradition of the Church, but as an end of Tradition,
a new start from zero. The truth is that this particular Council defined no
dogma at all, and deliberately chose to remain on a modest level, as a
merely pastoral council; and yet many treat it as though it had made itself
into a sort of superdogma which takes away the
importance of all the rest.
Pope
Benedict XVI, as Cardinal Ratzinger addressing the
Bishops of Chile
JESUS
CALMS THE TEMPEST FOURTH SUNDAY
AFTER THE EPIPHANY
PRESENCE
of GOD ‑ O Lord, I adore You in the little boat of my soul.
Since You are with me, I shall not fear.
MEDITATION:
1. In today's liturgy, especially the Gospel
(Mt 8, 23‑27), Jesus appears in our midst as the ruler of the
elements, the conqueror of all tempests. “And behold a great tempest arose in
the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves.” Let us think of all the
persecutions which have beaten against Peter's barque,
the Church, down through the ages; or we can think of the trials which God
still permits individual souls to undergo. Whatever happens, the spirit of
faith tells us that every struggle and tempest is willed, or at least permitted
by God: “Everything is grace” (T.C.J. NV); everything is the result of
His infinite love. God is not a tyrant who crushes us, but a Father, who tests
us because He loves us. If He permits sorrow, interior or exterior trials,
personal or public vicissitudes, it is only to draw out of them some greater
good. Virtue and goodness are strengthened in time of difficulty; the efforts
made in bearing trials tend to make us surpass what we would have done had we
enjoyed perfect calm.
Jesus was sleeping peacefully in the stern of
the boat when the terrified Apostles awakened Him: “Lord, save us, we perish!”
He answered them reproachfully, “Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith?”
If we are disturbed and upset by trials, it
means that we lack faith. Even when God conceals Himself, when everything seems
to fail us and we feel terribly alone, we can be absolutely certain that God
will never abandon us if we do not first abandon Him. Instead of becoming
bitter or falling into despair, it is the moment to intensify our faith, to
make strong acts of faith. St. Therese of the Child Jesus used to say, “I count
on Him. Suffering may go to its limit, but I am sure He will never abandon me”
(St).
2.
The Apostles were saved
only when they called upon Jesus. As long as they labored and struggled alone,
they had no success. Many times we fail to surmount interior difficulties
because we work alone. God wants us to experience our own insufficiency;
therefore, He lets us struggle until we have recourse to Him with full
confidence. Certainly God wants our efforts, but He does not want us to place
all our hope in them. This accounts for the small progress so many make on the
road to sanctity - too much reliance on their own resources, too little on
God's help. We must be firmly convinced that “our sufficiency is from God” (2
Cor 3,5). We must have less confidence in
ourselves and more in God. Jesus can do all things, and confidence works
miracles. “We receive from God as much as we hope for” (J. C. DN II, 21,8).
There are other kinds of tempests, too,
such as those provoked by the difficulties we sometimes experience in our
relations with our neighbor. St. Paul in the Epistle (Rom 13, 8‑10)
gives us the remedy: “Owe no man anything, but to love one another.” Love
conquers all. Our love for God overcomes our interior storms; our love for our
neighbor, in whom we love Christ, overcomes the tempests which arise from
dissensions, misunderstandings, and clashes of temperaments. If from certain
people we receive only pain and trouble, let us follow the precious advice of
St. John of the Cross: “Where there is no love, put love, and you will find
love” (L, 22).
COLLOQUY:
“O my Lord, how true a friend You are, and
how powerful! For You can do all You will and never do You cease to love! Let
all things praise You, Lord of the world! Oh, if someone would but proclaim
throughout the world how faithful You are to Your friends! All things fail, but
You, Lord of them all, never fail. How little is the suffering that You allow
to those who love You! O my Lord, how delicately and skillfully and tenderly do
You deal with them! Oh, happy are they who have never loved anyone save You!
You seem, Lord, to give severe trials to those who love You, but only that in
the excess of their trials they may learn the greater excess of Your love. O my
God, had I but understanding and learning to find new words with which to exalt
Your works as my soul knows them! These, my Lord, I lack, but if You forsake me
not. I shall never fail You. Let all learned men rise up against me, let all
created things persecute me, let the devils torment me; but You, Lord, do not
fail me; for I have already experienced the benefits which come to him who
trusts only in You!” (T.J. Life, 25).
Take away from me, O Lord, all trust in my
own strength. Make me see that I can do nothing without You. Show it to me in a
practical way, even if it causes me sorrow and humiliation. O Lord, I no longer
desire to rely on my own strength; in You alone do I place all my trust. With
Your help I shall continue to strive to practice virtue and to advance in Your
ways, but with my eyes always fixed on You, O divine Sun, who alone can make my
feeble efforts bring forth fruits of virtue! When storms arise, I will take
refuge in You; I will call upon You with all the strength of my heart and with
all my faith, certain that You will give me that peace and that victory which I
would seek in vain apart from You.
Holy Scripture
is the universal depository of medicine for the cure of souls. From it every
one may select the remedy which is salutary and appropriate for his own
disease.
St. Basil the
Great
When I consider the words which
Jesus Christ addressed to His heavenly Father in prayer, saying that He did not
pray for the world,” I pray not for the world” [John xviii, 9] ----- and again
that, when praying for His disciples that His prayer might be more efficacious,
He emphasized the fact that they were not followers of the world, “They are in
the world, but they are not of the world” ----- I confess that no words of our Saviour in the whole Gospel terrify me more than these. For
I perceive that it is necessary for me to separate myself from the world, so
that Jesus Christ may intercede for me. And if I am a lover of the world, I
shall be excommunicated by Jesus Christ and shall have no part in His
intercessions and prayers. These are the words of Christ Himself: “I pray not
for the world, but for those who are not of the world.”
Let us really understand these
words: that Jesus Christ excludes us from His kingdom if we belong to the
world, that is to say if we wish to follow the maxims of the world which are
nothing but vanity and deceit and fill man with pride; the maxims of the world
which the prophet says “turn aside the way of the humble.” [Amos ii, 7] Meanwhile
Jesus Christ is our advocate with the Father in so far as, renewing our
Baptismal vow, we renounce the world and accept the maxims of the Gospel which
are true and tend to make man humble. To serve both God and the world is
impossible, because we could never please both ----- “he will hold to the one
and despise the other.” [Luke xvi, 13]
To pretend to serve God and the world is the same as to imagine that we can be
both humble and proud at the same time. Vain dream!
Fr. Cajetan
Mary da Bergamo, Humility
of Heart
All
Are Called to be Co-Redeemers with Christ
God has entrusted to each one
of us a share in the great redemptive work of Jesus. As consecrated souls, we are especially
called to cooperate in Christ’s work. First
of all, we must cooperate with grace, so that the fruits of the redemption can
be fully applied to our souls. This is
the work of our own personal sanctification.
It is not limited to this one aspect, however. We are called to sanctify ourselves in order
to be able to bring others to sanctity.
Each one of us has a mission to fulfill for the good of others and for
their sanctification. We must
collaborate with Christ in extending the fruits of the Redemption to as many
souls as possible. This work is
entrusted to us by the heavenly Father, and we must apply ourselves to it with
the interior disposition of Christ: a total, generous, exclusive dedication, a
dedication capable of making even the greatest sacrifices. All actions are of value only insofar as they
help toward the accomplishment of this work.
Anything that does not contribute to our own sanctification or to the
sanctification of other is useless, a waste of time, and should be courageously
eliminated.
Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D., Divine
Intimacy
And
yet, the fathers of Vatican II professed to worship the same god as the
Mohammedans!
He [Muhammad] seduced the people by promises of carnal pleasure to
which the concupiscence of the flesh goads us. His teaching also contained
precepts that were in conformity with his promises, and he gave free rein to
carnal pleasure. In all this, as is not unexpected, he was obeyed by carnal
men. As for proofs of the truth of his doctrine, he brought forward only such
as could be grasped by the natural ability of anyone with a very modest wisdom.
Indeed, the truths that he taught he mingled with many fables and with
doctrines of the greatest falsity. He did not bring forth any signs produced in
a supernatural way, which alone fittingly gives witness to divine inspiration;
for a visible action that can be only divine reveals an invisibly inspired
teacher of truth. On the contrary, Mohammed said that he was sent in the power
of his arms—which are signs not lacking even to robbers and tyrants. What is
more, no wise men, men trained in things divine and human, believed in him from
the beginning. Those who believed in him were brutal men and desert wanderers,
utterly ignorant of all divine teaching, through whose numbers Mohammed forced
others to become his followers by the violence of his arms. Nor do divine
pronouncements on the part of preceding prophets offer him any witness. On the
contrary, he perverts almost all the testimonies of the Old and New Testaments
by making them into fabrications of his own, as can be seen by anyone who
examines his law. It was, therefore, a shrewd decision on his part to forbid
his followers to read the Old and New Testaments, lest these books convict him
of falsity. It is thus clear that those who place any faith in his words
believe foolishly.
St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles
“First so that
men in the future might realize how powerful I am in placating Divine Justice
and obtaining mercy and pardon for every sinner who comes to me with a contrite
heart. For I am the Mother of Mercy and in me there is only goodness and love.
When tribulations of spirit and sufferings of the body oppress them and they
seem to be drowning in this bottomless sea let them gaze at my holy image and I
will always be there ready to listen to their cries and soothe their pain. Tell
them that they should always run to their Mother with confidence and
love...”
Blessed Virgin Mary to
Mother Mariana, Quito, Ecuador, February 2, 1610
“…. I make it known to you that from the end
of the 19th century and shortly after the middle of the 20th century…. the
passions will erupt and there will be a total corruption of customs (morals)….
“They
will focus principally on the children in order to sustain this general
corruption. Woe to the children of these times! It will be difficult to receive
the Sacrament of Baptism, and also that of Confirmation…
“As for the Sacrament of Matrimony… it will
be attacked and deeply profaned… The Catholic spirit will rapidly decay; the
precious light of the Faith will gradually be extinguished… Added to this will
be the effects of secular education, which will be one reason for the dearth of
priestly and religious vocations.
“The Sacrament of Holy Orders will be
ridiculed, oppressed, and despised… The Devil will try to persecute the
ministers of the Lord in every possible way; he will labor with cruel and
subtle astuteness to deviate them from the spirit of their vocation and will
corrupt many of them. These depraved priests, who will scandalize the Christian
people, will make the hatred of bad Catholics and the enemies of the Roman
Catholic and Apostolic Church fall upon all priests…
“Further, in these unhappy times, there will
be unbridled luxury, which will ensnare the rest into sin and conquer
innumerable frivolous souls, who will be lost. Innocence will almost no longer
be found in children, nor modesty in women. In this supreme moment of need of
the Church, the one who should speak will fall silent.”
Blessed Virgin Mary to Mother Mariana
The
Principle Muslim objections to the Catholic Faith – Utterly carnal!
“We
preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumbling block, and unto the
Gentiles foolishness” 1 Cor 1:23.
These, then, are the points, which, as you affirm, are attacked and
ridiculed by the unbelievers. For the Muslims (Saraceni),
as you say, ridicule our claim that Christ is the Son of God, since God does
not have a wife; and they think us mad, assuming we profess there are three
gods. They also mock our belief that Christ, the Son of God, was crucified for
the salvation of the human race, because if God is omnipotent, He could have
saved the human race without the suffering of His Son; He could also have so
constructed man that he could not have sinned. They rebuke Christians because daily
at the altar they eat their God and because the body of Christ, were it even as
big as a mountain, should long since have been consumed.
St. Thomas, De Rationibus Fidei
(The Reasons for Our Faith)
In a symbolic gesture, Pope Francis released
“Doves of Peace” only to have one killed by a crow and the
other disabled by a seagull. The same
thing happened to Pope Benedict XVI when his “Doves of Peace” were attacked by
seagulls. The Blessed Virgin Mary has
revealed her own plan for peace. She
requires only that the
Pope, in ecclesiastical
unity with the bishops of the world, consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart.
For this simple act of obedience she will obtain from God the grace of a
“period of peace” for the world. God has
a poetic sense. Like the flooding at
Fatima there is a message here. How many
doves will have to be mutilated until the Pope connects the dots?
Remember the
Poor Souls
PRAYER
TO FREE 1000 SOULS FROM PURGATORY:
Our Lord told St. Gertrude
the Great that the following prayer would release 1,000
Souls from Purgatory each time it is said. The prayer was later extended to
include living sinners as well.
ETERNAL FATHER, I OFFER THEE THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD OF THY DIVINE SON,
JESUS, IN UNION WITH THE MASSES SAID THROUGHOUT THE WORLD TODAY, FOR ALL THE
HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY, FOR SINNERS EVERYWHERE, FOR SINNERS IN THE UNIVERSAL
CHURCH, THOSE IN MY OWN HOME AND WITHIN MY FAMILY. AMEN
Heroic Act of Charity to Benefit the Poor Souls
O Holy and Adorable Trinity, desiring to co-operate in the
deliverance of the Souls in Purgatory, and to testify my devotion to the
Blessed Virgin Mary, I cede and renounce in behalf of those Holy Souls all the
satisfactory part of my works, and all the suffrages which may be given to me
after my death, consigning them entirely into the hands of the most Blessed
Virgin, that she may apply them according to her good pleasure to those Souls
of the faithful departed whom she desires to deliver from their sufferings. Deign,
O my God, to accept and bless this offering which I make to Thee at this
moment. Amen
St.
Paul, in the black catalog he gives of the works of the flesh, reckons sects,
or, as the Protestant translation has it, heresies, as one of them; and, classing
this with idolatry, witchcraft, and dissensions, he concludes, in these
words,----- “Of which I foretell you, as I have foretold to you, that they
who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God.” [Gal. 5: 20]
Pope Francis, the Liturgical
Philistine
Dom Prosper Guéranger was a great defender
and advocate supporting declarations of Vatican I producing the Catholic dogmas
on the universal jurisdiction of the pope and his direct, immediate and
exclusive proximity to the Magisterium of the Church
to define Catholic doctrine infallibly. The ongoing Synod on Synodality, with the support of Pope Francis, is in the
process of overturning both of these dogmas. Now, Pope Francis has praised the
work of Dom Prosper Louis Pascal Guéranger, OSB,
(1805-1875) Abbot Saint-Pierre di
Solesmes, France on the 150th anniversary of his
death. Francis claims that the liturgical revolution that began under Bugnini's direction in 1948 was a direct development of the
liturgical restoration of Dom Guéranger. Having read The Liturgical Year several times I can
affirm without doubt that Pope Francis has never read it. The most essential
liturgical truth that underlies this monumental work is that the worship of God
is the work of the Holy Ghost and not idiots staffing liturgical committees.
This is just another attempt to enroll into the service of the revolution the
historical past. It was Orwell who said he who controls the present, controls
the past and he who controls the past controls the future. It is the common practice
of revolutionaries to rewrite history in their favor. It's a good thing that
Dom Guéranger is dead because to hear his work being
accused of causing the Novus Ordo would have killed
him. Dom Guéranger was above all things a holy man.
Francis knows nothing of true worship because he knows nothing of sanctity.
Cardinal Henry
Edward Manning
The Present Crisis of
the Holy See: A Warning About Antichrist
“And
now you know what withholdeth [the coming of the
Antichrist], that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity
already worketh; only that he who now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out of the way”(2 Thess 2:6-7).
“We
have now come nearly to a solution of that which I stated in the beginning,
namely, how it is that the power which hinders the revelation of the lawless
one is not only a person but a system, and not only a system but a person. In
one word, it is Christendom and its head; and therefore, in the person of the
Vicar of Christ, and in that twofold authority with which, by Divine Providence
he has been invested, we see the direct antagonist to the principle of
disorder. The lawless one, who knows no law, human or divine, nor obeys any but
his own will, has no antagonist on earth more direct that the Vicar of Jesus
Christ….”
“I
shall hope to show hereafter that the antagonism between two persons [between
Antichrist and Christ, with the Pope as the latter’s Vicar] is an antagonism
also between two societies, and that as our Divine Lord is the Head and
Representative of all the truth and justice of the world from the beginning, so
Antichrist, be he who or what he may, will be the head and representative of
all the falsehood and wrong, which has been accumulating for these 1800 years,
in the heresies, schisms, spiritual seditions, intellectual infidelities,
social disorders and political revolutions of the anti-Catholic movement of the
world.”
“Such
is the great deep upon which the Christian society of the world is resting. From
time to time it has lifted itself up with preternatural power, and has made the
Christian order of Europe vibrate and reel. Then again it has seemed to subside
into a calm. But no one with any discernment can fail to see that it is deeper,
mightier, and more widely spread now (1861) than ever. That this antichristian
power will one day find its head, and for a time prevail in this world, is
certain from prophecy. But this cannot be until ‘he who holdeth
[the Pope] shall be taken out of the way’….”
“But
such is the state of the world, and to this end we are rapidly advancing. We
are told that Etna has one hundred and sixty craters, besides the two vast
mouths which, joined together, form the immense crater commonly so called; on
all its sides it is perforated and honeycombed by channels and by mouths, from
which in centuries past the lava has, from time to time burst forth. I can find
no better illustration of the state of Christendom at this moment. The Church
of God rests upon the basis of natural society, on the foundations of the old
Roman Empire, on the civilization of the heathen nations of the world, which
for a time has been consecrated, consolidated, preserved, raised, sanctified;
but beneath the Church is working continually the mystery of iniquity which
already wrought in the Apostles’ time, and is culminating at this moment to its
strength, and gaining the ascendency. What, I ask, was the French revolution of
1789, with all its bloodshed, blasphemy, impiety, and cruelty, in all its
masquerade of horror and of mockery – what was it but an outbreak of the
anti-Christian spirit – the lava font beneath the mountain? And what was the
outbreak in 1830 and 1848 but precisely the same principle of Antichrist
working beneath Christian society, forcing its way upward? In the year 1848 it
opened simultaneously [in Revolutions] its many mouths in Berlin, in Vienna, in
Turin, in Florence, in Naples, and in Rome itself. In London it heaved and
struggled, but its time was not yet. What is all this but the spirit of
lawlessness lifting itself against God and man, – the principle of schism,
heresy, and infidelity running fused into one mass, and pouring itself forth
wherever it can force its way, making craters for its stream wherever the
Christian society becomes weak? And this, as it has gone on for centuries, so
it will go on until the time shall come when ‘that which holds’ shall ‘be taken
out of the way’.”
“Set
up a tribunal within thyself and judge the cause of the life thou hast this day
led. Let thy thoughts go in search of thy sins, and let them accuse thee before
God. Let thy conscience stand as witness against thee. Let the fear and love of
God be the holy executioners to slay thy sins with the sword of
repentance.”
St.
Augustine
“Christian
is my name, Catholic is my surname: by the former I am called, by the latter I
am distinguished. By the name of Catholic, our society is distinguished from
all heretics.”
St.
Pacian
“God
does not bestow the grace of compunction until He has previously made us conscious
of the enormity of our faults.”
St.
Gregory the Great
“The
Catholic or Universal doctrine is that, which remains the same through all
ages, and will continue so till the end of the world.—He is a true Catholic,
who firmly adheres to the faith which he knows the Catholic church has
universally (i.e.: at all times, in all
places, to all people) taught from the days of old.”
St.
Vincent of Lerins
Daily
Examination of Conscience
The troubled waters of venial offenses rise daily in the hold of our
hearts; whoever, then, wishes not to perish, let him empty out every day, as
sailors do the hold of a ship, by a careful and contrite Examination of
Conscience.
St Augustine
Virtue, cannot grow in the company of vice. If the one is to flourish,
the other must perish. Clear away, then, what is superfluous and vicious, and
that which is wholesome and virtuous will at once spring up. Whatever you
withhold from your lusts will turn to the profit and advantage of your
spiritual life. Therefore, let us take heed to cut down by a diligent
self-examination the noxious growth of faults, vices, and defects, if we wish
to see the flowers of every virtue bloom forth in the garden of our souls.
St Bernard
St Paul says, “If we judge ourselves we shall not be judged”. If we
examine and search into our conscience, submitting it to a rigorous trial, and
if, when we discover any sins, we wash them away with tears of contrition, we
shall not be judged by God; in other words, we shall escape punishment at His
awful judgment.
Rev. Cornelius a Lapide
Prophecy for Our
Times - when the Church does not have a "Prelate and Father to watch over
them with paternal love, gentleness, strength, and prudence."
In order to free men from bondage
to these heresies, those whom the merciful love of My Most Holy
Son will destine for that restoration will need great strength of
will, constancy, valor and confidence in God. To test this faith and
confidence of the just, there will be occasions in which everything will seem
to be lost and paralyzed. This will be, then, the happy beginning of
the complete restoration. […]
The spirit of impurity that
will saturate the atmosphere in those times. Like a filthy ocean, it
will inundate the streets, squares and public places with an
astonishing liberty. There will be almost no virgin souls in the
world. […]
How the Church will suffer on that
occasion the dark night of the lack of a Prelate and Father to watch over
them with paternal love, gentleness, strength, and prudence. Many priests
will lose their spirit, placing their souls in great danger. Pray
insistently without tiring and weep with bitter tears in the secrecy of
your heart, imploring our Celestial Father that, for love of the
Eucharistic Heart of my Most Holy Son and His Precious Blood shed with such
generosity and by the profound bitterness and sufferings of His cruel
Passion and Death, He might take pity on His Ministers and quickly bring
to an end those ominous times, sending to this Church the Prelate
that will restore the spirit of its Priests.
Our Lady of Good Success, to
Blessed Mother Mariana, February 1634
Should
the title "Our Lady of Good Success" be changed?
There is a current effort promoted by the SSPX
to change the name of our Lady of Good Success to Our Lady of the Good Event.
They may be correct in that "event" is the proper translation of the
word, "suceso," and not, as has been done,
as "success." But here is the problem. The Blessed Virgin was aware
of the translation that Providence would direct regarding this apparition and
its message. The title of Good Success has been used for a very long time in
many different languages. It has established a recognized tradition associated
with a specific message. It is this tradition that the SSPX now seeks to
overthrow because they always know better than God's Providence.
Compare this to Our Lady of Guadalupe in
Mexico. St. Juan Diego did not use this name when he described to Bishop Don
Juan de Zumarraga the title used by the Blessed Virgin
who had appeared and spoken to him. Our Lady of Guadalupe was the most
important Marian shrine in the medieval kingdom of Castile where the monastery
possesses a statue reportedly carved by St. Luke the Evangelist which was
miraculously recovered at the direction of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This title,
Our Lady of Guadalupe, familiar to the Spanish, was mistakenly understood
because it is phonetically a close approximation to the words spoken by the
Blessed Virgin in the native Nahuatl to St. Juan and
used by him to report the vision to the Spanish bishop. Those familiar with the
native Aztec language believe that the word "Guadalupe" is
phonetically similar to what should be more accurately translated as 'Our Lady
Who Crushes the Serpent's Head'. Does the SSPX suggest that the title of Our
Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City be changed?
Now when the SSPX takes it upon themselves to
change the title of our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City to something they
would regard as more accurate and fitting, then perhaps we will give some
consideration to their argument to change the title of our Lady of Good Success
because then, it would be evident that their argument was grounded upon a
theological principle and not on some arrogant ideology whose end is to muddle
the message.
The SSPX has proven themselves impotent in the
defense of Catholic tradition for two important reasons: they regard Dogma as
only a human approximation of truth and not the infallible word of God that
constitutes the formal object of divine and Catholic faith and they hold our
immemorial ecclesiastical traditions as matters of mere discipline open to the
free and independent will of the legislator. For them, everything including
truth must evolve but only according to their discernment and sentiments.
Remember in
your charity:
Remember the welfare of our expectant mother: Gretchen Moeller,
Dr. David Allen White, a well known defender of the
Catholic faith, who is gravely ill and in hospice care,
Lester Krol,
recently
injured in a MVA,
Cole Schneider, prayers for his welfare are
requested by Camilla Meiser,
JoAnn Niekrewicz, for her recovery from a recent fall and shoulder
injury,
The Drews ask prayers for
the spiritual and physical welfare of Robert
Carballo and Juan Gonzalez,
Conversion of Jack
Gentry, the nephew of Camilla Meiser,
For Sr.
Maria Junipera, who took her final vows as a
nun with the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Richmond, New Hampshire
April 8,
Stephen Bryan, the brother of a devout
Catholic religious, for his spiritual welfare,
Marie Kolinsky, for her health and spiritual
welfare is the petition of her family,
Gene Peters requests our prayers for the conversion
of Shirley Young and Carl Loy who are dying,
Rev. Leo Carley, an eighty-nine year old
priest faithful to Catholic tradition, who is seriously ill,
For the recovery of Hayden Yanchek, the grandson of
Francis Yanchek, injured in a farming accident,
Maureen Nies,
for the
recovery of her health is the petition of Camilla Meiser,
Daniel Vargs,
for his
health is the petition of his parents,
Art Noel, for the restoration of his
health,
For the welfare of Peg Berry and her husband, Bill,
Marianne Connelly asks prayers for Chris Foley, who is gravely ill,
and the welfare of his wife, Mary
Beth,
The spiritual welfare of the Sal & Maria Messineo & their
family is the petition of the Drew’s,
Liz Agosta,
who is
seriously ill, for her spiritual and temporal welfare,
Warren Hoffman, a long time member of our
Mission who is in failing health,
Patrick Boyle, for the recovery of his
health and his spiritual welfare,
For the spiritual welfare of the Drew children,
Lamonte White, requests our prayers for
his spiritual and temporal welfare,
Monica Bandlow request our
prayers for the welfare of Ray who
is recovering from a MVA, and his daughter, Sonya, and Tera Jean Kopczynski, who is in failing health, and for a
good death for Mr. Howald, Kathy
Simons, Regina Quinn, James Mulgrew, Ruth Beaucheane, John Kopczynski,
Roger & Mandy Owen
The health and spiritual welfare of Nate Schaeffer is the petition
of Gene Peters,
Peg Berry requests our prayers for her brother, William Habekost,
Louise McCarthy, who has suffered a stroke,
For the health and welfare of Katherine Wedel,
For the recently widowed, Maike Hickson, and her children,
For the spiritual welfare of the Carmelite nuns in Fairfield, PA,
Geralyn Zagorski, recovery of her health
and spiritual welfare and the conversion of Randal Pace is the
petition of Philip Thees,
For the grandson of
Joe & Liz Agusta,
Fr. Waters requests our
prayers for the health and spiritual welfare of Elvira Donaghy,
For the health and
conversion of Stephen Henderson,
Fr. Paul DaDamio requests our prayers for the welfare of Rob
Ward, and his sister, Debra Wagaman,
For the health and spiritual
welfare of Peggy Cummings, the neice of
Camila Meiser, who is
gravely ill,
Kaitlyn McDonald, for the recovery of her
health and spiritual welfare,
Roco Sbardella, for his health and spiritual welfare,
Mufide Rende
requests our prayers for the spiritual and physical welfare of the Rende Family,
The Vargas’ request our prayers for the spiritual
welfare of their son, Nicholas,
Family, for the welfare of Lazarus Handley, his mother, Julia, and his brother, Raphael, with Down’s Syndrome,
Fr. Waters requests prayers for the spiritual and
physical welfare of Frank McKee,
Nancy Bennett, for the recovery of her health,
For the spiritual welfare of Mark Roberts, a Catholic faithful to tradition,
Joe Sentmanet request
prayers for Scott Nettles
(who is in need of conversion), who is gravely ill,
Michael Brigg requests our prayers for the health of John Romeo,
The health and welfare of Gene Peters,
Conversion of Anton
Schwartzmueller, is the paryer
request of his children,
Stacy Fernandez requests are prayers for the heath of
Terry Patterson, Steven Becerra, and
Roberto Valez,
Christine Kozin, for her health and spiritual welfare,
Teresa Gonyea, for her conversion and health, is the petition of
her grandmother, Patricia McLaughlin,
Nolan Moran, a three year old diagnosed
with brain tumor, and his family,
For the health of Sonya Kolinsky,
Jackie Dougherty asks our prayers for her brother who
is gravely ill, John Lee,
Rose Bradley asks our prayers for the health and
spiritual welfare of her granddaughter, Meg
Bradley,
Timothy
& Crisara, a couple from Maryland have requested our
prayers for their spiritual welfare,
Celine Pilegaard, the seven year old daughter of Cynthia Pilegaard, for her recovery from burn injuries,
Rafaela de Saravia, for her health and welfare,
Mary Mufide,
requests our prayers for her family,
Abbe Damien Dutertre, traditional Catholic priest arrested by Montreal
police while offering Mass,
Francis (Frank) X. McLaughlin, for the recovery of his
health,
Nicholas Pell, for his health and spiritual
welfare is the petition of Camilla Meizer,
Mary Kaye Petr, her health and welfare is
petitioned by Camilla Meizer,
The welfare of Excellency Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò,
The welfare of Rev.
Fr. Martin Skierka, who produces the
traditional Ordo in the U.S.,
For the health and welfare of Katie Wess, John Gentry, Vincent Bands,
Todd Chairs, Susan Healy and James O’Gentry
is the petition of Camilia,
Marieann Reuter, recovery
of her health, Kathy Kepner, for her health, Shane Cox, for his health, requests of Philip Thees,
Thomas A.
Nelson,
long time faithful traditional Catholic the founder and former owner of TAN
Books & Publishing, suffered a recent stroke,
The Joseph
Cox Family, their spiritual welfare,
The Thomas Dube Family, for their conversion and spiritual
welfare,
Luis Rafael Zelaya, the brother of Claudia Drew, spiritual welfare,
For the health of Kim Cochran, the daughter-in-law of Joseph and Brenda
Cochran, the wife of their son Joshua,
Louie Verrecchio, Catholic apologist, who has a health problem,
John Minidis, Jr. family, for help in their spiritual
trial,
Joann DeMarco, for her health and spiritual
welfare,
Regina (Manidis) Miller, her spiritual welfare and health,
Melissa
Elena Levitt, her conversion, and welfare of her children,
For the grace of a holy death, Nancy Marie Claycomb,
The health and spiritual welfare of Tom Grow, Amanda Gardner, and Alex
Estrada,
Conversion of Annette
Murowski,
and her son Jimmy,
Brent Keith from Indiana has petitioned our prayers
for the Keith Family,
The welfare of the Schmedes Family, and the Mike and Mariana Donohue Family,
The spiritual welfare Robert Holmes Family,
For the spiritual and temporal welfare of Irwin Kwiat,
Fr. Waters asks our prayers for Elvira Donaghy,
Kimberly Ann, the daughter of John and
Joann DeMarco, for her health and spiritual welfare,
Mufide Rende, a traditional Catholic from India has asked our
prayers for her welfare and he family members, living and deceased,
Mary Glatz, her health and the welfare of her family,
Barbara
Harmon,
who is ill, and still cares for her
ailing parents,
Jason Green, a father of ten children,
recovery of his health,
For the health and welfare of Sorace family,
Fr. Waters asks our prayers for the health and
spiritual welfare of Brian Abramowitz,
Thomas Schiltz family, in grateful appreciation for their contribution to
the beauty of our chapel,
Welfare of Bishop
Richard Williamson, for strength and courage in the greater battles to
come,
John Rhoad, for his health and spiritual welfare,
Kathy Boyle, requests our prayers for
her welfare,
Joyce Laughman and Robert Twist, for their conversions,
Michael J.
Brigg & his family, who have helped with the needs of the Mission,
Nancy Deegan, her welfare and conversion to the Catholic Church,
Francis Paul
Diaz,
who was baptized at Ss. Peter & Paul, asks our prayers for his spiritual
welfare,
The conversion of Rene McFarland, Lori Kerr, Cary Shipman
and family, David Bash, Crystal and family, Larry Reinhart, Costanzo
Family, Kathy Scullen, Marilyn Bryant, Vicki Trahern and Time Roe are the petitions of
Gene Peters,
For the conversion of Ben & Tina Boettcher family, Karin Fraessdorf,
Eckhard Ebert, and Fahnauer
family,
Fr. Waters requests our prayers for Br. Rene, SSPX who has been ill,
and for Fr. Thomas Blute,
For the health and conversion of Kathryn Lederhos, the aunt of
David Drew,
For the welfare of Fr. Paul DaDamio and Fr. William T. Welsh,
The Drew’s ask our prayers for the welfare of Joe & Tracey Sentmanat
family, Keith & Robert Drew, Christy Koziol &
her children, Fred Nesbit and Michael Nesbit families, and Gene Peters Family, the John Manidis
Family, the Sal Messinio Family, Michael Proctor Family,
Ryan Boyle grandmother, Jane Boyle, who is failing health,
Mel Gibson
and his family, please remember in our prayers,
Rev. Timothy A. Hopkins requested our prayers for the
welfare of his Fr Jean-Luc Lafitte,
Ebert’s request our prayers for the Andreas & Jenna Ortner
Family,
Joyce Paglia has asked
prayers for George Richard Moore Sr.
& his children, and her brother, George Panell,
Philip Thees asks our
prayers for his family, for McLaughlin
Family, the welfare of Dan
& Polly Weand, the conversion of Sophia Herman, Tony Rosky,
the welfare Nancy Erdeck,
the wife of the late Deacon Erdeck, John
Calasanctis, Tony
Rosky, James Parvenski,
Kathleen Gorry,
health of mind and body of Cathy
Farrar.
Pray for the
Repose of the Souls:
Bishop
Richard Williamson, a renowned defender of the Catholic faith and most charitable gentleman,
died January 29,
Rodolfo
Alberto Lacayo, a cousin of Claudia Drew,
died January 4,
Genieve Wallace, died Christmas day,
Ruth Marion Beaucheane, died December 8, is the
petition of Monica Bandlow,
Ana Maria Salcedo,
the sister of Mario Fiol,
died November 26,
Fr. Johin Cardaro, a traditional Catholic priest who was found dead in
his home November 2,
Robert Carballo asks that we remember his parents, Roberto
& Aida Carballo, and his friend, David
Duclos, who died April 15,
Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais who may have been responsible for preventing the SSPX's public reconciliation with Rome in 2012, died October 8,
Lorna Edwards, our dear friend and loyal
supporter of this Mission, died August 10,
Lois Petti,
died
July 28 two hours after receiving the Last Sacraments from Fr. Waters,
Wolfgang Smith, a renowned Catholic scholar,
mathematician, scientist, philosopher, who helped the Kolbe Center for the
Study of Creation, died July 19,
Willaim Glatz, a good and faithful Catholic, died July 17,
Alicio Gonzalez, a Catholic who asked for the
sacrament of Extreme Unction, unfortunately did not receive, died July 9,
John Zavodny,
a faithful Catholic who died wearing the
scapular of Mt Carmel on the first Saturday of May, requested by Phyllis Virgil,
Catherine Martel, a
lapsed Catholic, received the last sacraments in a good disposition from Fr.
Waters on March 25 and died on April 4,
Father Basilio
Méramo, a faithful priest, died March 5, removed from the
SSPX for opposing their accommodation with Rome,
Julia McDonald, the mother of Kyle McDonald,
died March 1,
Agnus Melnick, died February 28, a long time faithful Catholic and
mother of eight children, including a traditional priest,
Kathryn (Drew) Lederhos, of Wellesley, MA, died
February 3, 2024,
Chris Foley, the
brother of Mary Lou Loftus, died February 1,
Louis Zelaya, the brother of Claudia
Drew, died January 30,
Fr. James Louis Albert
Campbell,
a faithful priest who died December 18 at 91 years of age, and her mother and
father, Teresa and Thomas Maher,
Charles Harmon, the father of Tracey Sentmanet, died October 1, after receiving the rites of the
Church,
Fr. Waters requests prayers for Elvira Donaghy, his friend and
former secretary a for Bishop Gerado Zendejas, died September 9,
Robert Hickson, a faithful Catholic
apologist who died Septembber 2,
Monica Bandlow requests
prayers for her parents, Thomas &
Teresa Maher, her husband, William
Bandlow, her brother-in-law, Richard Bandlow,
her sister, Mary Maher, Fr. Christopher Darby, SSPX, who died March 17, Robert Byrne, Michelle Donofrio McDowell,
her cousin, Patricia Fabyanic, the Prefect of Our Lady’s Sodality, March
8, for John Pfeiffer who died
August 20, Theresa Hanley, died
July 23, Fr. Juan-Carlos Iscara,
SSPX,
who died
December 20, John Kinney, died
December 21, Willaim Price, Jr., and Robert Arch Ward,
died January 10, and Myra,
killed in a MVA June 6,
John Sharpe, Sr., died July 20,
Maria Paulette Salazar, died
June 6,
Dale Kinsey requests prayers for his wife, Katherine Kinsey, died May 17,
Richard Giles, who died April 29, the
father of Traci Sentmanat who converted to the
Catholic faith last All Saints' Day,
Joseph Sparks, a devout and faithful
Catholic to tradition died February 25,
Joyce Paglia, died January 21, and Anthony Paglia,
died January 28, who were responsible for the beautiful statuary in our chapel,
Joe Sentmanet request
prayers for Richard Giles and
Claude Harmon who converted
to the Catholic faith shortly before their deaths,
Rodolfo Zelaya, the brother of Claudia Drew,
died January 9,
Elizabeth Agosta petitions
our prayers for Joseph Napolitano,
her brother, who died January 2,
Michael Dulisse, died
on December 26,
Michael Proctor, a
close friend of the Drews, died November 9,
Richard Anthony Giles, the father-in-law of Joe Sentmanat converted to the Catholic faith on All Saints
Day, died November 5,
Robert Kolinsky, the husband of Sonja, died September
18,
Gabriel Schiltz, the daughter of Thomas
& Gay Schiltz, died August 21,
Mary Dimmel, the
mother –in-law of Victoria Drew Dimmel, died July 18,
Michael Nesbit, the brother-in-law and dear
friend of the Drew's, died July 14,
Thomas Thees, the brother of Philip, died
June 19,
Carmen Ragonese,
died June 22,
Juanita Mohler, a friend of Camella Meiser, died June 14,
Kathleen
Elias, died February 14,
Hernan Ortiz, the
brother of Fr. Juan Carlos Ortiz, died February 3,
Mary Ann
Boyle,
the mother of a second order Dominican nun, a first order Dominican priest, and
a SSPX priest, died January 24,
John DeMarco, who attended this Mission in
the past, died January23,
Charles
O’Brien, the father of Marlene Cox,
died December 30,
Mufide Rende
requests our prayers for the repose of the souls of her parents, Mehmet & Nedime,
Kathleen Donelly, died December 29 at 91 years of age, ran the CorMariae website,
Matthew
O'Hare,
most faithful Catholic, died at age 40 on November 30,
Rev. Patrick
J. Perez, a Catholic priest faithful to
tradition, pastor Our Lady Help of Christians, Garden Grove, CA, November 19,
Elizabeth Benedek, died December 14, requested by her niece, Agnes Vollkommer,
Dolores
Smith and Richard Costello, faithful Catholics, died
November,
Frank D’Agustino, a friend of Philp Thees, died November 8,
Fr.
Dominique Bourmaud, of the SSPX, Prior of St.
Vincent in Kansas City, died September 4,
Pablo Daniel
Silva, the brother of Elizabeth
Vargas, died August 18,
Rose Bradley, a
member of Ss. Peter & Paul, died July 14,
Patricia Ellias, died June 1, recently
returned to the Church died with the sacraments and wearing the brown scapular,
Joan Devlin, the sister-in-law of Rose
Bradley, died May 18,
William Muligan, died April 29, two days after
receiving the last sacraments,
Robert Petti, died March 19, the day after
receiving the last sacraments,
Mark
McDonald, the father of Kyle, who died
December 26,
Perla Otero, died December 2020, Leyla Otero, January 2021, cousins of
Claudia Drew,
Mehmet Rende, died December 12, who was the
father of Mary Mufide,
Joseph Gravish, died November 26, 100 year
old WWII veteran and daily communicant,
Jerome
McAdams,
the father of, died November 30,
Rev. James
O’Hara, died November 8, requested by
Alex Estrada,
Elizabeth Batko, the sacristan at St. John the
Baptist in Pottstown for over 40 years, died on First Saturday November 7
wearing the brown scapular,
Fr. Anthony Cekada, a traditional Catholic
priest, died September 11,
William Cox, the
father of Joseph Cox, who died September 3,
James Larson, Catholic
apologists, author of War Against Being
publication, died July 6, 2020,
Hutton
Gibson, died May 12,
Sr. Regina Cordis, Immaculate Heart of Mary religious for sixty-five
years, died May 12,
Leslie Joan Matatics, devoted Catholic wife and
mother of nine children, died March 24,
Victoria Zelaya, the sister-in-law of Claudia
Drew, died March 20,
Ricardo DeSilva, died November 16, our prayers requested by his
brother, Henry DeSilva,
Roland H.
Allard,
a friend of the Drew’s, died September 28,
Stephen Cagorski and John Bogda, who both died wearing the brown scapular,
Cecilia LeBow, a most faithful Catholic,
Rose Cuono, died Oct 23,
Patrick Rowen, died March 25, and his brother, Daniel Rowen,
died May 15,
Sandra
Peters, the
wife of Gene Peters, who died June 10 receiving the sacraments and wearing our
Lady’s scapular,
Rev. Francis
Slupski, a priest who kept the Catholic faith and its
immemorial traditions, died May 14,
Martha Mochan, the sister of Philip Thees,
died April 8,
George
Kirsch,
our good friend and supporter of this Mission, died February 15,
For Fr.
Paul J. Theisz, died October 17, is the
petition of Fr. Waters,
Fr. Mecurio Fregapane, died Jan 12, was not a traditional
priest but always charitable,
Fr. Casimir Peterson, a priest who often offered the Mass in our
chapel and provided us with sound advice, died December 4,
Fr.
Constantine Bellasarius, a
faithful and always charitable Eastern Rite Catholic Melkite
priest, who left the Roman rite, died November 27,
Christian
Villegas,
a motor vehicle accident, his brother, Michael, requests our prayers,
John Vennari, the former editor of Catholic Family News, and for
his family’s welfare, April 4,
Mary Butler, the aunt of Fr. Samuel
Waters, died October 17,
Joseph DeMarco, the nephew of John DeMarco,
died October 3,
John Fergale, died September 25 after receiving the traditional sacramental rites of
the Church wearing the brown scapular,
John Gabor, the brother of Donna Marbach, died September 9,
Fr. Eugene
Dougherty,
a faithful priest, fittingly died on the Nativity of the BVM after receiving
the traditional Catholic sacraments,
Phyllis Schlafly, died September 5,
Helen Mackewicz, died August 14,
Mark A. Wonderlin, who died August 2,
Fr. Carl Cebollero, a faithful priest to tradition who was a friend of
Fr. Waters and Fr. DeMaio,
Jessica
Cortes,
a young mother of ten who died June 12,
Frances Toriello, a life-long Catholic faithful to tradition, died
June3, the feast of the Sacred Heart, and her husband Dan, died in 1985,
John
McLaughlin, a friend of the Drew’s, died May 22,
Angela
Montesano,
who died April 30, and her husband, Salvatore,
who died in July 3, 2013,
Charles Schultz, died
April 5, left behind nine children and many grandchildren, all traditional
Catholics,
Esperanza Lopez de Callejas,
the aunt of Claudia Drew, died March 15,
Fr. Edgardo Suelo, a faithful priest
defending our traditions who was working with Fr. Francois Chazal
in the Philippines, died February 19,
Conde McGinley, a
long time laborer for the traditional faith, died February 12, at 96 years,
The Drew family requests
your prayers for Ida Fernandez and Rita Kelley,
parishioners at St. Jude,
Fr. Stephen
Somerville,
a traditional priest who repented from his work with the Novus Ordo English translation, died December 12,
Fr. Arturo DeMaio, a priest that helped this Mission with the
sacraments and his invaluable advice, died December 2,
J. Paul Carswell, died October 15, 2015,
Solange Hertz, a great defender of our
Catholic faith, died October 3, the First Saturday of the month,
Paula P. Haigh, died October 22, a great defender of our Catholic
faith in philosophy and natural science,
Gabriella Whalin, the mother of Gabriella Schiltz,
who died August 25,
Mary
Catherine Sick, 14 year old from a large traditional Catholic family, died August 25,
Fr. Paul Trinchard, a traditional Catholic priest, died August 25,
Stephen J. Melnick, Jr., died on August 21, a long-time faithful traditional
Catholic husband and father, from Philadelphia,
Patricia
Estrada,
died July 29, her son Alex petitions our prayers for her soul,
Fr. Nicholas
Gruner, a devoted priest & faithful defender of Blessed
Virgin Mary and her Fatima message, died April 29,
Sarah E. Shindle, the grandmother of Richard Shindle,
died April 26,
Madeline Vennari, the mother of John Vennari,
died December 19,
Salvador
Baca Callejas, the uncle of Claudia Drew, died December 13,
Robert Gomez, who died in a motor vehicle
accident November 29,
Catherine
Dunn,
died September 15,
Anthony
Fraser,
the son of Hamish Fraser, died August 28,
Jeannette Rhoad, the grandmother of Devin Rhoad,
who died August 24,
John Thees, the uncle of Philip Thees,
died August 9,
Sarah
Harkins, 32 year-old mother of four
children, died July 28,
Msgr. Donald
Adams, who
offered the Indult Mass, died April 1996,
Anita Lopez, the aunt of Claudia Drew,
Fr. Kenneth
Walker,
a young traditional priest of the FSSP who was murdered in Phoenix June 11,
Fr. Waters petitions our prayers for Gilberte Violette,
the mother of Fr. Violette, who died May 6,
Pete Hays petitions our prayers for his brothers, Michael, died May 9, and James, died October 20, his
sister, Rebecca, died March17, and his mother, Lorraine Hayes who died May 4,
Philip Marbach, the father of Paul Marbach
who was the coordinator at St. Jude in Philadelphia, died April 21,
Richard Slaughtery, the elderly sacristan for the SSPX chapel in Kansas
City, died April 13,
Bernedette Marie Evans
nee Toriello, the daughter of Daniel Toriello
, died March 31, a faithful Catholic who suffered many years with MS,
Natalie Cagorski, died march 23,
Anita Lopez
de Lacayo, the aunt of Claudia Drew, who died March 21,
Mario Palmaro, Catholic lawyer, bioethicist and professor,
apologist, died March 9, welfare of his widow and children,
Daniel Boyle, the
uncle of Ryan Boyle, died March 4,
Jeanne DeRuyscher, who died on January 25,
Arthur
Harmon,
died January 18,
Fr. Waters petitions our prayers for the soul of Jeanne DeRuyscher,
who died January 17,
Joseph
Proctor,
died January 10,
Susan Scott, a devote traditional
Catholic who made the vestments for our Infant of Prague statue, died January
8,
Brother
Leonard Mary, M.I.C.M., (Fred Farrell), an early supporter and friend of Fr. Leonard
Feeney, died November 23,
John Fergale, requests our prayers for his sister Connie, who
died December 19,
Jim Capaldi, died December 15,
Brinton Creager, the son of Elizabeth Carpenter, died December
10,
Christopher Lussos, age 27, the father of one child with an expecting
wife, died November 15,
Jarett Ebeyer, 16 year old who died in his sleep, November 17, at
the request of the Kolinsky’s,
Catherine Nienaber, the mother of nine children, the youngest three
years of age, killed in MVA after Mass, 10-29,
Nancy Aldera, the sister of Frances Toriello,
died October 11, 2013 at 105 years of age,
Mary Rita Schiltz, the mother of Thomas Schiltz,
who died August 27,
William H.
(Teddy) Kennedy, Catholic author of Lucifer’s Lodge, died August 14, age 49, cause of
death unknown,
Alfred
Mercier,
the father of David Mercier, who died August 12,
The Robert Kolinsky asks our prayers for his friend, George Curilla,
who died August 23,
John Cuono, who had attended Mass at our Mission in the past,
died August 11,
Raymond
Peterson,
died July 28, and Paul Peterson,
died February 19, the brothers of Fr. Casimir
Peterson,
Margaret Brillhart, who died July 20,
Msgr. Joseph
J. McDonnell, a priest from the diocese of Des Moines, who died June 8,
Patrick
Henry Omlor, who wrote Questioning The Validity of the Masses using
the New, All English Canon, and for a series of newsletters which were
published as The Robber Church, died May 2, the feast of St Athanasius,
Bishop
Joseph McFadden, died unexpectedly May 2,
Timothy
Foley,
the brother-in-law of Michelle Marbach Folley, who died in April,
William
Sanders,
the uncle of Don Rhoad, who died April 2,
Gene Peters ask our prayers for the repose of the
soul of Mark Polaschek,
who died March 22,
Eduardo
Gomez Lopez, the uncle of Claudia Drew, February 28,
Cecelia Thees, died February 24,
Elizabeth
Marie
Gerads, a
nineteen year old, the oldest of twelve children, who died February 6,
Michael
Schwartz,
the co-author with Fr. Enrique Rueda of “Gays, Aids,
and You,” died February 3,
Stanley W.
Moore,
passed away in December 16, and Gerard (Jerry) R. Pitman, who died January 19,
who attended this Mission in the past,
Louis Fragale, who died December 25,
Fr. Luigi
Villa, Th.D. author of Vatican II About
Face! detailing the heresies of Vatican II, died November 18 at the age of 95,
Rev. Michael
Jarecki, a faithful traditional Catholic priest who died
October 22,and Rev. Hector Bolduc,
who died September 10,
Jennie Salaneck, died September 19 at 95 years of age, a devout and
faithful Catholic all her life,
Dorothy Sabo, who died September 26,
Cynthia
(Cindy) Montesano Reinhert, the mother of nine
children, four who are still at home, died August 19,
Stanley Spahalski, who died October 20, and his wife, Regina Spahalski,
who died June 24, and for the soul of Francis
Lester, her son,
Julia
Atkinson,
who died April 30,
Antonio P.
Garcia,
who died January 6, 2012 and the welfare of his teenage children, Andriana and Quentin,
Helen Crane, the aunt of David Drew who
died February 27,
Fr. Timothy
A. Hopkins,
of the National Shrine of St. Philomena, in Miami, November 2,
Frank Smith, who died February 7, and
the welfare of his wife, Delores,
Eduardo Cepeda, who died January 26,
Larry Young, the 47 year old father of
twelve who died December 10 and the welfare of his wife Katherine and their
family,
Sister Mary
Bernadette, M.I.C.M., a founding member of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, died
December 16,
Joeseph Elias, who died on September 28,
William, the brother of Fr. Waters,
who died September 7,
Donald Tonelli, died August 1,
Rev. Fr.
Gregory Hesse, of Austria, a great defender of Catholic
Truth, died January 25, 2006,
Emma Colasanti, who died May 29,
Mary Dullesse, who died April 12, a Catholic convert who died
wearing our Lady’s scapular,
Ruth Jantsch, the grandmother of Andre Ebert, who died April 7,
Derrick and Denise Palengat, his godparents,
Philip D.
Barr,
died March 5, and the welfare of his family,
Judith Irene
Kenealy, the mother of Joyce Paglia,
who died February 23, and her son, George Richard Moore, who died May 14,
For Joe Sobran who died September 30,
Fr. Hector
Bolduc,
a great and faithful priest, died, September 10, 2012,
James &
Jean Rowan
and their sons, Patrick & Daniel,
John Vennari asks our
prayers for Dr. Raphael Waters
who died August 26,
Stanley Bodalsky, the father of Mary Ann Boyle who died June 25,
Mary Isabel Kilfoyle Humphreys, a former York resident and friend of the
Drew’s, who died June 6,
Rev. John
Campion,
who offered the traditional Mass for us every first Friday until forbidden to
do so by Bishop Dattilo, died May 1,
Joseph Montagne, who died May 5,
For Margaret
Vagedes, the aunt of Charles Zepeda, who died
January 6,
Fr. Michael
Shear, a
Byzantine rite Catholic priest, died August 17, 2006,
Fr. James
Francis Wathen, died November 7, 2006, author of The Great Sacrilege and Who Shall Ascend?, a great defender of
dogma and liturgical purity,
Fr. Enrique Rueda, who died December 14, 2009, to whom our Mission is
indebted,
Fr. Peterson asks to remember, Leonard Edward Peterson, his cousin, Wanda, Angelica Franquelli, and the six
priests ordained with him.
Philip Thees petitions our
prayers for Beverly Romanick, Deacon Michael Erdeck,
Henry J. Phillips, Grace Prestano, Connie DiMaggio,
Elizabeth Thorhas, Elizabeth Thees,
Theresa Feraker, Hellen Pestrock, and James & Rose Gomata,
and Kathleen Heinbach,
Fr. Didier Bonneterre, the author of The Liturgical Movement, and Fr. John
Peek, both were traditional priests,
Brother
Francis, MICM, the superior of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in
Richmond, NH, who died September 5,
Rodolfo Zelaya Montealegre, the father of Claudia Drew,
who died May 24,
Rev. Francis
Clifford,
a devout and humble traditional priest, who died on March 7,
Benjamin Sorace, the uncle of Sonja Kolinsky
Worth
Repeating: The SCHISM is already HERE!
COMMENT: This book
in the article below provides an interpretation of Chapter 8 of Amoria Laetitia. It is addressed to bishops with a “merciful
heart” and offers an interpretation that is consistent with the interpretation
approved in the private letter sent by Pope Francis to the bishops of Argentina
as well as with the interpretation of Cardinal Schornborn
who Pope Francis has publically identified as its ‘official interpretor.’ These bishops say that the proper
understanding and application is that any Catholic living in public adultery
based upon their own private judgment in the internal forum can declare
themselves worthy to receive Holy Communion and absolution in the sacrament of
Penance and therefore cannot be denied these sacraments. It is given semi-official approval by its
publication in L’Osservatore Romano.
Now in the Novus Ordo which may be nothing more than a memorial meal as
initially defined by Pope Paul VI, perhaps giving the Novus Ordo
communion wafer to a person in objective mortal sin is not a real problem. But what is certainly a grave sin it that
these persons can expect to be absolved by a confessor in the sacrament of
Penance without confessing or repentance of mortal sin. Pope Francis and his CDF puppet, Cardinal
Muller, will not be answering the Dubia in any
official capacity. This does not
represent a change in the Church’s teaching.
It represents the active effort of a Francis and his minions to destroy
the Catholic doctrine and morality. As
we announced during the synod, the schism has long been present. It is more evident each passing day and every
Catholic will have to pick sides. God
cannot let an open attack upon the sacrament of marriage go unpunished. Their hypocrisy is oozing from every
pore. Imagine if a Catholic with “humility,
discretion and love for the Church and her teaching, in a sincere search for
God’s will and a desire to make a more perfect response to it” arrives at
traditional Catholicism, what kind of response can be expect from the local
bishop and Rome? If you want to know
read our OPEN LETTERS!
If, as a result of the process
of discernment, undertaken with “humility, discretion and love for the Church
and her teaching, in a sincere search for God’s will and a desire to make a
more perfect response to it” (Amoris Laetitia 300), a separated or divorced person who is living
in a new relationship manages, with an informed and enlightened conscience, to
acknowledge and believe that he or she are at peace with God, he or she cannot
be precluded from participating in the sacraments of Reconciliation and the
Eucharist (see AL, notes 336 and 351).
Bishops Charles J Scicluna and Mario Grech, Guide
for the Interpretation of Chapter 8 of Amoris Laetitia: An Invitatiion to the Bishops of Merciful Hearts. This received semi-official approbation by
being featured in the publication, L’Osservatore
Romano, 1-2017
I firmlly admit and accept the Apostolic and Ecclesiastical Traditinos and
all the other observances and constitutions of the Church.... I also accept and
admit the received and approved rites of the Catholic Church in the solemn
administratin of all the Sacraments.
Tridentine Profession of Faith
"You know Gaza is
interesting. It's a phenomenal location on the sea, the best weather—you know,
everything's good. It's like some beautiful things could be done with it. It's
very interesting. Some fantastic things could be done with Gaza."
President Donald Trump, On
the rebuilding of Gaza for Israel
COMMENT: The current confirmed dead is
47,283, including 17,492 children; more than 111,472 injured; and more than
11,160 missing. Gaza population is 2.3 million in area of which 47% are
children. The picture on the left is six bags containing the remains of
children killed in the bombing of a school. The picture on the right is
northern area of Gaze with no structure left standing. This killing and
destruction was accomplished by American made planes dropping 2,000 pound
American made bombs. The specific bomb used by Israelis on the school building
was a Boeing GBU-39 designed to penetrate warships and hardened targets. It
splinters into small fast moving shrapnel segments that can penetrate three
feet of reinforced concrete. In a recent
interview Jonathan Pollard, the notorious Jewish U.S. Navy convicted spy
sentenced to life in prison in 1987 and pardoned by President Trump in 2020,
Israel has promised President Trump tax free concessions on anything he builds
in Gaza. The Blessed Virgin Mary said at Fatima, "Only the Lady of the
Rosary can help you" through devotion to her Immaculate Heart, the Rosary,
and the First Saturdays of Reparation. Whatever good President Trump may
occasionally do, in the end he cannot fix anything.
“Only take heed to yourself and guard your soul diligently.” Deut 4:9
"It is a sin to believe there is salvation outside the Catholic
Church!"
Blessed Pope Pius IX
OLDER
BULLETIN POSTINGS THAT REMAIN TIMELY CONTINIUE BELOW:
The Neo-Iconoclasts who have spent their lives destroying
the doctrinal and spiritual foundations that formed countless Catholic Saints -
now offer a....
“Revolution
of tenderness.... nearness and encounter”
-
Pope
Francis, CELAM address, 2013
Who
regard traditional Catholics as....
The Pelagian solution. This
basically appears as a form of restorationism. In
dealing with the Church’s problems, a purely disciplinary solution is sought,
through the restoration of outdated manners and forms which, even on the
cultural level, are no longer meaningful. In Latin America it is usually to be
found in small groups, in some new religious congregations, in tendencies to
doctrinal or disciplinary “safety”. Basically it is static, although it is
capable of inversion, in a process of regression. It seeks to “recover” the
lost past.[....] Every utopian (future-oriented) or restorationist
(past-oriented) impulse is spiritually unhealthy. God is real and he shows
himself in the “today”. Pope Francis, CELAM, 2013
"ALL
HERETICS ARE SCHISMATICS." St. Thomas Aquinas quoting St. Augustine
“It is not to
be excluded that I will enter history as the one who split the Catholic
Church.”
Pope Francis,
concluding remarks attributed to him in the Der
Spiegel article on the Crisis in the Catholic Church.
COMMENT: As if that is not Pope Francis' intention and
what in fact he has long been doing? The question remains as to what name in
history will Francis be known? But let's leave that for later. The truth is
that Conservative Catholics have never gotten anything in its right
hierarchical order. They stupidly thought the “split” in the Church began when
traditional Catholics were disobedient to legitimate exercise of authority by
resisting the overthrow of our Ecclesiastical Traditions by which alone the
Faith can be known and communicated to others. Conservative Catholics are only
now turning to face the front of this conflict but they are unarmed for the
fight. Pope Francis, professing the same doctrine as his conciliar
predecessors, has only driven the wedge far deeper into the Bark of Peter to
“split” the Church. The Conservative Catholics are at last alarmed because the
Ship is taking on massive amounts of water. Unfortunately, the poor
Conservative Catholics who are raising their voices against the corruption of
Francis will surely fail. Let's call them the Dubiaists.
The Dubiaists have doubts but no real convictions.
They will fail because they turned their backs against the literal meaning of
DOGMA long ago and cannot recognize heresy. They now have nothing from which to
mount their defense for DOGMA is the one and only weapon against an abusive
authority. Authority is subject only to Truth. and DOGMA is the most perfect
expression of Truth available to all men.
Pope Francis
to Release ‘First Memoir Published by a Sitting Pontiff’ in January
October 17, 2024
In January 2025, Pope Francis will become the first sitting pontiff to
publish an autobiographical memoir, which will be titled “Hope.”
Random House Publishing announced the memoir’s unprecedented global
release on October 16. The original plan, according to the publisher, had been
to release the memoir after his death. However, the pope decided to publish it
in light of the upcoming 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope.
A jubilee year occurs every 25 years in the Catholic Church — although
the Holy Father can declare them more often — and is a year of special grace
and pilgrimage for members of the faithful.
The memoir, which the Holy Father began work on in March 2019, will be
available in more than 80 countries on January 14, 2025.
“The book of my life is the story of a journey of hope, a journey that
I cannot separate from the journey of my family, of my people, of all
God’s people. In every page, in every passage, it is also
the book of those who have traveled with me, of those who came before, of those
who will follow,” Pope Francis is quoted as saying in a Random House press
release.
“An autobiography
is not our own private story but rather the baggage we carry with us,” the
pontiff continued. “And memory is not just what we recall but what surrounds
us. It doesn’t speak only about what has been but about what will be. It seems
like yesterday, and yet it’s tomorrow. All is born to blossom in an
eternal springtime. In the end, we will say only: ‘I don’t recall anything in
which You are not there.’”
COMMENT: All
heretics are schismatics and cannot possess
supernatural hope or charity. Francis' record is one of corruption of Catholic faith,
morals and worship and general schism in the Church, the bride of Jesus Christ.
Salvation is a closed door to Francis because repentance is impossible to the
vain and empty headed for which this book offers singular evidence. As the
crimes of Francis have become more and more evident to all the faithful over
the years we have had less and less to say about him. Even liberal commentators
find him boring. He is, as the Spanish say, a zero to the left, a meaningless
entry. He would improve sales if he changes the title to 'DOPE'.
Pope
Francis, endorsing the “Great Reset”
“This is a
moment to dream big, to rethink our priorities – what we value, what we want,
what we seek…. God asks us to dare to create something new. We cannot return to
the false securities of the political and economic systems we had before the
crisis (Covid).
Pope Francis,
published book, Let us Dream: A Path to a Better Future
The meaning of Sacred Dogmas, which must
always be preserved is that which our Holy Mother the Church has
determined. Never is it permissible to
depart from this in the name of a deeper understanding.
Vatican
Council I
“It is not to
be excluded that I will enter history as the one who split the Catholic
Church.”
Pope Francis,
concluding remarks attributed to him in the Der
Spiegel article on the Crisis in the Catholic Church.
COMMENT: As if that is not Pope Francis' intention and what in fact he has long been doing? The question remains as to what name in history will Francis be known? But let's leave that for later. The truth is that Conservative Catholics have never gotten anything in its right hierarchical order. They stupidly thought the “split” in the Church began when traditional Catholics were disobedient by resisting the overthrow of our Ecclesiastical Traditions by which alone the Faith can be known and communicated to others. Conservative Catholics are only now turning to face the front of this conflict but they are unarmed for the fight. Pope Francis, professing the same doctrine as his conciliar predecessors, has only driven the wedge far deeper into the Bark of Peter to “split” the Church. The Conservative Catholics are at last alarmed because the Ship is taking on massive amounts of water. Unfortunately, the poor Conservative Catholics who a