.....
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.
Second Sunday after the
Epiphany
St. Marius & Companions,
Martyrs
St. Canute, King, Martyr
January 19, 2025
Almighty God, faithful to His promise to
Abraham and his children, sent His Son to save His people; while in His mercy
He willed to redeem the heathen as well.
Therefore Christ is the King whom, as its Redeemer, the whole world must
hail and adore (Introit and Gradual). It
was through His death on the Cross that He became our King and it is through
the Eucharist, the memorial of Calvary, that by applying the merits of His
Redemption to our souls, He exercises His kingship over us. In this miracle at Cana, a type of the Holy
Eucharist, did our Lord formally manifest His divinity, i.e. His character as
divine and therefore royal, and “His disciples believed in Him.” The turning of water into wine is a type of
transubstantiation, called by St. Thomas the greatest of all miracles, by which
the wine of the Eucharist becomes the blood of the covenant of peace which God
has made with His Church. Since also the
divine King wishes to espouse our souls and since, as Bossuet says, it is
through the Eucharist that this mystical marriage is consummated. The marriage
feast at Cana also signifies the union of the Word with His spouse the Church. “Having been invited to the wedding feast at
Cana in Galilee,” says St. Augustine, “our Lord attended, that being alone the
author of the sacrament of Matrimony, He might confirm conjugal chastity.” He also meant to make known to us the mystery
of which these nuptials were the sign, that is the union of Christ with His
Church. For even those who, by a vow,
have bound themselves to almighty God in the virginal state are not without
nuptials since, with the whole Church, they have a part in the nuptials in
which Christ Himself is the Spouse, and in this case, our Lord is typified by
the bridegroom who kept to the end the good wine, that is, the Gospel.
INTROIT:
Ps.
65. Let
all the earth adore Thee, O God, and sing to Thee: let it sing a psalm to Thy
name, O Thou most high. Shout with joy
to God, all the earth, sing ye a psalm to His name: give glory to His praise. Glory be, etc. Let all the earth adore, etc.
COLLECT:
Almighty and eternal God, who rulest all things in heaven and on earth, mercifully hear the
prayers of Thy people, and grant us Thy peace in our days. Through our Lord, etc.
O
Lord, we pray Thee, graciously to hear the people that call upon Thee with the
assistance of Thy Saints: that we may obtain of Thee peace in this our
temporal life, and likewise Thy succour unto life
eternal. Through our Lord, etc.
O
God, who for the glory of Thy Church didst adorn Thy blessed King Canute with
the palm of martyrdom, and wondrous miracles: mercifully grant, that,
like as he did imitate the passion of Thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, so we,
following in his footsteps, may be found worthy to attain to the gladness of
everlasting life. Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, etc.
EPISTLE: Rom. 12, 6-16.
Brethren, Having different gifts, according to the grace that is given
us: either prophecy, to be used according to the rule of faith; or ministry, in
ministering; or he that teacheth, in doctrine; he
that exhorteth, in exhorting; he that giveth, with simplicity; he that ruleth,
with carefulness; he that showeth mercy, with
cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Hating that which is evil,
cleaving to that which is good: loving one another with the charity of
brotherhood: with honor preventing one another: in carefulness not slothful; in
spirit fervent: serving the Lord: rejoicing in hope: patient in tribulation:
instant in prayer: communicating to the necessities of the Saints: pursuing
hospitality. Bless them that persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with
them that rejoice, weep with them that weep: being of one mind one towards
another: not minding high things, but consenting to the humble
EXPLANATION. St. Paul in this epistle exhorts every Christian to make good use of the gifts of God; if one receives an office, he must see well to it, so that he can give an account to God of the faithful performance of his duties. He exhorts especially to brotherly love which we should practice by charitable works; such as, receiving strangers hospitably, giving alms to those who are in need, and to those who by misfortune or injustice have lost their property; he commands us, at the same time, to rejoice in the welfare of our neighbor, as we rejoice at our own good fortune, and to grieve at his misfortunes as we would over those which befall us.
How is brotherly love best
preserved?
By the virtue of humility which
makes us esteem our neighbor above ourselves, consider his good qualities only,
bear patiently his defects, and always meet him in a friendly, respectful, and
indulgent manner. Humility causes us to live always in peace with our
fellowmen, while among the proud, where each wishes to be the first, there is
continual strife and dissatisfaction (Prov. 13:10).
What lesson does the Apostle give us in this
epistle?
That we should hate that which is evil, and love that which is good; that we
should love one another, and practice works of mercy; that we should be
solicitous and fervent, as in the service of God. We should cooperate with the
grace of God, and pray instantly.
Aspiration
O God,
give us Thy grace to follow faithfully what St. Paul teaches us of humility and
charity, that we may have compassion on
all who
are in need, and not exalt ourselves above our neighbors, but, humbling
ourselves with the humble, may merit, with them, to be exalted. Amen.
GRADUAL:
Ps.
106. The
Lord sent His Word, and healed them: and
delivered them out of their destruction.
Let the mercies of the Lord give glory to Him: and His wonderful works to the children of
men.
Alleluia,
alleluia. Ps. 148. Praise ye the Lord, all His angels,
praise ye Him all his hosts. Alleluia.
GOSPEL: John 2, 1-11.
At that
time there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee: and the Mother of Jesus was
there. And Jesus also was invited, and His disciples, to the marriage. And the
wine failing, the Mother of Jesus saith to Him: They
have no wine. And Jesus saith to her: Woman, what is
that to Me and to thee? My hour is not yet come. His Mother saith
to the waiters: Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye. Now there were set there
six water-pots of stone, according to the manner of the purifying of the Jews,
containing two or three measures apiece. Jesus saith
to them: Fill the water-pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
And Jesus said to them: Draw out now, and carry to the chief steward of the
feast. And they carried it. And when the chief steward had tasted the water
made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the waiters knew who had drawn the
water: the chief steward calleth the bridegroom, and saith to him: Every man at first setteth
forth good wine: and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but
thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in
Cana of Galilee; and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
Why was Jesus present at the wedding with His Mother
and disciples?
1. In order there to reveal His majesty, and by that
means to establish and confirm the belief in His divinity. 2. To show that marriage is pleasing to God. 3. To let us understand how pious the bridegroom and
bride were. 4. To teach us that those pleasures are permitted which are in
accordance with reason and Christianity, and neither sinful nor leading to sin.
Why did Mary intercede for the bride and bridegroom
when the wine was failing?
She was sorry for them, for she is the tender-hearted mediatrix
of the afflicted and destitute. Besides, the number of the guests had been
considerably increased by the presence of Jesus and His disciples, so that the
wine was not sufficient for all.
What is the meaning of the words, "Woman, what
is that to Me and to thee?"?
According to the idiom of the Hebrew language, they mean as much as,
"Mother, be not anxious; I will provide the wine as soon as the hour
appointed by My Father is come." Jesus did not mean to rebuke His Mother,
but He thus gave her, and all who were present, to understand that He had not
received the power of working miracles as the son of woman, but that He
possessed it as the Son of God, and should use it according to the will of His
Father.
What are we taught by the words:
My hour is not yet come?
These words teach us that we should in all things await God's appointed time, and in things belonging to God and His honor, act only by divine direction, without any human motives.
What
does the scarcity of wine signify?
In a spiritual sense the want of wine may be understood to signify the lack of love between married people, which is principally the case with those who enter this state through worldly motives, for the sake of riches, beauty of person, or who have before marriage kept up sinful intercourse. These should ask God for the forgiveness of their sins, bear the hardships of married life in the spirit of penance, and change the wrong motives they had before marriage; by doing so God will supply the scarcity of wine, that is the lack of true love, and change the waters of misery into the wine of patient affection.
Why did Christ command them to
take the wine to the steward?
That the steward, whose office required him to be attentive to the conduct of the guests, and to know the quality of the wine, should give his judgment in regard to the excellence of this, and be able to testify to the miracle before all the guests.
ASPIRATION O my most
merciful Jesus! I would rather drink in this world the sour wine of misery than
the sweet wine of pleasure, that in heaven I may taste the perfect wine of
eternal joy.
Aspiration
I thank
Thee, O Jesus, for the grace of knowing Thy divinity; grant that I may
persevere in this knowledge till death, in order to enjoy the contemplation of
Thy Godhead in eternity.
OFFERTORY:
Ps.
65. Shout
with joy to God, all the earth, sing you a psalm to His name; come and hear,
all you who fear God, and I will tell you what great things He hath done for my
soul. Alleluia.
SECRET:
Sanctify,
O Lord, the gifts which we offer, and cleanse us from the stains of our
sins. Through our Lord, etc.
O Lord, have regard to the
prayers and offerings of Thy faithful people: that they may both be
pleasing unto Thee on the feast day of Thy Saints, and obtain for us the help
of Thy propitiation. Through our Lord, etc.
May our offering be acceptable in
Thy sight, O Lord, and may it benefit us by the prayer of him on whose feast it
is offered.
Through our Lord, etc. COMMUNION:
John
2. The
Lord saith, Fill the water-pots with water, and carry
to the chief steward of the feast. When
the chief steward had tasted the water made wine, he saith
to the bridegroom: Thou hast kept the
good wine until now. This first miracle
did Jesus before his disciples.
POSTCOMMUNION:
Be
there increases in us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the workings of Thy power, that
thriving on these divine sacraments, we may be prepared by Thy bounty to
receive what they promise. Through our
Lord, etc.
Be appeased, O Lord, by the
intercession of Thy Saints: and grant, we beseech Thee, that what we
celebrate by a temporal action, we may receive unto eternal salvation. Through
our Lord, etc.
We who are refreshed by partaking
of Thy sacred gift, beseech Thee, O Lord, our God, that through the
intercession of blessed Canute, Thy Martyr, we may experience the fruits of
that which we worship. Through our Lord, etc.
His Mother saith to the
waiters:
Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye.
The eleventh century gave to the Church and
various States of Europe a great number of saintly Kings. Among them St. Canute IV of Denmark stands
pre-eminent by reason of the aureole of his martyrdom. He had every quality which forms a Christian
prince: he was a zealous propagator of the faith of Christ, he was a brave
warrior, he was pious, and he was charitable to the poor. His zeal for the Church (and in those days
her rights were counted as the rights of the people) was made the pretext for
putting him to death: he died in the midst of a sedition as a victim sacrificed
for his people’s sake. His offering to
the new-born King was that of his blood; and in exchange for the perishable
crown he lost, he received that which the Church gives to her Martyrs, and
which can never be taken away.
Dom Gueranger,
The Liturgical Year, St. Canute of Denmark
PROPER OF THE SAINTS FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 19th:
Date Day Feast
Rank Color F/A Mass Time and
Intention
19
|
Sun
|
2nd
Sunday after Epiphany
St. Marius & Comp., Mm
St. Canute, King, M
|
sd
|
G
|
|
Mass 9:00 AM & Noon; Confessions &
Rosary of Reparation 8:30 AM
|
20
|
Mon
|
Ss. Fabian, P & Sebastian, Mm
|
d
|
R
|
|
Mass 8:30 AM; Rosary of Reparation before
Mass
|
21
|
Tue
|
St. Agnes, VM
|
d
|
R
|
|
Mass 8:30 AM; Rosary of Reparation before
Mass
|
22
|
Wed
|
Ss. Vincent & Anastasius,
Mm
|
sd
|
R
|
|
Mass 8:30 AM; Rosary of Reparation before
Mass
|
23
|
Thu
|
St. Raymund of Pennafort, C
St. Emerentiana, VM
Betrothal BVM with St. Joseph
|
sd
|
W
|
|
Mass 8:30 AM; Rosary of Reparation before
Mass
|
24
|
Fri
|
St. Timothy, BpM
|
d
|
R
|
A
|
Mass 8:30 AM; Rosary of Reparation before
Mass
|
25
|
Sat
|
Conversion of St. Paul, Ap
St.
Peter, Ap
|
dm
|
W
|
|
Mass 9:00 AM; Confession & Rosary of
Reparation 8:30 AM
|
26
|
Sun
|
3rd
Sunday after Epiphany
St. Polycarp, BpM
|
sd
|
G
|
|
Mass 9:00 AM & Noon; Confessions &
Rosary of Reparation 8:30 AM
|
We must picture to
ourselves a young soldier, who tears himself away from all the ties of his home
at Milan, because the persecution there was too tame, with anxiety at the
thought that perhaps some of the Christians in the Capital may be losing
courage. He has been told that at times
some of the Emperor’s soldiers, who were soldiers also of Christ, have gained
admission into the prisons, and have roused up the sinking courage of the
confessors. He is resolved to go on the
like mission, and hopes that he may also receive the blessing of
martyrdom. He reaches Rome, he is
admitted into the prisons, and encourages to martyrdom such as had been shaken
by the tears of those who were dear to them.
Some of the gaolers, converted by witnessing
his faith and his miracles, become martyrs themselves; and one of the Roman
Magistrates asks to be instructed in a religion which can produce such men as
this Sebastian. He has won the esteem of
the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian Hercules for his
fidelity and courage as a soldier; they have loaded him with favours; and this gives him an influence in Rome which he
so zealously turns to the advantage of the Christian religion, that the holy
Pope Caius calls him, the Defender of the Church.
Dom Gueranger,
The Liturgical Year, Feast of St. Sebastian
All mischief, every scandal, comes from the clergy. We black robes are to blame for
everything.... A priest without the spirit of penitence is Satan’s toy.
St. Clement Mary Hofbauer
O my soul, be humble
and forget not that the more thou art exalted in thy own esteem the more wilt
thou be shamed and confounded at the judgment day. For then, as says the
prophet, “Man shall be humbled” (Isa. 5, 15), and only the humble will be able
to glory “in his exultation” (Jas 1, 9). Remember that according to the saying of Isaias, the day of
judgment has been appointed especially to humble the proud: “Because the day of
the Lord of hosts shall be on every one that is proud and high-minded, and he
shall be humbled” (Isa. 2, 12), and thou shouldest
regard as though specially directed to thyself that prophetic voice from God
which says: “Behold I come against thee, O proud one, saith
the Lord, for thy day is come, the time of thy visitation. And the proud one
shall fall, he shall fall down, and there shall be none to lift him up” (Isa.
1, 31).
Fr. Cajetan
Mary da Bergamo, Humility of Heart
He who does
not contemplate My littleness upon earth will not behold My greatness in
heaven.
Our Lord to
St. Angela of Foligno
INSTRUCTION FOR SUPERIORS
Those
have to expect a severe sentence from God, who merely for temporal gain, seek
profitable offices, and thrust themselves therein whether capable or not, and
if capable care very little whether they fulfill the duties required, or
perhaps make the fulfillment of them depend upon bribes. Of such God makes
terrible complaint: Thy princes (judges) are faithless, companions of thieves:
they all love bribes, they run after rewards. They judge not for the
fatherless; and the widow’s cause comes not into them (Is. 1:23). A most severe
judgment shall be for them that bear rule (Wisd.
6:6).
ASPIRATION Grant us, O Lord, Thy grace, that according to Thy will, we may follow the instructions of St. Paul in regard to humility and love, have compassion upon all suffering and needy, think little of ourselves, and descend to the lowest, that we may, one day, be elevated with them in heaven.
INSTRUCTION ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF
MATRIMONY
What is Matrimony?
Matrimony is the perfect, indissoluble
union of two free persons of different sex, for the purpose of propagating the
human race, mutually to bear the burdens of life and to prevent sin (I Cor.
7:2).
Who instituted Matrimony?
God Himself, the Creator of all things (Gen. 1:27-28). He brought to man the helpmate, whom He formed from one of the ribs of Adam, that she who came from his heart, might never depart therefrom, but cling to him in the indissoluble bond of love (Gen. 2:18, 24). To this original, divine institution Christ refers (Mt. 19:4-6), and the Church declares the bond of marriage perpetual and indissoluble.
Is Matrimony a Sacrament?
Yes; according to the testimony of the Fathers, the Church has held it such from the times of the apostles, which she could not do, had Christ not raised it to the dignity of a Sacrament. St. Paul even calls it a great Sacrament, because it is symbolical of the perpetual union of Christ with His Church; and the Council of Trent declares: “If any one says that Matrimony is not really and truly one of the seven Sacraments of the Church instituted by Christ, but an invention of men that imparts no grace, let him be anathema” (Conc. Trid., Sess. XXIV, can. 1).
What graces does this Sacrament
impart?
The grace of preserving matrimonial fidelity inviolate: the grace of educating children as Christians; of patiently enduring the unavoidable difficulties of married life, and of living peaceably with each other. Married people are indeed greatly in need of these graces, in order to fulfill their mutual obligations.
What is the external sign in the
Sacrament of Matrimony?
The union of two single persons in Matrimony, which according to the regulations of the Council of Trent (Conc. Trid., Sess. XXIV, can. 1), must be formed publicly in the presence of the pastor, or with his permission before another priest, and two witnesses.
What preparations are to be made
to receive the grace of this Sacrament?
1. The first and best preparation is a pure and pious life. 2. The light of the Holy Ghost should be invoked to know whether one is called to this state of life. 3. The parents and the father-confessor should be asked for advice. 4. The choice should be made in regard to a Christian heart, and a gentle disposition rather than to beauty and wealth. 5. The immediate preparation is, to purify the conscience, if it has not already been done, by a good general confession, and by the reception of the most holy Sacrament of the Altar. Before their marriage the young couple should ask their parents’ blessing, should hear the nuptial Mass with devotion, with the intention of obtaining God’s grace to begin their new state of life well, and finally they should commend themselves with confidence to the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her spouse St. Joseph.
Why are there so many unhappy
marriages?
Because so many people prepare the way by sins and vices, and continue to sin without interruption, and without true amendment until marriage, therefore always make sacrilegious confessions, even perhaps immediately before marriage. Besides this many enter the married life on account of carnal intentions, or other earthly motives; in many cases they do not even ask God for His grace; without any proper preparation for such an important, sacred act, on their marriage day they go to church with levity and afterwards celebrate their wedding with but little modesty. Is it any wonder that such married people receive no blessing, no grace, when they render themselves so unworthy?
Why did God institute married
life?
That children might be brought up honestly and as Christians, and that they should be instructed especially in matters of faith; that married people should sustain each other in the difficulties of life, and mutually exhort one another to a pious life; and lastly, that the sin of impurity might be avoided. For they who in such manner receive matrimony as to shut out God from themselves, and from their mind, and to give themselves to their lust, as the horse and mule which have not understanding, over them the devil hath power (Tob. 6:17).
With what intentions should the
married state be entered?
With such intentions as the young Tobias and his bride had, who before the marriage ceremony, ardently prayed God for His grace, and took their wedding breakfast in the fear of the Lord (Tob. 14:15). Hence God’s blessing was with them until death. If all young people would enter the married state thus, it would certainly be holy, God-pleasing and blessed, and the words of St. Paul, spoken to wives, would come true unto them: Yet she shall be saved by bearing children, if she continue in faith, and love, and sanctification with sobriety (I Tim. 2:15).
Why are the bans of marriage
published three times in Church?
That all impediments which would render the marriage unlawful may be made known. Such impediments are: consanguinity, clandestine marriages, etc. Therefore, any one who is aware of such impediments is bound to make them known to the pastor.
Why is the marriage performed in
the presence of the parish priest?
Because the Catholic Church expressly declares that those marriages which are not performed in presence of the pastor, or with his permission before another priest, and two witnesses, are null and void (Conc. Trid., Sess. XXIV can. 1); and because the blessing of the priest, which he imparts in the name of the Church, gives the couple, if they are in a state of grace, strength, fortitude and grace to be faithful to each other, to endure all trials patiently, and to be safe from all the influences of the evil enemy.”
Why do they join hands before
the priest, and two witnesses?
By this they bind themselves before God and His Church to remain true to each other, and to be ready to assist each other in all adversities. The bridegroom puts a ring on the bride’s finger which should remind her of her duty of inviolable fidelity; to this end the priest signs and seals this holy union with the unbloody Sacrifice of the New Law.
Can the bond of marriage be
dissolved in the Catholic Church?
A valid marriage, contracted with the free consent of each of the parties, can according to the plain doctrine of the Scriptures, the constant teaching and practice of the Church, be dissolved only by the death of one of the parties. If the pope or a bishop, for important reasons, gives a divorce, this is only partial, and neither can marry again while the other lives. Such a marriage would not be valid. How pure and holy are the doctrine and practice of the Catholic Church in this the most important and sacred of all human relations, preserving its inviolability and sanctity; while, on the contrary, by means of the wanton doctrine of the heretics, which for trivial reasons entirely dissolves the marriage contract, this sacred union is made the deepest ignominy of mankind, and the play-ball of human passions and caprice!
What is thought of mixed
marriages, or marriages between Catholics and Protestants?
The Catholic Church has always condemned such marriages, because of the great dangers to which the Catholic party is unavoidably exposed as well as the offspring. Such marriages promote indifference in matters of religion, by which the spiritual life of the soul is destroyed; they are a hindrance to domestic peace, cause mutual aversion, quarrels, and confusion; they give scandal to servants; they interfere with the Christian education of the children, even render it impossible, and they frequently lead to apostasy and despair. But the Catholic Church condemns especially those mixed marriages, in which either all or a number of the children are brought up in heresy, and she can never bless and look upon those as her children who do not fear to withdraw themselves and their own children from the only saving faith, and expose them to the danger of eternal ruin. Therefore, those Catholics who enter the matrimonial union with Protestants, although the marriage if lawfully contracted is valid, commit a mortal sin if they permit their children to be brought up in heresy, and should it not be their full intention to bring up their children in the Catholic faith at the time of their marriage, they would commit a sacrilege.
What should the newly married
couple do immediately after the ceremony is performed?
They
should kneel and thank God for the graces received in this holy Sacrament, in
such or similar words: “Ratify, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that which by Thy
grace Thou hast wrought in us, that we may keep that which in Thy presence we
have promised unto the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” That they may keep their
promise made at the altar, they should always remember the duties laid down to
them by the priest at the time of their marriage, and the exhortations which
are taken from the epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians (Eph. 5: 29, 31),
wherein he instructs married people how they should comport themselves towards
each other, and recalls to them as an example the union of Christ with His Church,
and His love for her. To the husbands he says, they should love their wives as
Christ loved His Church, for which He even gave Himself up to death; from this
is seen, that men should assist their wives even unto death, in all need, and
not treat them as servants. To the wives St. Paul says, that they as the weaker
should be in all reasonable things obedient to their husbands, as the Church is
obedient to Christ; for as Christ is the head of the Church, so is the husband
the head of the wife. Experience proves there is no better way for women to win
the hearts of their husbands than by amiable obedience and ready love, while,
on the contrary, a querulous, imperative deportment robs them of their
husbands’ affections, and even causes them to be regarded with aversion. St.
Paul says further; that husbands should love their wives (and consequently
wives their husbands) as their own bodies, because married people are, as it
were, one. They shall be two in one flesh; no man ever hated his own flesh, but
nourisheth and cherisheth
it, as also Christ doth the Church (Eph. 5:29, 31). How unjustly and
barbarously do those act, who, instead of loving one another, rather hate and
outrage each other, and cause the loss of their property, and by detraction
steal their honor! These do not consider that he who hates and disgraces his
partner in life, hates and disgraces himself; while according to the words of
St. Paul he who loves her, loves himself. If married people would remain in
constant love and unity, it is most necessary that they should patiently bear
with each other’s infirmities, wrongs, and defects, exhort one another with
mildness and affection, keep their adversities, trials, and sufferings as much
as possible to themselves, and complain in prayer only to God, who alone can
aid them. By impatience, quarrels, and complaints the cross becomes only
heavier and the evil worse. Finally, not only on their wedding day, but often
through life, they should earnestly consider that they have not entered the
married state that they may inordinately serve the pleasures of the body, but
to have children who will one day inhabit heaven according to the will of God;
as the angel said to Tobias: “For they who in such manner receive matrimony, as
to shut out God from themselves and from their mind, and to give themselves to
their lust as the horse and mule, which have not understanding, over them the
devil hath power” (Tob. 6:17).
PRAYER Most merciful Jesus! who didst work Thy first miracle at the wedding in Cana by changing water into wine, thereby revealing Thy divine power and majesty, and honoring matrimony: grant we beseech Thee, that Thy faithful may ever keep sacred and inviolate the holy sacrament of Matrimony, and that they may so live in it truthfully, in the fear of the Lord, that they may not put an obstacle in the way of obtaining heaven for themselves, and their children.
“He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath
not the Son, hath not life.” (1 Jn. 5,12)
The grace which
sanctifies our souls is, in its essence, identically the same as that which
adorns the sacred soul of Jesus (St. Thomas, IIIa,
q.8, a.5). Of course, they differ
immensely in measure and perfection, but the nature of the grace is the very
same. Hence grace in us has the same
sanctifying power, the same tendencies as it has in the soul of Jesus. Thus it can sanctify us, making us live in
union with God and for His glory. By
giving us grace, Jesus has truly communicated His life to us; He has planted in
us the seed of His sanctity, so that we can live a life similar to His
own.
Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary
Magdalen, O.C.D., Divine Intimacy
THE FIRST MIRACLE OF JESUS SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY
PRESENCE
OF GOD ‑
O Jesus, transform my soul as You once transformed the water for the bride and
bridegroom at Cana.
MEDITATION:
I. Now that the cycle of Jesus’
childhood has ended, the liturgy begins to speak of His public life. During the
days following the Epiphany, it recalled Our Lord’s baptism in the Jordan, the
event which marked the beginning of His apostolate. Today it tells us about His
first miracle, destined, like the Epiphany and His baptism, to manifest to the
world His glory as the Son of God.
“And the third day, there was a marriage in
Cana of Galilee; and the Mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus also was invited
. . . to the marriage” (Gosp: Jn
2, 1‑11). For the first time, we
see the Blessed Virgin in her maternal function as mediatrix
of all graces. The Cana miracle, Jesus’ first, was worked precisely because of
her intercession which was so powerful that it made Jesus anticipate His hour.
“My hour is not yet come,” the Savior had answered His Mother, and Mary was
neither dismayed by this apparent refusal nor did she insist on her request. Secure
in the knowledge of her Son and full of loving confidence in Him, she says to
the servants, “Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye.” Her humility,
consideration for others, faith, and trustful abandonment with Jesus, and to
show us the greatness of her power over His divine heart, He grants her wish;
the miracle takes place.
Mary’s
faith is admirable; and also worthy of admiration is the faith and prompt
obedience of the servants who, following Mary’s advice, immediately carry out
the orders of Jesus; they fill the water pots with water and then pour from
them. Not a moment of doubt, not a protest‑ they simply obey. May we not
learn from them how to believe, how to obey? Shall we not have recourse to
Mary’s powerful intercession?
2.
“The water was made wine.” A miracle much more wonderful than the one which
Jesus performed at Cana is repeated daily on our altars; a little bread and
wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ, and given to us as the Food
of our souls. The Communion antiphon of today’s Mass repeats the passage in the
Gospel which speaks of the water made wine. Yes, for us preeminently, Jesus has
“kept the good wine until now.” It is the precious wine of the Holy Eucharist,
inebriating our souls with His Body and Blood.
There
is another wonderful transformation which Jesus accomplishes in our souls by
means of grace; the water of our poor human nature becomes a sharer in God’s divine nature; it is transformed into the
sacred wine of the life of Christ Himself. Man becomes a member of Christ, the
adopted child of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit. Today our Lady tells us
how we can and should foster this precious transformation; she says to us as
she once did to the servants at the Cana feast, “Whatsoever He shall say to you,
do ye.” In these words, Mary invites us to that complete transformation in
Christ which is effected by the generous practice of all that He teaches and
commands. Let us, then, with humble, docile hearts, with lively faith and
perfect abandonment, entrust ourselves to Jesus through Mary’s hands.
COLLOQUY:
How
encouraging it is, O Lord, for me to find Your sweet Mother beside You today!
Everything becomes simple and easy near Mary, beneath her maternal eye, under
the protection of her powerful intercession. How good You were, O Jesus, to
give us Your dear Mother to be the Mother of our spiritual life! I will follow
Mary’s precious advice and do everything You tell me, everything You wish me to
do.
I
want to imitate the blind, prompt obedience of the servants at the wedding
feast: to obey You as they did, always and in everything, Your instructions,
counsels, and precepts‑ to obey You likewise in the person of my
superiors, even when I do not see the reason for their orders and arrangements,
even when they expect difficult things of me or something which seems to me
absurd. Furthermore, I want to imitate Your Mother’s complete abandonment when,
in her great thoughtfulness, she confided to You her wish to help the bride and
bridegroom in their difficulty. Your apparent refusal did not trouble her; she
did not persist in her request, but she was sure, absolutely sure, that Your
infinitely good and tender heart would provide, and provide abundantly.
O
Lord, with a like confidence and trust, I lay my needs before You today. Do You
see them? My soul is like the water pots at the feast: full of water, the cold,
insipid water of my frailty and weakness, which I never seem to overcome
completely. I can say with the Psalmist: “The waters have come even unto my
soul” (Ps 60, 1), and they submerge me and I am as one drowned in incompetence
and weakness. O Lord, I believe that, if You will, You can change all this
water into the precious wine of Your love, Your grace, and Your life. You are
so powerful, so merciful, that my wretchedness, great as it is, does not
astonish You, because in comparison with You, who are infinite, it is always
very small. Just as in the Mass the few drops of water which are poured into
the chalice are changed with the wine into Your Blood, O Lord, take my
wretchedness, plunge it into Your heart, make it disappear in You.
Letters for every Bishop for every Time
St. Paul is writing to Timothy, a faithful
and well-tried servant of God and a Bishop now getting on in years. Yet he addresses him as a child, and seems
most anxious about his perseverance in faith and piety. The letters abound in minute personal
instructions for this end. It is therefore
remarkable what great stress the Apostle lays on the avoiding of idle talk, and
on the application to holy reading.
These are his chief topics. Over
and over again he exhorts his son Timothy to ‘avoid tattlers and busybodies, to
give no heed to novelties, to shun profane and vain babblings; but to hold the
form of sound words, to be an example in word and conversation, to attend to
reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine.’
Rev. Henry Sebastian Bowden, Lives of Saints
Unto the Angel
of the Church of Ephesus write: …
But I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first charity
(Apocalypse 2:4).
St. Timothy, Bishop of Ephesus
for more than 40 years, showed himself to be somewhat lax in preaching of the
word of God to the Ephesians in the work for their conversion. The reason for this
was that he had to face the pertinacity of both the Jews and adorers of Diana
against his apostolate. Hence, moved in part by pusillanimity and moderation
and in part by human prudence, he considered it more convenient to become
softer so as not to disturb the life of Religion by an excessive zeal or to
provoke the fury of the Gentiles against him and his flock, as happened with
St. Paul, who had to face the mob shouting against him: ‘Hail the great Diana
of Ephesus’ (Acts 19: 34). So, the first ardor of St. Timothy in preaching the
Gospel grew weaker, and this was his sin, not mortal but venial.
This also happens with persons who have authority. They sin more often by
tepidity disguised as prudence, than by imprudence under the appearance of
zeal.
The counsel of Christ given through St. John to St. Timothy corrected his
fault, and he returned to his first fervor. Actually he reproved the adorers of
Diana so ardently that he received martyrdom by their hands in the year 109 of
the Lord, on the 24th day of January, whose memory is registered in the sacred
annals of the Church.
Rev. Cornelius a Lapide, Commentarii
in Sacram Scripturam
Hence the Fathers of
the Church never hesitated to pronounce all those forever lost who die out of
the Roman Catholic Church: “He who has not the Church for his mother,” says St.
Cyprian, “cannot have God for his Father;” and with him the Fathers in general
say that, “as all who were not in the ark of Noe
perished in the waters of the Deluge, so shall all perish who are out of the
true Church.” St. Augustine and the other bishops of Africa, at the Council of Zirta, A. D. 410, say: “Whosoever is separated from the
Catholic Church, however commendable in his own opinion his life may be, he
shall, for the very reason that he is separated from the union of Christ, not
see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
Therefore, says St. Augustine, “a Christian ought to fear nothing so much as to
be separated from the body of Christ (the Church). For, if he be separated from
the body of Christ, he is not a member of Christ; if not a member of Christ, he
is not quickened by his Spirit.” (Tract. xxvii. in Joan., n. 6, col. 1992, tom.
iii.)
Rev. Michael Müller, C.SS.R, The
Catholic Dogma
“The union of your will with
the divine will is more pleasing to God than fasting and other mortifications
of the flesh.”
St. Clement Mary Hofbauer
God wills only our
good; God loves us more than anybody else can or does love us. His will is that
no one should lose his soul, that everyone should save and sanctify his soul: “Not
willing that any should perish, but that all should return to penance.” “This
is the will of God, your sanctification.” God has made the attainment of
our happiness, His glory. Since He is by His nature infinite goodness, and
since as St. Leo says goodness is diffusive of itself, God has a supreme desire
to make us sharers of His goods and of His happiness. If then He sends us
suffering in this life, it is for our own good: “All things work together
unto good.” Even chastisements come to us, not to crush us, but to make us
mend our ways and save our souls: “Let us believe that these scourges of the
Lord have happened for our amendment and not for our destruction.”
St. Alphonsus
de Ligouri, Uniformity with God’s Will
These are the words of the dying Prophet: Benjamin,
a ravenous wolf, in the morning shall eat the prey, and in the evening shall
divide the spoil. Who, says St.
Augustine, is he that in the morning of impetuous youth goes life a wolf
in pursuit of the sheep of Christ, breathing threatenings
and slaughter against them? Is it not
Saul on the road to Damascus, the bearer and doer of the high-priest’s orders,
and stained with the blood of Stephen, whom he has stoned by the hands of all
those over whose garments he kept watch? And he who in the evening, not
only does not despoil, but with a charitable and peaceful hand breaks to the
hungry the bread of life, is it not Paul, of the tribe of Benjamin, the Apostle
of Christ, burning with zeal for his brethren, making himself all to all, and
wishing even to be an anathema for their sakes?
Dom Gueranger, The
Liturgical Year, The Conversion of St. Paul
Having resolved to
write a book on virginity, I think myself happy in being able to begin it on
the feast we are keeping of the Virgin Agnes.
It is the feast of a virgin; let us walk in the path of purity. It is the feast of a martyr; let us offer up
our Sacrifice. It is the feast of St.
Agnes; let men admire and children not despair; let the married wonder, and the
unmarried imitate. But what can we speak
worthy of this Saint, whose very name is not void of praise? As her devotedness is beyond her years, and
her virtue superhuman so, as it seems to me, her name is not an appellation,
but a prophecy, presaging that she was to be a martyr.
St. Ambrose on St.
Agnes
The decadence which exists in the world is without any doubt the
consequence of the lack of the spirit of prayer. Foreseeing this disorientation, the Blessed
Virgin recommended recitation of the Rosary with such insistence, and since the
Rosary is, after the Eucharistic liturgy, the prayer most apt for preserving
faith in souls, the devil has unchained his struggle against it… The Rosary is
the most powerful weapon for defending ourselves on the field of battle.
Sr. Lucy of Fatima on the Rosary
For the doctrine of the
faith which God has revealed is put forward not as some philosophical discovery
capable of being perfected by human intelligence, but as a divine deposit
committed to the spouse of Christ to be faithfully protected and infallibly
promulgated. Hence, too, that meaning of
the sacred dogmas is ever to be maintained which has once been declared by holy
mother church, and there must never be any abandonment of this sense under the
pretext or in the name of a more profound understanding. For the holy Spirit was promised to the
successors of Peter not so that they might, by his revelation, make known some
new doctrine, but that, by his assistance, they might religiously guard and
faithfully expound the revelation or deposit of faith transmitted by the
apostles.
Vatican Council I
As the clean and purified spirit can find rest only in God, having been
created for this end, so there is no place save Hell for the soul in sin, for
whose end Hell was ordained by God. When
the soul is in mortal sin as it leaves the body, then in the instant in which
spirit and body are separated, the soul goes to the place ordained for it,
guided by nothing save the nature of its sin.
And if at that moment the soul were bound by no ordinance proceeding
from God’s justice, it would go to a yet greater Hell than that in which it
abides, for it would be outside His ordinance, in which divine mercy so
disposes that God gives the soul less pain than it deserves. The soul, finding no other place at hand nor
any holding less evil for it, casts itself by God’s ordinance into Hell as into
its proper place. [.....] After death
free will can never return, for the will is fixed as it was at the moment of death. Because the souls in Hell were found at the
moment of death to have in them the will to sin, they bear the guilt throughout
eternity, suffering not indeed the pains they deserve but such pains as they
endure, and these without end. [.....] Oh, how dangerous is sin committed in
malice! Rarely does a man repent of it,
and without repentance he will bear its guilt for as long as he perseveres -
that is, for as long as he wills a sin committed or wills to sin again.
St. Catherine of Genoa, On Purgation and Purgatory, revealed to her by
God
The resolute soul fights more courageously. She knows that, come what may, she will never
turn back. She is like a soldier in
battle who knows that he may expect no mercy if he is conquered and that if he
does not die in battle, he will surely die if captured. It seems to me certain that he will
accordingly fight much more obstinately with the intention of selling his life
dearly, as they say, and will have less fear of blows, for he will always be
thinking of what victory will mean to him and that only by winning can he save
his life.
St. Teresa of Jesus, Way of Perfection
“The love of God be your
motivation, the will of God your guiding principle, the glory of God your goal.”
St. Clement Mary Hofbauer
His “Bad
Dream”, Our Nightmare
I see the spirit and
principles of the Revolution working their way into Christian clergy and
people, just as the principles entered medieval society and produced the
pseudo-Reformation. Many among the
clergy have yet to see the errors of the Revolution and are still not resisting
it. Others among the clergy love the
Revolution as an idealistic cause, as it were, propagating it and collaborating
with it. They persecute the Revolution’s
adversaries, calumniating and impeding their apostolate. Most pastors say nothing. Others espouse the errors and spirit of the
Revolution and support it either in public or in secret, like the pastors in
the days of Jansenism… We must take note of the deadly battle being waged
against the Church in every field, identify the enemy, decipher his strategy
and battle tactics and observe his logic, psychology and dynamism, in order to
be able to interpret every stage of this war correctly and organize a properly
directed counter-offensive. For six centuries
our implacable enemy... has been waging war to the death, slowly and
systematically overturning and destroying nearly the whole Catholic order,
actually the City of God,.. in
order to construct the city of man in its place, with a whole new order
of human life, a society and humanity without God, without the Church, without
Revelation, based on sensuality, greed, and pride… Yet many Catholic leaders
dismiss what I am saying as a bad dream.
Archbishop Gerald de Proenca Sigaud, Bishop of Jacarezinho in Brazil, Excerpt from his letter expressing
his concerns to the Preparatory Commission for Vatican II, August 22,
1959. The orthodox preparatory work was
thrown out at the Council onset.
I have always
something to repent for after having talked, but have never been sorry for
having been silent.
St. Arsenius, a Desert Father, d. 445 at 95 years of age
“Taking this
excellent cup [….] rendering thanks also unto thee…”
You cannot be silent when stung by pain? I would not have you silent! I wish you to give thanks. It is this which
will repel the devil and bring you help from God.
St. John Chrysostom
Mother Teresa, A Saint?
Yet documents obtained by SF
Weekly suggest that Mother Teresa knew one of her favorite priests was removed from
ministry for sexually abusing a Bay Area boy in 1993, and that she nevertheless
urged his bosses to return him to work as soon as possible. The priest resumed
active ministry, as well as his predatory habits. Eight additional complaints
were lodged against him in the coming years by various families, leading to his
eventual arrest on sex-abuse charges in 2005.
The priest was Donald McGuire,
a former Jesuit who has been convicted of molesting boys in federal and state
courts and is serving a 25-year federal prison sentence. McGuire, now 81 years
old, taught at the University of San Francisco in the late 1970s, and held
frequent spiritual retreats for families in San Francisco and Walnut Creek
throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He also ministered extensively to the
Missionaries of Charity during that time.
Peter Jamison, Tainted Saint:
Mother Teresa Defended Pedophile Priest, 1-11-12
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
How can one be free who
is separated from the Most High? What
harder or more miserable captivity is there than for the soul to have escaped
from the hand of its Creator? Happy are
they who find themselves laden with the strong fetters and chains of the gifts
of God’s mercy, so that they are unable to gain the power to set themselves
free... O free will, thou art the slave of thine own
freedom, unless thou be pierced through with fear and love for Him who created
thee!
St. Teresa of Jesus, Conceptions of the Love of God, Exclamations
of the Soul to God
“Through the deceit of evil men….. (who are)
most certainly going to perish forever…”
Now we come
to another very fertile cause of the evils by which, we are sorry to see, the
contemporary Church being afflicted. This is indifferentism, or that wicked opinion which has grown up
on all sides through the deceit of evil men. According to this opinion, the eternal salvation of the soul can
be attained by any kind of profession of faith, as long as a man’s morals are
in line with 
the standard of justice and honesty. You must drive out from the people
entrusted to your care this most deplorable error on a matter so obviously
important and so completely clear. For, since the Apostle has warned that there is
one God, one faith, one baptism, those who pretend that the way to [eternal]
beatitude starts from any religion at all should be afraid and should seriously
think over the fact that, according to the testimony of the Savior Himself,
they are against Christ because they are not for Christ; and that they are
miserably scattering because they are not gathering with Him; and that
consequently, they are most certainly going to perish forever, unless they hold
the Catholic faith and keep it whole and inviolate.
Pope Gregory XVI, Mirari Vos
Catholic
Dogma: Only the sacrament of Baptism received by those who hold the true faith
can make men “children of God” and members of His Church!
In this crowd, in this range of religious, there is only one certainty
we have for all: we are all children of God. I hope you will spread my prayer
request for this month: That sincere dialogue among men and women of different
faiths may produce the fruits of peace and justice. I have confidence in your
prayers.
Pope Francis the Indifferent, Prayer intention for January 2016
Dogmas
“are to give light, not to receive light from human reason”!
I answer: The obligation to
believe what God says is a natural duty, it is a natural law, dictated by the
common sense of reason which the Creator has deposited in every human soul. The
Church only enforces this law, which existed before she herself existed,
because from all eternity it was a truth that the creature is bound to believe
the word of the Creator. If the Church allows no denial, no doubt, no
alteration or misconstruction of any of her dogmas, it is because the veracity
of the Son of God, who has revealed these truths, is attacked when any of His
doctrines are denied or doubted. These dogmas are so many fixed stars in the
firmament of holy Church. They cannot be reached by the perversity and
frivolity of man. He may close his eyes against them and deny their existence;
he may misrepresent them and look at them through glasses stained the color of
every prejudice; but he cannot do away with them altogether, nor change in any
way their natural brightness and brilliancy. Like the stars that deck the vault
of heaven, they are to give light, not to receive light from human reason. They
are the word of God, and what God says is truth, that cannot be made untruth.
The mind that receives truth is enlightened thereby; the mind that denies or
misrepresents it is darkened and corrupted.
Besides, every dogma of faith is
to the Catholic cultivated mind not only a new increase of knowledge, but also
an incontrovertible principle from which it is able to draw conclusions and
derive other truths. They present an endless field for investigation so that
the beloved Apostle St. John could write at the end of his Gospel, without fear
of exaggeration: “But there are also many other things which Jesus did: which
if they were written every one, the world itself, I think, world not be able to
contain the books that should be written.”
The Catholic Church, by
enforcing firm belief in her dogmas—which are not her inventions, but were
given by Jesus Christ—places them as a bar before the human mind to prevent it
from going astray and to attach it to the truth; but it does not prevent the
mind from exercising its functions when it has secured the treasure of divine
truth, and a “scribe thus instructed in the kingdom of heaven is truly like a
man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of
his treasure new things and old.” …. They are new because newly enacted,
declared, defined; they are old because they contain no new revelation or any
assumption of power never granted by Christ, but simply old truths under new
forms, the old power exercised under new circumstances.
Rev. Joseph Prachensky, S.J., The Church of the Parables and True Spouse
of the Suffering Savior
Where is the New Theology leading
us to? It is taking us in a straight line right back to modernism by way of
whims, errors and heresy.
Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P
The Church of Ss. Vincent
& Anastasius :
First, “put off the light”
and, “then commit crimes.”