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| Vatican approves Mayan rite with ritual dance, female incensors and lay leadership of Mass parts |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-16-2024, 07:34 AM - Forum: New Rite Sacraments
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Vatican approves Mayan rite with ritual dance, female incensors and lay leadership of Mass parts
The much anticipated Mayan rite of the Mass will be implemented in certain parts of Mexico, and contains a number of element drawn from pagan, indigenous culture. A draft of the rite seen previously by LifeSite highlights the pagan theology underpinning the actions.
![[Image: Mayan-Altar-810x500.png]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Mayan-Altar-810x500.png)
Mayan altar on the floor of a church
(Seminario Conciliar De San Cristóbal/Facebook
Nov 15, 2024
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — The Vatican has approved the Mayan rite of the Mass which will involve ritual dancing, women taking the place of the priest in incensing the altar, and lay leadership of certain prayers in the liturgy.
The announcement came via Cardinal Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, who is bishop emeritus of the San Cristobal de Las Casas diocese in Mexico and one of the leading promoters of this new rite.
Writing in his weekly column November 13, Arizmendi joyfully revealed that the Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has “with the authority of the Pope, on November 8 of this year, granted the long-awaited recognitio of some liturgical adaptations for the celebration of the Holy Mass in the Tseltal, Tsotsil, Ch’ol, Tojolabal, and Zoque ethnic groups of the diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas.”
Arizmendi has previously been in communication with LifeSite’s Dr. Maike Hickson, providing her with details about the proposed draft of the rite when it was being assessed by the Vatican. Subsequently, he confirmed to this correspondent a few times about his consternation that the Dicastery was taking so long to approve the rite.
The Vatican’s approval is “the official recognition of the Church by which these adaptations are approved as valid and legitimate,” he wrote in his column.
“They are the liturgy of the Church, and not just customs and habits that are viewed with suspicion,” he said in defense of the new rite of the Novus Ordo Mass. {Emphasis original}
Arizmendi was keen to highlight the significance of the development, since it is indeed only the second such rite since the Second Vatican Council which has been approved, the other being the Zaire rite in Africa.
Echoing Pope Francis on the topic, Arizmendi opined that such rites “are a form of incarnation of faith in expressions that are very specific to these cultures. We did not invent them, but we adopted what they live and which is in accordance with the Roman rite.”
“If there are deviations in some indigenous customs, we can help them to reach their fullness in Christ and in his Church,” he said.
What is new?
Last summer, Arizmendi provided LifeSite with the draft that had been submitted to the Vatican.
The now Vatican-approved rite – as described by Arizmendi – is outlined below:
Ritual dances: “Ritual dances” were approved at the Offertory, in the prayer of the faithful or in the thanksgiving after communion. These, Arizmendi said, are “simple movements of the entire assembly, monotonous, contemplative, accompanied by traditional music, and which express the same thing as the Roman rite, but in a different cultural form.”
“The content of the Mass is not changed, but the way it is expressed,” he said.
Women to incense instead of the priest: Women will perform the “ministry of incense bearers” in Mass “instead of the priest.” After the priest blesses and imposes incense, the woman then incense the “altar, the images, the Gospel book, the ministers and the assembly.” They will apparently not use the customary thurible, but rather “an incense burner proper to their culture.”
This, Arimenzi said, is born out of the indigenous custom of having usually women incensing during prayer.
Lay leadership of Mass prayers: The practice of having a lay man or woman of “recognized moral importance” who will be the “principal,” has been approved to “lead certain parts of the community prayer.” These times would be: “either at the beginning of the Mass, to initiate the community into the celebration, to name the intentions and to ask for forgiveness, or in the prayer of the faithful, after the priest makes the initial invitation and closes with the concluding prayer, or after communion as a thanksgiving, which the priest concludes with the post-communion prayer.”
The cardinal attested that the new practice did not mean “removing the priest from his service as president of the assembly, since he is the one who is at the head of the celebration, and he authorizes these moments.”
The lay leader “promotes and guides the prayer of all,” as he does not pray in just his name. “It is another way for the assembly to participate; the content of the Roman rite is not changed, but its cultural expression,” said Arizmendi.
Pagan theology underpinning rite
The Vatican had been assessing the text since July of 2023, after Mexico’s bishops voted 103-2 in favor during the April 2023 plenary assembly of the rite. The bishops of Mexico discussed an initial draft version, which was then amended slightly for presentation to the Vatican.
Speaking last year, Arizmendi stated that the country’s bishops extended the proposals to “all the native peoples of the country,” rather than just to those of the San Cristóbal diocese. However, that nation-wide permission has not been officially given, though in practice it remains very unlikely that the rite will be limited to the areas outlined by the Vatican.
Dr. Hickson previously noted that a Mayan rite has already been practiced in the Diocese of San Cristóbal, as it has been approved by the Mexican bishops’ conference. (See her prior coverage HERE and HERE)
In the March 2023 draft of the rite sent to LifeSite, the role of the “principal” was posited as being key as such an individual would “become even more relevant during the period of absence of the clergy in our diocese.” Such a line prompts the suggestion of completely lay led ceremonies as a norm in the future, rather than simply certain parts of the Mass.
It is not yet clear from Arizmendi’s description if the “principal” will engage in the pagan practice of praying to the four directions of the earth. The March 2023 draft noted that “on special occasions this prayer can be realigned by invoking God from the four cardinal points.” To invoke God from the four cardinal points implies in the Mayan polytheistic tradition: the four directions of the earth—north, west, south, east—which are traditionally connected with gods. However this was not present in the draft sent to the Vatican last summer and seen by LifeSite at the time.
But despite this, the underlying pagan theology remains. The “ritual dance” Arizmendi mentions was described in the March 2023 draft thus: “the feet caress the face of Mother Earth, making light movements. The face of God is greeted by moving to the four directions of the universe.”
The Undersecretary of the Dicastery — Bishop Aurelio García Macías — was heavily involved in drawing up the rite. He told local media in March last year that the process was “a personal enrichment for me because I believe that the local experience of San Cristóbal de Las Casas has discerned, has been able to study, reflect and can be enriched with the universal experience of the Catholic Church.”
Meanwhile, another pagan-based rite is also under consideration by the Vatican. The Amazon, or Amazonian, rite is about to begin a three-year trial period later this year. The Amazon rite is a product of the highly controversial 2019 Synod of Bishops on the Amazon, or the Amazon Synod.
Among the many proposals raised by the Amazon Synod and its final document are the opening of the clerical state to women and admitting married men to the priesthood, in an attempt to make the Church more appealing to Catholics in the region.
This “Amazonian rite” would “expresses the liturgical, theological, disciplinary and spiritual heritage of the Amazon,” which would assist the “work of evangelization.”
Meanwhile, the Dicastery for Divine Worship has been accused of implementing a “persecution” of the Church’s traditional liturgy across the global Church.
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| Leo XIII: Superiore Anno - On the Recitation of the Rosary |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-15-2024, 06:24 AM - Forum: Encyclicals
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Superiore Anno
On the Recitation of the Rosary
Pope Leo XIII - 1884
To All Our Venerable Brethren the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops of the Catholic World in the Grace and Communion of the Apostolic See.
Venerable Brethren, Health and Apostolic Benediction.
Last year, as each of you is aware, We decreed by an Encyclical Letter that, to win the help of Heaven for the Church in her trials, the great Mother of God should be honoured by the means of the most holy Rosary during the whole of the month of October. In this We followed both Our own impulse and the example of Our predecessors, who in times of difficulty were wont to have recourse with increased fervour to the Blessed Virgin, and to seek her aid with special prayers. That wish of Ours has been complied with, with such a willingness and unanimity that it is more than ever apparent how real is the religion and how great is the fervour of the Christian peoples, and how great is the trust everywhere placed in the heavenly patronage of the Virgin Mary. For Us, weighed down with the burden of such and so great trials and evils, We confess that the sight of such intensity of open piety and faith has been a great consolation, and even gives Us new courage for the facing, if that be the wish of God, of still greater trials. Indeed, from the spirit of prayer which is poured out over the house of David and the dwellers in Jerusalem, we have a confident hope that God will at length let Himself be touched and have pity upon the state of His Church, and give ear to the prayers coming to Him through her whom He has chosen to be the dispenser of all heavenly graces.
2. For these reasons, therefore, with the same causes in existence which impelled Us last year, as We have said, to rouse the piety of all, We have deemed it Our duty to exhort again this year the people of Christendom to persevere in that method and formula of prayer known as the Rosary of Mary, and thereby to merit the powerful patronage of the great Mother of God. In as much as the enemies of Christianity are so stubborn in their aims, its defenders must be equally staunch, especially as the heavenly help and the benefits which are bestowed on us by God are the more usually the fruits of our perseverance. It is good to recall to memory the example of that illustrious widow, Judith - a type of the Blessed Virgin - who curbed the ill-judged impatience of the Jews when they attempted to fix, according to their own judgment, the day appointed by God for the deliverance of His city. The example should also be borne in mind of the Apostles, who awaited the supreme gift promised unto them of the Paraclete, and persevered unanimously in prayer with Mary the Mother of Jesus. For it is indeed, an arduous and exceeding weighty matter that is now in hand: it is to humiliate an old and most subtle enemy in the spread-out array of his power; to win back the freedom of the Church and of her Head; to preserve and secure the fortifications within which should rest in peace the safety and weal of human society. Care must be taken, therefore, that, in these times of mourning for the Church, the most holy devotion of the Rosary of Mary be assiduously and piously observed, the more so that this method of prayer being so arranged as to recall in turn all the mysteries of our salvation, is eminently fitted to foster the spirit of piety.
3. With respect to Italy, it is now most necessary to implore the intercessionof the most powerful Virgin through the medium of the Rosary, since amisfortune, and not an imaginary one, is threatening-nay, rather is among us.The Asiatic cholera, having, under God's will, crossed the boundary within whichnature seemed to have confined it, has spread through the crowded shores of aFrench port, and thence to the neighbouring districts of Italian soil. - To Mary,therefore, we must fly - to her whom rightly and justly the Church entitles thedispenser of saving, aiding, and protecting gifts - that she, graciouslyhearkening to our prayers, may grant us the help they besought, and drive farfrom us the unclean plague.
4. We have therefore resolved that in this coming month of October, in which the sacred devotions to Our Virgin Lady of the Rosary are solemnised throughout the Catholic world, all the devotions shall again be observed which were commanded by Us this time last year. - We therefore decree and make order that from the 1st of October to the 2nd of November following in all the parish churches [curialibus templis], in all public churches dedicated to the Mother of God, or in such as are appointed by the Ordinary, five decades at least of the Rosary be recited, together with the Litany. If in the morning, the Holy Sacrifice will take place during these prayers; if in the evening, the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed for the adoration of the faithful; after which those present will receivethe customary Benediction. We desire that, wherever it be lawful, the localconfraternity of the Rosary should make a solemn procession through the streetsas a public manifestation of religious devotion.
5. That the heavenly treasures of the Church may be thrown open to all, We hereby renew every Indulgence granted by Us last year. To all those, therefore, who shall have assisted on the prescribed days at the public recital of the Rosary, and have prayed for Our intentions - to all those also who from legitimate causes shall have been compelled to do so in private - We grant for each occasion an Indulgence of seven years and seven times forty days. To those who, in the prescribed space of time shall have performed these devotions at least ten times - either publicly in the churches or from just causes in the privacy of their homes - and shall have expiated their sins by confession and have received Communion at the altar, We grant from the treasury of the Church a Plenary Indulgence. We also grant this full forgiveness of sins and plenary remission of punishment to all those who, either on the feast day itself of Our Blessed Lady of the Rosary, or on any day within the subsequent eight days, shall have washed the stains from their souls and have holily partaken of the Divine banquet, and shall have also prayed in any church to God and His most holy Mother for Our intentions. As We desire also to consult the interests of those who live in country districts, and are hindered, especially in the month of October, by their agricultural labours, We permit all We have above decreed, and also the holy Indulgences gainable in the month of October, to be postponed to the following months of November or December, according to the prudent decision of the Ordinaries.
6. We doubt not, Venerable Brethren, that rich and abundant fruits will be the result of these efforts, especially if God, by the bestowal of His heavenly graces, bring an added increase to the fields planted by Us and watered by your zeal. We are certain that the faithful of Christendom will hearken to the utterance of Our Apostolic authority with the same fervour of faith and piety of which they gave most ample evidence last year. May our Heavenly Patroness, invoked by us through the Rosary, graciously be with us and obtain that, all disagreements of opinion being removed and Christianity restored throughout the world, we may obtain from God the wished for peace in the Church. - In pledge of that boon, to you, your clergy, and the flock entrusted to your care, We lovingly bestow the Apostolic Benediction.
Given in Rome, at St. Peter's, the 30th of August, 1884, in the Seventh Year of Our Pontificate.
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| Promptitude in Assisting the Holy Souls by Fr Henry James Coleridge SJ, 1889 |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-15-2024, 06:09 AM - Forum: Resources Online
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The price of delay in relieving the souls in Purgatory
When November rolls around, it's easy to put off things like November envelopes and arranging Masses for the dead.
Fr Henry James Coleridge SJ tells us why this is a big mistake.
![[Image: https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.ama...0x675.jpeg]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba5fa170-378b-4cfb-ac22-7dd794f60845_1200x675.jpeg)
Image from Wiki Commons, Public Domain.
fathercoleridge.org | November 2, 2024
Editor’s Notes
It’s easy to put things off – especially when it involves arranging Masses, arranging November envelopes, and so on.
And while a moment’s delay for us seems to be a matter of indifference, it can make all the difference to the departed souls, God’s glory, and our very ability to do anything for them at all. For we do not the hour of own departure from this life!
So at the end of this month, let’s reflect one last time on Purgatory with Fr Coleridge, on the value of promptitude in arranging for the relief of the Holy Souls.
Promptitude in Assisting the Holy Souls
From The Prisoners of the King - Thoughts on the Catholic Doctrine of Purgatory
Fr Henry James Coleridge SJ, 1889, pp 67-75
Headings and some line breaks added by The WM Review
The cures wrought on the evening of the Sabbath
The miracles wrought in the deliverance of the demoniac in the synagogue, and in the healing of the mother of St. Peter s wife, do not exhaust the gracious works of mercy which made this first Sabbath of our Lord’s preaching at Capharnaum so memorable in the Gospel history.
The Evangelists tell us that, in the short evening of that day, after the sunset, “they brought all to Him that were diseased, and that were possessed with devils: and all the city was gathered together at the door.” St. Luke, speaking of the sick, says that “He, laying His hands on every one of them, healed them.” As to the demoniacs, St. Matthew says that “He cast out the spirits with His word”; and St. Luke and St. Mark add that, when the devils cried out, “Thou art the Son of God, He rebuked them, and would not suffer them to speak.”
The promptitude of the people of Capharnaum
These miracles have one characteristic circumstance, which each of the Evangelists mentions, and which will be sufficient for our present consideration.
In each narrative we are told that these poor sufferers were brought to our Lord as soon as it was evening, after the sun had set. The reason for this, in the minds of the people of Capharnaum, was that the rest of the Sabbath lasted from sunset to sunset, and that they were consequently free to do so much of work in the way of charity as was required for the bringing of the sick, some of whom no doubt had to be carried on beds or pallets to the door of the house in which our Lord was, as soon as the sun had set.
The twilight in those countries is usually very short, and there was, therefore, very little time for the transport of the sick from one part of the city to another, and for the leisurely healing of them by our Lord, as He laid His hands on each one singly.
But the charitable zeal of the good people of Capharnaum would not wait for the morning, and it may have been that this wonderful exercise of our Lord’s mercy was carried on when, but for that, the whole city would have been wrapped in sleep, under the bright light of the summer moon, and it must have lasted far into the night ere the last poor sufferers had been relieved.
And it was well for them that their friends had been so eager, and even so impatient to procure their speedy cure. For we are told by the Evangelists that very early indeed on the following morning our Lord rose and went out of the city into a desert place to pray. He was pursued by Simon Peter and the other disciples, who entreated Him to return, as every one was seeking Him. But He bade them come with Him on the journey which He at once began, to go through the other cities and villages of Galilee preaching, and it does not seem that He even went back for a moment into Capharnaum.
As it appears, the sufferers would have been unrelieved but for the eagerness and promptitude of their friends, who would not delay a moment in bringing them to our Lord, notwithstanding the lateness of the hour and the great throng at the door – so great that St. Mark, speaking from the recollection of St. Peter, an eye-witness, says that “all the city” was collected there.
It was probably a warm summer night in June, and it cost them but little to wait patiently for their turn in that immense crowd, and when in the morning they learnt that the wonderful Teacher and Healer was already far on His way to other places, they must have thanked with all their hearts the quick charity which had taken them at once to His feet.
The value of promptitude
These people of Capharnaum, therefore, are in this narrative set before us as examples of promptitude in acts of mercy and charity, and we cannot be surprised if our Lord, in His joy at their faith and eagerness, poured out for them a very large measure of His bounty.
The language of the Evangelists would almost justify us in saying that He left no one unhealed who could be brought to Him, and that a very large number of the sick and the demoniacs that were there to be found were brought to Him.
It was the beginning of the great display of miracles by which His public preaching throughout the country of Galilee was heralded, and it is often the way of God to give at the beginning of His merciful dispensations more freely and largely than afterwards, in return for the fresh ready faith with which those dispensations are welcomed. However the facts of the case may have been, it is certain that the conduct of the people of Capharnaum, which was met by our Lord with so rich and magnificent a series of miracles, may be taken as a typical instance of that very beautiful virtue of promptitude which is so dear to God.
Like other graces, it has a natural representative and image in the natural quickness in which some persons excel others so much – a quality not always virtuous, but which enables those who possess it to do so much more in the business and conflict of life than others who are by nature slower. The promptitude which is a grace of God, and which may be said in some measure to reflect His own rapid way of working great effects and changes in a moment, is accompanied with the most perfect calm and tranquillity, which also are qualities which characterise the most mighty and the most instantaneous works of God.
In some respects God appears to us to be infinitely patient and deliberate in His works, biding His time, as we say, and letting years or centuries pass away until the moment which He has chosen arrives. And then – swiftly, silently, and in a moment – His works are done. We are to imitate His patience and deliberateness, so to speak, by never acting until our path is plain and until we are clear as to His will, and then we are to reflect His swiftness in brooking no further delay, and carrying out at once the good work which we have conceived.
For all that we have to do must be done in time, and time is a thing which we can never command – the moment passes away, the opportunity is lost.
All the good that we can do depends for its performance and for its perfection on the assistance of His grace, and grace is another thing which we can never depend upon at a future moment if we do not use it while we have it. We cannot bid it wait or come again to-morrow. Thus, one of the great beauties in the perfection of the work of the saints is the swiftness and promptitude of their actions, which are guided by Him of Whom a Father says – “Nescit tarda molimina Spiritus Sancti gratia.” This quickness runs through the whole range of their virtues, and con sists in perfect correspondence to Divine grace in the use of the occasions of virtue which present themselves. It has nothing of impetuosity or hurry or fussiness about it.
For just as the good use of the tongue consists as much in silence as in speech, so swiftness and promptitude consist as much in not doing things before their time as in doing them at the right time, and not later. The Preacher counsels us “Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly,”[1] as if we had nothing else to do for the time but that; and our Lord bids us “take no thought for the morrow,” as if to do so were to occupy our minds anxiously on things which have not yet come to our hand, and as to which we are not certain that they ever will come.
Promptitude in justice, charity and fidelity
Among all the exercises and acts of virtue which are to be done swiftly and at once, after the pattern of God’s works, there are some which fall under this head in an especial way, such as works of justice, of charity, and of fidelity.
Thus not to pay wages or debts at the right time, to delay the fulfilment of a promise which we have made, or to put off an act of charity which concerns God, our own souls, or our neighbour’s good, are acts on which the failure of promptitude may have very serious consequences. Thus we find St. James reproaching the rich and threatening them with severe punishment for keeping back the wages of their labourers.[2]
Any debt that we owe to man or God, such as the debt of penance and satisfaction, or of a vow or promise, and the like, comes under that urgent instruction of our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount, where He bids us “be at agreement with thy adversary betimes, whilst thou art in the way with him: lest perhaps the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Amen, I say to thee, thou shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing.”[3] And we know that when our brethren are in need or in pain, and it is in our power to relieve them, we are bound in all charity not to delay a moment, if possible, to relieve their affliction.
To delay help is at all events to increase their suffering, to add to its duration, and to run the risk of not relieving it at all.
Application to Purgatory
These thoughts very naturally lead us to the application of the lesson here set before us as to our duties in regard of the Holy Souls of Purgatory.
For in the first place, very many of them may be suffering there for a lack of this promptitude in the discharge of obligations, whether of justice or of charity, of which we have spoken. Many an act of devotion, or of charity, or of restitution, or of satisfaction for sin, may have been delayed by them, and death may have found them with that debt undischarged. It is impossible that persons who have not habitually this grace of promptitude and exactness should have nothing to make up in the next world in consequence – and when we remember that death, however much it might have been looked forward to in an ordinary way, is unexpected when it actually comes to the majority of Christians, we may be certain that most men will be found, in this sense, unprepared for it.
But, putting this consideration aside, it is certain that our charity to God, and to the Holy Souls, and to ourselves, binds us, even when there is no obligation of justice, not only to assist them in all the ways in our power, but also to assist them as quickly as possible. The obligation of justice, of course, is still more serious, as binding those who are children or heirs of the departed, those who have received benefits and kindness from them, those whom they have instructed and helped, the priests who have received alms in order that they may say Mass for them, or any who have lived upon the foundations which they have made.
But where the obligation is strictly an obligation of Christian charity, the circumstances of the case of the Holy Souls plead for their help without a moment’s delay. It is a very great difference indeed whether God is deprived or not of His glory by their complete deliverance even a little later or a little sooner.
If it was an immense gain to one of these poor sufferers from disease or demoniacal possession at Capharnaum to have been healed or set free by our Lord on that Sabbath night rather than on the next day, much more is it an incalculable gain to a soul in Purgatory if its detention in that prison be cut short even by an hour or by a minute. It is not the certainty that they will be delivered some time or other that is enough to satisfy the charity of anyone who is at all enlightened as to the pains of sense and of loss which are to be undergone there. We count it very poor charity indeed, in the case of human sickness or affliction of any kind, that is content with the knowledge that, after an indefinite period, that affliction will cease.
And when we remember that our Lord has told us that we shall be dealt with by Him as we have dealt with others, we may be quite certain that, if by His merits and mercy we escape the flames of Hell, it will still be a terrible aggravation to our lot in the fires of Purgatory if we have any slowness or delay in relieving others with which to reproach ourselves.
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| The Catholic Trumpet: Possible SEO attack? |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-15-2024, 06:02 AM - Forum: The Catacombs: News
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A word of caution:
The Catacombs recently promoted and praised a new website called The Catholic Trumpet, here. It's content is excellent.
However, it appears that a YouTube channel with the same name has recently been created that is NOT in any way affiliated with The Catholic Trumpet website. I have not watched the videos on this new website but I have been informed that they are heretical.
At this time, The Catholic Trumpet website does not own a You Tube channel. Whether or not this 'coincidence' is intentional or not remains to be seen.
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| Pope Francis calls for global financial revolution to fight ‘climate change’ |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-14-2024, 08:08 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
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Pope Francis calls for global financial revolution to fight ‘climate change’
The Pope's message to the United Nations' COP29 event contained support for the group's goal to orient global finance
to the implementation of 'climate change' policies, something drawn from the Great Reset agenda of Klaus Schwab.
![[Image: francis-chia.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/francis-chia.jpg)
Pope Francis
YouTube/Screenshot
Nov 13, 2024
BAKU, Azerbaijan (LifeSiteNews [slightly adapted - not all hyperlinks included]) — In an address delivered to the COP29 climate change conference today, Pope Francis urged the international community to respond swiftly to climate change and to implement climate-oriented “finance” plans.
“The scientific data available to us do not allow any further delay and make it clear that the preservation of creation is one of the most urgent issues of our time,” began Pope Francis’ message to the United Nations’ COP29 climate conference today. “We have also to recognize that it is closely interrelated with the preservation of peace.”
Francis’ letter, delivered by his Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, focused on his call for climate finance plans, as the Pontiff’s regular climate rhetoric addressed a practical aspect being discussed by the COP29 attendees.
Papal backs UN’s global climate-finance goal
The pontiff criticized “economic development” for having “favored the prioritization of profit and special interests at the expense of the protection of the weakest” and “contributed to the progressive worsening of environmental problems.”
In order to combat this and promote “a culture of respect for life and of the dignity of human person,” Francis urged that the global leaders and philanthropists present speedily enact a “New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance.”
This aim Francis described as being “among the most urgent of this Conference.”
The Pope also urged “affluent nations” to “acknowledge the gravity of so many of their past decisions and determine to forgive the debts of countries that will never be able to repay them.” This, he said, was a “matter of justice”in response to the “ecological debt.”
“It is essential to seek a new international financial architecture that is human-centered, bold, creative and based on the principles of equity, justice and solidarity,” Francis wrote. The new “international financial architecture” must ensure that “all countries” reach their “full potential,” he added.
The Pontiff also stressed that the COP29 event must influence the “political will” in line with this result and “direct these resources towards this noble goal for the common good of humanity today and tomorrow.”
What is the the U.N.’s new goal?
COP29’s “New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance” (NCQG) is indeed set to become the dominant subject of the meetings. The U.N. states that the new goal – born out of the 2015 Paris Agreement, and agreed upon in 2021 by COP members – will start from an operational base of $100 billion “per year prior to 2025.”
However a far greater sum is required, according to a 2021 U.N. report. It suggests that almost $6 trillion will be needed to “implement developing countries’ climate action plans by 2030.”
It will be aimed at “meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation, taking into account the needs and priorities of developing countries” with regards “climate impact” and the Paris Agreement’s goal to “hold the global average temperature well below 2 ℃ above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 ℃ above pre-industrial levels.”
The U.N. further states that the NCQG aims to bolster its “climate change” response by “sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty, including by making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.”
Previous editions of the annual COP conferences have been quietly working on formulating such a financial agreement, and now the COP29 event will discuss the framework for a “draft negotiating text” on how to govern the global financial sphere in accordance with the climate-oriented aims of the U.N.
The proposals to be discussed include a mandatory financial contribution from COP member states to “developing countries,” relating to combatting “climate” issues.
Such finance would be doled out in line with “meaningful action and ambition,” meaning the alignment of recipient nations’ with the U.N. climate agenda. Should the COP29 members agree on how to implement the NCQG then its progress will be assessed in their future annual meetings.
Francis’ alignment with UN climate finance
As international pressure to implement various climate-related goals, such as the pro-abortion 2015 Paris Climate Accord, so too does the rhetoric involving the demand to have the global financial sphere aligned with such climate policies – as previously highlighted by this correspondent on LifeSite.
Pope Francis has also joined secular, global leaders in making this call: most recently he called for “obligatory and readily monitored” climate measures in his COP28 message; for “obligatory” climate measures in his 2023 Laudate Deum; and for a “global financial charter” at a Vatican conference on “climate change” this May.
READ: Pope Francis calls for ‘global financial charter’ at Vatican climate change conference
Francis’ oft-repeated lines on the subject have repeatedly born similarities to the sentiments expressed by key globalist and founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Klaus Schwab, whose proposed anti-Catholic “Great Reset” is underpinned by a focus on a “green” financial agenda, as he mentions the “withdrawal of fossil-fuel subsidies” and a new financial system based on “investments” that advance “equality and sustainability” and the building of a “‘green urban infrastructure.”
The Paris Climate Accord (also known as the Paris Agreement) – which numerous members and observers of the U.N. including the Holy See, have agreed to – stipulates that the future of global finance is directly connected to the various climate change efforts laid out in the Paris Agreement. It reads: “Making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.”
In the future envisaged by multinational bodies such as the the U.N. and the WEF, financial future at every level will be determined by adherence to climate policies, according to the Great Reset architect, Klaus Schwab, who said:
“Governments led by enlightened leaders will make their stimulus packages conditional upon green commitments. They will, for example, provide more generous financial conditions for companies with low-carbon business models.”
Schwab also described hypothetical scenarios in which businesses – particularly ones consuming fossil fuels – would effectively be shut down if they were not “green enough.”
While such suggestions may appear implausible, they are not far-fetched; many members of the global financial community have signed up to implement such policies. The almost unknown Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) was born at the Paris “One Planet Summit” in December 2017, with the purpose of transforming the global economy in alignment with “green” climate change policies.
The NGFS already numbers 141 members, with an additional 21 observer organizations, including leading national and international banks such as the “Bank of Canada; Bank of England; Banque de France; Dubai Financial Services Authority; European Central Bank; Japan FSA; People’s Bank of China; Swiss National Bank; U.S. Federal Reserve.”
Francis’ message to the U.N.’s COP29 climate conference thus lends the official support of the Holy See to the supra-national body’s aim to rework the world and its finance in line with “green” policies.
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| Video of baby trying to escape brutal dismemberment abortion goes viral |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-13-2024, 02:14 PM - Forum: Abortion
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Video of baby trying to escape brutal dismemberment abortion goes viral
An ultrasound video of a baby trying to escape while an abortionist tears apart his body during a dismemberment abortion is going viral on social media, with many shocked to the reality of abortion.
![[Image: image-41.png]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/image-41.png)
Lila Rose
Instagram/X
Nov 13, 2024
(LifeSiteNews) — An ultrasound video of a dilation and curettage (D&C) or “dismemberment” abortion has gone viral on social media, with many shocked to see the reality of abortion.
In a November 12 post on X, Lila Rose, founder of the pro-life organization Live Action, uploaded a video of an unborn baby trying to escape as an abortionist tears his tiny body to pieces during a D&C abortion.
“This is so-called ‘choice,'” Rose commented. “Beyond heart shattering.”
In the video, the unborn baby can be seen fighting against the murderous procedure, moving back and forth in his mother’s womb as the abortionist tears off pieces of his body with forceps.
In a D&C abortion, the most common form of abortion in the second trimester, an abortionist tears an unborn baby apart limb by limb and removes his or her body parts from his mother’s womb.
As former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino previously explained about dismemberment abortions in a Live Action video, “You will know you have it right when you crush down on the clamp and see a pure white gelatinous material issue from the cervix. That was the baby’s brains. You can then extract the skull pieces.”
“If you have a really bad day like I often did, a little face may come out and stare back at you,” he added.
Dismemberment abortion is legal in most U.S. states and in Canada.
The D&C practice was originally designed for uterine conditions or a miscarriage. An important distinction, and one often misrepresented by abortion activists, is that a D&C procedure to treat uterine conditions or remove the remains of a miscarriage is not morally wrong as it does not kill an unborn baby but offers actual medical care to a woman. On the other hand, if the D&C method is used to dismember a baby in an abortion, it is gravely wrong.
Many commenters pointed out that the ultrasound video is vital to understanding the reality of abortion, which is hidden and disguised by abortionists and activists.
“I used to be pro choice when I was younger but then I understood what abortion really was and I’ve been pro life ever since,” one user commented.
“This baby is fighting for its own life!” another wrote.
“It was safe in there in its mother’s womb…until the assassins came- and she sent them,” one user lamented. “My heart. We must end this evil.”
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| Archbishop Viganò: Bergoglio’s attitude to sin is ‘antichristic’ |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-13-2024, 02:09 PM - Forum: Archbishop Viganò
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Archbishop Viganò: Bergoglio’s attitude to sin is ‘antichristic’
Pope Francis 'is not interested in the salvation of souls, whom he actually encourages in sin and public scandal,' writes Archbishop Viganò.
'His 'sympathy' for the workers of iniquity is flaunted, just as his aversion for those who faithfully serve Our Lord is flaunted.'
![[Image: Untitled-39.png]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Untitled-39.png)
Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano (L) and Pope Francis
YouTube/Screenshot -- Cole Burston/Getty Images
Nov 13, 2024
Editor’s note: The following opinion piece is taken from a post on X (formerly Twitter) by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò following the news that Pope Francis had welcomed a gender-confused woman posing as a male ‘hermit’ at a recent papal audience.
(LifeSiteNews) — Our Lord associated with sinners in order to convert them: think of Magdalene, who was an adulteress, or of Zacchaeus, who was a tax collector on behalf of the Roman Empire. The effect of the Lord’s presence alone converts these souls, who abandon the path of sin and are converted to Him. “Go and sin no more.”
The Savior does not conceal guilt, but on the contrary indicates it as an obstacle to salvation and holiness and offers His Grace to change one’s life and follow Him. Because it is the salvation of the soul that the Lord wants, not the normalization of sin. The battle against the world, the flesh and the devil is fought and won first of all by recognizing the enemy and arming ourselves so we can overthrow him.
Bergoglio’s acquaintances are the exact opposite. He is not interested in the salvation of souls, whom he actually encourages in sin and public scandal. His “sympathy” for the workers of iniquity is flaunted, just as his aversion for those who faithfully serve Our Lord is flaunted.
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| Leo XIII: Laetitiae Sanctae - On Commending Devotion to the Rosary |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-13-2024, 10:50 AM - Forum: Encyclicals
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Laetitiae Sanctae
On Commending Devotion to the Rosary
Pope Leo XIII - 1893
To Our Venerable Brethren the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and other Ordinaries, having Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See.
Venerable Brethren, Greeting and Apostolic Benediction.
The sacred joy which it has been given to Us to feel in attaining the fiftieth anniversary of Our Episcopal Consecration has been deepened by the knowledge that it was shared by the people of the whole Catholic world, and that as a father in the midst of his children We have been consoled by the touching testimonies of their loyalty and love. We gratefully accept it and record it as a fresh proof of God's special providence, and one which is markedly full of bounty to Ourselves, and of blessing to the Church.
2. At the same time We love to offer Our thanks for this signal benefit to the august Mother of God, whose powerful intercession We feel to have been exercised in Our behalf. For hers is the loving kindness which, during the length of years and the vicissitudes of life, has never failed Us, and which day by day seems to draw nearer to Us than ever, filling Our soul with gladness, and strengthening Us with a confidence of which the surety is higher than the things of time. It is as if the voice of the heavenly Queen made itself heard to Us, at one moment graciously consoling Us in the midst of trials; at another guiding Us by her counsel in directing the great work of the salvation of souls; at another, urging Us to admonish the Christian people to advance in piety and in the practice of every virtue. For Us it is once more a joy as well as a duty to respond to her inspirations. Amongst the happy results which have already rewarded Our exhortations which were due to her prompting, We have to reckon the remarkable impulse given to the Devotion of the Most Holy Rosary. This awakening has made itself felt in the increased number of Confraternities instituted for the purpose, the voluminous literature of pious and learned works written upon the subject, and the manifold tributes which Christian art has not failed to bring to its service. And now, as if for yet another time, listening to the voice of the same zealous Mother, who calls upon Us to "cry out and cease not," We rejoice once more to address you, Venerable Brethren, upon the subject of the Rosary, standing as We do upon the eve of that month of October which, by the award of special Indulgences, We have deemed it well to dedicate to this most popular devotion. Our appeal to you, however, will not be directed so much to add any further recommendation of a method of prayer so praiseworthy in itself, nor yet to press upon the faithful the necessity of practising it still more fervently, but rather to point out how we may draw from this devotion certain advantages which are especially valuable and needful at the present day.
The Rosary and Society
3. For We are convinced that the Rosary, if devoutly used, is bound to benefit not only the individual but society at large. No one will do Us the injustice to deny that in the discharge of the duties of the Supreme Apostolate We have laboured - as, God helping, We shall ever continue to labour - to promote the civil prosperity of mankind. Repeatedly have We admonished those who are invested with sovereign power that they should neither make nor execute laws except in conformity with the equity of the Divine mind. On the other hand, we have constantly besought citizens who were conspicuous by genius, industry, family, or fortune, to join together in common counsel and action to safeguard and to promote whatever would tend to the strength and well-being of the community. Only too many causes are at work, in the present condition of things, to loosen the bonds of public order, and to withdraw the people from sound principles of life and conduct.
Dislike of Poverty - The Joyful Mysteries
4. There are three influences which appear to Us to have the chief place in effecting this downgrade movement of society. These are-first, the distaste for a simple and labourious life; secondly, repugnance to suffering of any kind; thirdly, the forgetfulness of the future life.
5. We deplore - and those who judge of all things merely by the light and according to the standard of nature join with Us in deploring that society is threatened with a serious danger in the growing contempt of those homely duties and virtues which make up the beauty of humble life. To this cause we may trace in the home, the readiness of children to withdraw themselves from the natural obligation of obedience to the parents, and their impatience of any form of treatment which is not of the indulgent and effeminate kind. In the workman, it evinces itself in a tendency to desert his trade, to shrink from toil, to become discontented with his lot, to fix his gaze on things that are above him, and to look forward with unthinking hopefulness to some future equalization of property. We may observe the same temper permeating the masses in the eagerness to exchange the life of the rural districts for the excitements and pleasures of the town. Thus the equilibrium between the classes of the community is being destroyed, everything becomes unsettled, men's minds become a prey to jealousy and heart-burnings, rights are openly trampled under foot, and, finally, the people, betrayed in their expectations, attack public order, and place themselves in conflict with those who are charged to maintain it.
6. For evils such as these let us seek a remedy in the Rosary, which consists in a fixed order of prayer combined with devout meditation on the life of Christ and His Blessed Mother. Here, if the joyful mysteries be but clearly brought home to the minds of the people, an object lesson of the chief virtues is placed before their eyes. Each one will thus be able to see for himself how easy, how abundant, how sweetly attractive are the lessons to be found therein for the leading of an honest life. Let us take our stand in front of that earthly and divine home of holiness, the House of Nazareth. How much we have to learn from the daily life which was led within its walls! What an all-perfect model of domestic society! Here we behold simplicity and purity of conduct, perfect agreement and unbroken harmony, mutual respect and love - not of the false and fleeting kind - but that which finds both its life and its charm in devotedness of service. Here is the patient industry which provides what is required for food and raiment; which does so "in the sweat of the brow," which is contented with little, and which seeks rather to diminish the number of its wants than to multiply the sources of its wealth. Better than all, we find there that supreme peace of mind and gladness of soul which never fail to accompany the possession of a tranquil conscience. These are precious examples of goodness, of modesty, of humility, of hard-working endurance, of kindness to others, of diligence in the small duties of daily life, and of other virtues, and once they have made their influence felt they gradually take root in the soul, and in course of time fail not to bring about a happy change of mind and conduct. Then will each one begin to feel his work to be no longer lowly and irksome, but grateful and lightsome, and clothed with a certain joyousness by his sense of duty in discharging it conscientiously. Then will gentler manners everywhere prevail; home-life will be loved and esteemed, and the relations of man with man will be loved and esteemed, and the relations of man with man will be hallowed by a larger infusion of respect and charity. And if this betterment should go forth from the individual to the family and to the communities, and thence to the people at large so that human life should be lifted up to this standard, no one will fail to feel how great and lasting indeed would be the gain which would be achieved for society.
Repugnance to Suffering-The Sorrowful Mysteries
7. A second evil, one which is specially pernicious, and one which, owing to the increasing mischief which it works among souls, we can never sufficiently deplore, is to be found in repugnance to suffering and eagerness to escape whatever is hard or painful to endure. The greater number are thus robbed of that peace and freedom of mind which remains the reward of those who do what is right undismayed by the perils or troubles to be met with in doing so. Rather do they dream of a chimeric civilization in which all that is unpleasant shall be removed, and all that is pleasant shall be supplied. By this passionate and unbridled desire of living a life of pleasure, the minds of men are weakened, and if they do not entirely succumb, they become demoralized and miserably cower and sink under the hardships of the battle of life.
8. In such a contest example is everything, and a powerful means of renewing our courage will undoubtedly be found in the Holy Rosary, if from our earliest years our minds have been trained to dwell upon the sorrowful mysteries of Our Lord's life, and to drink in their meaning by sweet and silent meditation. In them we shall learn how Christ, "the Author and Finisher of Our faith," began "to do and teach," in order that we might see written in His example all the lessons that He Himself had taught us for the bearing of our burden of labour and sorrow, and mark how the sufferings which were hardest to bear were those which He embraced with the greatest measure of generosity and good will. We behold Him overwhelmed with sadness, so that drops of blood ooze like sweat from His veins. We see Him bound like a malefactor, subjected to the judgment of the unrighteous, laden with insults, covered with shame, assailed with false accusations, torn with scourges, crowned with thorns, nailed to the cross, accounted unworthy to live, and condemned by the voice of the multitude as deserving of death. Here, too, we contemplate the grief of the most Holy Mother, whose soul was not merely wounded but "pierced" by the sword of sorrow, so that she might be named and become in truth "the Mother of Sorrows." Witnessing these examples of fortitude, not with sight but by faith, who is there who will not feel his heart grow warm with the desire of imitating them?
9. Then, be it that the "earth is accursed" and brings forth "thistles and thorns,"- be it that the soul is saddened with grief and the body with sickness; even so, there will be no evil which the envy of man or the rage of devils can invent, nor calamity which can fall upon the individual or the community, over which we shall not triumph by the patience of suffering. For this reason it has been truly said that "it belongs to the Christian to do and to endure great things," for he who deserves to be called a Christian must not shrink from following in the footsteps of Christ. But by this patience, We do not mean that empty stoicism in the enduring of pain which was the ideal of some of the philosophers of old, but rather do We mean that patience which is learned from the example of Him, who "having joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame" (Heb. xvi., 2). It is the patience which is obtained by the help of His grace; which shirks not a trial because it is painful, but which accepts it and esteems it as a gain, however hard it may be to undergo. The Catholic Church has always had, and happily still has, multitudes of men and women, in every rank and condition of life, who are glorious disciples of this teaching, and who, following faithfully in the path of Christ, suffer injury and hardship for the cause of virtue and religion. They re-echo, not with their lips, but with their life, the words of St. Thomas: "Let us also go, that we may die with him" (John xi., 16).
10. May such types of admirable constancy be more and more splendidly multiplied in our midst to the weal of society and to the glory and edification of the Church of God!
Forgetfulness of the Future - The Glorious Mysteries
11. The third evil for which a remedy is needed is one which is chiefly characteristic of the times in which we live. Men in former ages, although they loved the world, and loved it far too well, did not usually aggravate their sinful attachment to the things of earth by a contempt of the things of heaven. Even the right-thinking portion of the pagan world recognized that this life was not a home but a dwelling-place, not our destination, but a stage in the journey. But men of our day, albeit they have had the advantages of Christian instruction, pursue the false goods of this world in such wise that the thought of their true Fatherland of enduring happiness is not only set aside, but, to their shame be it said, banished and entirely erased from their memory, notwithstanding the warning of St. Paul, "We have not here a lasting city, but we seek one which is to come" (Heb. xiii., 4).
12. When We seek out the causes of this forgetfulness, We are met in the first place by the fact that many allow themselves to believe that the thought of a future life goes in some way to sap the love of our country, and thus militates against the prosperity of the commonwealth. No illusion could be more foolish or hateful. Our future hope is not of a kind which so monopolizes the minds of men as to withdraw their attention from the interests of this life. Christ commands us, it is true, to seek the Kingdom of God, and in the first place, but not in such a manner as to neglect all things else. For, the use of the goods of the present life, and the righteous enjoyment which they furnish, may serve both to strengthen virtue and to reward it. The splendour and beauty of our earthly habitation, by which human society is ennobled, may mirror the splendour and beauty of our dwelling which is above. Therein we see nothing that is not worthy of the reason of man and of the wisdom of God. For the same God who is the Author of Nature is the Author of Grace, and He willed not that one should collide or conflict with the other, but that they should act in friendly alliance, so that under the leadership of both we may the more easily arrive at that immortal happiness for which we mortal men were created.
13. But men of carnal mind, who love nothing but themselves, allow their thoughts to grovel upon things of earth until they are unable to lift them to that which is higher. For, far from using the goods of time as a help towards securing those which are eternal, they lose sight altogether of the world which is to come, and sink to the lowest depths of degradation. We may doubt if God could inflict upon man a more terrible punishment than to allow him to waste his whole life in the pursuit of earthly pleasures, and in forgetfulness of the happiness which alone lasts for ever.
14. It is from this danger that they will be happily rescued, who, in the pious practice of the Rosary, are wont, by frequent and fervent prayer, to keep before their minds the glorious mysteries. These mysteries are the means by which in the soul of a Christian a most clear light is shed upon the good things, hidden to sense, but visible to faith, "which God has prepared for those who love Him." From them we learn that death is not an annihilation which ends all things, but merely a migration and passage from life to life. By them we are taught that the path to Heaven lies open to all men, and as we behold Christ ascending thither, we recall the sweet words of His promise, "I go to prepare a place for you." By them we are reminded that a time will come when "God will wipe away every tear from our eyes," and that "neither mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow, shall be any more," and that "We shall be always with the Lord," and "like to the Lord, for we shall see Him as He is," and "drink of the torrent of His delight," as "fellow-citizens of the saints," in the blessed companionship of our glorious Queen and Mother. Dwelling upon such a prospect, our hearts are kindled with desire, and we exclaim, in the words of a great saint, "How vile grows the earth when I look up to heaven!" Then, too, shall we feel the solace of the assurance "that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor. iv., 17).
15. Here alone we discover the true relation between time and eternity, between our life on earth and our life in heaven; and it is thus alone that are formed strong and noble characters. When such characters can be counted in large numbers, the dignity and well-being of society are assured. All that is beautiful, good, and true will flourish in the measure of its conformity to Him who is of all beauty, goodness, and truth the first Principle and the Eternal Source.
Confraternities of the Rosary
16. These considerations will explain what We have already laid down concerning the fruitful advantages which are to be derived from the use of the Rosary, and the healing power which this devotion possesses for the evils of the age and the fatal sores of society. These advantages, as we may readily conceive, will be secured in a higher and fuller measure by those who band themselves together in the sacred Confraternity of the Rosary, and who are thus more than others united by a special and brotherly bond of devotion to the Most Holy Virgin. In this Confraternity, approved by the Roman Pontiffs, and enriched by them with indulgences and privileges, they possess their own rule and government, hold their meetings at stated times, and are provided with ample means of leading a holy life and of labouring for the good of the community. They are, are so to speak, the battalions who fight the battle of Christ, armed with His Sacred Mysteries, and under the banner and guidance of the Heavenly queen. How faithfully her intercession is exercised in response to their prayers, processions, and solemnities is written in the whole experience of the Church not less than in the splendour of the victory of Lepanto.
17. It is, therefore, to be desired that renewed zeal should be called forth in the founding, enlarging, and directing of these confraternities, and that not only by the sons of St. Dominic, to whom by virtue of their Order a leading part in this Apostolate belongs, but by all who are charged with the care of souls, and notable in those places in which the Confraternity has not yet been canonically established. We have it especially at heart that those who are engaged in the sacred field of the missions, whether in carrying the Gospel to barbarous nations abroad, or in spreading it amongst the Christian nations at home, should look upon this work as especially their own. If they will make it the subject of their preaching, We cannot doubt that there will be large numbers of the faithful of Christ who will readily enrol themselves in the Confraternity, and who will earnestly endeavour to avail themselves of those spiritual advantages of which We have spoken, and in which consist the very meaning and motive of the Rosary. From the Confraternities, the rest of the faithful will receive the example of greater esteem and reverence for the practice of the Rosary, and they will be thus encouraged to reap from it, as We heartily desire that they may, the same abundant fruits for their souls' salvation.
Conclusion
18. This then is the hope, which, amid the manifold evils which beset society, brightens, consoles, and supports Us. May Mary, the Mother of God and of men, herself the authoress and teacher of the Rosary, procure for Us its happy fulfilment. It will be your part, Venerable Brethren, to provide that by your efforts Our words and Our wishes may go forth on their mission of good for the prosperity of families and the peace of peoples.
19. And as a pledge of the Divine favour, and of Our own affection, We lovingly bestow upon you, your clergy, and your people, the Apostolic Benediction.
Given at St. Peter's, Rome, this 8th day of September, in the year of OurLord 1893, and the 16th of Our Pontificate.
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| Solange Hertz: Our Lady of the Rosary, Pray for Us! |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-13-2024, 10:44 AM - Forum: Articles by Catholic authors
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Our Lady of the Rosary, Pray for Us!
By: Solange Hertz
![[Image: 90e4574ba672d4d34fc6640b601fb5ae_L.jpg]](https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/media/k2/items/cache/90e4574ba672d4d34fc6640b601fb5ae_L.jpg)
Remnant Newspaper [slightly adapted] | October 7, 2024
Editor’s Note: The following treatise on the history and power of the Holy Rosary appeared in the pages of The Remnant back in 1996. It was written by late, great Solange Hertz, who was a regular Remnant columnist for many years and who is greatly missed even to this day. In your charity, please remember the repose of the soul of this champion pioneer traditional Catholic, who with her powerful pen, proclaimed the Kingship of Christ and defended the Queenship of Mary all throughout her long career. Her work on the Rosary especially is more apropos in our apocalyptic time than it was thirty years ago. Yes, it’s a comprehensive treatment (which means it is not short), but it is powerful, it is complete, and it will remove the blindfold of anyone who reads it all the way to the end. MJM
The Rosary: Ultimate Liturgy
There is no mention whatever of the Rosary in the documents of the Second Vatican Council. Not even in the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, whose final chapter deals exclusively with our Lady ’s role in the Church. A vague reference in Article 67 to “practices and exercises of devotion towards her” might be assumed to include it, but according to Bishop Rendeiro of Coïmbra, the Bishops who wished to add to the text “the Rosary with meditation on the Mysteries of the life of Christ and the Blessed Virgin” were voted down. Apparently the Council deemed it best to follow the recommendations of the Theological Commission and make no mention of particular devotions, for fear of encouraging manifestations of piety beyond what they termed “the limits of sound and orthodox doctrine.” [1]
Fr. Avery Dulles, who wrote an interesting introduction to this decree for one of its English translations, says that “a separate document on the Blessed Virgin was contemplated, and was presented in draft form by the Theological Commission at the first session in 1962. But the Fathers saw a danger in treating Mariology too much in isolation. . .” The decree reads, “This Synod earnestly exhorts theologians and preachers of the divine word that in treating of the unique dignity of the Mother of God, they carefully and equally avoid the falsity of exaggeration on the one hand and the excess of narrow- mindedness on the other.”
Not for them the beloved adage of the saints, “De Maria numquam satis!” They were solicitous to “painstakingly guard against any word or deed which could lead separated brethren or anyone else into error regarding the true doctrine of the Church.” They would only concede that the Church “has endorsed many forms of piety toward the Mother of God,” forms which “have varied according to the circumstances of time and place and have reflected the diversity of native characteristics and temperament among the faithful.”
There are certainly many devotions of this kind throughout the Catholic world, but it would be impossible to locate the Rosary among them, for this unique prayer has never been tied to any time, place or people, nor did it arise from any particular human culture. Like all true liturgy, it had no earthly origin. Saints have believed that our Lord himself proposed it to the Apostles.
In point of fact the Rosary began at the foot of the Cross along with Sacred Heart devotion. When Our Lady appeared to St. Dominic with instructions to propagate the Rosary, she did so for the same reason that our Lord would one day appear to St. Margaret Mary. In neither case was anything new proposed to the faithful, who were merely being recalled to practices known in the Church from the beginning, but which they were in imminent danger of forgetting.
One of the strongest indications of the Rosary’s supernatural character is its ability to withstand human manipulation. Amid the diabolic disorientation unleashed by the “Spirit of Vatican II,” it was only natural to expect that those who believe worship should conform to the times rather than the wishes of the Holy Ghost would lay hands on the Rosary as they had on the liturgy. The repetitive character of the prayer was deemed particularly unsuited to the mature modern mentality. By God’s grace and our Lady’s protection, however, so far every attempt to create a New Rosary has come to naught.
Like the traditional Mass, the traditional Rosary has been suppressed, denigrated and ignored, but never entirely eliminated. Even adaptations like the “Scriptural Rosary” still being promoted has never become really popular. As it became increasingly evident to the Rosary’s devotees that to tamper with it was to tamper with God’s work, the only strategy left to the innovators was to disregard it as much as possible.
A movement to omit the Angelic Salutation from the Hail Mary and say the second part only was indignantly repudiated by the late Bishop Venancio of Fatima and finally scotched in 1973 by an international Blue Army seminar meeting in India. In its closing session Archbishop Dominic Athaide of Agra was unanimously supported in a motion to petition the Pope to retain the Hail Mary in its entirety. The following year, however, the Concilium of the Legion of Mary was prevailed upon to instruct its chapters to experiment in updating the Rosary. Strongly suggested was the reduction of each five decades of the Rosary to four.
This involved combining some of the traditional mysteries into one and adding two extra sets of Mysteries: the “Hopeful,” in which figured among other novelties the first prophecy of Jeremias on the Redemption and the birth and espousals of Our Lady; and some “Mysteries of Oblation” highlighting the Flight into Egypt and the three days’ loss of Jesus. A complete Rosary, which traditionally contains 3 sets of Mysteries, would therefore have 5 sets, requiring 200 Hail Marys instead of the usual 150, with each set requiring only 40 Hail Marys instead of 50. What a master ploy on the part of the enemy had it succeeded! Overnight every Rosary in existence would have been obsolete!
All the while conceding that the Rosary’s major components, the Angelic Salutation and the Our Father, figure prominently in the Gospels, its adversaries are wont to deny its authenticity by pointing out that the Rosary itself is nowhere mentioned in Scripture. These cavilers are perhaps best refuted by St. Basil’s famous sermon on “Sacred Tradition as Divine Guide:
Quote:“Of the beliefs and public doctrines entrusted to the care of the Church, there are some which are based on Scriptural teaching, others which we have received handed down in mystery by the tradition of the Apostles ; and in relation to the true religion they both have the same force. Nor is there anyone will contradict them ; no one certainly who has the least acquaintance with the established laws of the Church. For were we to attempt to reject the unwritten practices of the Church as being without great importance, we would unknowingly inflict mortal wounds on the Gospel. . . .
“For example . . . who is it that has taught us in writing to sign with the sign of the Cross those who place their trust in Jesus Christ our Lord? . . . The words of the invocation at the Consecration of the Eucharistic Bread and the Chalice of Blessing, which of the saints has left them to us in writing? For we are not content with the words both the Gospel and the Apostles have recorded, but have added some others, both before these and after them, as having great significance to the mystery, and which we have received from unwritten tradition.”
Zealous demythologizers laboring to dismiss the revelation of the Rosary to St. Dominic as pious legend rest their case largely on the absence of any mention of his actually saying the Rosary in contemporary documents. But then, neither do we possess a single one of his sermons, although he founded the Order of Preachers! Leo XIII, the “Pope of the Rosary,” who wrote no less than eleven encyclicals and an apostolic letter on the subject, unequivocally upheld the authenticity of the tradition. In 1891 he declared in Octobri mense that it was by the express “command and counsel” of the heavenly Queen “that the devotion was begun and spread abroad by the Holy Patriarch Dominic as a most powerful weapon against the enemies of the Faith in an epoch not unlike our own, and indeed of great danger to our holy religion.”
Actually Leo XIII was only reaffirming doctrine already defined by Pope St. Pius V. Incredible as it may seem, the vast majority of Catholics are unaware that this same Pope who canonized the Mass for all time in the famous bull Quo primum in 1570 had first canonized the Rosary the year before in the bull Consueverunt. Ratifying the tradition relating to St. Dominic and officially entrusting the propagation of the Rosary to his spiritual sons, the document defines once and for all the form in which the Rosary is to be prayed:
“. . . respiciens modum facilem, et omnibus pervium, ac modum pium orandi et precandi Deum, Rosarium seu Psalterium eiusdem B. MARIAE VIRGINIS nuncupatum , quo eadem Beatissima Virgo Salutatione Angelica centies et quinquagesies ad numerum Davidici Psalterii repetita, et Oratione Dominica ad quamlibet decimam cum certis meditationibus totam eiusdem D. N. Jesu Christi vitam demonstrantibus interposita, etc."
As with the Mass, St. Pius did not concoct or change anything. He merely stated with the full authority of his office what the proper form of the Rosary is, giving obedient testimony to the work of the Holy Ghost, principal author of genuine liturgy. Far from suggesting possible variations or innovations, the Holy See was at pains even then to proscribe spurious forms of the Rosary, as can be seen in its condemnation of the “ Seraphic” Rosary and others like that of the Blessed Trinity and of St. Anne. A new Mass was promulgated by Paul VI after Vatican II, but no Pope has yet presumed to promulgate a new Rosary.
Its basic form remains what St Pius V laid down in the passage just quoted: 150 Hail Marys in groups of ten with an Our Father in between, joined to meditation on certain mysteries of the life of our Lord.
After Consueverunt, all variations were consistently discouraged, mostly by promoting the canonically approved form and indulgencing it ever more heavily. As in the case of the Mass, however, venerable customs of long standing were scrupulously respected. For instance, whereas Latins are accustomed to announce the proper mystery at the beginning of each decade, it had become usual in Teutonic countries to repeat it with each Hail Mary after “thy womb, Jesus.” This practice was retained and allowed in those areas and persists to this day. Be it noted also that indulgences (which, incidentally, are attached to the beads and not to the chain or the string) have never been granted to any unapproved variations, “scriptural” or otherwise. Special permission was required to add the Fatima petition, “O my Jesus, forgive us our sins . . . ” to the end of each decade.
Modernist opinion to the contrary, the Rosary is no sentimental paraliturgical practice developed by Christian folk over the centuries to keep children, little old ladies and ignorant peasants occupied with a devotion suited to their limited capacities. Whoever would consider it insufficiently “Christological” to rank with the major ecclesiastical devotions need only be reminded that the Hail Mary was the first Christian prayer. Given to the world before the Lord’s Prayer, it contained the latter in embryo much as our Lady bore our Lord. As official announcement of His arrival, the climax of the Hail Mary is not praise of His Mother, but praise of “the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” Before the close of the thirteenth century the Holy Ghost had inspired the Church to add the Holy Name to the Salutation, thus making the focus on Christ explicit and unmistakable.
Although men contributed to the Rosary’s development, it was not put together by men. Under divine impulsion it grew from the Archangel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary as a living plant from seed. No prayer is so firmly rooted in Apostolic tradition as the Rosary. The Breton Dominican Bl. Alain de la Roche, who after two centuries would revitalize St. Dominic’s work, is said to have learned in prayer that the first promoter of the practice was St. Bartholomew. Perpetuated among the Desert Fathers, it was not unknown to St. Augustine, St. Benedict, St. Bernard, St. Francis, St. Lutgard, St. Christina and many early saints.
The meditations on the fifteen principal mysteries of salvation which accompany the prayers are no modern accretions, but among the Rosary’s most ancient elements. They could not have sprung from the Rosary, for they engendered it. All those who had a hand in forging its mysteries – from Mary and Joseph through St. John the Baptist, Zachary, Elizabeth, on past the ox and ass at Bethlehem to the thief on the cross, Mary Magdalene at Christ’s tomb and those first Christians in the Cenacle at Pentecost – were architects of the Rosary. Piece by piece they put it together by their faith and suffering, and all are present to the soul who contemplates their extraordinary achievement.
Rooted in the injunction to “pray without ceasing” which binds all men, the Rosary provides a method for keeping the whole person – mind, mouth and hands – occupied with God. To call it perfect liturgy is no mere figure of speech, but sober fact. Designed as it was by the Queen of heaven to facilitate prayer for those unable to recite the Divine Office, its 150 Hail Marys were first said in lieu of the 150 Davidic Psalms recited by the monks. What better substitute for meditation on the old Psalms than meditation on the very Mysteries they prefigured? On occasion the joyful, sorrowful or glorious Mysteries were enjoined as substitutes for the official Psalter when for any reason this could not be said.
So well was the Rosary’s liturgical character understood, that for a long time its recitation actually began with the prayer Aperies as does the Office. Even today it ends with the “Hail Holy Queen,” which is the ancient hymn Salve Regina sung at the Office’s close. Whereas the great Office is the Opus Dei, the work of God, the Rosary may be rightly called the Opusculum Dei, God’s little work, or at least the Opusculum Mariae, the little work of our Lady. In his encyclical on the Rosary Pope Pius XII does not scruple to refer to it as a “rite” to be “performed.”[2]
Damaged perspective is quickly corrected by reference to the Mysteries of the Rosary, which contain the whole of human history in prophecy.
Its preparation, both natural and supernatural, was long and careful. Counters for keeping track of prayers date from earliest antiquity and are common to many false religions, as witness those “rosaries” which St. Francis Xavier was surprised to find Japanese Buddhists using and the “worry beads” currently used by Moslems. In themselves such devices have no religious significance beyond mute testimony to original sin, which has so weakened human powers of concentration as to render them necessary. It is only through the goodness of our heavenly Mother that the Rosary has become a sacramental. Perhaps she set the Hail Marys in decades so that in emergencies baptized fingers and toes could serve.
Following a practice known in Old Testament times, early monks used knotted string, beads or small pebbles to keep track of the Psalms. Judging from evidence found in contemporary pictures, statuary, poems and hymns, these first counters were not regularly divided into sets of ten, but rather arrayed in fifties or multiples of fifty. Because Our Fathers were sometimes substituted for the Psalms when necessity demanded, they became known as “Paternoster beads.” Thus after St. Dominic’s time, when the Angelic Salutation and meditation on the principal mysteries of the Faith were substituted, it was only natural to refer to the Rosary as “Our Lady’s Paternoster,” or “Our Lady’s Psalter” as did St. Pius V in his bull.
It was St. Dominic’s great privilege, at our Lady’s behest, to raise the systematic repetition of the Angelic Salutation to the level of official prayer. Beginning by inserting it into the Office of Our Lady for clerics, he substituted it for the Office among tertiaries and the laity, and recommended praying sets of fifties to the faithful in general. Inasmuch as these early Hail Marys were probably said on Paternoster beads, the two prayers certainly became joined in various combinations early on, but the Rosary we are familiar with did not take shape until the second half of the fifteenth century.
In his biography of St. Catherine of Siena, Bl. Raymond of Capua relates that when St. Dominic organized his tertiaries into the Militia of Jesus Christ, “The holy founder imposed on them a certain number of Paternosters and Avemarias, which they prayed instead of the canonical hours when they did not attend the Divine Office.” Seven Paters for each of the seven Hours of the day and seven Aves for each Hour of Our Lady’s Office were their only prayers of obligation, so that when St. Dominic’s friend Pope Gregory IX officially approved the order, he automatically conferred formal recognition on the Rosary. Those forty-nine Aves recited by the Militia were therefore the first of the millions of “rose garlands” which the Church would offer liturgically to Mary until now. [3]
Prepared from eternity for its apocalyptic mission, the Rosary from its first appearance on earth seemed always to keep pace with surges of evil. Our Lady had appeared to St. Dominic at the very dawn of that awful spiritual cataclysm so bedecked in natural grace and glamor that we still refer to it as the Renaissance. This “rebirth” unfortunately turned out to be that of the spirit of Babel, which loosed paganism and unregenerate humanism once more over the world. Painting, music, politics, philosophy and all the arts and sciences began following their own head in concerted revolt against Christ their King and Creator.
It was to divert this noxious flood at its headwaters that the faithful had been urged to fling the Angelic Salutation into the teeth of the Cathar heresy. The enthusiastic response constituted a massive declaration of Marian faith, for denial of Mary’s divine Maternity and proscription of prayer to her figured prominently among Cathar errors. Under Dominican direction St. Louis of France and St. Margaret of Hungary became ardent promoters, and the devotion spread throughout Christendom like wildfire. All Europe prayed the Hail Mary by fifties, and She who defeats all heresies granted a decisive victory.
For Bl. Alan de la Roche, “to preach the Psalter [of our Lady] is nothing else but to lead the people to devotion, penance, contempt of the world and reverence for the Church.” Through his instrumentality the Rosary entered the realm of communal prayer. Religious Congregations espoused it, not merely as pious practice, but as a means of perfection. Without losing its personal character, it provided a simple, flexible base on which any variety of associations might be formed, and after he established the first Rosary Confraternity in Douai in 1470, literally hundreds came into being. Because members were granted special indulgences at the hour of death, it was during this period that the second half of the Hail Mary was added: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.” Those who may have to face the final encounter with Satan without Holy Viaticum should be mindful of the Rosary’s power in extremis.
Recommending daily recitation to everyone, Bl. Alan unified popular devotion in such a way that in due time the Holy See could act upon it and render it even more fruitful. Popularized by the swelling Confraternities, the Rosary was no longer limited to one religious order, but gradually became the prayer of the whole Church. It was intimately connected with the discovery of America and all that followed upon it, for missionaries carried it far beyond the boundaries of Christendom.
According to the Breviary the Turks were defeated at Lepanto “on the very day on which the Confraternities of the Most Holy Rosary throughout the world were offering up their rosaries, as they had been asked to do.” The Venetian Senate went further, formally declaring, “Non virtus, non arma, non duces, sed Maria Rosarii victores fecit,” attributing their success not to bravery, arms or leadership, but exclusively to the power of Our Lady of the Rosary. A second victory over the Turks was won through her intercession a century later at Vienna, and again in the next century at Belgrade. By then “Rosario” had become a common baptismal name.
Although for a long time conforming to the seven liturgical Hours, the Rosary had gradually become distinct from the Office proper and was pursuing a life of its own. Never just a devotion among others, it proved to be a super-devotion unlike any seen before. It was as if the Divine Office, which until then had been the prerogative of religious, was now put within reach of everyone, for by means of the Mysteries and three simple prayers known to all, an entire year was no longer required to carry the devout through the Church’s liturgical cycle.
The Rosary could complete the history of our Redemption in a week, a day or even an hour! Who could not find time for the Opusculum Mariae? Never restricted to the clergy, the Rosary came to be known as “the layman’s breviary,” and was no doubt meant to fill the same need in the spiritual life of the layman that the Breviary fills in the life of the priest. It is demonstrable that neglect of one or the other has opened the way to laxity in the ranks of the laity as it has in the ranks of the clergy, whereas fidelity to the practice strengthens the bonds to the Faith.
The only devotion to be raised to a liturgical status on a par with that of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, it would eventually be accorded its own feastday on October 7. First inserted into the Roman Martyrology by Clement VII, it was instituted with proper office by Pope Gregory XIII, and later extended to the universal Church by Clement XI. Benedict XIII included the feast in the Breviary, and Leo XIII dedicated the entire month of October to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.
Apart from the Blessed Virgin, the Rosary is an incomprehensible phenomenon. “When we speak of Mary as a figure of the Church, as we do,” wrote Fr. James in The Secret of Holiness, “we are prone to speak as if the preeminence belonged to the Church. In reality it is not so. Preeminence belongs rightly to Mary, who is the ideal actualized in a living person, and she it is (in her unique relation to Christ) from whom the Church takes life and meaning. It is only when this deep truth is pondered in the light of which Mary is the true prototype and divine ideal of the Church on earth that the real dimensions of the Church are discerned. Mary is already what the Church has yet to be in the fullness of her being.”
Indeed the liturgy of the Church from earliest times has not hesitated to apply to our Lady those beautiful, mysterious texts of Scripture which describe God’s wisdom personified, whom “the Lord possessed from the beginning of His ways, before He made anything, from the beginning. From eternity was I established, and of old before the earth was made.” She is also that “mother of fair love” whose “abode is in the full assembly of the saints.”
Her “overshadowing” by the Holy Ghost which effected our Lord’s Incarnation is the closest approximation in creation to an incarnation of the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. According to St. Maximilian Kolbe, she “is so closely allied with the Holy Ghost that she is called His spouse. . .She is, so to speak, the personification of the Holy Ghost! Jesus Christ is the Mediator between God and humanity; the Immaculata is the unique mediatrix between Jesus and humanity.
Quote:“Just as Jesus Christ, to show His great love for us, became Man, so too the third Person, God-Who-Is-Love, willed to show His mediation as regards the Father and the Son by means of a concrete sign: this sign is the Heart of the Immaculate Virgin! It remains true to say that Mary’s action is the very action of the Holy Ghost. . . Let us grasp how impossible it is to separate the Holy Ghost from Mary the Immaculata, since she is the instrument He uses in all He does in the order of grace.”
As Mother of Christ and His clergy, her position is incomparably superior to that of Christ’s Vicar the Pope, whose infallibility is a privilege related to her Immaculate Conception. The liturgy says of her, “They who work by me shall not sin. They that explain me shall have life everlasting.” [4] St. Louis de Montfort, probably the greatest Marian apostle of modern times, taught that to address her is to address God himself by the most efficacious means, so closely is she identified with the divinity.
At La Salette when she complained to the children Mélanie and Maximin of the widespread desecration of Sundays, she said, “I have given you six days in which to work. I kept the seventh for myself, and people don’t want to give it to me. This is what makes my Son’s arm so heavy.” Many found this statement shocking. How could she who was so humble say such a thing? Didn’t she mean, “God gave you six days?” At the time the two children were accused of misquoting her, but neither could be induced to change one word of their testimony, then or later. Because some Catholic editors not so scrupulous took it upon themselves to correct the seers in the name of orthodoxy, the bothersome authentic version has since been conveniently forgotten.
The Rosary is the ultimate liturgy. It finds its place as easily in a concentration camp as in church. After the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacraments, it is the most powerful weapon ever placed at the disposition of the faithful. Dare we say more powerful? Yes, in the sense that, somewhat like Baptism and Marriage, it does not depend on the clergy – or in fact on any human being. Although not actually a Sacrament, through Mary Mediatrix of All Graces it infallibly opens to us at any time or place the inexhaustible fountain of living water flowing from the Sacred Heart of the Savior.
Were the Mass and the Sacraments to disappear for a time, the miraculous efficacy of the Rosary could not fail to be evident. Pius XII writes, “From the frequent meditation on the Mysteries the soul draws and imperceptibly absorbs the virtues they contain, and lights up with extraordinary hope of the immortal virtues, and becomes strongly and easily impelled to follow the path which Christ himself and His Mother have followed.”
It is possible to pray the Rosary in isolation, but never alone. As an integral part of the liturgy of the Church, it cannot be prayed outside the Communion of Saints. No more powerful “private” prayer exists, for it is the prayer of Christ himself in His Mystical Body. Venerable Pauline Jaricot, foundress of the Propagation of the Faith, established the Association of the Living Rosary as a tool of the apostolate in the shambles following the French Revolution. Encouraged by the Curé d’Ars and invoking the intercession of St. Philomena, she succeeded in reviving the faith of millions by the simple expedient of forming everywhere little groups of fifteen individuals, each of whom was assigned one particular decade to be said daily.
Persons from all walks of life, including the aged and the sick, became missionaries overnight. Not only did the missions benefit, but members of the Association as well. Pauline very wisely did not seek recruits only among the fervent. She found her group Rosary “a way to utilize the strength of these few isolated souls and enable them to share their spiritual vigor with those more spiritually impoverished.” It proved “a means for them to inject their spiritual ‘remedy’ drop by drop into the souls of others as ‘spiritual medicine’.” Acknowledging that “it was wise to make the good souls better,” she also realized that “this devotion would render spiritual health to those who were languishing.” [5]
Leo XIII declared in Octobri mense, “We may well believe that the Queen of Heaven herself has granted a special efficacy to this mode of supplication.” His words would be reaffirmed by Sr. Lucy, the visionary of Fatima, who told Fr. Fuentes, Quote:“The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary, to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal, or above all, spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world or of religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Rosary! With the Holy Rosary we will save ourselves. We will sanctify ourselves. We will console our Lord and obtain the salvation of many souls.”
To the Italian Salesian Dom Umberto Pasquale she wrote in 1970, “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.” [6]
She writes in the same year to Mother Martins on how “the devil has succeeded in infiltrating evil under cover of good. . . And the worst is that he has succeeded in leading into error and deceiving souls having a heavy responsibility through the place they occupy. . . They are blind men guiding other blind men!” [7] Against the blunders and injustices committed by legitimate authority, prayer is almost the only recourse open to the ordinary faithful. Let them pray the Rosary day in and day out, over and over. The constant repetition of the prayers and Mysteries, which innovators find monotonous and antiquated, anchors it to the rhythms of God’s creation, where the same sun rises every day and the same seasons return every year.
Where there is no repetition there is chaos, for peace and order in this world cannot exist apart from it. “The recitation of identical formulas repeated so many times,” writes Pius XII, “rather than rendering the prayer sterile and boring, has on the contrary the admirable quality of infusing confidence in him who prays and makes a sweet compulsion toward the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” To one of her priest nephews Sr. Lucy writes, “The repetition of the Ave Maria, Pater Noster and Gloria Patri is the chain that lifts us right up to God and unites us to Him, giving us a participation in His divine life, just as eating bite after bite of bread, from which we nourish ourselves, sustains the natural life is us; nobody calls that outdated!” [8]
Whoever prays the Rosary is formally joined to the prayer of the Church in a most informal way. Proclaiming the everlasting Sanctus with every “Glory be,” the Rosary partakes of the angelic liturgy before the throne of the Lamb eternally immolated in heaven. The persecuted Catholics of Ireland were on sure doctrinal ground when they resorted to the “beads” for a “dry Mass.” As our earthly liturgy continues to disintegrate and the ranks of the priesthood to dwindle, this is good to remember. Older Catholics do in fact remember when it was accepted practice to participate in the Holy Sacrifice by saying the Rosary.
In a letter written to another of her priest nephews, Sr. Lucy referred to this method once known to all: “It is false to say that this is not liturgical, because the prayers of the Rosary are all part of the sacred liturgy; and if they are not displeasing to God when we recite them as we celebrate the Holy Sacrifice, so also they do not displease Him if we recite them in His presence, when He is exposed for our adoration. . . Why would the prayer which God taught us and so much recommended to us be outdated? It is easy to recognize here the ruse of the devil and his followers, who want to lead souls away from God by leading them away from prayer . . . Do not let yourselves be deceived!” [9]
Much as our Lady had set heaven’s seal on Pius IX’s promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception by appearing at Lourdes in 1858 and proclaiming, “I am the Immaculate Conception,” she would ratify Leo XIII’s teachings on the Rosary by appearing at Fatima in 1917 and proclaiming “I am the Lady of the Rosary.”
There were six apparitions, in all of which she was seen, as at Lourdes, with the Rosary. During the last one on October 13, while the great miracle of the sun was in progress, Sr. Lucy saw three extraordinary tableaux displayed in the heavens: one of the Holy Family, symbolizing the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary; a second one of the Mother of Sorrows, symbolizing the Sorrowful Mysteries; and a third one of our Lady crowned and reigning in glory as Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, symbolizing the Glorious Mysteries.
This spectacular testimony to the Rosary was not the first to be deployed in the heavens. Although unknown to the generality of Catholics and now nearly forgotten, a similar one is believed to have occurred twenty years before the spectacle in Fatima at Tilly-sur-Seulles, a little French village in Calvados. According to the account by Guy Le Rumeur, all fifteen mysteries were seen in the sky by a young visionary named Marie Cartel, who had never before heard of them:
“She read there not only their classification as Joyous, Sorrowful and Glorious, but their fruits as well. We know that the local Ordinary, who neither examined nor judged the case of these apparitions, proceeded in such wise that they could not be recognized. . . Nevertheless popular common sense, supported in 1905 by some French and Roman clergy, never rejected these apparitions, and Tilly-sur-Seulles continued to be a place of pilgrimage. A chapel, erected with diocesan approval, was destroyed during the battles of 1944 but rebuilt in 1952-3. Marble tablets inscribed with the fifteen mysteries can be found there, which were granted an Imprimatur in 1954.” [10]
Four years before the apparitions at Tilly Leo XIII had issued the encyclical Laetitia sanctae. Dated on our Lady’s birthday 1893, it belongs by right among his social encyclicals, for it proposed a schema for curing the three principal ills of modern society in terms of the Rosary, teaching that:
1. the distaste for simple labor which characterizes the industrial age must yield to the salutary precepts of the Joyful Mysteries;
2. the repugnance for suffering endemic to a pleasure-motivated society must be overcome by living the Sorrowful Mysteries; and
3. the lethal forgetfulness of a future life must be dispelled by ordering all human endeavor to the Glorious Mysteries.
Already in 1884 Leo had warned in Superiore anno,
Quote:“For it is an arduous and exceedingly weighty matter that is now at hand: to overcome the ancient and insidious enemy, Satan, in the brazen array of his power; to win back the freedom of the Church and of her Head; to preserve and secure the fortifications within which should rest the safety and wellbeing of human society. Care must be taken, therefore, that in these times of mourning for the Church, the most holy Rosary of Mary be assiduously and piously observed, particularly since this method of prayer, being so arranged as to recall in turn all the mysteries of our salvation, is eminently fitted to foster the spirit of piety.”
At Fatima our Lady told her children once and for all, “I want you to continue to say the Rosary every day!” A complete Rosary has fifteen decades, and not only five like the chaplet. Padre Pio is said to have offered a hundred daily. Because it is liturgy placed within the reach of all and enjoined upon all with such insistence by the Mother of God, there is good reason to believe that its recital is not optional in the scheme of salvation. She told Bl Alan, “Know, my son, that a probable and proximate sign of eternal damnation is aversion for, lukewarmness and carelessness in saying the Angelic Salutation which has repaired the whole world!”
As once against the errors of the Cathars, Mary’s children are now being told to fling the Rosary against the “errors of Russia” which are drawing the whole world into Satan’s eternal fiery empire. In 1957 Sr. Lucy told Fr. Fuentes, “The Most Holy Virgin made me understand that we are living in the last times of the world. . . She told me that the devil is in the process of engaging in a decisive battle against the Blessed Virgin, and a decisive battle is the final battle where one side will be victorious and the other side will suffer defeat.”
Foreseeing these times, St. Louis de Montfort called for
Quote:“true servants of the Blessed Virgin who, like so many St. Dominics, would go everywhere, the burning, blazing brand of the Gospel in their mouths and the Holy Rosary in their hands, barking like dogs, burning like fire, dispelling the world’s darkness like suns, and who, by means of devotion to Mary. . .would crush the head of the ancient serpent wherever they went.”[11]
Damaged perspective is quickly corrected by reference to the Mysteries of the Rosary, which contain the whole of human history in prophecy. For the Church there is no possibility of failure. Faithfully reproducing the life of her blessed Lord on earth as Mary did, she has left the Joyful Mysteries far behind and is already at grips with the Sorrowful ones. Approaching her own crucifixion, she is even now on the Way of the Cross which leads to the Resurrection. Like her divine Master, “who having joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb.12:2), she keeps her gaze fixed on the Glorious Mysteries lying ahead.
Conformed to Him in all things, the Church can expect her torment to end like His, abruptly and without warning, leaving the world to marvel as did Pilate, who “wondered that he should already be dead” (Mk. 15:44). Suffering is not natural to man, who was created to share God’s own eternal happiness and glory. The Sacred Heart has promised, “I shall reign in spite of Satan and all opposition!” Revealing her own participation in that promise, His Mother has declared, “In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph.” In their one Heart is laid up one inevitable, final, resplendent victory.
[1] Guy Le Rumeur, Marie et la Grande Hérésie, 79290 Argenton-L’Eglise, 1974, pp. 20-1.
[2] September 15, 1951.
[3] Luis Alonso Getino, O.P., Origen del Rosario, Madrid, 1925.
[4] See the Lessons for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, its Vigil and the Common.
[5] A heartening revival of Pauline Jaricot’s work began in the U.S. in 1986, when the Universal Living Rosary Association was established at Box 1303 Dickinson, Texas 77539 and began soliciting enrollments worldwide. Current membership numbers about 160,000.
[6]IMichel de la Sainte Trinité, The Third Secret, Immaculate Heart Publications, 1990, p. 759
[7] Op. cit., p. 758
[8] Op. cit., p. 751.
[9] Op. cit., p. 752.
[10] Op. cit., pp. 19, 211.
[11] Prière Embrasée, 12.
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| What are the warnings that the final storm approaches? Fr H.J. Coleridge SJ, 1894 |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-13-2024, 07:00 AM - Forum: Resources Online
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What are the warnings that the final storm approaches? Fr H.J. Coleridge SJ, 1894
Fr Coleridge sets out the signs of the approaching end of the world. His warnings about the aims, ideas and even the slogans used to engender a falling away from the faith are alarmingly prescient.
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Image: Pillement, Shipwreck in a Storm – Wiki Commons CC
Fr Henry James Coleridge SJ/WM Review | Nov 20, 2022
Editors’ Notes
Fr Henry James Coleridge wrote prolifically about the life of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
This extract, from his book about the end of the world, shows how accurate his warnings were about the aims, ideas and even the slogans used to engender a falling away from the faith.
This is the first of three extracts from Fr Coleridge we will be publishing on the end of the world.
The Decay of Faith
What elements of heathenism might or might not return
We need not exaggerate the miseries of our own time; nor draw in darker colours than St. Paul, the evil features of the last great apostasy.
The Son of God, as another Apostle tells us, was “manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil”;[1] and I do not find, in any of the prophetic descriptions of the restored paganism of modern days, that the system of the worship of false gods is to revive, with its abominable rites of blood and its mysteries of licentiousness.
Wherever the Cross has been once firmly planted, we may surely hope that the world has seen the last of the public worship of Satan.
[Instead,] in St. Paul’s description of the latter days, I find the blasphemy of the true God substituted for the worship of devils.
But, my brethren, the Son of God was not manifested altogether to destroy the works of man. He came to raise man, change him, regenerate him, sanctify him, by uniting him to Himself.
He did not come to take away man’s free-will, or to tear out of his nature those seeds of possible evil which produced all the human part of the paganism on which we have been reflecting. The empire of Satan has been overthrown, but alas! Man is still his own great enemy, and though our Lord has armed him against himself, He has still left him the power to mar the work of God in his own soul; and this power, which each one of us possesses in his own case, is always fearfully active in the corruption of the Christian society, the character of which is the result and the reflection of that of the parts of which it is made up.
The revival of heathenism in our times
And now, my brethren, what need have we of any subtlety of inquiry or refinement of speculation to tell us that this modern heathenism of which the prophecies speak is around us on every side?
Mankind are in many senses far mightier, and the resources and enjoyments at their command are far ampler, than in the days of old. We are in possession of the glorious but intoxicating fruits of that advanced civilization and extended knowledge which has sprung up from the seeds which the Church of God has, as it were, dropped on her way through the world. Society has been elevated and refined, but on that very account it has become capable of a more penetrating degradation, of a more elegant and a more poisonous corruption.
Knowledge has been increased, but on the increase of knowledge has followed the increase of pride. Science has unravelled the laws of nature and the hidden treasures of the material universe, and they place fresh combinations of power and new revelations of enjoyment in the hands of men who have not seen in the discovery increased reasons for self-restraint or for reverence for the Giver of all good gifts.
The world, the home of the human race, has been opened to civilized man in all its distant recesses, and he has taken, or is taking, possession of its full inheritance; but his onward path is the path of avarice and greed, of lust and cruelty, and he seizes on each new land as he reaches it in the spirit of the merchant or the conqueror, not in that of the harbinger of peace, the bearer of the good tidings of God.
Charity growing cold
At home, in Christendom itself, we hear, as our Lord said, of wars and rumours of wars, nation rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. In the Apostles’ time, it was an unheard of thing that the majestic peace and unity of the Roman Empire should not absorb and keep in harmony a hundred rival nationalities. In our time it is not to be thought of that the supernatural bond of the Christian Church should be able to keep nations which are brethren in the faith from devouring one another.
Or, again, my brethren, let us turn from public to private life. Look at social life, look at domestic manners; consider the men and women of the present day in their amusements, their costumes, the amount of restraint they put upon the impulses of nature; compare them at their theatres and their recreations, compare them as to their treatment of the poor and the afflicted classes; compare them, again, as to the style of art which they affect, or the literature in which they delight, with the old heathen of the days of St. Paul.
I do not say – God forbid! – that there is not a wide and impassable gulf between the two, for that would be to say that so many centuries of Christendom had been utterly wasted, and that the Gospel law has not penetrated to the foundations of society, so that it is not true that our Lord rules, as the Psalmist says, “in the midst of His enemies,”[2] even over the world which would fain emancipate itself from His sway.
But I do say, that if a Christian of the first ages were to rise from the dead, and examine our society, point by point, on the heads which I have intimated, and compare it, on the one hand, with the polished refined heathen whom he may have known at the Courts of Nero or Domitian; and, on the other, with the pure strict holiness of his own brethren in the faith, who worshipped with him in the catacombs, he might find it difficult indeed to say that what he would see around him in London or Paris was derived by legitimate inheritance rather from the traditions of the martyr Church than from the customs of the persecuting heathen.
He would miss the violence, the cruelty, the riotous and ruffianly lust, the extraordinary disrespect for humanity and human life which distinguished the later Roman civilization; but he would find much of its corruption, much of its licentiousness, much of its hardness of heart.
The unregenerate instincts of human nature are surging up like a great sea all around us, society is fast losing all respect for those checks upon the innate heathenism of man which have been thrown over the surface of the world by the Church. It is becoming an acknowledged law that whatever is natural is right, and by nature is meant nature corrupted by sin, nature not illuminated by faith and unassisted by grace — that is, the lower appetites of man in revolt against conscience, looking for no home but earth and no satisfaction but in the present, “having no hope of the promise, and without God in this world.”[3]
The final struggle will destroy all sects, leaving the Church against the world
All these dangers with which we are beset, which have their roots in human nature, and whose growth is fostered by the condition of the world, have been met by our Lord Jesus Christ, and are provided for in the Church. We are apt to marvel at what we deem the superfluous richness and profusion of that which may be called the armament of the Church, the variety of the means of grace, the multiplied channels by which heavenly strength is conveyed to fainting and wounded souls.
And yet not one of all these is needless; the whole strength and all the weapons of the Church will be strained to the utmost in her final struggle.
The whole might of unregenerate nature, in its undying repugnance to submit to the restraints of the law of God, is bearing down upon the Christian bulwarks of society with a weight as immense, and as relentless in its pressure on every part, as the tide of a whole ocean, which is swung in its daily flow against the rocks and cliffs of a far-stretching continent. What can resist it?
One force alone, the force of God, who sets bounds to the sea, and can check the raging passions of a whole race.
We hear little, in the latter days, of heresies and schisms, of isolated communities and partial forms of Christianity. These things will have had their day and have done much evil in it, but they are too frail and miserable in themselves to live on the surges of that last tempest of humanity — the Church alone can ride out the storm.
But again, my brethren, how does the Church deal with such assaults as those we are contemplating?
She works, no doubt, by the sacraments and the other means of grace, by the Word of God preached and taught in the sanctuary, and the like. But the strongholds of the Church are in the family and the school.
Her battlefields are those on which such questions as that of the sanctity of marriage and that of the purity of Christian education are fought out.
Give her the forming of her children, and she will train up the Christian youth and maiden, she will join them in a holy bond to form the family, of Christian families she will compose Christian communities, Christian nations, and out of Christian nations she will build up Christendom, a Christian world.
She can cure nature, and nothing else can.
Give her free scope, and you will hear little of that long list of heathen vices of which you have heard to-day; little of men being covetous, contentious, slaves of avarice and licentiousness, there will be no complaints of the decay of mercy, or of natural affection, of human kindness, honesty, faithfulness.
Barbarians at the Gate
So then, in these our days, can we too often remind ourselves of the points of attack chosen by the enemies of faith and of society? Can we forget with what a wearisome sameness of policy the war is waged year after year, first in one place and then in another; how certain it is that, as soon as we hear that some nation hitherto guided by Catholic instincts has become a convert to the enlightened ideas of our times, the next day will bring the further tidings that in that nation marriage is no longer to be treated as a sacrament, and that education is to be withdrawn from the care of the Church and her ministers?
And, indeed, my brethren, we know not how soon we ourselves may be engaged in a deadly conflict, on one at least of these points.
Up to this time we, in England, have been able to train our children for ourselves. And, to give honour where honour is due, we have owed our liberty in great measure to the high value which certain communities outside the Church set upon distinctively Christian and doctrinal instruction. But we know not how soon the tide of war may come to our homes.
We hear a cry in the air — it says that the child belongs to the State, and that it is the duty of the State to take his education to itself.
The cry is false; the child belongs to the parent, belongs to the Church, belongs to God.
In that cry speaks the reviving paganism of our day. Surely it should teach us, if nothing else can, the paramount importance of Christian education. If we give in to that cry we are lost.
What should we do?
Train up your children, my brethren, in the holy discipline and pure doctrine of the Church, and they are formed thereby to be soldiers of Jesus Christ in the coming conflict against the powers of evil.
[But] train them up in indifference to religion and Christian doctrine, and if they are not at once renegades from their faith, then at least they will be far too weak and faint-hearted in their devotion to the Church, to range themselves courageously among her champions in her terrible battle against the last apostacy.
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| Three [Latin] Masses Banned Overnight in Naples Archdioceses |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-12-2024, 08:35 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
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Three [Latin] Masses Banned Overnight in Naples Archdioceses
gloria.tv | November 12, 2024
On 23 September, a group of 250 (!) signatories presented a petition to the Archdiocese of Naples to lift the ban on all diocesan Roman Masses, reports GazzettaDelSud.it (15 October).
The Archbishop of Naples, Domenico Battaglia, was belatedly included in the list of new cardinals created on 7 December.
The suppression of the Mass came suddenly, like a blitzkrieg, with a decree of 10 May. Until then, there had been three diocesan Masses in the Roman rite in the Archdiocese of Naples, one of which had been celebrated for 20 years.
The only remaining Mass is celebrated by the Institute of Christ the King.
The petition (video here) has so far been unsuccessful.
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| Honoring Those Who Served |
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Posted by: Deus Vult - 11-11-2024, 10:32 AM - Forum: General Commentary
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Ever wonder why Veterans Day is on the 11th and does not change? World War I ended on the 11th month on the 11th day on the 11th hour.
Some years ago I saw a man selling poppies stop a lady and ask if he could re-position her poppy. While doing so he told the lady she should wear the poppy on their right side; the red represents the blood of all those who gave their lives, the black represents the mourning of those who didn't have their loved ones return home, the green leaf represents the grass and crops growing and future prosperity after the war destroyed so much. The leaf should be positioned at 11 o'clock to represent the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the time that World War I formally ended. He was worried that younger generations wouldn't understand this and his generation wouldn't be around for much longer to teach them.
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| Fulton Sheen's Ecumenical 'Firsts' as Bishop of Rochester |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-11-2024, 08:46 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
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Fulton Sheen's Ecumenical 'Firsts' as Bishop of Rochester
TIA | November 10, 2024
To implement the ecumenical directives of Vatican II, Bishop Fulton Sheen wanted to be one of the first U.S. Prelates to invite a Protestant to speak at his Cathedral. This was in keeping with his program to make the “little Diocese of Rochester in upper New York State” a catalyst of post-Vatican Council II renewal.
So, on September 13, 1968, a “first” occurred at Sacred Heart Cathedral when Mervis Chandler, the Protestant associate executive associate director of the Rochester Area Council of Churches, spoke from the pulpit at all six Sunday Masses at the invitation of Bishop Sheen.
Below, see the article in the diocesan paper The Courier Journal of September 13, 1968, p. 7. Click here to see whole page.
Then, only four months later in January 1969, Bishop Sheen himself spoke at the Sunday ecumenical ‘service’ in the Third Presbyterian Church before an audience of 1,000.
This was another ‘first’ in the Rochester Diocese. This sermon marked the first time he appeared before a Protestant congregation during a regular Sunday morning service. Sheen was commemorating the close of the Week of the Prayer for Christian Unity, another ecumenical innovation coming from Vatican II.
The Bishop emphasized “the bonds of unity” in his talk that bind together all “believers” – Catholics and Protestants.
Referring to the “person of Christ,” Bishop Sheen told the packed Protestant congregation: “You love Him deeply … We have differences in expressing truth, but these are merely ‘lovers quarrels.’ These are quarrels of great intensity, but merely the words are different. The expressions are the same.”
He also insisted that the understanding of “the cross” between Catholics and Presbyterians was the same and united “all friends of the Lord.” The enmity caused by emphasizing differences, he stated, has resulted in a “community of evil,” which “forces us to unite today … to save Christianity.”
We have already seen that Bishop Sheen made another “first” when he addressed the congregation of B’rith Kodesh in 1967, becoming the first head of the Rochester Diocese to speak in a Jewish house of worship.
At the end of this article, the Courier Journal reports how Bishop Sheen was busy making other ecumenical ‘firsts’ during his two innitial years at Rochester (1967-1968): Sheen addressed an evening Lenten service in Asbury First Methodist Church, spoke at a Lutheran Synod meeting in the Reformation Lutheran church, and gave a talk in Bethany Presbyterian Church on a Sunday afternoon. He also gave the final blessing at an ecumenical service in Christ Episcopal Church Cathedral.
Before Vatican II, no Catholic Prelate would go to Protestant temples to address the audience with friendly words, much less would a Bishop invite a minister to speak to a Catholic congregation as if they had a equal right to present their erroneous “truths.”
Sadly, the presupposition of the ensemble of Bishop Sheen’s actions and sermons to Protestants is precisely that all religions – at least all those present in those services – can lead to eternal salvation, which is a heresy that contradicts the dogma that outside the Catholic Church there is no salvation.
Among many other solemn declarations of the Church in this regard, we have the Bull Cantate Domino by Pope Eugene IV in union with the Council of Florence, which affirm this truth without possibility of any doubt, see here.
Below, see the article in the diocesan paper Courier Journal of January 31, 1969, p. 7. Click here to see whole page.
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