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| Vatican Cardinal: In a Globalized World, ‘There Are No Borders’ |
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Posted by: Stone - 03-31-2021, 06:51 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
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Vatican Cardinal: In a Globalized World, ‘There Are No Borders’
Pope Francis meets a group of faithful from China at the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 18, 2018.
Breitbart | 27 Mar 20210
ROME — The president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue said Friday that the Vatican will continue pursuing diplomatic relations with China following the renewal of a 2018 Sino-Vatican accord on the naming of bishops in China.
“What we hope is that this openness continues, that this long process continues, because in a globalized world, there are no differences, there are no borders,” said Cardinal Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot. What the Vatican hopes for is “an openness that allows us to make a step forward.”
During a round table with journalists Friday, the Spanish cardinal said that interreligious dialogue, including with non-believers, is needed now more than ever “because it favors processes of peace” and facilitates common solutions to problems such as poverty, war, climate change, migration, and human trafficking.
This dialogue is not simplistic or superficial, and it must be done with mutual respect, openness, and without fear, he said, calling it a path “of awareness, sharing, and collaboration” that involves “making concrete steps together with members of other religions and with other people,” Crux reported in its coverage of the event.
“Everyone is called, in our difficult time, to be messengers of peace, artisans of communion,” he said, insisting the present moment must be “a time of fraternity.”
On February 4, Pope Francis celebrated the U.N.’s first International Day of Human Fraternity together with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed.
“This celebration responds to a clear call that Pope Francis has been making to all humanity to build a present of peace in the encounter with the other,” Cardinal Ayuso stated at the time.
In an interview with Vatican media in August 2019, Ayuso declared that “interfaith dialogue is the only efficient antidote to the evil of fundamentalism.”
Religious leaders are called to “build bridges, strengthen dialogue and overcome the temptation to close themselves and fuel the ‘clash of civilizations,’” he said.
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| Wristbands and dining cards: New Army policies exclude, isolate unvaccinated |
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Posted by: Stone - 03-31-2021, 06:38 AM - Forum: COVID Passports
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Wristbands and dining cards: New Army policies exclude, isolate unvaccinated
The US Army can’t legally mandate COVID vaccines, but restrictive policies like those at Fort Drum and Fort Bragg make it increasingly difficult for service members to refuse.
March 31, 2020 (Children’s Health Defense) – “Liberty is always dangerous but it is the safest thing we have.” — Henry Emerson Fosdick
A March 17 memorandum from the commander at the U.S. Army’s Fort Drum reservation in New York lists privileges withheld from service members who refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine — an experimental Emergency Use Authorization product not proven to prevent infection or transmission of the COVID virus.
The memo, “Prohibited Activities for Personnel Within the Authority of the Commander, 10th Mountain Division and Fort Drum,” states:
- Fully vaccinated service members do not have “restriction of movement” or quarantine after travel and return to post. Unvaccinated must quarantine for 10 days and can test out after seven days of quarantine. “Family members must be able to quarantine with the service member (i.e. spouse cannot go to work, children cannot go to school).”
- Vaccinated service members only require an O-3 (captain or company commander) to approve their leave, while unvaccinated must request leave from a higher-ranking O-5 (lieutenant colonel or battalion commander) with an additional procedural step of submitting an Exception to Policy (ETP). These ETPs will be tracked at the division level for additional scrutiny, and likely will be denied.
- Vaccinated service members may meet with or host any non-local visitor from outside the five states contiguous to New York (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont). Unvaccinated service members must obtain approval from an O-5 in their chain of command, and then enter a 10-day quarantine to meet with or reside with any non-local visitor.
- Vaccinated service members have no limits on gatherings at a private residence. Unvaccinated have a limit of 12 guests at indoor gatherings, and 15 guests at outdoor gatherings. ETPs may be granted for larger on-post public social gatherings by an O-5 commander, but if all personnel attending the gathering are vaccinated no ETP is required.
- Vaccinated service members can conduct outdoor physical training unmasked. Unvaccinated must wear masks during physical training. Vaccinated personnel may be authorized to conduct unmasked physical training at indoor facilities, “without unvaccinated personnel present.”
- Face masks may be removed if all people in a room are vaccinated.
Perhaps the most shocking item in the new policy is this: Fort Drum authorized a COVID wristband for vaccinated service members.
What’s happening at Fort Drum is bad enough, but maybe not as bad as the civil rights violation occurring against the unvaccinated at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, where the commander of the 82nd Airborne Division has made a vaccination card mandatory to enter a dining facility.
Because a majority of lower enlisted soldiers don’t have access to kitchens in the barracks, they are dependent on the dining facilities for most, if not all of their meals while on duty or in training rotations which don’t provide access to public restaurants.
This mandate will disproportionately affect lower-income personnel who may have to trade accepting an experimental vaccine in order to have food.
These policies at Fort Drum and Fort Bragg are reminiscent of the fear and prejudice that led to policies of exclusion, removal and detention of loyal Japanese Americans to internment camps — or concentration camps, in corrected historical terminology, as the targeted people of Japanese descent were not enemies of the state.
The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians concluded that U.S. government policies toward Japanese Americans were based on “race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership” — not military necessity. That conclusion led to the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.
Likewise, the Army’s COVID policies are based on prejudice against the unvaccinated (personnel who do not put the vaccinated at risk) and hysteria concerning a virus with a 99.9% survival rate for most military service members.
Has the U.S. Army forgotten its historical role in facilitating most of the internment camps that caused loss of income, lack of access to healthcare, psychological trauma and public hostility for thousands of Japanese Americans?
As COVID policies force quarantines upon healthy people and their entire families, have leaders deserted the Ex parte Endo U.S. Supreme Court decision of 1944 that declared loyal citizens of the U.S. cannot be detained without cause?
The policies at Fort Drum and Fort Bragg set the stage for a sequel to the shameful chapter in U.S. Army history detailed in the Commission on Wartime Relocation report, “Personal Justice Denied.”
It is urgent that service members file complaints to the inspector general to halt this momentum towards medical fascism.
[Emphasis mine.]
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| Boston Archdiocese mandates that only ‘vaccinated’ can serve at altar |
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Posted by: Stone - 03-31-2021, 06:31 AM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Spiritual]
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Boston Archdiocese mandates that only ‘vaccinated’ can serve at altar
Many pew-sitting Catholics are beginning to worry about how access to the sacraments may soon depend on their vaccination status.
BOSTON, Massachusetts, March 30, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – The Archdiocese of Boston, headed by Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley, has made the reception of a COVID vaccine a necessary prerequisite to laity participating in certain ministries at parishes, such as serving at the altar.
The Archdiocese’s March 17 updated COVID protocols include allowing an adult to serve at the altar, but only if the adult has been vaccinated.
“Parishes can use a vaccinated adult altar server at all Masses,” the protocol states.
“The server should wear a mask, and the priest (and deacon) should wear a mask at the times when they are not speaking. When the priest is speaking and therefore not wearing a mask, the server should maintain the greatest distance possible. The server should not hold the missal for the priest,” states the guidelines about the server.
The protocols also allow parishes to resume "a normal frequency" of Communion calls if the minister is “fully vaccinated.” According to the guidelines, such calls should be brief, "just long enough to bring the Sacrament,” adding that “extraordinary ministers of Communion can continue to bring the Blessed Sacrament to their families regardless of vaccination status.”
The new protocols come amid the “steady rollout of vaccines and declining numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations,” reported the Boston Pilot, the Archdiocese’s newspaper.
Many pew-sitting Catholics are beginning to worry about how access to the sacraments may soon depend on their vaccination status.
Just this week, a parish in New Jersey announced that it would only allow those who had been vaccinated to receive the sacrament of Confession. Pushback from Catholics resulted in the local bishop stepping in and successfully asking the parish priest to change his policy.
Last month, a New Mexico parish priest stated that those age 60 and older who wanted to assist in distribution of Holy Communion and in ushering must first receive a COVID vaccine.
Guidance from the Catholic Church on the morality of using COVID-19 vaccines allows the faithful the option of seeking a religious exemption from vaccines, especially those tainted by abortion.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith stated in December 2020 that “practical reason makes evident that vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation and that, therefore, it must be voluntary.”
“In any case, from the ethical point of view, the morality of vaccination depends not only on the duty to protect one's own health, but also on the duty to pursue the common good. In the absence of other means to stop or even prevent the epidemic, the common good may recommend vaccination, especially to protect the weakest and most exposed. Those who, however, for reasons of conscience, refuse vaccines produced with cell lines from aborted fetuses, must do their utmost to avoid, by other prophylactic means and appropriate behavior, becoming vehicles for the transmission of the infectious agent.”
[Emphasis mine.]
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| Novena of St. Vincent Ferrer |
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Posted by: Hildegard of Bingen - 03-30-2021, 07:25 PM - Forum: Novenas
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![[Image: il_340x270.1222482647_1csk.jpg?version=0]](https://i.etsystatic.com/13521985/d/il/b59f9d/1222482647/il_340x270.1222482647_1csk.jpg?version=0)
Novena of St. Vincent Ferrer
Day 1 Prayer
O Saint Vincent Ferrer, our guardian, because God our eternal Father has blessed you with an inexhaustible fountain of grace and blessing, we beg you to hear our prayers and to assist us with your powerful intercession which is even more effective now that you are in heaven than it was when you were on earth.
Full of confidence in your mercy and compassion, we kneel in prayer before you, and commend to your powerful intercession all our needs, those of our families, our friends, relatives, and especially
(mention your intention here)
Glorious Saint Vincent Ferrer, let not our hope and confidence in your protection be deceived.
Intercede for us before the throne of God. Watch over our eternal welfare.
If our trials and tribulations in this world multiply, may they serve to give us spiritual joy and happiness.
If God will only grant us the grace of ever increasing patience to the end that we may save our souls.
Amen.
Day 2 Prayer
O Saint Vincent Ferrer, our guardian, because God our eternal Father has blessed you with an inexhaustible fountain of grace and blessing, we beg you to hear our prayers and to assist us with your powerful intercession which is even more effective now that you are in heaven than it was when you were on earth.
Full of confidence in your mercy and compassion, we kneel in prayer before you, and commend to your powerful intercession all our needs, those of our families, our friends, relatives, and especially
(mention your intention here)
Glorious Saint Vincent Ferrer, let not our hope and confidence in your protection be deceived.
Intercede for us before the throne of God. Watch over our eternal welfare.
If our trials and tribulations in this world multiply, may they serve to give us spiritual joy and happiness.
If God will only grant us the grace of ever increasing patience to the end that we may save our souls.
Amen.
Day 3 Prayer
O Saint Vincent Ferrer, our guardian, because God our eternal Father has blessed you with an inexhaustible fountain of grace and blessing, we beg you to hear our prayers and to assist us with your powerful intercession which is even more effective now that you are in heaven than it was when you were on earth.
Full of confidence in your mercy and compassion, we kneel in prayer before you, and commend to your powerful intercession all our needs, those of our families, our friends, relatives, and especially
(mention your intention here)
Glorious Saint Vincent Ferrer, let not our hope and confidence in your protection be deceived.
Intercede for us before the throne of God. Watch over our eternal welfare.
If our trials and tribulations in this world multiply, may they serve to give us spiritual joy and happiness.
If God will only grant us the grace of ever increasing patience to the end that we may save our souls.
Amen.
Day 4 Prayer
O Saint Vincent Ferrer, our guardian, because God our eternal Father has blessed you with an inexhaustible fountain of grace and blessing, we beg you to hear our prayers and to assist us with your powerful intercession which is even more effective now that you are in heaven than it was when you were on earth.
Full of confidence in your mercy and compassion, we kneel in prayer before you, and commend to your powerful intercession all our needs, those of our families, our friends, relatives, and especially
(mention your intention here)
Glorious Saint Vincent Ferrer, let not our hope and confidence in your protection be deceived.
Intercede for us before the throne of God. Watch over our eternal welfare.
If our trials and tribulations in this world multiply, may they serve to give us spiritual joy and happiness.
If God will only grant us the grace of ever increasing patience to the end that we may save our souls.
Amen.
Day 5 Prayer
O Saint Vincent Ferrer, our guardian, because God our eternal Father has blessed you with an inexhaustible fountain of grace and blessing, we beg you to hear our prayers and to assist us with your powerful intercession which is even more effective now that you are in heaven than it was when you were on earth.
Full of confidence in your mercy and compassion, we kneel in prayer before you, and commend to your powerful intercession all our needs, those of our families, our friends, relatives, and especially
(mention your intention here)
Glorious Saint Vincent Ferrer, let not our hope and confidence in your protection be deceived.
Intercede for us before the throne of God. Watch over our eternal welfare.
If our trials and tribulations in this world multiply, may they serve to give us spiritual joy and happiness.
If God will only grant us the grace of ever increasing patience to the end that we may save our souls.
Amen.
Day 6 Prayer
O Saint Vincent Ferrer, our guardian, because God our eternal Father has blessed you with an inexhaustible fountain of grace and blessing, we beg you to hear our prayers and to assist us with your powerful intercession which is even more effective now that you are in heaven than it was when you were on earth.
Full of confidence in your mercy and compassion, we kneel in prayer before you, and commend to your powerful intercession all our needs, those of our families, our friends, relatives, and especially
(mention your intention here)
Glorious Saint Vincent Ferrer, let not our hope and confidence in your protection be deceived.
Intercede for us before the throne of God. Watch over our eternal welfare.
If our trials and tribulations in this world multiply, may they serve to give us spiritual joy and happiness.
If God will only grant us the grace of ever increasing patience to the end that we may save our souls.
Amen.
Day 7 Prayer
O Saint Vincent Ferrer, our guardian, because God our eternal Father has blessed you with an inexhaustible fountain of grace and blessing, we beg you to hear our prayers and to assist us with your powerful intercession which is even more effective now that you are in heaven than it was when you were on earth.
Full of confidence in your mercy and compassion, we kneel in prayer before you, and commend to your powerful intercession all our needs, those of our families, our friends, relatives, and especially
(mention your intention here)
Glorious Saint Vincent Ferrer, let not our hope and confidence in your protection be deceived.
Intercede for us before the throne of God. Watch over our eternal welfare.
If our trials and tribulations in this world multiply, may they serve to give us spiritual joy and happiness.
If God will only grant us the grace of ever increasing patience to the end that we may save our souls.
Amen.
Day 8 Prayer
O Saint Vincent Ferrer, our guardian, because God our eternal Father has blessed you with an inexhaustible fountain of grace and blessing, we beg you to hear our prayers and to assist us with your powerful intercession which is even more effective now that you are in heaven than it was when you were on earth.
Full of confidence in your mercy and compassion, we kneel in prayer before you, and commend to your powerful intercession all our needs, those of our families, our friends, relatives, and especially
(mention your intention here)
Glorious Saint Vincent Ferrer, let not our hope and confidence in your protection be deceived.
Intercede for us before the throne of God. Watch over our eternal welfare.
If our trials and tribulations in this world multiply, may they serve to give us spiritual joy and happiness.
If God will only grant us the grace of ever increasing patience to the end that we may save our souls.
Amen.
Day 9 Prayer
O Saint Vincent Ferrer, our guardian, because God our eternal Father has blessed you with an inexhaustible fountain of grace and blessing, we beg you to hear our prayers and to assist us with your powerful intercession which is even more effective now that you are in heaven than it was when you were on earth.
Full of confidence in your mercy and compassion, we kneel in prayer before you, and commend to your powerful intercession all our needs, those of our families, our
friends, relatives, and especially
(mention your intention here)
Glorious Saint Vincent Ferrer, let not our hope and confidence in your protection be deceived.
Intercede for us before the throne of God. Watch over our eternal welfare.
If our trials and tribulations in this world multiply, may they serve to give us spiritual joy and happiness.
If God will only grant us the grace of ever increasing patience to the end that we may save our souls.
Amen.
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| Every Day with Saint Francis de Sales - April |
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Posted by: Hildegard of Bingen - 03-30-2021, 07:07 PM - Forum: Doctors of the Church
- Replies (2)
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Every Day with Saint Francis de Sales
Teachings and Examples from the Life of the Saint by Salesiana Publishers
APRIL 1st (page 93)
Friendship based on the pleasures of the senses is coarse and does not deserve the name of friendship. The same holds true for friendships based on vain and frivolous qualities, since they also have their roots in the senses. By pleasures of the senses I mean those that principally originate from the external senses, such as pleasure in looking at beautiful things or listening to a sweet voice, pleasure of touch and the like. Friendships based on such things deserve to be called follies rather than friendships!
(INT. Part III, Ch. 17; O. III, p 196)
On April 1st, 1618, Francis de Sales, on a visit to Grenoble, gave a eulogy on Saint Hugo, one of those saints to whom he had a particular devotion. "I honor this saint," he said, "because he did so much to populate the frightening solitude of Chartreuse with a countless number of religious, whose virtue spread a marvelous perfume of holiness throughout the Church." Francis never tired of turning over in his mind this rich expression of Saint Hugo, "The evil I do is truly evil and truly mine; the good that I do is not attributable to me or really mine."
(A.S. IV, p. 2)
We shall never have peace if it is not practiced amid repugnance, aversion and disgust. True peace does not lie in not fighting, but in conquering.
Perfection does not consist in being perfect or in acting perfectly. It is the striving for perfection that is important.
Every Day with Saint Francis de Sales
Teachings and Examples from the Life of the Saint by Salesiana Publishers
APRIL 2nd (page 94)
Venial sin, no matter how slight it may be, displeases God. Therefore, if it displeases God, any will and affection that one has for venial sin is nothing less than a disposition to offend the Divine Majesty. Is it possible that an upright soul should not only displease God but even nourish within itself an affection and a will to displease Him?
(INT. Part I, Ch. 22; O. III, p. 63)
Francis de Sales, wishing to publicly proclaim his devotion to Saint Francis of Paula, received the cord of the Minims in the monastery at Grenoble. He knelt before the mantle with which the saint had passed over the sea with dry feet, which was exposed for this occasion. The people, who wanted to express their own devotion, threw themselves on top of him and used his shoulders as their support. The saint made no effort to stop them from doing all this. When he was leaving the church the religious made their apologies, saying that they admired his patience. He replied, "Is it not necessary for each one to show his devotion in some way or other? I can assure you that I paid very little attention to those who were all around me. I was thinking of Saint Francis, who spiritually and personally gave me his cord and obliged me, with ties both external and internal, to consider all the Minims as my brothers."
(A.S. IV, p. 38)
There is nothing more contrary to charity - or to the love of God - than to have little concern for one's neighbor.
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| Vatican Observes ‘Earth Hour’ of Darkness Against Climate Change |
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Posted by: Stone - 03-29-2021, 06:11 PM - Forum: Pope Francis
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Lights Out: Vatican Observes ‘Earth Hour’ of Darkness Against Climate Change
Breitbart | Mar 20210
ROME — The Vatican extinguished the lights of the dome and the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica for an hour on Saturday night in commemoration of “Earth Hour 2021.”
From 8:30pm to 9:30pm the iconic basilica was darkened as a symbolic gesture against climate change, joining monuments of cities across the globe that turned off their lights as well. Vatican News reported that the act was performed “to demonstrate the serious global climate crisis.”
Earth Hour is an initiative launched by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in 2007 to call attention to the gravity of the “climate crisis” by symbolically abstaining from the use of energy for an hour. It began in Sydney, Australia, but quickly spread all over the globe and now each year more than 10,000 landmarks and monuments switch off their lights.
Vatican News noted that Earth Hour is billed as the “largest global mobilisation against climate change” and is intended to “unite citizens, institutions and businesses in a common desire to give the world a sustainable future and to overcome the challenge of climate change.”
According to Earth Hour official propaganda, millions of people in more than 180 countries and territories take part in the annual ritual, switching off their lights to show support for the planet.
Earth Hour “has become a catalyst for positive environmental impact, driving major legislative changes by harnessing the power of the people and collective action,” it claims.
The WWF has plenty of critics, even among True Believers in the evils of climate change. The Copenhagen Consensus Center, for instance, a “think tank that researches and publishes the smartest solutions for the world’s biggest problems,” declares that the Earth Hour project “is nothing but an ineffective feel-good event.”
This combination of pictures created on March 27, 2021 shows St. Peter’s Basilica in The Vatican on March 27, 2021
before (Top) and after (Bottom) the lights were turned off for Earth Hour.
Earth Hour “does little for the climate in terms of reducing CO emissions and distracts us from the real problems and solutions — especially giving light to those in the darkness,” the Center states on its website.
Even the liberal journal Slate has criticized Earth Hour, saying that its “vain symbolism reveals exactly what is wrong with today’s feel-good environmentalism,” while others have said that the symbolic act “celebrates ignorance, poverty and backwardness” and promotes the idea that “civilization is something to be ashamed of.”
Many scholars have expressed deeper concerns with Earth Hour that go to the very heart of the modern environmentalist movement itself, suggesting that the initiative is just one more senseless activity encouraging an obscurantist attitude toward the benefits of modern energy and technology.
The Ayn Rand Institute, for instance, suggests that Earth Hour exploits ignorance of the vital importance of energy, sending “the comforting-but-false message: Cutting off fossil fuels would be easy and even fun! People spend the hour stargazing and holding torch-lit beach parties; restaurants offer special candle-lit dinners. Earth Hour makes the renunciation of energy seem like a big party.”
Observing Earth Hour “bears no relation whatsoever to what life would actually be like under the sort of draconian carbon-reduction policies that climate activists are demanding: punishing carbon taxes, severe emissions caps, outright bans on the construction of power plants,” wrote Dr. Keith Lockitch, a physicist with postdoctoral research in relativistic astrophysics.
“The lights of our cities and monuments are a symbol of human achievement, of what mankind has accomplished in rising from the cave to the skyscraper,” says Lockitch. “Earth Hour presents the disturbing spectacle of people celebrating those lights being extinguished.”
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| Quotes of Various Saints |
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Posted by: Hildegard of Bingen - 03-29-2021, 01:24 PM - Forum: The Saints
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QUOTES OF VARIOUS SAINTS
“God in His omnipotence could not give more, in His wisdom He knew not how to give more, in His riches He had not more to give, than the Eucharist. - St. Augustine (354-430)
“Under the influence of fear, we bear the Cross of Christ with patience. Under the more inspiring influence of hope, we carry the Cross with a firm and valiant heart. But under the consuming power of love, we embrace the Cross with ardor.” - St. Bernard (1090-1153)
“The gates of Heaven will open to all who confide in the protection of Mary.”
- St. Bonaventure (1221-1274)
“The suffering of adversity does not degrade you but exalts you. Human tribulation teaches you; it does not destroy you. The more we are afflicted in this world, the greater will be our joy in the future.
- St. Isidore of Seville (d. 636)
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“If I love Mary, I am certain of perseverance, and shall obtain whatever I wish from God.”
- St. John Berchmans (1599-1621)
“Purity means that we put on the likeness of God, as far as is humanly possible.”
- St. John Climatus (d. 649)
“One just soul can obtain pardon for a thousand sinners.”
- St. Margaret Mary Aloque (1647-1690)
“Good example is the most efficacious apostolate. You must be as lighted lanterns and shine like brilliant chandeliers among men. By your good example and your words, animate others to know and love God.”
- St. Mary Joseph Rosello (1811-1880)
“Take the holy crucifix in your hands, kiss its wounds with great love, and ask Him to preach you a sermon. Listen to what the thorns, the nails, and that Divine Blood say to you. Oh, what it sermon!”
- St. Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)
“Is there anything that a generous heart would not willingly suffer on contemplating Jesus crucified?”
- St. Raphaela Mary (1850-1925)
“The devil strains every nerve to secure the souls which belong to Christ. We should not grudge our toil in wresting them from Satan, and giving them back to God.” - St. Sebastian (d. 288)
“Before prayer, endeavor to realize whose presence you are approaching, and to whom you are about to speak. We can never fully understand how we ought to behave towards God, before whom the angels tremble.” – St. Theresa of Avila (1515-1582)
“True charity consists in putting up with all one’s neighbor’s faults, never being surprised by his weakness, and being inspired by the least of his virtues.” - St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897)
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| Pope Pius XI: Miserentissumus Redemptor - On Reparation to the Sacred Heart |
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Posted by: Stone - 03-29-2021, 08:14 AM - Forum: Encyclicals
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MISERENTISSIMUS REDEMPTOR
On Reparation to the Sacred Heart
To Our Venerable Brethren the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and other Local Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See.
Venerable Brethren, Health and the Apostolic Blessing.
1. Our Most Merciful Redeemer, after He had wrought salvation for mankind on the tree of the Cross and before He ascended from out this world to the Father, said to his Apostles and Disciples, to console them in their anxiety, "Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." (Matt. xxviii, 20). These words, which are indeed most pleasing, are a cause of all hope and security, and they bring us, Venerable Brethren, ready succor, whenever we look round from this watch-tower raised on high and see all human society laboring amid so many evils and miseries, and the Church herself beset without ceasing by attacks and machinations. For as in the beginning this Divine promise lifted up the despondent spirit of the Apostles and enkindled and inflamed them so that they might cast the seeds of the Gospel teaching throughout the whole world; so ever since it has strengthened the Church unto her victory over the gates of hell. In sooth, Our Lord Jesus Christ has been with his Church in every age, but He has been with her with more present aid and protection whenever she has been assailed by graver perils and difficulties. For the remedies adapted to the condition of time and circumstances, are always supplied by Divine Wisdom, who reacheth from end to end mightily, and ordereth all things sweetly (Wisdom viii, 1). But in this latter age also, "the hand of the Lord is not shortened" (Isaias lix, 1), more especially since error has crept in and has spread far and wide, so that it might well be feared that the fountains of Christian life might be in a manner dried up, where men are cut off from the love and knowledge of God. Now, since it may be that some of the people do not know, and others do not heed, those complaints which the most loving Jesus made when He manifested Himself to Margaret Mary Alacoque, and those things likewise which at the same time He asked and expected of men, for their own ultimate profit, it is our pleasure, Venerable Brethren, to speak to you for a little while concerning the duty of honorable satisfaction which we all owe to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, with the intent that you may, each of you, carefully teach your own flocks those things which we set before you, and stir hem up to put the same in practice.
2. Among the many proofs of the boundless benignity of our Redeemer, there is one that stands out conspicuously, to wit the fact that when the charity of Christian people was growing cold, the Divine Charity itself was set forth to be honored by a special worship, and the riches of its bounty was made widely manifest by that form of devotion wherein worship is given to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, "In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Coloss. ii, 3). For as in olden time when mankind came forth from Noe's ark, God set His "bow in the clouds" (Genesis ix, 13), shining as the sign of a friendly covenant; so in the most turbulent times of a more recent age, when the Jansenist heresy, the most crafty of them all, hostile to love and piety towards God, was creeping in and preaching that God was not to be loved as a father but rather to be feared as an implacable judge; then the most benign Jesus showed his own most Sacred Heart to the nations lifted up as a standard of peace and charity portending no doubtful victory in the combat. And indeed Our Predecessor of happy memory, Leo Xlll, admiring the timely opportuneness of the devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, said very aptly in his Encyclical Letter, "Annum Sacrum," "When in the days near her origin, the Church was oppressed under the yoke of the Caesars the Cross shown on high to the youthful Emperor was at once an omen and a cause of the victory that speedily followed. And here today another most auspicious and most divine sign is offered to our sight, to wit the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, with a Cross set above it shining with most resplendent brightness in the midst of flames. Herein must all hopes be set, from hence must the salvation of men be sought and expected."
3. And rightly indeed is that said, Venerable Brethren. For is not the sum of all religion and therefore the pattern of more perfect life, contained in that most auspicious sign and in the form of piety that follows from it inasmuch as it more readily leads the minds of men to an intimate knowledge of Christ Our Lord, and more efficaciously moves their hearts to love Him more vehemently and to imitate Him more closely? It is no wonder, therefore, that Our Predecessors have constantly defended this most approved form of devotion from the censures of calumniators, and have extolled it with high praise and promoted it very zealously, as the needs of time and circumstance demanded. Moreover, by the inspiration of God's grace, it has come to pass that the pious devotion of the faithful towards the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus has made great increase in the course of time; hence pious confraternities to promote the worship of the Divine Heart are everywhere erected, hence too the custom of receiving Holy Communion on the first Friday of every month at the desire of Christ Jesus, a custom which now prevails everywhere.
4. But assuredly among those things which properly pertain to the worship of the Most Sacred Heart, a special place must be given to that Consecration, whereby we devote ourselves and all things that are ours to the Divine Heart of Jesus, acknowledging that we have received all things from the everlasting love of God. When Our Savior had taught Margaret Mary, the most innocent disciple of His Heart, how much He desired that this duty of devotion should be rendered to him by men, moved in this not so much by His own right as by His immense charity for us; she herself, with her spiritual father, Claude de la Colombiere, rendered it the first of all. Thereafter followed, in the course of time, individual men, then private families and associations, and lastly civil magistrates, cities and kingdoms. But since in the last century, and in this present century, things have come to such a pass, that by the machinations of wicked men the sovereignty of Christ Our Lord has been denied and war is publicly waged against the Church, by passing laws and promoting plebiscites repugnant to Divine and natural law, nay more by holding assemblies of them that cry out, "We will not have this man to reign over us" (Luke xix, 14): from the aforesaid Consecration there burst forth over against them in keenest opposition the voice of all the clients of the Most Sacred Heart, as it were one voice, to vindicate His glory and to assert His rights: "Christ must reign" (1 Corinthians xv, 25); "Thy kingdom come" (Matth. vi, 10). From this at length it happily came to pass that at the beginning of this century the whole human race which Christ, in whom all things are re-established (Ephes. i, 10), possesses by native right as His own, was dedicated to the same Most Sacred Heart, with the applause of the whole Christian world, by Our Predecessor of happy memory, Leo Xlll.
5. Now these things so auspiciously and happily begun as we taught in Our Encyclical Letter "Quas primas," we Ourselves, consenting to very many long-continued desires and prayers of Bishops and people, brought to completion and perfected, by God's grace, when at the close of the Jubilee Year, We instituted the Feast of Christ the King of All, to be solemnly celebrated throughout the whole Christian world. Now when we did this, not only did we set in a clear light that supreme sovereignty which Christ holds over the whole universe, over civil and domestic society, and over individual men, but at the same time we anticipated the joys of that most auspicious day, whereon the whole world will gladly and willingly render obedience to the most sweet lordship of Christ the King. For this reason, We decreed at the same time that this same Consecration should be renewed every year on the occasion of that appointed festal day, so that the fruit of this same Consecration might be obtained more certainly and more abundantly, and all peoples might be joined together in Christian charity and in the reconciliation of peace, in the Heart of the King of kings and Lord of lords.
6. But to all these duties, more especially to that fruitful Consecration which was in a manner confirmed by the sacred solemnity of Christ the King, something else must needs be added, and it is concerning this that it is our pleasure to speak with you more at length, Venerable Brethren, on the present occasion: we mean that duty of honorable satisfaction or reparation which must be rendered to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. For if the first and foremost thing in Consecration is this, that the creature's love should be given in return for the love of the Creator, another thing follows from this at once, namely that to the same uncreated Love, if so be it has been neglected by forgetfulness or violated by offense, some sort of compensation must be rendered for the injury, and this debt is commonly called by the name of reparation.
7. Now though in both these matters we are impelled by quite the same motives, none the less we are holden to the duty of reparation and expiation by a certain more valid title of justice and of love, of justice indeed, in order that the offense offered to God by our sins may be expiated and that the violated order may be repaired by penance: and of love too so that we may suffer together with Christ suffering and "filled with reproaches" (Lam. iii, 30), and for all our poverty may offer Him some little solace. For since we are all sinners and laden with many faults, our God must be honored by us not only by that worship wherewith we adore His infinite Majesty with due homage, or acknowledge His supreme dominion by praying, or praise His boundless bounty by thanksgiving; but besides this we must need make satisfaction to God the just avenger, "for our numberless sins and offenses and negligences." To Consecration, therefore, whereby we are devoted to God and are called holy to God, by that holiness and stability which, as the Angelic Doctor teaches, is proper to consecration (2a. 2ae. qu. 81, a. 8. c.), there must be added expiation, whereby sins are wholly blotted out, lest the holiness of the supreme justice may punish our shameless unworthiness, and reject our offering as hateful rather than accept it as pleasing.
8. Moreover this duty of expiation is laid upon the whole race of men since, as we are taught by the Christian faith, after Adam's miserable fall, infected by hereditary stain, subject to concupiscences and most wretchedly depraved, it would have been thrust down into eternal destruction. This indeed is denied by the wise men of this age of ours, who following the ancient error of Pelagius, ascribe to human nature a certain native virtue by which of its own force it can go onward to higher things; but the Apostle rejects these false opinions of human pride, admonishing us that we "were by nature children of wrath" (Ephesians ii, 3). And indeed, even from the beginning, men in a manner acknowledged this common debt of expiation and, led by a certain natural instinct, they endeavored to appease God by public sacrifices.
9. But no created power was sufficient to expiate the sins of men, if the Son of God had not assumed man's nature in order to redeem it. This, indeed, the Savior of men Himself declared by the mouth of the sacred Psalmist: "Sacrifice and oblation thou wouldest not: but a body thou hast fitted to me: Holocausts for sin did not please thee: then said 1: Behold I come" (Hebrews x, 5-7). And in very deed, "Surely He hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows. . . He was wounded for our iniquities (Isaias liii, 4-5), and He His own self bore our sins in His body upon the tree . . . (1 Peter ii, 24), "Blotting out the handwriting of the decree that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken the same out of the way, fastening it to the cross . . ." (Colossians ii, 14) "that we being dead to sins, should live to justice" (1 Peter ii, 24). Yet, though the copious redemption of Christ has abundantly forgiven us all offenses (Cf. Colossians ii, 13), nevertheless, because of that wondrous divine dispensation whereby those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ are to be filled up in our flesh for His body which is the Church (Cf. Colossians i, 24), to the praises and satisfactions, "which Christ in the name of sinners rendered unto God" we can also add our praises and satisfactions, and indeed it behoves us so to do. But we must ever remember that the whole virtue of the expiation depends on the one bloody sacrifice of Christ, which without intermission of time is renewed on our altars in an unbloody manner, "For the victim is one and the same, the same now offering by the ministry of priests, who then offered Himself on the cross, the manner alone of offering being different" (Council of Trent, Session XXIII, Chapter 2). Wherefore with this most august Eucharistic Sacrifice there ought to be joined an oblation both of the ministers and of all the faithful, so that they also may "present themselves living sacrifices, holy, pleasing unto God" (Romans xii, 1). Nay more, St. Cyprian does not hesitate to affirm that "the Lord's sacrifice is not celebrated with legitimate sanctification, unless our oblation and sacrifice correspond to His passion" (Ephesians 63). For this reason, the Apostle admonishes us that "bearing about in our body the mortification of Jesus" (2 Corinthians iv, 10), and buried together with Christ, and planted together in the likeness of His death (Cf. Romans vi, 4-5), we must not only crucify our flesh with the vices and concupiscences (Cf. Galatians v, 24), "flying the corruption of that concupiscence which is in the world" (2 Peter i, 4), but "that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodies" (2 Corinthians iv, 10) and being made partakers of His eternal priesthood we are to offer up "gifts and sacrifices for sins" (Hebrews v, 1). Nor do those only enjoy a participation in this mystic priesthood and in the office of satisfying and sacrificing, whom our Pontiff Christ Jesus uses as His ministers to offer up the clean oblation to God's Name in every place from the rising of the sun to the going down (Malachias i, 11), but the whole Christian people rightly called by the Prince of the Apostles "a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood" (1 Peter ii, 9), ought to offer for sins both for itself and for all mankind (Cf. Hebrews v, 3), in much the same manner as every priest and pontiff "taken from among men, is ordained for men in the things that appertain to God" (Hebrews v, 1).
10. But the more perfectly that our oblation and sacrifice corresponds to the sacrifice of Our Lord, that is to say, the more perfectly we have immolated our love and our desires and have crucified our flesh by that mystic crucifixion of which the Apostle speaks, the more abundant fruits of that propitiation and expiation shall we receive for ourselves and for others. For there is a wondrous and close union of all the faithful with Christ, such as that which prevails between the head and the other members; moreover by that mystic Communion of Saints which we profess in the Catholic creed, both individual men and peoples are joined together not only with one another but also with him, "who is the head, Christ; from whom the whole body, being compacted and fitly joined together, by what every joint supplieth, according to the operation in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in charity" (Ephesians iv, 15-16). It was this indeed that the Mediator of God and men, Christ Jesus, when He was near to death, asked of His Father: "I in them, and thou in me: that they may be made perfect in one" (John xvii, 23).
11. Wherefore, even as consecration proclaims and confirms this union with Christ, so does expiation begin that same union by washing away faults, and perfect it by participating in the sufferings of Christ, and consummate it by offering victims for the brethren. And this indeed was the purpose of the merciful Jesus, when He showed His Heart to us bearing about it the symbols of the passion and displaying the flames of love, that from the one we might know the infinite malice of sin, and in the other we might admire the infinite charity of Our Redeemer, and so might have a more vehement hatred of sin, and make a more ardent return of love for His love.
12. And truly the spirit of expiation or reparation has always had the first and foremost place in the worship given to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, and nothing is more in keeping with the origin, the character, the power, and the distinctive practices of this form of devotion, as appears from the record of history and custom, as well as from the sacred liturgy and the acts of the Sovereign Pontiffs. For when Christ manifested Himself to Margaret Mary, and declared to her the infinitude of His love, at the same time, in the manner of a mourner, He complained that so many and such great injuries were done to Him by ungrateful men -- and we would that these words in which He made this complaint were fixed in the minds of the faithful, and were never blotted out by oblivion: "Behold this Heart" -- He said -- "which has loved men so much and has loaded them with all benefits, and for this boundless love has had no return but neglect, and contumely, and this often from those who were bound by a debt and duty of a more special love." In order that these faults might be washed away, He then recommended several things to be done, and in particular the following as most pleasing to Himself, namely that men should approach the Altar with this purpose of expiating sin, making what is called a Communion of Reparation, -- and that they should likewise make expiatory supplications and prayers, prolonged for a whole hour, --which is rightly called the "Holy Hour." These pious exercises have been approved by the Church and have also been enriched with copious indulgences.
13. But how can these rites of expiation bring solace now, when Christ is already reigning in the beatitude of Heaven? To this we may answer in some words of St. Augustine which are very apposite here, --"Give me one who loves, and he will understand what I say" (In Johannis evangelium, tract. XXVI, 4). For any one who has great love of God, if he will look back through the tract of past time may dwell in meditation on Christ, and see Him laboring for man, sorrowing, suffering the greatest hardships, "for us men and for our salvation," well-nigh worn out with sadness, with anguish, nay "bruised for our sins" (Isaias liii, 5), and healing us by His bruises. And the minds of the pious meditate on all these things the more truly, because the sins of men and their crimes committed in every age were the cause why Christ was delivered up to death, and now also they would of themselves bring death to Christ, joined with the same griefs and sorrows, since each several sin in its own way is held to renew the passion of Our Lord: "Crucifying again to themselves the Son of God, and making him a mockery" (Hebrews vi, 6). Now if, because of our sins also which were as yet in the future, but were foreseen, the soul of Christ became sorrowful unto death, it cannot be doubted that then, too, already He derived somewhat of solace from our reparation, which was likewise foreseen, when "there appeared to Him an angel from heaven" (Luke xxii, 43), in order that His Heart, oppressed with weariness and anguish, might find consolation. And so even now, in a wondrous yet true manner, we can and ought to console that Most Sacred Heart which is continually wounded by the sins of thankless men, since --as we also read in the sacred liturgy -- Christ Himself, by the mouth of the Psalmist complains that He is forsaken by His friends: "My Heart hath expected reproach and misery, and I looked for one that would grieve together with me, but there was none: and for one that would comfort me, and I found none" (Psalm Ixviii, 21).
14. To this it may be added that the expiatory passion of Christ is renewed and in a manner continued and fulfilled in His mystical body, which is the Church. For, to use once more the words of St. Augustine, "Christ suffered whatever it behoved Him to suffer; now nothing is wanting of the measure of the sufferings. Therefore the sufferings were fulfilled, but in the head; there were yet remaining the sufferings of Christ in His body" (In Psalm Ixxxvi). This, indeed, Our Lord Jesus Himself vouchsafed to explain when, speaking to Saul, "as yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter" (Acts ix, 1), He said, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest" (Acts ix, 5), clearly signifying that when persecutions are stirred up against the Church, the Divine Head of the Church is Himself attacked and troubled. Rightly, therefore, does Christ, still suffering in His mystical body, desire to have us partakers of His expiation, and this is also demanded by our intimate union with Him, for since we are "the body of Christ and members of member" (1 Corinthians xii, 27), whatever the head suffers, all the members must suffer with it (Cf. 1 Corinthians xii, 26).
15. Now, how great is the necessity of this expiation or reparation, more especially in this our age, will be manifest to every one who, as we said at the outset, will examine the world, "seated in wickedness" (1 John v, 19), with his eyes and with his mind. For from all sides the cry of the peoples who are mourning comes up to us, and their princes or rulers have indeed stood up and met together in one against the Lord and against His Church (Cf. Psalm ii, 2). Throughout those regions indeed, we see that all rights both human and Divine are confounded. Churches are thrown down and overturned, religious men and sacred virgins are torn from their homes and are afflicted with abuse, with barbarities, with hunger and imprisonment; bands of boys and girls are snatched from the bosom of their mother the Church, and are induced to renounce Christ, to blaspheme and to attempt the worst crimes of lust; the whole Christian people, sadly disheartened and disrupted, are continually in danger of falling away from the faith, or of suffering the most cruel death. These things in truth are so sad that you might say that such events foreshadow and portend the "beginning of sorrows," that is to say of those that shall be brought by the man of sin, "who is lifted up above all that is called God or is worshipped" (2 Thessalonians ii, 4).
16. But it is yet more to be lamented, Venerable Brethren, that among the faithful themselves, washed in Baptism with the blood of the immaculate Lamb, and enriched with grace, there are found so many men of every class, who laboring under an incredible ignorance of Divine things and infected with false doctrines, far from their Father's home, lead a life involved in vices, a life which is not brightened by the light of true faith, nor gladdened by the hope of future beatitude, nor refreshed and cherished by the fire of charity; so that they truly seem to sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. Moreover, among the faithful there is a greatly increasing carelessness of ecclesiastical discipline, and of those ancient institutions on which all Christian life rests, by which domestic society is governed, and the sanctity of marriage is safeguarded; the education of children is altogether neglected, or else it is depraved by too indulgent blandishments, and the Church is even robbed of the power of giving the young a Christian education; there is a sad forgetfulness of Christian modesty especially in the life and the dress of women; there is an unbridled cupidity of transitory things, a want of moderation in civic affairs, an unbounded ambition of popular favor, a depreciation of legitimate authority, and lastly a contempt for the word of God, whereby faith itself is injured, or is brought into proximate peril.
17. But all these evils as it were culminate in the cowardice and the sloth of those who, after the manner of the sleeping and fleeing disciples, wavering in their faith, miserably forsake Christ when He is oppressed by anguish or surrounded by the satellites of Satan, and in the perfidy of those others who following the example of the traitor Judas, either partake of the holy table rashly and sacrilegiously, or go over to the camp of the enemy. And thus, even against our will, the thought rises in the mind that now those days draw near of which Our Lord prophesied: "And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold" (Matth. xxiv, 12).
18. Now, whosoever of the faithful have piously pondered on all these things must need be inflamed with the charity of Christ in His agony and make a more vehement endeavor to expiate their own faults and those of others, to repair the honor of Christ, and to promote the eternal salvation of souls. And indeed that saying of the Apostle: "Where sin abounded, grace did more abound" (Romans v, 20) may be used in a manner to describe this present age; for while the wickedness of men has been greatly increased, at the same time, by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, a marvelous increase has been made in the number of the faithful of both sexes who with eager mind endeavor to make satisfaction for the many injuries offered to the Divine Heart, nay more they do not hesitate to offer themselves to Christ as victims. For indeed if any one will lovingly dwell on those things of which we have been speaking, and will have them deeply fixed in his mind, it cannot be but he will shrink with horror from all sin as from the greatest evil, and more than this he will yield himself wholly to the will of God, and will strive to repair the injured honor of the Divine Majesty, as well by constantly praying, as by voluntary mortifications, by patiently bearing the afflictions that befall him, and lastly by spending his whole life in this exercise of expiation.
19. And for this reason also there have been established many religious families of men and women whose purpose it is by earnest service, both by day and by night, in some manner to fulfill the office of the Angel consoling Jesus in the garden; hence come certain associations of pious men, approved by the Apostolic See and enriched with indulgences, who take upon themselves this same duty of making expiation, a duty which is to be fulfilled by fitting exercises of devotion and of the virtues; hence lastly, to omit other things, come the devotions and solemn demonstrations for the purpose of making reparation to the offended Divine honor, which are inaugurated everywhere, not only by pious members of the faithful, but by parishes, dioceses and cities.
20. These things being so, Venerable Brethren, just as the rite of consecration, starting from humble beginnings, and afterwards more widely propagated, was at length crowned with success by Our confirmation; so in like manner, we earnestly desire that this custom of expiation or pious reparation, long since devoutly introduced and devoutly propagated, may also be more firmly sanctioned by Our Apostolic authority and more solemnly celebrated by the whole Catholic name. Wherefore, we decree and command that every year on the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, -- which feast indeed on this occasion we have ordered to be raised to the degree of a double of the first class with an octave -- in all churches throughout the whole world, the same expiatory prayer or protestation as it is called, to Our most loving Savior, set forth in the same words according to the copy subjoined to this letter shall be solemnly recited, so that all our faults may be washed away with tears, and reparation may be made for the violated rights of Christ the supreme King and Our most loving Lord.
21. There is surely no reason for doubting, Venerable Brethren, that from this devotion piously established and commanded to the whole Church, many excellent benefits will flow forth not only to individual men but also to society, sacred, civil, and domestic, seeing that our Redeemer Himself promised to Margaret Mary that "all those who rendered this honor to His Heart would be endowed with an abundance of heavenly graces." Sinners indeed, looking on Him whom they pierced (John xix, 37), moved by the sighs and tears of the whole Church, by grieving for the injuries offered to the supreme King, will return to the heart (Isaias xlvi, 8), lest perchance being hardened in their faults, when they see Him whom they pierced "coming in the clouds of heaven" (Matth. xxvi, 64), too late and in vain they shall bewail themselves because of Him (Cf. Apoc. i, 7). But the just shall be justified and shall be sanctified still (Cf. Apoc. xxii. 11) and they will devote themselves wholly and with new ardor to the service of their King, when they see Him contemned and attacked and assailed with so many and such great insults, but more than all will they burn with zeal for the eternal salvation of souls when they have pondered on the complaint of the Divine Victim: "What profit is there in my blood?" (Psalm xxix, 10), and likewise on the joy that will be felt by the same Most Sacred Heart of Jesus "upon one sinner doing penance" (Luke xv, 10). And this indeed we more especially and vehemently desire and confidently expect, that the just and merciful God who would have spared Sodom for the sake of ten just men, will much more be ready to spare the whole race of men, when He is moved by the humble petitions and happily appeased by the prayers of the community of the faithful praying together in union with Christ their Mediator and Head, in the name of all. And now lastly may the most benign Virgin Mother of God smile on this purpose and on these desires of ours; for since she brought forth for us Jesus our Redeemer, and nourished Him, and offered Him as a victim by the Cross, by her mystic union with Christ and His very special grace she likewise became and is piously called a reparatress. Trusting in her intercession with Christ, who whereas He is the "one mediator of God and men" (1 Timothy ii, 5), chose to make His Mother the advocate of sinners, and the minister and mediatress of grace, as an earnest of heavenly gifts and as a token of Our paternal affection we most lovingly impart the Apostolic Blessing to you, Venerable Brethren, and to all the flock committed to your care.
Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, on the eighth day of May, 1928, in the seventh year of Our Pontificate.
The Act of Reparation that accompanies this Encyclical
This Reparational Act was ordered to be solemnly recited once a year on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus [Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi] by Pope Pius XI;
it was placed the order in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, Vol. XX, N. 6 pp. 177, 184.
![[Image: sh13.GIF]](http://catholictradition.org/Two-Hearts/sh13.GIF)
O SWEETEST Jesus, Thou dost pour forth Thy love abundantly on men, while they repay Thee most ungratefully with neglect, indifference and contempt. Behold us humbly kneeling before Thine altar (outside a church or oratory say: in Thy presence) ; we would fain repair this heartless ingratitude on the part of men, and the manifold injuries that are everywhere done to Thy most loving Heart, by a special act of homage.
Yet we are not unmindful that we, too, have had our part in this unworthy behavior; therefore are we moved to deep contrition, and, above all, we beg Thy mercy for ourselves; we are ready to atone, by this voluntary act of expiation, for the crimes which we ourselves have committed, as also for the sins of those who, straying far from the way of salvation, either refuse, in the blindness of their unbelief, to follow Thee, the Shepherd and Guide of their souls, or who trample upon the vows of their Baptism and shake off the sweet yoke of Thy law.
Not only are we anxious to expiate all these deplorable crimes, but in an especial manner do we purpose to make reparation for these following: immodesty and shameful excesses in life and dress; the many snares of corruption laid for the souls of the innocent; the neglect of holy days; the hateful blasphemies that are hurled against Thee and Thy Saints; the reproaches uttered against Thy Vicar on earth and all the priestly order; the neglect, also, of the very Sacrament of Thy love, as well as its profanation by horrifying sacrilege; and finally the public sins of the nations in rebellion against the just rights and the teaching authority of the Church established by Thee.
Would that we were able to atone for all these outrages even to the shedding of our blood! Meanwhile, in order to atone for the violations of the honor due to Thee, we offer unto Thee that self- same satisfaction which of old Thou didst offer to the Father upon the holy Cross and which from day to day Thou dost continually renew upon the altars of Thy Church. To this we add the expiatory merits of Thy Virgin Mother, of all Thy Saints and of the devout faithful upon earth. With all our hearts we promise to atone, Thy grace assisting us, for our own past sins and those of all other men, as also for our coldness towards Thine exceeding great love, by a firm faith, spotless purity of life and the perfect fulfillment, so far as in us lies, of the law of the Gospel, and in particular of the precept of charity.
We likewise pledge ourselves in accordance with our strength to prevent such injuries from being done to Thee, and to invite as many as we can to follow Thee. Accept, we pray Thee, most gracious Jesus, through the intercession of Our Lady of 'Reparation, this our free-will offering of reparation, and be Thou pleased to keep us, by the great gift of final perseverance, faithful even unto death in our dutiful service of Thee, so that in the end we may all come to that our true native land, where Thou, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen.
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| Holy Week [Monday - Wednesday] |
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Posted by: Stone - 03-29-2021, 07:26 AM - Forum: Lent
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Monday in Holy Week
This morning also, Jesus goes with his Disciples to Jerusalem. He is fasting, for the Gospel tells us that he was hungry. He approaches a fig-tree, which is by the wayside; but finds nothing on it, save leaves only. Jesus, wishing to give us an instruction, curses the fig-tree, which immediately withers away. He would hereby teach us what they are to expect, who have nothing but good desires, and never produce in themselves the fruit of a real conversion. Nor is the allusion to Jerusalem less evident. This City is zealous for the exterior of Divine Worship; but her heart is hard and obstinate, and she is plotting, at this very hour the death of the Son of God.
The greater portion of the day is spent in the Temple, where Jesus holds long conversations with the Chief Priests and Ancients of the people. His language to them is stronger than ever, and triumphs over all their captious questions. It is principally in the Gospel of St. Matthew (chapters 26, 27, and 28) that we shall find these answers of our Redeemer, which so energetically accuse the Jews of their sin of rejecting the Messias, and so plainly foretell the punishment their sin is to bring after it.
At length, Jesus leaves the Temple, and takes the road that leads to Bethania. Having come as far as Mount Olivet, which commands a view of Jerusalem, he sits down and rests awhile. The Disciples make this an opportunity for asking him how soon the chastisements he has been speaking of in the Temple will come upon the City. His answer comprises two events: the destruction of Jerusalem, and the final destruction of the world. He thus teaches them that the first is a figure of the second. The time when each is to happen is to be when the measure of iniquity is filled up. But with regard to the chastisement that is to befall Jerusalem, he gives this more definite answer: Amen, I say to you: this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done. History tells us how this prophecy of Jesus was fulfilled; forty years had scarcely elapsed after his Ascension, when the Roman army encamped on this very place where he is now speaking to his Disciples, and laid siege to the ungrateful and wicked City. After giving a prophetic description of that Last Judgment, which is to rectify all the unjust judgments of men, he leaves Mount Olivet, returns to Bethania, and consoles the anxious heart of his most holy Mother.
The Station, at Rome, is in the Church of Saint Praxedes. It was in this Church, that Pope Paschal II, in the 9th century, placed 2,300 bodies of holy Martyrs, which he had ordered to be taken out of the catacombs. The pillar, to which our Saviour was tied during his scourging, is also here.
Mass
The Introit is taken from the 34th Psalm. Jesus, by these words of the Royal Prophet, prays to his Eternal Father that he would defend him against his enemies.
Introit
Judica, Domine, nocentes me, expugna impugnantes me: apprehende arma et scutum, et exsurge in adjutorium meum, Domine virtus salutis meæ.
Judge thou, O Lord, them that wrong me; overthrow them that fight against me: take hold of arms and shield, and rise up to help me, O Lord, my mighty deliverer.
Ps. Effunde frameam, et conclude adversus eos qui persequuntur me: dic animæ meæ: Salus tua ego sum.
Ps. Bring out the sword, and shut up the way against them that persecute me; say to my soul, I am thy salvation.
Judica, Domine.
Judge thou, &c.
In the Collect, the Church teaches us to have recourse to the merits of our Savior’s Passion, in order that we may obtain from God the help we stand in need of amidst our many miseries.
Collect
Da, quæsumus, omnipotens Deus: ut, qui in tot adversis ex nostra infirmitate deficimus, intercedente unigeniti Filii tui Passione respiremus. Qui tecum.
Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that we, who through our weakness, faint under so many adversities, may recover by the Passion of thy Only Begotten Son. Who liveth, &c.
Then is added one of the following Collects.
Against the Persecutors of the Church
Ecclesiæ tuæ, quæsumus, Domine, preces placatus admitte: ut destructis adversitatibus et erroribus universis, secura tibi serviat libertate. Per Dominum.
Mercifully hear, we beseech thee, O Lord, the prayers of thy Church: that all oppositions and errors being removed, she may serve thee with a secure liberty. Through, &c.
For the Pope
Deus, omnium fidelium pastor et rector, famulum tuum N. quem pastorem Ecclesiæ tuæ præesse voluisti propitius respice: da ei, quæsumus, verbo et exemplo, quibus præest, proficere: ut ad vitam, una cum grege sibi credito, perveniat sempiternam. Per Dominum.
O God, the Pastor and Ruler of all the Faithful, look down, in thy mercy, on thy servant N., whom thou hast appointed Pastor over thy Church; and grant, we beseech thee, that both by word and example, he may edify all those that are under his charge; and with the flock entrusted to him, arrive at length at eternal happiness. Through, &c.
Epistle
Lesson from Isaias the Prophet. Ch. L.
In those days, Isaias said: The Lord hath opened my ear making known his will to me, and I do not resist: I have not gone back. I have given my body to the strikers, and my cheeks to them that plucked them: I have not turned away my face from them that rebuked me, and spit upon me. The Lord God is my helper, therefore am I not confounded. He is near that justifieth me, who will contend with me? let us stand together. Who is my adversary? let him come near to me. Behold the Lord God is my helper: who is he that shall condemn me? Lo, they shall all be destroyed as a garment, the moth shall eat them up. Who is there among you that feareth the Lord, that heareth the voice of his servant? He that hath walked in darkness, and hath no light, let him hope in the name of the Lord, and lean upon his God.
Quote:The Sufferings of our Redeemer, and the patience wherewith he is to bear them, are thus prophesied by Isaias, who is always so explicit on the Passion. Jesus has accepted the office of Victim for the world’s salvation; he shrinks from no pain or humiliation: he turns not his Face from them that strike him and spit upon him. What reparation can we make to this Infinite Majesty, who, that he might save us, submitted to such outrages as these? Observe these vile and cruel enemies of our Divine Lord: now that they have him in their power, they fear him not. When they came to seize him in the Garden, he had but to speak, and they fell back upon the ground; but he has now permitted them to bind his hands and lead him to the High Priest. They accuse him; they cry out against him; and he answers but a few words. Jesus of Nazareth, the great Teacher, the wonder-worker, has seemingly lost all his influence; they can do what they will with him. It is thus with the sinner; when the thunder-storm is over, and the lightning has not struck him, he regains his courage. The holy Angels look on with amazement at the treatment shown by the Jews to Jesus, and falling down, they adore the Holy Face, which they see thus bruised and defiled: let us, also, prostrate and ask pardon, for our sins have outraged that same Face.
But let us hearken to the last words of our Epistle: He that hath walked in darkness, and hath no light, let him hope in the name of the Lord, and lean upon his God. Who is this but the Gentile, abandoned to sin and idolatry? He knows not what is happening at this very hour in Jerusalem; he knows not that the earth possesses its Savior, and that this Savior is being trampled beneath the feet of his own chosen people: but in a very short time, the light of the Gospel will shine upon this poor Gentile: he will believe; he will obey; he will love his Redeemer, even to the laying down his life for him. Then will be fulfilled the prophecy of the unworthy Pontiff, who prophesied against his will that the death of Jesus would bring salvation to the Gentiles, by gathering into one family the children of God, that hitherto had been dispersed.
In the Gradual, the Royal Prophet again calls down, on the executioners of our Lord, the chastisements they have deserved by their ingratitude and their obstinacy in sin.
The Tract is the one used by the Church on every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during Lent. It is a prayer, begging God to bless the works of penance done during this holy Season.
Gradual
Exsurge, Domine, et intende judicio meo, Deus meus et Dominus meus, in causam meam.
Arise, O Lord, and be attentive to my trial; my God and my Lord, undertake my cause.
℣. Effunde frameam, et conclude adversus eos qui me persequuntur.
℣. Draw thy sword, and stop those that are in pursuit of me.
Tract
℣. Domine, non secundum peccata nostra, quæ fecimus nos: neque secundum iniquitates nostras retribuas nobis.
℣. O Lord, deal not with us according to our sins, which we have done, nor reward us according to our iniquities.
℣. Domine, ne memineris iniquitatum nostrarum antiquarum: cito anticipent nos misericordiæ tuæ, quia pauperes facti sumus nimis.
℣. O Lord, remember not our former iniquities: let thy mercies speedily prevent us, for we are become exceedingly poor.
℣. Adjuva nos, Deus salutaris noster: et propter gloriam Nominis tui, Domine, libera nos: et propitius esto peccatis nostris propter Nomen tuum.
℣. Help us, O God, our Savior: and for the glory of thy Name, O Lord, deliver us: and forgive us our sins, for thy Name’s sake.
Gospel
Sequel of the holy Gospel according to John. Ch. XII.
Jesus, six days before the Pasch, came to Bethania, where Lazarus had been dead, whom Jesus raised to life. And they made him a supper there; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of them that were at table with him. Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of right spikenard, of great price, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. Then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, he that was about to betray him, said: Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? Now he said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and, having the purse, carried the things that were put therein. Jesus therefore said: Let her alone, that she may keep it against the day of my burial; for the poor you have always with you, but me you have not always. A great multitude therefore of the Jews knew that he was there; and they came not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.
Quote:As we have already said, the event related in this passage of the Gospel took place on Saturday, the eve of Palm Sunday; but, as formerly there was no Station for that day, the reading of this Gospel was deferred till the following Monday. The Church brings this episode of the last days of our Savior before us, because it enables us to have a clearer understanding of the history of the Passion.
Mary Magdalene, whose conversion was the subject of our meditation a few days back, is a prominent figure in the Passion and Resurrection of her Divine Master. She is the type of a soul that has been purified by grace, and then admitted to the enjoyment of God’s choicest favors. It is of importance that we study her in each of the several phases, through which divine grace led her. We have already seen how she keeps close to her Savior and supplies his sacred wants; elsewhere, we shall find Jesus giving the preference to her over her sister Martha, and this because Mary chose a better part than Martha; but now, during these days of Passiontide, it is her tender love for Jesus that makes her dear to us. She knows that the Jews are plotting Jesus’ death; the Holy Ghost, who guides her through the different degrees of perfection, in spires her, on the occasion mentioned in today’s Gospel, to the performance of an action which prophesied what she most dreaded.
One of the three gifts offered by the Magi to the Divine Infant was Myrrh; it is an emblem of death, and the Gospel tells us that it was used at the Burial of our Lord. Magdalene, on the day of her conversion, testified the earnestness of her change of heart by pouring on the feet of Jesus the most precious of her perfumes. She gives him, today, the same proof of her love. Her divine Master is invited by Simon the Leper to a feast: his Blessed Mother and his Disciples are among the guests: Martha is busy, looking after the service. Outwardly, there is no disturbance; but inwardly, there are sad forebodings. During the repast, Magdalene is seen entering the room, holding in her hand a vase of precious spikenard. She advances towards Jesus, kneels at his feet, anoints them with the perfume, and wipes them with her hair, as on the previous occasion.
Jesus lay on one of those couches, which were used by the Eastern people during their repasts. Magdalene, therefore, could easily take her favorite place at Jesus’ feet, and give him the same proof of her love as she had already in the Pharisee’s house. The Evangelist does not say that this time, she shed tears. St. Matthew and St. Mark add that she poured the ointment on his head also. Whether or not Magdalene herself understood the full import of what the Holy Ghost inspired her to do, the Gospel does not say; but Jesus himself revealed the mystery to his Disciples, and we gather from his words that this action of Magdalene was, in a certain manner, the commencement of his Passion: She, in pouring this ointment upon my body, hath done it for my burial.
The fragrance of the Ointment fills the whole house. One of the Disciples, Judas Iscariot, dares to protest against this waste, as he calls it. His base avarice deprives him of feeling and respect for his Divine Master. His opinion was shared in by several of the other Disciples, for they were still carnal minded. For several reasons Jesus permits Magdalene’s generosity to be thus blamed. And firstly, he wishes to announce his approaching death, which is mystically expressed by the pouring of this ointment upon his body. Then, too, he would glorify Magdalene; and he therefore tells them that are present that her tender and ardent love shall be rewarded, and that her name shall be celebrated in every country, wheresoever the Gospel shall be preached. And lastly, he would console those whose generous love prompts them to be liberal in their gifts to his Altars, for what he here says of Magdalene is, in reality, a defense for them, when they are accused of spending too much over the beauty of God’s House.
Let us prize each of these diving teachings. Let us love to honor Jesus, both in his own person, and in his poor. Let us honor Magdalene, and imitate her devotion to the Passion and Death of our Lord. In fine, let us prepare our perfumes for our Diving Master: there must by the Myrrh of the Magi, which signifies penance, and the precious Spikenard of Magdalene, which is the emblem of generous and compassionating love.
In the Offertory, our Redeemer implores his Eternal Father to deliver him from his enemies, and to fulfill the decrees regarding the salvation of mankind.
Offertory
Eripe me de inimicis meis, Domine: ad te confugi, doce me facere voluntatem tuam: quia Deus meus es tu.
Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord; to thee have I fled, teach me to do thy will, because thou art my God.
The Secret tells us the wonderful power of the Sacred Mysteries. Not only does this Sacrifice purify our souls; it also raises them to perfect union with Him who is their Creator.
Secret
Hæc sacrificia nos, omnipotens Deus, potenti virtute mundatos, ad suum faciant puriores venire principium. Per Dominum.
Grant, O Almighty God, that being purified by the powerful virtue of this sacrifice, we may arrive with greater purity to the author and institutor thereof. Through, &c.
Then is added one of the following Prayers:
Against the Persecutors of the Church
Protege nos, Domine, tuis mysteriis servientes: ut divinis rebus inhærentes, et corpore tibi famulemur et mente. Per Dominum.
Protect us, O Lord, while we assist at thy sacred mysteries: that being employed in acts of religion, we may serve thee both in body and mind. Through, &c.
For the Pope
Oblatis, quæsumus, Domine, placare muneribus: et famulum tuum N. quem pastorem Ecclesiæ tuæ præesse voluisti, assidua protectione guberna. Per Dominum.
Be appeased, O Lord, with the offering we have made: and cease not to protect thy Servant N., whom thou hast been pleased to appoint Pastor over thy Church. Through, &c.
After the Faithful have partaken of the Divine Mystery, there is read, in the Communion-Anthem, a malediction against the enemies of our Savior. Thus does God act in his government of the world: they who refuse his mercy cannot escape his justice.
Communion
Erubescant, et revereantur simul, qui gratulantur malis meis: induantur pudore et reverentia, qui maligna loquuntur adversus me.
Let them blush and be ashamed, who rejoice at my misfortunes; let them be covered with shame and confusion, who speak maliciously against me.
The Church concludes her Prayers of this morning’s Sacrifice by begging that her children may persevere in the holy fervor which they have received at its very source.
Postcommunion
Præbeant nobis, Domine, divinum tua Sancta fervorem; quo eorum pariter et actu delectemur et fructu. Per Dominum.
Let thy holy mysteries, O Lord, inspire us with divine fervor, that we may delight both in their effect and celebration. Through, &c.
To this is added one of the following:
Against the Persecutors of the Church
Quæsumus, Domine Deus noster: ut quos divina tribuis participatione gaudere, humanis non sinas subjacere periculis. Per Dominum.
We beseech thee, O Lord our God, not to leave exposed to the dangers of human life, those whom thou hast permitted to partake of these divine mysteries. Through, &c.
For the Pope
Hæc nos, quæsumus, Domine, divini sacramenti perceptio protegat: et famulum tuum N. quem pastorem Ecclesiæ tuæ præesse voluisti, una cum commisso sibi grege salvet semper, et muniat. Per Dominum.
May the participation of this divine Sacrament protect us, we beseech thee, O Lord; and always procure safety and defense to thy Servant N., whom thou hast appointed Pastor over thy Church, together with the flock entrusted to his charge. Through, &c.
Humiliate capita vestra Deo.
Bow down your heads to God.
Adjuva nos, Deus salutaris noster; et ad beneficia recolenda, quibus nos instaurare dignatus es, tribue venire gaudentes. Per Dominum.
Help us, O God, our Salvation; and grant that we may celebrate with joy the memory of these benefits, by which thou hast been pleased to redeem us. Through, &c.
As an appropriate conclusion to this day, we may use the following beautiful Prayer, taken from the ancient Gallican Liturgy:
Prayer
(Oratio ad Sextam)
Christe Deus, Adonaï magne, nos tecum quasi huic mundo cricifige; ut vita tua in nobis sit: nostraque peccata super te pone, ut ea crucifigas: nos quoque ad teipsum trahe, cum pro nobis exaltatus es a terra, ut nos eripias ab adultero tyranno: quia licet carne et vitiis diabolo noxii sumus; tibi tamen, non illi optamus servire: et sub tuo jure vivere desideramus, et a te gubernari rogamus; qui nos mortales et a morte invasos, per mortem crucis liberare voluisti. Pro quo singulari beneficio hodierna tibi nostra famulatur devotio: teque nunc hodie supplices adoramus, imploramus, invocamus; ut ad nos properes, virtus æterna Deus: quod nobis proficiat tua crux, triumphans scilicet de mundo in nobis per crucis virtutem: atque tua pietas nobis illus antiquum restituat beneficium, virtute scilicet et gratia: qui per potentiam futura præterita; per præsentiam facis similiter præterita præsentia: redde, ut nobis tua Passio salutaris sit, quasi præsens et hodierna; et sic nobis hodie, illa gutta sancti sanguinis super terram olim de cruce stillantis, sit salus: ut omnia terræ nostræ delicta lavans, et corporis nostri humo quodam modo immixta, nos de terra tos efficiat; nos quoque tibi quasi corpus idem reconciliati capitis. Qui regnas cum Patre semper et Spiritu Sancto; nunc nobis regnare incipe, Homo Deus, Christi Jesu, Rex in sæcula sæculorum.
O great and Sovereign Lord! (Adonaï!) Christ our God! crucify us, with thyself, to this world, that so thy life may be in us. Take upon thee our sins, that thou mayst crucify them. Draw us unto thyself, since it was for our sakes that thou wast raised up from the earth; and thus snatch us from the power of the unclean tyrant: for, though by flesh and our sins, we exposed to the insults of the devil, yet do we desire to serve, not him, but thee. We would be thy subjects; we ask to be governed by thee; for, by thy death on the cross, thou didst deliver us, who are mortals and surrounded by death. It is to bless thee for this wonderful favor, that we this day offer thee our devoted service; and humbly adoring thee, we now implore and beseech thee, to hasten to our assistance, O thou our God, the Eternal and Almighty! Let thy Cross thus profit us unto good, that thou, by its power, mayst triumph over the world in us, and thine own mercy restore us, by thy might and grace, to the ancient blessing. O thou, whose power hath turned the future into the past, and whose presence maketh the past to be present—grant that thy Passion may avail us to salvation, as though it were accomplished now on this very day. May the drops of thy holy Blood, which heretofore fell upon the earth from the Cross, be our present salvation: may it wash away all the sins of our earthly nature, and be, so to say, commingled with the earth of our body, rendering it all thine, since we, by our reconciliation with thee, our Head, have been made one body with thee. Thou that ever reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, now begin to reign over us, O God-Man, Christ Jesus, King for ever and ever!
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| Psalm 21 - Words Repeated by Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross |
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Posted by: Stone - 03-29-2021, 06:54 AM - Forum: Lenten Devotions
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Psalms 21
[ Psalms 21:1-32 - Deus Deus meus. Christ's passion: and the conversion of the Gentiles]
[1] Unto the end, for the morning protection, a psalm for David. [2] O God my God, look upon me: why hast thou forsaken me? Far from my salvation are the words of my sins. [3] O my God, I shall cry by day, and thou wilt not hear: and by night, and it shall not be reputed as folly in me. [4] But thou dwellest in the holy place, the praise of Israel. [5] In thee have our fathers hoped: they have hoped, and thou hast delivered them.
[6] They cried to thee, and they were saved: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. [7] But I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people. [8] All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn: they have spoken with the lips, and wagged the head. [9] He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him: let him save him, seeing he delighteth in him. [10] For thou art he that hast drawn me out of the womb: my hope from the breasts of my mother.
[11] I was cast upon thee from the womb. From my mother's womb thou art my God, [12] Depart not from me. For tribulation is very near: for there is none to help me. [13] Many calves have surrounded me: fat bulls have besieged me. [14] They have opened their mouths against me, as a lion ravening and roaring. [15] I am poured out like water; and all my bones are scattered. My heart is become like wax melting in the midst of my bowels.
[16] My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue hath cleaved to my jaws: and thou hast brought me down into the dust of death. [17] For many dogs have encompassed me: the council of the malignant hath besieged me. They have dug my hands and feet. [18] They have numbered all my bones. And they have looked and stared upon me. [19] They parted my garments amongst them; and upon my vesture they cast lots. [20] But thou, O Lord, remove not thy help to a distance from me; look towards my defence.
[21] Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword: my only one from the hand of the dog. [22] Save me from the lion's mouth; and my lowness from the horns of the unicorns. [23] I will declare thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the church will I praise thee. [24] Ye that fear the Lord, praise him: all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him. [25] Let all the seed of Israel fear him: because he hath not slighted nor despised the supplication of the poor man. Neither hath he turned away his face from me: and when I cried to him he heard me.
[26] With thee is my praise in a great church: I will pay my vows in the sight of them that fear him. [27] The poor shall eat and shall be filled: and they shall praise the Lord that seek him: their hearts shall live for ever and ever. [28] All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be converted to the Lord: And all the kindreds of the Gentiles shall adore in his sight. [29] For the kingdom is the Lord's; and he shall have dominion over the nations. [30] All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and have adored: all they that go down to the earth shall fall before him.
[31] And to him my soul shall live: and my seed shall serve him. [32] There shall be declared to the Lord a generation to come: and the heavens shall shew forth his justice to a people that shall be born, which the Lord hath made.
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| Ignatian Retreats 2021 |
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Posted by: Stone - 03-29-2021, 06:22 AM - Forum: Event Schedule
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IGNATIAN RETREATS 2021
Fr. Hewko is planning again to hold Ignatian Retreats (a week for the men and a week for the women) this year.
Father expects to hold the retreats at roughly the same time as last year (end of June for the women to mid July for the men). He anticipates the venue will be the same as well - at the Red Rock Guest Ranch in Soldier, Kansas, USA.
There are still details to be finalized but this notice is to allow people to beginning making arrangements for those who are able to attend.
For a reminder of the retreat details from last year (of which there is little anticipated change for this year), please see here for the WOMENS and here for the MENS retreats.
Finalized details will be posted as they become available. May many graces flow from these powerful retreats!
Please contact Mr. Tim Cline at sspxmariancorps@gmail.com or 770-820-6476 with any questions.
*Fr. Hewko is also asking for generous souls to assist with the cooking for any portion of time during those two weeks!
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| Palm Sunday |
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Posted by: Stone - 03-28-2021, 05:52 AM - Forum: Lent
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INSTRUCTION ON PALM SUNDAY.
Taken from Fr. Leonard Goffine's Explanations of the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays, Holydays, and Festivals throughout the Ecclesiastical Year
36th edition, 1880
Why is this day called Palm Sunday?
In memory of our Saviour's triumphant entry into Jerusalem, when the multitude strewed palm branches before Him, for which reason the Church, on this day, blesses palms, and carries them in procession.
Why are palms blessed?
That those who carry them with devotion, or keep them in their houses, may receive protection of soul and body, as prayed for in the blessing; that those who carry the palms may, by means of the prayers of the Church, adorn their souls with good works and thus, in spirit, meet the Saviour; that, through Christ whose members we are, we may conquer the kingdom of death and darkness, and be made worthy to share in His glorious resurrection and triumphant entrance into heaven. St. Augustine writes of the palms: "They are the emblem of praise, and sign of victory, because the Lord by death conquered death, and with the sign of victory, the cross, overcame the devil, the prince of death." Therefore preceded by the cross we go in procession around the church singing hymns of praise; when we come to the church door, we find it locked; the priest knocks at it with the cross. Heaven was closed to us by the sin of Adam, and it is opened to us by reconciliation through Jesus on the cross.
To move us to compassion for the suffering Redeemer, the Church, in the person of Christ, cries in lamenting tones at the Introit: O Lord, remove not Thy help to a distance from me, look towards my defence: save me from the lion's mouth, and my lowness from the horns of the unicorns. O God, my God! look on me, why hast Thou forsaken me? Far from my salvation are the words of my sins. O Lord! Remove not, &c. (Ps. xxi.)
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Almighty and everlasting God! who didst vouchsafe to send Thy Son, our Saviour, to take upon Him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross, to give mankind an example of humility; mercifully grant, that we may both follow the example of His patience, and be made partakers of His Resurrection. Through the same, &c.
EPISTLE. (Philip. ii. 5— ii.) Brethren, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery himself to be equal to God; but debased himself, taking the form of a servant, being made to the likeness of men, and in shape found as a man. He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name, which is above every name: that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth; and that every tongue should confess, that the Lord, Jesus Christ, is in the glory of God, the Father.
Quote:INSTRUCTION. In this epistle, the apostle urges us in a special manner to humility by which we are made like to Christ, our Lord, who putting off the majesty of His divinity, became man, and humbled Himself in obedience to the ignominious death of the cross. "Would that all might hear," exclaims St. Gregory, "that God resists the proud, and gives His grace to the humble! Would that all might hear: Thou dust and ashes, why dost thou exalt thyself? Would that all might hear the words of the Lord : Learn of me, because I am humble of heart. The only-begotten Son of God assumed the form of our weakness, suffered mockery, insult, and torments for the purpose that the humble God might teach man not to be proud."
ASPIRATION. Ah, that my sentiments were as Thine, O my Lord, Jesus! who so humbled Thyself andwast obedient to the most ignominious death of the cross. Grant me, I beseech Thee, O my Redeemer, the grace diligently to follow Thee in humility.
Instead of the gospel the Passion, that is, the history of the sufferings of our Lord according to St. Matthew, (chaps, xxvi., xxvii.) is read in this day's Mass, and neither incense, nor lights are used, nor is the Dominus vobiscum said, thus signifying that Jesus, the Light of the world, was taken away by death, and that the faith, and devotion of the apostles was shaken, and became almost extinct. When reading the History of the Passion at the words: and bowing his head, he gave up the ghost, the priest with all the congregation kneel and meditate for a short time on the great mystery of the death of Jesus, by which our redemption was effected. At the blessing of the palms, the priest reads the following:
GOSPEL. (Matt. xxi. 1—9.) At that time, when Jesus drew nigh to Jerusalem, and was come to Bethphage, unto Mount Olivet; then he sent two dis- ciples, saying to them: Go ye into the village that is over against you, and immediately ye will find an ass tied, and a colt with her; loose them, and bring them to me; and if any man shall say any thing to you, say ye that the Lord hath need of them, and forthwith he will let them go. Now all this was done, that the word might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet, saying: Tell ye the daughter of Sion, behold thy king cometh to thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of her that is used to the yoke. And the disciples going, did as Jesus commanded them. And they brought the ass and the colt, and laid their garments upon them, and made him sit thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; and others cut down boughs from the trees, and strewed them in the way; and the multitudes that went before and that followed, cried, saying: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Why did Jesus enter Jerusalem so solemnly and yet so humbly?
To show that He was the promised Messiah and King of the Jews, as foretold by the Prophet Zacharias,(ix. 9.) and that He had come to conquer the world, the flesh, and the devil, for which He used the weapons of meekness, humility, and poverty and therefore came seated not on a proud steed but like a poor person on the weak colt of an ass, entering Jerusalem in all humility, thus teaching us that meekness and indifference to earthly goods are our best weapons to gain victory over our enemies. Jesus entered Jerusalem so humbly to perfect the type of the Paschal lamb, for on this day the lambs which were to be sacrificed in the temple on the following Friday, were solemnly led into the city. Thus Jesus like a meek lamb entered the city of Jerusalem to be sacrificed for us.
Why did the people meet Christ with palm branches?
This happened by the inspiration of God, to indicate that Christ, the conqueror of death, hell, and the devil, would reconcile man with God, and open the heavenly Jerusalem to him, for the palm is the emblem of victory and peace. By this we learn also the inconsistency and mutability of the world; for the very people who on this day met Christ with palm branches exclaiming: "Hosanna to the Son of David, " a few days later shouted: "Crucify him! Crucify him!' — Learn from this to despise the praise of the world, and be careful not to imitate the inconsistency of this people by crucifying Him again by sin (Heb. vi. 6.) after having received Him with joy in holy Communion.
How should we take part in the procession this day?
With the pious intention of meeting Christ in spirit, with the devout people of Jerusalem, adoring Him, saying: "Hosanna to the Son of David, Hosanna to Him who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna to the Highest!" and with the heart-felt prayer to Jesus for His grace, that with Him we may conquer the world, the flesh, and the devil, and thus merit to be received into the heavenly Jerusalem.
PETITION. Jesus, Tree of Life! ever fresh and fruitful, grant that we may by love be like palms ever-green, and by the practice of good works blossom and bring forth fruit.
THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW CHAP. XXVI., XX VII.
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: You know that after two days shall be the Pasch, and the Son of Man shall be delivered up to be crucified. Then were gathered together the chief priests and the ancients of the people into the palace of the high- priest, who was called Caiphas. And they consulted together, that, by subtilty, they might apprehend Jesus and put him to death. But they said: Not on the festival day, lest there should be a tumult among the people. And when Jesus was in Bethania, in the house of Simon the leper, there came to him a woman having an alabaster-box of precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he was at table. And the disciples seeing it, had indignation, saying: To what purpose is this waste? For this might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. And Jesus knowing it, said to them: Why do you trouble this woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For the poor you have always with you: but me you have not always. For she, in pouring this ointment upon my body, hath done it for my burial. Amen, I say to you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that also which she hath done, shall be told for a memory of her. Then went one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, to the chief priests, and said to them: What will you give me, and I will deliver him unto you? But they appointed for him thirty pieces of silver. And from thenceforth he sought opportunity to betray him.
And on the first day of the Azymes, the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Pasch? But Jesus said: Go ye into the city to a certain man, and say to him: The master saith: my time is near at hand, I will keep the Pasch at thy house with my disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them, and they prepared the Pasch. Now when it was evening, he sat down with his twelve disciples. And whilst they were eating, he said: Amen, I say to you, that one of you is about to betray me. And they being very much troubled, began every one to say: Is it I, Lord? But he answering, said: He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of Man indeed goeth as it is written of him: but woe to that man, by whom the Son of Man shall be betrayed: it were better for that man, if he had not been born. And Judas that betrayed him, answering, said: Is it I, Rabbi? He said to him: Thou hast said it. And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed and broke, and gave to his disciples, and said: Take ye and eat: This is My Body. And taking the chalice he gave thanks: and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this. For this is My Blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many for the remission of sins. And I say to you. I will not drink from henceforth of the fruit of the vine, until that day, when I shall drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to Mount Olivet.
Then Jesus saith to them: All you shall be scandalized in me this night. For it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be dispersed. But after I shall be risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. And Peter answering, said to him: Though, all shall be scandalized in thee, I will never be scandalized. Jesus said to him: Amen, I say to thee, that in this night, before the cockcrow, thou wilt deny me thrice. Peter saith to him: Though I should die with thee, I will not deny thee. And in like manner said all the disciples. Then Jesus came with them to a country place which is called Gethsemani, and he said to his disciples: Sit you here, till I go yonder, and pray. And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to grow sorrowful and to be sad.
Then he saith to them: My soul is sorrowful even unto death; stay you here, and watch with me. And going a little further he fell upon his face, praying, and saying: O my Father! if it is possible, let this chalice pass from me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh to his disciples, and findeth them asleep; and he saith to Peter: What! could you not watch one hour with me? Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again he went the second time, and prayed, saying: O my Father! if this chalice cannot pass away except I drink it, thy will be done. And he cometh again, and findeth them asleep; for their eyes were heavy. And leaving them, he went away again, and he prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then he cometh to his disciples, and saith to them: Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go; behold, he is at hand that will betray me.
As he yet spoke, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the ancients of the people. And he that betrayed him, gave them a sign, saying: Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is he: hold him fast. And forthwith coming to Jesus, he said: Hail, rabbi! And he kissed him. And Jesus said to him: Friend! whereto art thou come? Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus, and held him. And behold one of them that were with Jesus, stretching forth his hand, drew out his sword; and striking the servant of the high-priest, cut off his ear. Then Jesus saith to him: Put up again thy sword into its place: for all that take the sword shall perish by the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot ask my Father, and he will give me presently more than twelve legions of Angels? How then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that so it must be done? In that same hour Jesus said to the multitude: You are come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to apprehend me. I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and you laid not hands on me. Now all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.
Then the disciples all leaving him, fled away. But they holding Jesus, led him to Caiphas, the high-priest, where the scribes and the ancients were assembled. But Peter followed him afar off to the high-priest's palace. And going in, he sat with the servants, to see the end. Now the chief priests and whole council sought false witness against Jesus, that they might put him to death: and they found not, though many false witnesses had come in. And last of all, there came two false witnesses. And they said: This man said: I am able to destroy the temple of God, and in three days to rebuild it. And the high-priest rising up, said to him: Answerest thou nothing to the things which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. And the high-priest said to him: I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us if thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith to him: Thou hast said it. Nevertheless I say to you, hereafter you shall see the Son of Man, sitting on the right hand of the power of God, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high-priest rent his garments, saying: He hath blasphemed, what further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now you have heard the blasphemy. What think you? But they answering, said: He is guilty of death. Then they spit in his face, and buffetted him, and others struck his face with the palms of their hands, saying: Prophesy unto us, O Christ! who is he that struck thee? But Peter sat without in the palace, and there came to him a servant maid, saying: Thou also wast with Jesus the Galilean. But he denied before them all, saying: I know not what thou sayest. And as he went out of the gate, another maid saw him, and she saith to them that were there: This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath: I do not know the man. And after a little while, they that stood by came and said to Peter: Surely thou also art one of them: for even thy speech doth discover thee. Then he began to curse and to swear that he knew not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus which he had said: Before the cock crow, thou wilt deny me thrice. And going forth, he wept bitterly.
And when the morning was come, all the chief priests and ancients of the people held a council against Jesus, to put him to death. And they brought him bound, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the governor. Then Judas, who betrayed him, seeing that he was condemned, repenting himself, brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the ancients, saying: I have sinned, in betraying innocent blood. But they said: What is that to us? look thou to it. And casting down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed: and went and hanged himself with a halter. But the chief priests having taken the pieces of silver, said: It is not lawful to put them into the corbona, because it is the price of blood. And having consulted together, they bought with them the potter's field, to be a burying-place for strangers. Wherefore that field was called Haceldama, that is the field of blood, even to this day. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremias the prophet, saying: And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they prized of the children of Israel. And they gave them unto the potter's field, as the Lord appointed to me.
And Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, saying: Art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus saith to him: Thou sayest it. And when he was accused by the chief priests and ancients, he answered nothing. Then Pilate saith to him: Dost thou not hear how great testimonies they allege against thee? And he answered him not to any word: so that the governor wondered exceedingly. Now upon the solemn day the governor was accustomed to release to the people one prisoner, whom they would. And he had then a notorious prisoner, that was called Barabbas. They, therefore, being gathered together, Pilate said: Whom will you that I release to you, Barabbas, or Jesus, who is called Christ? For he knew that through envy they had delivered him up. And as he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying: Have thou nothing to do with that just man. For I have suffered many things this day in a dream on account of him. But the chief priests and ancients persuaded the people, that they should ask Barabbas, and make Jesus away. And the governor answering, said to them: Which will you have of the two to be released unto you? But they said: Barabbas. Pilate saith to them: What shall I do then with Jesus that is called Christ? They all say: Let him be crucified.
The governor said to them: Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying: Let him be crucified. And Pilate seeing that he prevailed nothing, but that rather a tumult was made; having taken water, washed his hands before the people, saying: I am innocent of the blood of this just man: look you to it. And all the people answering, said: His blood be upon us and upon our children. Then he released to them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to them to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor, taking Jesus into the hall, gathered together unto him the whole band. And stripping him , they put a scarlet cloak about him. And platting a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand. And bowing the knee before him, they mocked him, saying: Hail, king of the Jews! And spitting upon him, they took the reed , and struck his head. And after they had mocked him, they took off the cloak from him, and put on him his own garments, and led him away to crucify him.
And going out, they found a man of Cyrene, named Simon; him they forced to take up his cross. And they came to the. place that is called Golgotha, which is, the place of Calvary. And they gave him wine to drink mingled with gall. And when he had tasted, he would not drink. And after they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots; that the word might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: They divided my garments among them; and upon my vesture they cast lots. And they sat down, and watched him. And they put over his head his cause written: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Then were there crucified with him two thieves; the one on the right hand, and the other on the left. And they that passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads, and saying: Vah, thou who destroyest the temple of God, and in three days buildest it up again, save thy own self: if thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. In like manner also, the chief priests with the scribes and ancients, mocking, said: He saved others; himself he cannot save: if he be the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God, let him deliver him now if he will save him: for he said: I am the Son of God.
And the self-same thing the thieves also, that were crucified with him, reproached him with. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the earth, until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying: Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani? that is: My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood there and heard, said: This man calleth for Elias. And immediately one of them, running, took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar: and put it on a reed and gave him to drink. And the others said: Stay, let us see whether Elias will come to deliver him. And Jesus again crying with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
And behold the veil of the temple was rent in two, from the top even to the bottom, and the earth quaked, and the rocks were rent; and the graves were opened: and many bodies of the saints that had slept arose: and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, came into the holy city, and appeared to many. Now the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, having seen the earthquake and the things that were done, were greatly afraid, saying: Indeed this was the Son of God. And there were there many women afar off, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him; among whom was Mary Magdalen, and Mary, the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. And when it was evening, there came a certain rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded that the body should be delivered. And Joseph taking the body, wrapped it up in a clean linen cloth. And laid it in his own new monument, which he had hewed out in a rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the monument, and went his way. And there was Mary Magdalen, and the other Mary sitting over against the sepulchre.
And the next day, which followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees came together to Pilate, saying: Sir, we have remembered that seducer said, while he was yet alive: After three days I will rise again. Command, therefore, the sepulchre to be guarded until the third day; lest his disciples come and steal him away, and say to the people: He is risen from the dead. So the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said to them: You have a guard, go guard it as you know. And they departing, made the sepulchre sure, with guards, sealing the stone.
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