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  December 29th - St. Thomas Becket
Posted by: Elizabeth - 12-28-2020, 11:14 PM - Forum: December - Replies (1)

[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3...%3DApi&f=1]
Saint Thomas Becket
Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr
(1117-1170)

Saint Thomas, son of an English nobleman, Gilbert Becket, was born on the day consecrated to the memory of Saint Thomas the Apostle, December 21, 1117, in Southwark, England. He was endowed by both nature and grace with gifts recommending him to his fellow men; and his father, certain he would one day be a great servant of Christ, confided his education to a monastery. His first employment was in the government of the London police. There he was obliged to learn the various rights of the Church and of the secular arm, but already he saw so many injustices imposed upon the clergy that he preferred to leave that employment rather than to participate in iniquity. He was perfectly chaste and truthful, and no snares could cause to waver his hatred for any form of covert action.

He was employed then by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who sent him on missions to Rome and permitted him to study civil law at the University of Bologna (Italy) for an entire year. After a few years, witnessing his perfect service, he made him his Archdeacon and endowed him with several benefices. The young cleric's virtue and force soon recommended him also to the king, who made of him his Lord Chancellor. In that high office, while inflexible in the rendition of justice, he was generous and solicitous for the relief of misery. He was severe towards himself, spending the better part of every night in prayer. He often employed a discipline, to be less subject to the revolts of the flesh against the spirit. In a war with France he won the respect of his enemies, including that of the young king Louis VII. To Saint Thomas, his own sovereign, Henry II, confided the education of the crown prince. Of the formation of the future king and the young lords who composed his suite, the Chancellor took extreme care, knowing well that the strength of a State depends largely on the early impressions received by the elite of its youth.

When Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury died, the king insisted on the consecration of Saint Thomas in his stead. Saint Thomas at first declined, warning the king that from that hour their friendship would be threatened by his own obligations to uphold the rights of the Church against infringement by the sovereign, whose tendencies were not different from those of his predecessors. In the end he was obliged by obedience to yield. The inevitable conflict was not long in coming. Saint Thomas resisted when the king's courtiers drew up a list of royal customs at Clarendon, where the parliament of the king was assembled, and Henry obliged all the bishops as well as the lords to sign a promise to uphold these without permitting any restrictions whatsoever. Many of these pretended customs violated the liberties of the Church, and some were even invented for the occasion. Saint Thomas, obliged in conscience to resist, was soon the object of persecution, not only from the irritated king but by all who had sworn loyalty to his nefarious doings.

Saint Thomas took refuge in France under the protection of the generous Louis VII, who resisted successfully the repeated efforts of Henry to turn away his favor from the Archbishop. The Pope at that time was in France, and he, too, was besieged by Henry's emissaries, but knew well how to pacify minds and protect the defender of the Church. Thomas retired to a Benedictine monastery for two years, and when Henry wrote a threatening letter to its abbot, moved to another. After six years, his office restored as the Pope's apostolic legate, a title which Henry had wrested from him for a time, he returned to England, to preach again and enforce order in his see. He knew well that it was to martyrdom that he was destined; it is related that the Mother of God appeared to him in France to foretell it to him, and that She presented him for that intention with a red chasuble. By this time the persecuted Archbishop's case was known to all of Christian Europe, which sympathized with him and elicited from king Henry an appearance of conciliation.

A few words which the capricious Henry spoke to certain courtiers who hated Thomas, sufficed for the latter to decide to do away with the prelate who contravened all their unchristian doings. They violated a monastic cloister and chapel to enter there while he was assisting at Vespers; the Saint himself prevented the monks from resisting the assassins at the door. Refusing to flee the church as the assassins summoned him to do, he was slain before the altar, by cruel and murderous repeated blows on the head. He died, saying: I die willingly, for the name of Jesus and for the defense of the Church.

The actions of the Pope in this conflict make clear what all of history teaches: the lives of the Church's Saints themselves comprise the history of the world. The humility of Thomas had prompted him, after a moment of weakness he had manifested in a difficult situation, to judge himself unfit for his office and offer his resignation as Archbishop. The Pope did not hesitate a moment in refusing his resignation. He judged with apostolic wisdom that if Thomas should be deprived of his rank for having opposed the unjust pretensions of the English royalty, no bishop would ever dare oppose the impingements of iniquity on the Church's rights, and the Spouse of Christ would be no longer sustained by marble columns, but by reeds bending in the wind.

The martyred Archbishop was canonized by Pope Alexander III on Ash Wednesday, 1173, not yet three years after his death on December 29, 1170, to the edification of the entire Church.

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  World Economic Forum proposes app that gives “legal ID” to over 1 billion people
Posted by: Stone - 12-28-2020, 07:56 AM - Forum: Great Reset - No Replies

World Economic Forum proposes app that gives “legal ID” to over 1 billion people
A global catalog of people.

Source | December 27, 2020


There’s nothing the likes of the World Economic Forum (WEF) likes less than people who are not properly “cataloged” inside the system – and one obvious and easy way to do that is to have them open a bank account.

That pulls in, thanks to the now pretty much a global exchange of banking information, a wealth of personal data, especially if these people want to get a loan – which appears as the “carrot” at the end of this “stick” write up that was published on the WEF website.

Anyone strapped for cash and not minding entering the indentured servitude to legacy fiat money financial institutions, must first make themselves fully visible to their future creditors and “owners.” Another use for having an internationally recognized ID is if you plan on becoming a refugee, or an asylum seeker in another country, and the report touches on that.

But the author laments that “a billion people” on this planet are yet to be issued with an ID that allows them either of these things – “or even vote or get health care.”

But now, apparently, a new app might change all that.

[Image: web56.png]

The WEF is citing data from the World Bank – that, despite its name, is an institution that is run by a handful of the world’s most powerful economies, often to the detriment of precisely the “Third World” native economies that the initiatives like the “universal” ID say they now seek to help.

And if you don’t believe the WEF or the World Bank when they tell you something’s good – well, then there’s the authority of the United Nations (UN):
Quote:“Ensuring everyone has a legal identity, including birth registration, by 2030 is one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It prompted the World Bank to launch its Identification for Development (ID4D) initiative in 2014.”

Now the app – referred to as “Thompson’s app” (with no link) – is said to be a blockchain-based thing, thus safe from “identity interference” – while allowing people in “emerging” economies to use their phones for their finances – because most of those people unfortunately cannot afford an actual computer (the choice of the operating system becomes crucial here – as those limited to phones only really have two.)

The WEF report is full of praise for the tech, and even human-interest stories (like “blockchain” babies born in Tanzania… ) – but without actually delving any deeper into what “blockchain (that) preserves the user’s digital identity from interference” means here, or how it works.

What is revealed, is that the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship is supporting the idea.

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  The 'new strain' of COVID propaganda: 'Nothing more than baseless, menacing propaganda'
Posted by: Stone - 12-28-2020, 07:49 AM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Secular] - No Replies

The 'new strain' of COVID propaganda
The unaccountable elite justify their failures to “stop the spread,” while continuing an unabated power grab.


Politicians and “public health experts” around the world are using faulty models on a new variant of the novel coronavirus in order to cover for their failures in stopping its spread, while simultaneously leveraging the issue to demand renewed lockdowns and other punishing restrictions. Not much is known about the so-called “new strain” of the virus, but that hasn’t stopped the ruling class from using it to their advantage.

The latest narrative, which is being used as a vector for endless amounts of COVID-19 panic and fear mongering, is related to the claim that there is a new mutation of the novel coronavirus spreading, which is claimed to be much more contagious — a claimed 70%(!) increase in transmissibility — than the original dominant variant.

Here’s the problem with that claim: it’s based solely on a single model put together by a team of epidemiologists with a track record of failure. There is no actual evidence that the new variant of the coronavirus is any more or less transmissible or deadly than previous strains.
The 70% projection was first brought to our attention by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who, in a panicked address before his nation, appeared to blame the mutation for his government’s failure to “stop the spread” of the coronavirus through brutal draconian restrictions. He used the “new mutation” excuse to justify both his failures, and his doubling down on “tier 4” lockdowns to try to “stop the spread” of the new variant.

BREAKING: New Covid restrictions could be announced as soon as tomorrow after Boris Johnson was handed alarming new evidence of the virulence of a mutant new strain. PM in a meeting now. Telegraph exclusive by @amylouisejones and @gordonrayner nullExclusive: Alarming new evidence on coronavirus mutation could bring tougher restrictionsThe Prime Minister called an unscheduled meeting of senior ministers on Friday night to discuss how to contain the new varianttelegraph.co.uk

Johnson’s panicked address frightened the heads of state in other countries to such an extent that dozens of nations immediately instituted travel bans on the United Kingdom, with the hopes of attempting to stop this new coronavirus variant.

The U.S. does not have plans for U.K. travel ban as a new Covid-19 strain pushes more than 40 countries to halt arrivals from Britain on.forbes.com/6018HRYg0 December 21st 2020

In the United States, the “new strain” presented a golden opportunity for pro-lockdown politicians and “public health experts” to push for further restrictions in the name of curbing a virus.

MSNBC @MSNBC
“New York is not going to wait for the federal government to protect New Yorkers. We made that mistake back in the spring,” New York Gov. Cuomo on a nationwide restriction on flights coming from the UK as a new strain of Covid-19 impacts the country. nullGov. Cuomo: ‘Gross negligence’ for federal government not to restrict flights from U.K.New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for a nationwide restriction on flights coming from the United Kingdom as a new strain of Covid-19 impacts the country. While working with airlines to impose such a restriction for New York, the governor said it was “gross negligence” for the federal government not …on.msnbc.com December 27th 2020


British media has reported Boris Johnson received his 70% more transmissible statistic from a single source, Erik Volz, an epidemiologist in his mid 30s who is currently a member of Imperial College London’s epidemiology department.

ICYMI: Q&A on the new #COVID19 virus variant with WHO, @CovidGenomicsUK & @sangerinstitute experts

If Imperial College sounds familiar, that’s because the British institution is now infamous for its “plague of the century” epidemiological model for COVID-19, which projected that millions of Americans, and hundreds of millions of people worldwide, would die from the coronavirus in a matter of months. The Imperial model (which, again, was a mere projection of potential outcomes, and it used wildly inaccurate fatality and transmission data) was credited by The New York Times and other major publications with “jarring” the world into action and instituting brutal mitigation and suppression measures.

Neil Ferguson, the leader of Imperial College London’s COVID-19 response team, recently resigned from his top COVID-19 advisory role with the British government, following revelations that he was breaking the lockdown to meet up with his married lover. However, Ferguson reportedly played a pivotal role in convincing Boris Johnson to again reinstitute lockdowns over the holiday season. Ferguson has also been in the news for his new series of baseless claims that the new variant has a “higher propensity to infect children.”

In a presentation last week as part of the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium, Volz explained how he was in the “early stages” of his thought process on the new mutation, and has admitted that his information, which was transmitted to the world by Boris Johnson, is not particularly useful.

“We’re still basically in the very early stages. We basically have one month of growth,” Volz stated, adding that “the growth rate” in cases of the new variant “does appear to be quite a bit larger,” before again sowing more doubt about his analysis.

Volz continued, warning that “trends you see early on don’t always pan out.”

“It’s really too early to tell, but this is the current state of our knowledge,” Volz adds, in revealing the 70% number of projected increased transmissibility over a compared variant.

Volz and his Neil Ferguson-led team of academics have long remained major proponents of pushing for economic and societal suicide (via lockdowns) in the name of stopping a virus with a 99.9% recovery rate.

In mid September, Volz and his team published a paper claiming that non pharmaceutical interventions, such as lockdowns, helped to stop transmission of the coronavirus. The paper makes clear that his team at Imperial College used cherry-picked data, showing a decline in cases from winter to spring, that did not at all account for the seasonal dynamics of transmissibility. There is no hard evidence to date that non pharmaceutical interventions, such as lockdowns and curfews, work to stop the spread of a coronavirus.

Many in the scientific community have started to push back at the COVID-19 panic brigade’s push for new restrictions in the name of a more transmissible variant of the coronavirus.

Dr. Eli David @DrEliDavid
"Senior figure in Israeli Ministry of Health: There is no evidence that the British mutation is 70% more contagious. Boris Johnson needed to say that for political reasons, to explain why Covid is spreading there so rapidly." Heh? December 26th 2020

“We are of the opinion that there is nothing in this British type that is more contagious than what we saw in this 'blue virus' this summer. There is nothing dramatic in this virus and if this variant is somewhat more contagious then it is very small.” December 21st 2020

Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the chief medical adviser for the Trump Administration’s Operation Warp Speed, has raised doubts about the evidence-free claims.

"I think, scientifically, to date there is no hard evidence that this virus is actually more transmissible," Slaoui said, adding, "the key point is that there’s no evidence this virus is more pathogenic, creates more problems, more morbidity or mortality than the previous virus." 

More uninformed #COVID19 reporting from @nytimesnytimes.com/2020/12/19/wor… there is ZERO evidence that a new variant is more transmissible. The skeptical scientists are correct - the variant was simply introduced and predominates by virtue of the founder effect.

Boris Johnson Tightens U.K. Lockdown, Citing Fast-Spreading Version of VirusThe variant is up to 70 percent more transmissible than earlier versions, officials said. People in southeast England, including London, were told to stay at home.nytimes.com
December 19th 2020

The “new strain” fiasco is nothing more than baseless, menacing propaganda. It presents an excuse — and a golden dual opportunity — for the unaccountable elite to justify their failures to “stop the spread,” while allowing for their power grab to continue unabated.

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  December 28th - The Holy Innocents
Posted by: Elizabeth - 12-27-2020, 10:39 PM - Forum: December - Replies (1)

[Image: Holy%20Innocents.jpg]
The Holy Innocents
Martyrs at the time of the Nativity of Our Lord
(†1 A.D.)


The wily king Herod, who was reigning in Judea at the time of the birth of Our Saviour, learned from three Wise Men from the East that they had come to Jerusalem, advised by a star in the heavens, in search of the newborn King of the Jews. Herod's superstitious fear of losing his throne was awakened, and he grew troubled. He called together the chief priests, questioned them, and learned from them that the awaited Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, the city of David. He said to the strangers: When you have found Him, bring me word, that I too may go and adore Him.

The star which had guided the Magi re-appeared over Bethlehem, and they found the Infant and adored Him, and offered Him their royal gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, recognizing by these His perfect Divinity, His royalty, and His prophesied sufferings. God warned them in a dream afterwards not to go back to Herod, and they returned to their lands, rejoicing, by a different route. Saint Joseph, too, was warned during his sleep by an Angel to take the Child and His Mother and flee into Egypt, for Herod will seek the life of the Infant.

When Herod realized that the Wise Men would not return, he was furious, and in his rage ordered that every male child in Bethlehem and its vicinity, of the age of two years or less, be slain. These innocent victims were the flowers and first-fruits of the Saviour's legions of martyrs; they triumphed over the world without having ever known it or experienced its dangers.

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  Litany of the Dying
Posted by: Hildegard of Bingen - 12-27-2020, 03:30 PM - Forum: Litanies - Replies (1)

Litany for the Dying

 
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us, Christ hear us.

Christ, graciously hear us.
 
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on this soul.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on this soul.
God, the Holy Ghost, have mercy on this soul.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on this soul.
Jesus, Son of the living God, have mercy on him (her).
Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on him (her).
Jesus, Son of the Virgin Mary, have mercy on him (her).
Merciful Jesus, have mercy on him (her).

Holy Mary, pray for him(her).                                               

Holy Mother of God, pray for him(her).                                            
Holy Virgin of virgins, pray for him(her).                               
Mother of Christ, pray for him(her).                         

Mother of divine grace, pray for him(her).
Sorrowful Mother, pray for him(her).
Refuge of Sinners, pray for him(her).
Comforter of the Afflicted, pray for him(her).
Help of Christians, pray for him(her).
Gate of Heaven, pray for him(her).
Queen of all Angels and Saints, pray for him(her).
St. Michael, pray for him(her).
St. Gabriel, pray for him(her).
St. Raphael, pray for him(her).
All ye holy Angels and Archangels, pray for him(her).
All ye choirs of blessed spirits, pray for him(her).
St. Joachim, pray for him(her).
St. Joseph, pray for him(her).
St. John the Baptist, pray for him(her).
All ye holy Patriarchs and Prophets, pray for him(her).
St. Peter, pray for him(her).
St. Paul, pray for him(her).
St. John the Evangelist, pray for him(her).
All ye holy Apostles and Evangelists, pray for him(her).
All ye holy Disciples of the Lord, pray for him(her).
All ye holy Innocents, pray for him(her).
St. Stephen,  pray for him(her).
St. Lawrence, pray for him(her).
St. Vincent,  pray for him(her).

All ye holy Martyrs, pray for him(her).
St. Sylvester,  pray for him(her).
St. Gregory,  pray for him(her).

St. Augustine,  pray for him(her).
All ye holy Bishops and Confessors, pray for him(her).
St. Benedict, pray for him(her).
St. Francis, pray for him(her).
St. Anthony, pray for him(her).
All ye holy Virgins and Widows, pray for him(her).
All ye saints and chosen ones of God, pray for him(her).

Be merciful unto him (her), spare him (her), O Lord.
Be merciful unto him (her), hear him (her), O Lord.
 
From Thy wrath, O Lord, deliver him (her).
From well deserved punishments, O Lord, deliver him (her).
From all fears and temptations, O Lord, deliver him (her).
From all impatience and dejection, O Lord, deliver him (her).
From all diffidence and despair, O Lord, deliver him (her).
From all sin, O Lord, deliver him (her).
From excessive dread of death, O Lord, deliver him (her).
From all the enemies of his (her) salvation, O Lord, deliver him (her).
By Thy Incarnation and Birth, so full of graces, O Lord, deliver him (her).
By Thy holy life, O Lord, deliver him (her).
By Thy bitter Passion, O Lord, deliver him (her).
By Thy cruel Death, O Lord, deliver him (her).
By Thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension, O Lord, deliver him (her).
By Thy second advent, when Thou shalt come in majesty to judge mankind, O Lord, deliver him (her).
 
We, poor sinners, We beseech Thee, hear us!
That Thou have mercy on him (her), We beseech Thee, hear us!
That Thou wouldst lovingly assist him (her), We beseech Thee, hear us!
That Thou wouldst confirm him (her) in faith, We beseech Thee, hear us!
That Thou wouldst strengthen him (her) in hope, We beseech Thee, hear us!
That Thou wouldst inflame him (her) in love, We beseech Thee, hear us!
That Thou wouldst grant him (her) a blessed death, We beseech Thee, hear us!
That Thou wouldst remit to him (her) the punishment of purgatory, We beseech Thee, hear us!
That Thou wouldst receive him (her) without delay into heaven, We beseech Thee, hear us!
 
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
 
Let us pray.
 
     O Good and merciful God, hear the humble prayer which, with filial confidence, we present to Thee on behalf of this poor soul.  Have pity on him (her)!  Behold his (her) great need!  Hear his (her) sighs!  Behold his (her) pains and grievous death-agony!  Behold the danger to his (her) eternal salvation!  By the inexhaustible merits of Jesus-Christ, by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin and of all the saints, have pity on this Thy creature.  Deliver him (her) in this his (her) dire necessity.  Purify him (her) from every stain; strengthen him (her) with Thy grace; and permit him (her) to appear before Thy holy face in company with all Thy angels.  Allow him (her) to take possession of the kingdom Thou hast prepared for Thy elect from the beginning of the world.  Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.
 

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  February 1st - St. Ignatius of Antioch and St. Brigid of Ireland
Posted by: Elizabeth - 12-27-2020, 03:26 PM - Forum: February - Replies (1)

[Image: 5386.jpg?v=1600470903]
Saint Ignatius of Antioch
Bishop and Martyr
(† 107)

Saint Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, was the disciple of Saint John the Evangelist. Believing that the Church on earth should resemble that of the heavenly Jerusalem of which Saint John wrote in his Apocalypse, he established singing in choirs in his church at Antioch, after a vision of the celestial choirs who sang in that manner. When the emperor Domitian persecuted the Church, Saint Ignatius obtained peace for his own flock by fasting and prayer, although for his own part he desired to suffer with Christ, and to prove himself a perfect disciple.

The Roman emperors often visited Antioch, one of the cities of first importance of the empire. In 107, the eighth year of the reign of the emperor Trajan, he came to Antioch and forced the Christians to choose between apostasy and death. Saint Ignatius, who had already governed that church for forty years, continued to fortify it against apostasy, and did not flee. Arrested and brought before the emperor, the latter addressed him: Who are you, poor devil, to set our commands at naught? Call not poor devil, Ignatius answered, one who bears God within him. And when the emperor asked him what he meant by that, Ignatius explained that he bore in his heart Christ, crucified for his sake. Change your ideas, and I will make you a priest of the great Jupiter, and you will be called father' by the Senate. What could such honors matter to me, a priest of Christ, who offer Him every day a sacrifice of praise, and am ready to offer myself to Him also? To whom? To that Jesus who was crucified by Pontius Pilate? Yes, and with whom sin was crucified, and the devil, its author, vanquished.

The questions and the courageous replies continued for a time that day and also on the following one. Saint Ignatius said, I will not sacrifice; I fear neither torments nor death, because I desire to go quickly to God. Thereupon the emperor condemned him to be torn to pieces by wild beasts in Rome. Saint Ignatius blessed God, who had so honored him, binding him in the same chains as Paul, His apostle. When his people wept, he told them to place their hope in the sovereign Pastor, who never abandons His flock. On passing through the city of Smyrna, he exhorted the faithful, who were grieved at his fate, to remain true to Christ until death, and he gave some of them who were going to Rome a letter for the Christians of the capital of the Christian world. This letter is still extant. He writes: I fear your charity, I fear you have an affection too human for me. You might prevent me from dying, but by so doing, you would oppose my happiness. Suffer me to be immolated while the altar is ready; give thanks to God... If when I arrive among you I should have the weakness to seem to have other sentiments, do not believe me; believe only what I am writing to you now. This letter of Saint Ignatius has encouraged all generations of Christians in their combats.

He journeyed to Rome, guarded by soldiers, and with no fear but of losing the martyr's crown. Three of his disciples, who accompanied him and were eyewitnesses of the spectacle, wrote the acts of his martyrdom: His face shining with joy, he reassured them as the lions were released, saying: I am the wheat of Christ, I will be ground by the teeth of the beasts and made into flour to be a good bread for my Lord Jesus Christ! He was devoured by lions in the Roman amphitheater. The wild beasts left nothing of his body except a few bones, which were reverently treasured at Antioch until their removal in the year 637 to the Church of Saint Clement in Rome. After the martyr's death, several Christians saw him in vision, in prayer to Christ, and interceding for them.


[Image: Stbrigid.jpg]
Saint Bridgid
Abbess and Patroness of Ireland
(436-523)

Next to the glorious Saint Patrick, Saint Bridgid, whom we may regard as his spiritual daughter in Christ, has ever been held in singular veneration in Ireland. She was born about the year 453, at Fochard in Ulster. During her infancy, her pious father saw in a vision men clothed in white garments pouring a sacred unguent on her head, thus prefiguring her future sanctity. While still very young, Bridgid consecrated her life to God, bestowed everything at her disposal on the poor, and was the edification of all who knew her.

Saint Bridgid was very beautiful, and fearing that efforts might be made to induce her to break the vow by which she had bound herself to God, she prayed that she might become ugly and deformed. Her prayer was heard, for her eye became swollen, and her whole countenance so changed that she was allowed to follow her vocation in peace, and marriage with her was no more thought of. When about twenty years old, our Saint made known to the nephew and disciple of Saint Patrick, Saint Mel, her intention to live only for Jesus Christ, and he consented to receive her sacred vows. On the appointed day, the solemn ceremony of her profession was performed according to the manner introduced by Saint Patrick, the bishop offering up many prayers, and investing Bridgid with a snow-white habit, and a cloak of the same color. While she bowed her head on this occasion to receive the veil, a miracle of a singularly striking and impressive nature occurred: The section of the wooden platform adjoining the altar on which she knelt, recovered its original vitality and put on all its former verdure, retaining it for a long time afterwards. At the same moment Bridgid's eye was healed, and she became beautiful once again.

Encouraged by her example, several other young persons made vows, and in compliance with the wish of the parents of her new associates, the Saint agreed to found a religious residence for all of them in the vicinity. When a site was chosen by the bishop, a convent, the first in Ireland, was erected upon it; and in obedience to the prelate Bridgid assumed the superiority. Her reputation for sanctity became greater every day; and in proportion as it was diffused throughout the country, the candidates for admission into the new monastery increased in number. The bishops of Ireland, soon perceiving the important advantages which their own dioceses would derive from such foundations, persuaded the young and saintly abbess to visit different parts of the kingdom, and, when an opportunity was offered, they introduced branches of her institute everywhere.

While she was in the province of Connaught, a deputation arrived from Leinster to solicit the Saint to take up her residence in that territory; the prospect of the many spiritual advantages which would result induced her to accede to their wishes. Taking with her a number of her spiritual daughters, she journeyed to Leinster, where they were received with many demonstrations of respect and joy. At the site on which Kildare now stands, Saint Bridgid and her companions took up residence. Bridgid contrived out of their small means to relieve the poor of the vicinity very considerably; and when the wants of these indigent persons surpassed her slender finances, she did not hesitate to sacrifice for them the movables of the convent. On one occasion, imitating the burning charity of Saint Ambrose and other great servants of God, she sold some of the sacred vestments in order to procure the means of relieving their necessities. The renown of Bridgid's unbounded charity drew multitudes of the poor to Kildare; the fame of her piety attracted to the region many persons anxious to solicit her prayers or to profit by her holy example.

In time the number of her followers and admirers increased so greatly that it became necessary to provide accommodation for them in the neighborhood of the new monastery, and thus were laid the foundations of the town of Kildare. There an episcopal see was erected, which eventually became the ecclesiastical metropolis of the province to which it belonged.
Saint Bridgid died after seventy years devoted to the practice of the most sublime virtues, during which her holy institute had become widely diffused throughout the Green Isle, and had greatly advanced the cause of religion in the various districts where it was established. Like a river of peace, its progress was steady and silent; it fertilized all the regions fortunate enough to receive its waters, and caused them to put forth spiritual flowers and fruits with all the sweet perfume of evangelical fragrance.

The day on which the holy nun was to terminate her course, February 1, 523, having arrived, she received from the hands of a saintly priest the blessed Body and Blood of her Lord in the divine Eucharist, and passed to the eternal vision of the God she had always adored. Her body was interred in the church adjoining her convent, but later was exhumed and deposited in a splendid shrine near the high altar, afterwards to be moved again and placed in the same grave with the relics of the glorious Saint Patrick. Their holy remains, together with those of Saint Columba, were translated afterwards to the cathedral church of Kildare.

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  Sermons by St. Vincent Ferrer - Christmas Eve
Posted by: Hildegard of Bingen - 12-27-2020, 02:55 PM - Forum: Church Doctrine & Teaching - No Replies

St. Vincent Ferrer: Sermon for Christmas Eve (Mt 1:18)


Mt: 1:18  Now the generation of Christ was in this wise. When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child, of the Holy Ghost.
 
   "She was found with child, of the Holy Ghost," (Mt 1:18)
 
   Our whole sermon is about the impregnation of the Virgin Mary. But that you may perceive this material in your souls with the sweetness of devotion first we shall salute the pregnant Virgin, etc. [Here all recite the "Hail Mary."]
 
   "She was found," etc.  I find a great difference in sacred scripture between the conception of Christ and his birth, especially in this because the birth of Christ was not entirely hidden and secret, rather he wished that it would be announced to the world and published through the angels and through the heavens, through the star in the east, through the animals, through Eastern  kings, just as it had already been prophesied.  "I will move the heaven and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. And I will move all nations: and the desired of all nations shall come," (Hag 2:7-8).  Note, "the heaven," that is, the holy angels. 
 
   But about his conception he wished that it would be hidden.  To no one in this world was it revealed, not to the patriarchs, not to the prophets, nor to holy persons, but only to the archangel Gabriel and to the Virgin Mary, as it had been prophesied by Isaiah, "From the ends of the earth we have heard praises, the glory of the just one. And I said: My secret to myself," (Isa 24:16).  And the prophet speaks in the person of Gabriel and the Virgin Mary.  Note, "from the ends of the earth."  The ends of the earth are taken in two ways, either locally or temporally. 
 
   With respect to the first by calculating from the center of the earth, that which is most distant from the center is the circumference.  The earth is the center, the circumference is the empyreal heaven.  Behold the ends locally from which Gabriel and the Virgin Mary heard the praises of the just one, because it is a rule in holy  theology that when he is called just, it is understood absolutely, always of the savior. 
 
   As for the second, the ends can be taken temporally.  There are seven temporal ages of the world. The first was from Adam to Noah. The second from Noah to Abraham.  Third from Abraham to Moses. The fourth from Moses to David. The fifth from David to the Babylonian captivity.  Sixth from the Babylonian exile to Christ.  The seventh and last, from Christ to the end of the world.  About which the Apostle [Paul] says: "[We are] upon whom the ends of the world are come," (1Cor 10:11).  Behold the temporal limits, about which Gabriel and the Virgin Mary speak.  "From the ends of the earth, "that is in the ultimate age of the world "we have heard praises, the glory of the just one," that is, the savior. "Tell us Angel Gabriel about these praises and the glory of the savior. Say something to us."  He responds, "My secret to me," supply "I shall keep." See how the conception of Christ was hidden and secret.  About which David said: "He shall come down like rain upon the fleece; and as showers falling gently upon the earth," (Ps 71:6).  The difference then is clear between the birth of Christ and his conception. 
 
   Nevertheless although his conception was so secret at the beginning, nevertheless it gradually became manifest, because a pregnant woman at least in giving birth reveals her pregnancy.  So it was of the Virgin whose belly and uterus had swelled, and she could no longer hide her pregnancy.  On this account the proposed theme speaks, "She was found with child."  The theme is clear. 
 
   And since I am concerned with the pregnant Virgin in this sermon, I find that the Virgin was found pregnant by her fiancé Joseph in three ways:
            First through sense experience, [per experientiam sensualem]
            Second through divine wisdom, [per sapientiam divinalem]
            Third through a special excellence. [per excellentiam specialem]
   For each of these the theme speaks, "She was found with child," (Mt 1:18) etc.
 
SENSE EXPERIENCE
 
   I say first, that the Virgin Mary was found pregnant by her espoused Joseph through sense experience.  All knowledge is had through some sense perception.  Through sight we recognize colors; through hearing, sound; through the sense of smell, odors; through taste, flavors; through touch, hard or soft, hot or cold.  If you say to someone "How do you know this?" He replies: "Because I have seen or heard it," etc. It is clear therefore that all our cognition is through the senses. The Philosopher [Aristotle], "Sense is not deceived about the proper object, especially sight unless there is a defect."  On account of this honorable judges make a great difference between eyewitnesses and hearsay [de auditu], or belief [credentia].  An eyewitness is greater.  And so Christ rebuked the Jews who refused to believe, saying, "We speak what we know, and we testify what we have seen, and you receive not our testimony," (Jn 3:11).  Note "what we know" namely, I and the holy prophets, "we speak," in this way, from sight.  The Virgin Mary was found by her espoused Joseph to be with child.  Imagine  how after Mary had conceived, filled with joy she went to visit Elizabeth her cousin [literally, her related sister], who was pregnant with John the Baptist, as the angel had told her.  She stayed with her for three months, as Luke says, (cf. Lk 1:56). 
 
   Her fiancé Joseph came to Nazareth to visit her, and saw her womb swollen, so he found her pregnant. Think how Joseph should have wondered, because he had not touched her.  Moreover, as the holy doctors say, after they had become engaged, the Virgin Mary persuaded her fiancé, who was also a virgin, that they would take a vow of virginity together.  So much the more did  he wonder when she seemed pregnant. Therefore the beginning of today's gospel says, "When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together," that is, to live together and  have relations, "she was found to be with child, of the Holy Ghost. Whereupon Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing publicly to expose her, was minded to put her away privately," (Mt 1:18-19).
 
   Think also when she was found pregnant by her parents, who did not believe that she had sinned, but they wondered what this was.  On the one hand they were thinking of her great devotion; on the other hand they saw her pregnancy.  Her mother said to her, "Daughter, what is this?" The Virgin Mary replied to her mother, this is that which pleases God, who can do to his creatures whatever he pleases.  "O daughter, what will people say, that my daughter got pregnant before she was married." 
 
   Think of the distress of the Virgin, who dared not reveal because "my secret to me."  Think of the entanglement in which Joseph found himself, who was old and poor, and the Virgin Mary,  young and stunningly beautiful.  Bernard says that Joseph, on one hand was considering the holiness of the Virgin, and that it could not be that she had sinned, and on the other hand he beheld her pregnant.  And since by nature a woman cannot conceive without a man, therefore like an olive, his heart was between two millstones.
 
SIGNS OF A BAD WOMAN
 
   And because he was prudent and wise he considered all the signs of a bad woman, which are:  1) an irreligious heart, 2) garrulousness in speech, 3) personal untidiness, 4) voraciousness in eating and drinking, 5) laziness toward work, 5) vanity of dress, and  6) contempt for her husband.  Each of these signs indicate a woman is bad.  But Joseph found none of these signs in the Virgin Mary. Rather, the total opposite; all the signs of a good woman. 
 
1)   The first sign of a dishonorable [inhonesta] woman is an irreligious heart toward God, disregarding masses and sermons, because she does not fear God.  May God keep her from being inconsiderate, because unless a woman retains a fear of God, no other fear will hold her back from evil.  Fear of God and devotion restrained Susanna lest she sin, when she said, "I am straitened on every side: for if I do this thing, it is death to me: and if I do it not, I shall not escape your hands. But it is better for me to fall into your hands without doing it, than to sin in the sight of the Lord," (Dan 13:22-23). 
 
   Joseph however was thinking about his fiancée whether she was devout, or irreligious, and he saw that he had never seen such a holy and devout woman, because she always wanted to pray, or read, or contemplate.  And on this foundation of devotion a woman should ground herself, otherwise she will fall.  "For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid," (1Cor 3:10).  But Joseph did not find these things in the Blessed Virgin Mary, since she was most devoted and ardent toward God.  So scripture says of her in Proverbs, "The woman that fears [God], she shall be praised," (Prov 31:30).
 
2)  The second sign is garrulous talkativeness. [garrulatio oris loquax]. God keep her from the opportunity.  Reason, because no devotion remains in the soul from words, just as no scent remains in the nutmeg jar which is left open.  Authority: "Where there are many words, there is oftentimes want," namely of goodness (Prov 14:23).  And so you should raise your little daughters lest they become talkative.  And so, 1 Tim: "Let the woman learn in silence, with all subjection," (1Tim 2:11), otherwise it is a bad sign.  But a quiet woman is good.
 
null   Note the signs of taciturnity of the Blessed Virgin, because she is painted with her eyes larger than her mouth, and so she is properly represented to indicate that she had a great eye of the heart for thinking and contemplating, but a mouth small for speaking little.  Mary "kept all these words in her heart," (Lk 2:51).  Joseph considered for himself if his fiancée was loquacious, or garrulous, and he saw that she was not.   Moreover she preferred not to speak.  A sign of this, as I said, that the Virgin had large eyes and a small mouth, is clear in the portrait which St. Luke painted,  which is in Rome.
 
3)  The third sign is bodily untidiness.  When a woman goes about, lascivious, dissolute and vulgar, it seems that she has ants on her feet [formicas in pedibus!].  Ambrose:  A man's body is an image of his soul. So Solomon says, "A woman [meets him] in harlot's attire prepared to deceive souls; talkative and wandering, not bearing to be quiet, not able to abide still at home, now abroad, now in the streets, now lying in wait near the corners," (Prov 7:10-12).  And she immediately put herself at the windows etc. 
 
   But Joseph did not find this sign in the Blessed Virgin, because she never left home, unless when she went to the temple. And thus she went about totally composed.  She always had her eyes toward the ground in a gesture of holiness.  She never went dancing, but went about with downcast eyes.  So scripture says about her, "How beautiful are you, my love, how beautiful are you! your eyes are doves' eyes, besides what is hid within," (Song 4:1). The Holy Spirit says "how beautiful are you" to the Virgin twice, because she is beautiful in body and beautiful in soul.  Note, "Your eyes are doves' eyes," he does not say, "falcons' eyes."
 
4)  The fourth sign is stuffing the belly with food and drink.  It is a bad sign in a man and in a woman, because of those  nearby parts, and stimulate each other.  Hence a full belly immediately stimulates its neighbor, and because of this a gluttonous person necessarily is lustful.  Holy Scripture says of the gluttons, "They shall eat ... and shall lift up their souls to their iniquity,"
(Hos 4:8). 
 
   But the Virgin Mary ate very little, only enough to sustain the body.   She was almost always fasting.
 
 5)  The fifth sign is laziness, as when some woman says, "I will not work.  I have brought so much from my dowry to my husband."  Therefore St. Bernard [De consideratione, II, 13,22] writes, "Idleness is the mother of trifles, the stepmother of virtues," so because our body is of the  earth, it has the conditions of the earth, which if left uncultivated, brings forth thorns of lust, and weeds of bad thoughts and sins.  Also, about the body of the lazy, on this account Sacred Scripture says of the body, "Send him," -- the servant, that is, the body which is like a servant who is to be directed – "to work, that he be not idle: For idleness has taught much evil," (Sir 33:28-29). 
 
   But the Virgin was never lazy, rather she was always busy about holy works.  Jerome says that she would arise in the middle of the night and pray.  Then she spun and wove.
 
6)  Sixth is vanity and excess in dress [ornatus].  Women may dress themselves decently and honestly according to their status and condition, but when they pour all their time and zeal in dressing themselves, or their body and they don't care about their soul, God help them, because such women are vain and have a vain heart.  So Scripture says, "Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity," (Eccl 1:2).  Note the rule of the Apostle [Paul], "Women also in decent apparel: adorning themselves with modesty and sobriety, not with plaited hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly attire, but as it becomes women professing godliness, with good works," (1Tim 2:9-10).  Note "sobriety" in measure, according to the condition of their status and the ability of their husband.  But there are many women with no regard, and they should be ashamed at what they wear, like the outfit or jewelry which a prostitute wears.   And so scripture says, "Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: the woman that fears the Lord, she shall be praised," (Prov 31:30). 
 
   But the Blessed Virgin did not care about jewelry.  She washed her face well with the pure water of tears. St. Anne, her mother was adorning her with much jewelry [dives].   Out of love for her mother she wore it in the house, but not outside the house.  But the daughters of today do just the opposite.
 
7)  The seventh sign is contempt of the husband.  It is a sign that she has her heart for another, when she argues with her husband about fashion [de genere ?] and about other things, she immediately wants him to get it for her.  According to scriptures, a woman ought to honor her husband, and so the Apostle commands, saying, "Let the woman learn in silence, with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to use authority over the man: but to be in silence," (1Tim 2:11).  We also read in Esther 2, that Assuerus and his people were saying, "Let all wives, as well of the greater as of the lesser, give honor to their husbands...and that the husbands should be rulers and masters in their houses," (Est 2:20,22). 
 
    Neither is this sign of contempt found in the glorious Virgin, because although she was young, beautiful, noble and rich, and her spouse old, and poor, nevertheless she honored him more than any woman in the world.  All in all, Joseph found no sign of a bad woman in the Virgin Mary, but all the virtues and traits [afflictiones?, perhaps affectiones] of a good woman.
 
  On the other hand he considered whether nature would permit a woman to conceive without a man, and he saw that it seemed not.  See how perplexed he was; it was like his heart was pressed between two millstones.  On the one hand he was afraid to make her condition public, because she would have immediately been stoned to death, according to the law.  On the other hand, since he was a just man, lest he seem to consent, he thought about going away quietly and leaving her.  And so the prophecy of David was fulfilled saying, in the person of Joseph, "Fear and trembling are come upon me: and darkness has covered me.  And I said: Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly and be at rest?... and I abode in the wilderness," (Ps 54:6-7,8).  As for his proposal: note "fear" of consenting in sin if he stayed with her, and "trembling" lest he defame an innocent one.  So he proposed to put her away.  It is clear, therefore, how the Virgin Mary, "was found with child," (Mt 1:18).
 
Morally.  You should take care, like Joseph, that there be no impediments when you wish to contract marriage, like parental [permission], or affinity, or something else.  And so it is an ordination of the church that it be declared.  And so scripture says, "Marriage honorable in all, and the bed undefiled," (Heb  13:4). It is honorable when there is no impediment.
 
DIVINE WISDOM
 
   Second, I say that the Virgin Mary was found to be with child, through divine wisdom.  This is based on a rule of theology, says St. Thomas in I Pars that the mysteries of God, that is the secrets, depending on his will alone cannot be known unless through his revelation.  None of you can know my heart unless I should reveal and manifest it.  How much more so with God. 
 
   But that which happens naturally can be known.  In this way doctors know the hour of death of a sick person, because although the effect is in the future, nevertheless the cause is already present.  Not so with the will of God.  And so scripture says, "For who among men is he who can know the counsel of God? or who can think what the will of God is?," (Wis 9:13).  It is added, "And who shall know your thought, unless you give wisdom, and send thy Holy Spirit from above," (Wis 9:17).  Now Joseph, when he saw that his fiancée was pregnant, could not naturally know the truth, because the conception of Christ had no natural cause.   For it did not come through the celestial constellations, nor through angelic processes, nor elemental, or human, therefore it could not have been known unless through divine revelation.  Think, therefore how Joseph, who was a holy man, just and good, turned to God in prayer about this, asking the good pleasure of God to reveal [the answer], according to that of James, "But if any of you want wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men abundantly, ... and it shall be given him," (Jas 1:5).  So Joseph did, when he wanted at night to retire, he first kneeled down in prayer, saying, "Lord, you have given me a great grace, giving me this damsel as my fiancée, but Lord, I see that she is pregnant. How is it that a woman so holy is pregnant?" and similar words.  And he wept much. 
 
   I believe also that the Blessed Virgin, on the other hand was praying to God, lovingly compassionate over her predicament, and that her saddened fiancé might be consoled.  I believe that even the mother of the Virgin was praying that they not be disgraced, etc.  Think how God listened to these devout prayers.  The Gospel says, "But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, saying: Joseph, son of David, fear not to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son: and you shall call his name JESUS. For he shall save his people from their sins.  Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying:  Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us," (Mt 1:20-23).  Think, how the angel spoke to him the prophecy of Isaiah, "Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son," (Isa 7:14), not the Father nor the Holy Spirit.  Think what kind of joy Joseph had, when he knew the truth. 
 
   From this a question emerges: Why did the Virgin not reveal it to him, when she saw his sadness, and perplexity, because he believed her – although nowadays a fiancé does not believe his fiancée.  I respond that a secret entrusted should not be revealed, where the one by whom the secret is entrusted, is good, just and holy.  Otherwise it can be revealed.  "For it is good to hide the secret of a king," (Tob 12:7).  Therefore the Virgin Mary, who had a most delicate conscience, chose not to reveal it, lest she offend the king, especially God.
 
   Note [this is] against many vain persons who, if God gives them some grace or revelation, cannot keep silence.  They immediately reveal it, and wrongly, unless about this they expressly know the will of God, especially because sometimes they believe the illusions of the devil to be divine revelations.  They are like hens who can not keep quiet until they lay an egg. About such scripture says, "He who discloses the secret of a friend loses his credit, and shall never find an  intimate friend," (Sir 27:17).  See the reason why the Virgin Mary did not reveal the secret committed to her to Joseph or to her mother, but the Holy Spirit revealed it to Elizabeth.
 
SPECIAL EXCELLENCE
 
   Third, I say that the Virgin Mary was found to be with child through a special excellence.  Generally, when women are pregnant, they are thin, pale, tired and hungry for all kinds of things.  But it was not so with the Blessed Virgin.   Some holy theologians say that from the fact that the Virgin was pregnant, rays of splendor shone forth from her face, especially when she was close  to childbirth.  This can be proved in three ways, through philosophy, through theology and through experience.
 
   As for the first, the Philosopher Aristotle says that every natural agent to the extent that it gives of the substantial form, to that extent it also gives the accidents following the form.   What gives fire, gives also heat and light.   So God the Father, of his substantial form, gave his Son to the Virgin Mary.  That the Son of God is called "form," the authority of scriptures: "Who being in the form of God,...emptied himself, taking the form of a servant," (Phil 2:6-7).  It is no wonder then that it conveys a radiance in the face etc.  And so when pregnant, the Virgin was more beautiful and more glowing.
 
   Second, it is proved theologically.  We read in Exodus 34, that because Moses had spoken with God on the mountain, rays of splendor shone forth from his face, so much so that the people could not even gaze on him.  Behold the reason.  If the face was so splendorous from just a  conversation with God, how much more therefore the face of the Virgin Mary from the conception of his Son.  The Apostle Paul makes this point saying, "Now if the ministration of death, engraved with letters upon stones, was glorious; so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses, for the glory of his countenance, which is made void:  How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather in glory?" (2Cor 3:7-8).  The "ministration of death" was the law of Moses which did not confer a life of glory. 
 
   Third, it is proved by experience, of a crystal lamp, which is beautiful in itself and bright, but if the lamp within is lighted it shall be more beautiful and even brighter.  The same with the Virgin Mary. Think how her body, beautiful and pure like a lamp, and the light inside illuminating the whole world is the Son of God.  No wonder therefore if the Virgin was then brighter and more beautiful, inasmuch as the text says that Joseph "knew her not," (Mt 1:25).  From these rays of splendor, because eternal light was in her. 
 
   Note here how Joseph, having received the divine revelation, humbly sought pardon from the Virgin for his suspicion which he had had of her, saying, "O Blessed, why did you not tell me, because I believed you.  And that she comforted him sweetly congratulating him that he would be the groom and companion of the mother of the Son of God, and his parent.  O blessed family [societas].  How reverently, then, did they both adore God incarnate in the womb of the Virgin. 
 
   And so if you wish to have this association for yourself, you should do like the merchant Valentine did, who every year on Christmas, invited [to his home] one poor old man and one woman having a little child.  They represented for him the Virgin with her son, and Joseph.  It  was revealed about him that at his death the Virgin with her son and Joseph appeared to him, saying, "Because you have received us in your house, so we receive you into our house."  About  this Christ says, in Matthew 25, "Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me," (v. 40).  And so the money which you pay out in gambling, you should for the love of Christ give to the poor.  The poor however, who do not have, nor can give money to themselves, can at least present tomorrow [Christmas day] as many "Hail Marys" as days she bore him in the womb, or how many weeks, or months. Forty weeks, nine months, 277 days.

St. Vincent Ferrer: Christmas Sermon (Lk 2:11)

 
"This day, is born to you a Savior," (Lk 2:11).  Our sermon will be about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Virgin Birth. But that you might sense the spiritual sweetness of this feast, we shall salute the glorious Mother of God. [Vincent now leads his listeners in the "Hail Mary."]
 
"There is born to us etc."  From the beginning of the world up to the birth of Christ there has never been heard such good news, nor so useful for mankind like the news of the proposed theme, "This day, is born to you a Savior," (Lk 2:11) etc.  To all who were lost and damned and sentenced to hell. The declaration of this blessed Nativity I deal with in five conclusions.
 
1.      First, that this blessed Nativity was from of old ardently desired by the saints.
2.      Second, that this blessed Nativity was cruelly unappreciated by the Jews.
3.      Third, that this blessed Nativity was celebrated powerfully by God.
4.      Fourth, that this blessed Nativity was humbly hidden by the Virgin Mary.
5.      Fifth, that this blessed Nativity was broadcast publicly by the angels saying, "This day, is born to you a Savior," (Lk 2:11).
   And anyone who, curiously, might wish to preach all five conclusions, would be excessively prolix.  And all are touched in the theme, in which there are five conditions. The first, therefore, is touched by the first saying. The second in the second. The third in the third, and so on for the others.
 
1. LONG DESIRED
 
   I say first that this blessed Nativity was ardently desired of old by holy persons.  And that you might understand better this condition listen to this story:
 
  You should know that there was a certain great and noble city, well populated, which was cruelly under siege by enemies, attacking it with every kind of weapons, to the extent that it was already running low on provisions, the longer the siege went on, nor were the enemies willing to take them alive, or to grant any mercy, moreover they killed them at once.  Aware of this, the king and lord of the city secretly sent messengers and letters to the city, telling them that he will come personally to free them when he was able.  The citizens were very happy about this and were eagerly expecting his arrival any day.
 
  Rightly so it was of this world. This great and noble city was and is human nature.  Who can number how many citizens there were and how many dwelling in her, from Adam up to the birth of Christ -- since according to some teachers more than 5,000 years have passed -- who were besieged daily by cruel enemies, namely by countless demons attacking it with diverse temptations, with catapults, pains and sufferings, since  they were lacking the spiritual food, about which Christ said, "Not in bread alone does man live, but in every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.," (Mt 4:4).  Although they had the Mosaic law, it did not give eternal life. Nor did they have drink, i.e., the promise of spiritual [gifts] which refresh souls.  And when someone went out of the city, through death, immediately without mercy he was captured and imprisoned in the prison of hell.    However, God, the Lord of this world, wishing to comfort the citizens, secretly sent messengers to them, the holy patriarchs and prophets, with his letters announcing to them  that he himself personally would come to liberate them.  Many citizens rejoiced over this and city-dwellers sent him supplications, devout prayers, that he would come and liberate the city.
 
   First came Moses saying to God the Father, "I beseech you, Lord send whom you will send," (Ex 4:13) as you have promised.  Second, David on behalf of the whole city says, "[Lord] stir up your might, and come to save us," (Ps 79:3).  Third, Solomon saying in the Holy Spirit, "Send her out of your holy heaven, and from the throne of your majesty, that she may be with me, and may labor with me," (Wis 9:10) against your enemies.   Note: "Send her,"  namely, the person of Christ in human flesh, which is sent by the Father and the Holy Spirit, in respect to humanity.  Fourth, Isaiah, saying, "Would that you would rend the heavens, and would come down," (Isa 64:1).  Others were saying, "Come, O Lord, and tarry not: forgive the sins of your people Israel," etc. (Alleluia Verse from the Advent Liturgy)

  The King, however, having heard these supplications, sent a messenger secretly to the city who would say on his behalf, " [the vision]... it/he shall appear at the end, and shall not lie: if it/he make any delay, wait for it/him: for it/he shall surely come, and it/he shall not be slack,"  (Hab 2:3).  Behold how ardently he was desired, and according to Augustine they would say, "When shall he come?   When shall he be born?  When would he appear? Do you think I shall see it?   Do you think I shall endure?   Do you think his  birth will find me here?  O, if only my eyes shall behold the one whom the eyes of the heart have revealed. O, if only my eyes shall see what I believe in the writings of God. And the closer he approached, so much the more was he desired.
  
  He begins his path of coming on the day of his conception. So he was most fervently desired by the Blessed Virgin, his mother and St. Joseph who daily checked off the calendar yearning to see the day of his entry into this world. The Virgin carried him nine months and six days, which are 277 days.  Thus in the person of Christ Holy Scripture says, "I myself also am a mortal man, like all others, ...and in the womb of my mother I was fashioned," in the figure of man, "to be flesh. In the time of ten months," (Wis 7:1-2)    Because of this the Virgin Mary and Joseph knowing his coming was near prepared themselves for receiving him devoutly. The Virgin prepared woolen and linen wrappings, as women do when they are close to childbirth. Joseph purchased an ox so that he could have a great feast on the birth of the child. But in the mean time says Luke, "There went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the whole world should be enrolled," (Lk 2:1).  So Augustus wished to enroll the world because he wanted to know how many provinces there were, how many cities, and how many people.  Note the great sadness of Joseph, when he heard the edict of the Emperor, that under penalty of death everyone must proceed to the city of their birth.  Joseph, who was of the city of Bethlehem, of the tribe of David, began to weep saying, "O woe, if I go to Bethlehem, I shall not see that blessed birth so long desired by the saints. If I do not go, I will be disobedient and will be killed, and too I shall not see the aforesaid birth."  Sadly, he went home.
 
  The Virgin Mary was comforting him, as a wife should do, saying, "O father, what are you worried about?  You should rejoice, because the savior is about to be born soon."  Then Joseph told the Virgin Mary about the edict of the Emperor and the reason for his sadness.  The Virgin replied, "Father, do not weep, because for your comfort, I shall go with you, for I am also of the offspring of David.  Joseph, on the one hand rejoiced, that the Virgin would wish to go, but on the other hand he wondered what people would say, that he was taking with him a young pregnant woman so near to childbirth.
 
   Also, what if she gives birth on the way?  The Virgin replied to him, "Father, do not worry about what people will say, because your intention is good.  It is the will of God that we go to Bethlehem, because the savior is to be born there. According to the prophecy of Micah, "And you, Bethlehem Ephrata, are a little [place] in the kingdom of Judah: out of you shall come forth one who to be the ruler in Israel," (Mic 5:2). The Virgin Mary knew the bible better than the prophet, as Origen said.
 
   They prepared themselves and left the town of Nazareth, the Virgin riding on a donkey, and Joseph leading the ass and ox.  Behold the Queen of Paradise, and those she was traveling with.  Then was fulfilled the prophecy of Haggai on this event saying, "Yet one moment [modicum], and I will move the heaven and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. And I will move all nations: and the desired of all nations shall come and I will fill this house with glory: says the Lord of hosts," (Hag 2: 6-7).  Note, "one moment,"   because it was only a moment of time from the prophet Haggai until Christ, "and I will move the heaven,"  where he speaks of the immovable empyreal heaven.  St. Thomas says in the Prima Pars [of the Summa theologica, I, q. 106, a.1] that when some angel receives a revelation from God, immediately he revels it to the others so that nothing there is kept a secret.  So the archangel Gabriel in the holy court of the Trinity when he had the revelation of the incarnation and the nativity of the Son of God, about which he was the messenger, immediately revealed it to all the others, and so the heaven was moved out of joy and rejoicing and dancing because of the reparation of the fall.  So, "I will move the earth,"  the Virgin Mary is called the virginal earth, who was to produce  the fruit of life who was moved by the angel’s salutation, when, "troubled at his saying, thought within herself what manner of salutation this should be," (Lk 1: 29).  Then, "I shall move the sea and dry land,"  when from the edict of the Emperor the peoples would proceed to their sites, some by sea and some by land. Then "shall come the desired of all the ages," (Hag 2:7).    So much for the first conclusion.
 
2. CRUELLY UNAPPRECIATED
 
   The second conclusion says that  this blessed Nativity was cruelly unappreciated by the Jews.  History says that when Joseph and the Virgin were in the city of Bethlehem they found no hospitality nor any house nor hospice that was willing to receive them.  Three reasons are alleged for this.  First because they were the last to arrive and they had to go slowly on the way.  So whoever comes late, often seems to be angry.  Secondly although the city of Bethlehem was small, it nevertheless teemed with many in military service and citizens and nobles, all who were of the tribe of David who had been born in this city. They had made reservations in advance for their lodgings.  A third reason was avarice of the hoteliers. When they got a look at Joseph, the poor man with his pregnant wife, thought that they would fill up a whole room and that there would be little profit from them. Therefore, etc.
 
  Most likely, when Joseph entered through the gate of the city, with the Virgin riding on the donkey, he would head immediately to the first inn lest he would have to pass through the whole city seeking whether they might find a place there. When they asked who and how many were in the party they saw that there were only two, with an ox and ass, thinking, we will earn little, they told them to move on because there is no place here for you.  At the next inn, the answer was that there were no vacancies. Imagine Joseph's anxiety here and the shame of the Virgin Mary, thus going from door to door. But the Virgin patiently put up with it and comforted Joseph. Finally they came to another inn where they said that all was full for such a gentleman and for expectant one etc.
 
  Seeing that they couldn’t buy lodging, Joseph searched that out of love of God some private home would take in that pregnant woman near to childbirth, but he did not find one in the whole city, and so they said to him, "Old man, you are indeed concerned about your wife, but why did you put her in this situation, so pregnant?"  And the poor man wept. At which the Virgin [said], "Father let us be patient, and we shall find some  hospital." So they looked for a hospital seeing if they might be received out of love of God.  The nurse replied, "You are healthy, and this house is for the sick. You are not able to be received here, and so spare us."  
 
   Since  the hour was late and they had not yet found a place Joseph said, "O Lord these are my sins."  Then they found a cave [porticulum] along a public road in which there was a manger, where visitors sometimes stabled their animals.  The Virgin said, "Father, we shall stay here, because it is not right to go through the village at this hour."   Joseph said, "O woe!  We shall never find a house."   The Virgin Mary said, "Father the whole world is the house of God, so let us stay here."
 
  Then Joseph, with the greatest reverence assisted the Virgin from the donkey and entered the refuge [porticum] and Joseph rolled out a blanket [flatiatam] which he had brought on the donkey as a tent for privacy, and he went to buy some straw and charcoal because of the cold. And from a little straw he made a bed for the Queen of Heaven, saying, "O Lord what will you say to me, that I have placed your mother on such a bed,"  and in this place they stayed for at least thirteen days.  The Gloss on Matthew 2 said that the kings from the east found Christ the King still there in that cave.
 
   Behold the palace of the queen of paradise. Behold how that glorious birth was little appreciated by the Jews.  God had revealed this to Jeremiah the prophet who, weeping, said in the person of the Jews, "We have sinned against thee. O expectation of Israel, the Savior thereof in time of trouble: why will you be a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man turning in to lodge? Why will you be as a wandering man, as a mighty man that cannot save?" (Jer 14:7-9)  Thus this prophecy was fulfilled. So much for the second conclusion.
 
MORALITER (a moral aside)
 
   Who of you does not say now in his heart, " Oh, if I had been there then, and had known him, I would have received him into my home,"  etc.  Would that you would not be in the same condemnation or cruelty with the Jews.  Have you ever today seen a pregnant young woman in this village with Joseph and never took them in?   The  consecrated host which the priest brings forth, like Joseph, is the virgin pregnant with the Son of God.  Who of you receives him by communicating devoutly?  None, I believe.   With sincere reflection you should prepare for yourselves the home of your conscience through contrition, confession, and satisfaction. Many excuse themselves like the Bethlehemites saying: I have to welcome a great soldier, namely Sir Chicken,  Lord Kid,  and Mister Pig.  Another says I have to receive a great and noble lady, namely Lady Hen,  another Madam Partridge, etc. but they do not receive the Lord Jesus Christ. About which John in the Gospel said, "He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God," (Jn 1).
 
3. MIGHTY BIRTH
 
  The third conclusion says that this blessed Nativity came about through the celebrated power of God.  The Virgin Mary, stayed in that cave, as is said, between the cattle.  In the middle of the night the hour for her delivery arrived. The Virgin Mary sensed this, not like other women, who before they feel the onset of childbirth, have pains, miseries and suffering in the body, and their face are distorted.  But the Virgin Mary had other signs, special inspirations, consolations and heartfelt sweetness, with exquisite pleasures more than others, and her face was radiant. Joseph seeing this said, "Blessed, what is happening." She replied, "Father, now the hour of my childbirth is at hand."  
 
  Joseph got up immediately so that he might send for midwives. But the Virgin stopped him saying, "Father, just as for his conception no creature did anything, so neither for his birth."  Joseph then said, "Blessed, neither you or I are expert in this."  The Virgin said, "Father, don't worry, because God, the heavenly Father, will provide."  And so the Book of the Infancy of the Savior [Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, ch.13] which states that there were women, has been condemned by the decree of Pope Pelagius. (Cf. Jerome: On the perpetual virginity of Mary, 8): "No midwife assisted at His birth; no women's officiousness intervened."  But suddenly, like the ray of the sun passes through a glass window without breaking it, so Christ, the sun of justice passed through the gate of her virginal womb without any breaking or corruption, "like a bridegroom...from his chamber," (Ps 18:6).
 
  The Virgin received him into her own hands, on her knees, with great reverence and veneration, adoring him and saying, "O Lord, you indeed have come from heaven to earth for the salvation of men. O Lord, desired by the holy patriarchs and prophets, I adore you, because as God you are my creator, as human you are my son."  And she kissed him first on his feet as God, next on his mouth as a son, then on the hands as the creator of all things, and finally on his face as her son, saying, "O Lord you have given me such a grace."  And she adored him a hundred times over.  And as someone has reported, she said, "You are the Lord my God, you are my redeemer, you are my beloved Son."   Ambrose: "O blessed Virgin, who can open the treasures of your heart to us, as here you adore your child as God, and here you kiss him as son?"
 
   Joseph, weeping for joy, said, "Blessed, permit me to adore your son, the long desired Son of God," etc.  How he adored him saying, "O Lord you have granted me such a grace. Kings and prophets wished to see you and they did not see, and to me, a sinner, you have given such a grace that I should see you."  Then the infant began to cry because of the cold. Joseph immediately warmed the blankets and the Virgin wrapped him.  
 
   Then Joseph wanted to call for a wet nurse, but the Virgin again stopped him.  Joseph said, "Blessed, what are you doing, for you do not have milk?"  Doctors say that from the same root comes milk and children.  So a woman who does not know man, does not have milk.  The Virgin replied, "Father, God shall provide." Then the Virgin, on her knees prayed God the Father saying, "God the Father you and I have one son in common, so you who provide for all creatures ought to provide some milk for him."  Then suddenly her breasts were filled with milk, sent to her from heaven. So the church says, the Virgin, not knowing man, without pain, gives birth to the savior of the ages. The Virgin herself with full breasts nursed the very King of the Angels.  So much for the third conclusion.
 
4. HUMBLE AND HIDDEN
 
  The fourth conclusion states that this blessed Nativity happened to a Virgin, humble and hidden. History says that as soon as Christ was born, his body shone like the rising sun, and the night became as midday, and so it was light.  Think how many, who were not sleeping, and wondering about such a brightness, sought to see the source of the light and ran toward such a great spectacle of light. The Virgin sensing the excitement of the people placed the child in the manger.  Jews came to see the source of the light. Some of them said prophecy says that when the Messiah will be born, "night shall be light as day," (Ps 138:12).  Others asked if this might be he. Some said, be quiet; don't make much of it. If Herod finds out, he will kill us. So that out of fear of Herod they did not dare receive the Messiah King.  Of this light the prophet said, " The people that walked in darkness, have seen a great light: to them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death," of the sin of ingratitude, "a light has risen for them,  You have multiplied the nation," to see the light, "and have not increased the joy," (Is 9:2-3), because no one brought him or the Virgin a gift. Of that light it is said, it is pointed out when it is said, and it follows, " For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us," not the Father, nor the Holy Spirit (v. 6).
 
    Here the question is raised, why did the blessed Virgin place her son in the manger between the beasts?  What if the ox with horns, and the donkey with teeth had attacked?  St. Luke wishes to excuse the Virgin saying: "She laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn," i.e. in this cave, (Lk 2:7). But one might respond to St. Luke: "Could not the Virgin who gave birth without pain and suffering, place or position him in her arms or on her breast? Why put him between animals?"  The response is, for three reasons:
            First, to fulfill the scriptural truth.
            Second, to alleviate bodily needs,
            Third, to teach us a moral lesson.
 
SCRIPTURAL TRUTH
 
  As for the first, it was prophesied that he would be placed between the animals and humbly be adored.  Think what kind of joy the blessed Virgin had when she saw her son adored by an ox and ass. And how sad when she saw him ignored by the Jews. And so was fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah saying, "Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken. I have brought up children, and exalted them: but they have despised me. The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel has not known me,"  (Isa 1:2-3).
  
BODILY NEEDS
 
  As for the second reason you have already seen how cold it could be at that time. Think if the Virgin Mary was cold, because we do not read that they brought lined coats. For this reason she placed her child in the manger so that the animals might warm him with their breath, as it was revealed by Habakkuk the prophet, who said this: "Lord I have heard your voice and I have feared. Lord I have considered your work, in the middle of two animals you shall be known," (Hab 3:2, LXX transl.).
 
MORAL LESSON
 
   As for the third reason the Virgin does this so that we might be instructed in good morals.
  • An ox is a great animal having two big horns, which signify the temporal lords and rulers of the community. The donkey which carries burdens, signifies peasants and subjects.  And the Virgin places her son in the middle, pointing out that all can indeed be saved by the saving justice of the Lord, and that not by hatred nor by love nor by fear nor by bribes they give unjustly. Vassals too by keeping faith, obedience and reverence for  their lords. 
  • Second,  the ox is a clean animal which in olden times was sacrificed to God.  So it symbolizes the priests who offer sacrifice to God.  The simple ass signifies the laity. The Virgin places her son between them, implying that all can be saved. 
  • Third, the ox, which doesn't bear burdens, signifies the rich who do not labor with their hands. The ass signifies the workers, if they be patient. 
  • Fourth, the ox which has horns signifies devout and holy people. Two horns are true prudence or adherence to the faith, and prompt obedience to commandments.  The surly ass, signifies sinners, who if they are repentant can be saved.
  • Fifth the ox, which chews the cud  and has divided hooves, signifies the learned masters and doctors who ruminate by studying; and the divided hooves means they have knowledge of the old and new testament.  The ass signifies the ignorant.  Christ is placed in the middle etc. And the text of David confirms it: "Men and beasts you will preserve, O Lord: O how you have multiplied your mercy, O God!!" (Ps 35:7-8).  Note men, both powerful and powerless, both learned, and rich, and draft animals, i.e. crude sinners and the ignorant, shall be saved by the Lord.
 
5. OPENLY PROCLAIMED
 
   The fifth conclusion says that this blessed Nativity was openly proclaimed by the angels when they appeared to the shepherds telling the good news: "For, this day is born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David," St. Luke writes (2:11).  A little story is told about the angels at the birth of Christ, that God the Father, from heaven, where he was throwing a big party over the birth of Christ, sent them to earth so that there might be a feast here also.  This blessed Nativity was revealed to the watching shepherds, not to the sleeping emperor Octavian, nor, in Jerusalem, to the masters and teachers, nor to the priests, but to shepherds singing their songs.
 
   Why this?  Bernard says that shepherds have five qualities in which it is shown to which persons God reveals his secrets and gives his glory. 
  • First, the shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks etc. In which it is shown that shepherds both temporal and ecclesiastical ought to watch over the flock committed to them, lest they be devoured by the wolves of especially notorious sin, because the community is not punished for secret sins. To such shepherds God reveals his glory and grace.   
  • Second, they play their flutes harmoniously, in which is shown that to devout and peaceful persons who play music through their prayers and supplications, God reveals his grace and glory.
  • Third, because they were in the desert, in the harshness of penance, etc. where eating and drinking and sleeping was hard, etc. In which it is shown, that to those who live in the rigors of penitence etc., [God reveals his grace and glory].
  • Fourth, because they were poor men, etc.  So Christ says, "But woe to you that are rich: for you have your consolation," etc. (Lk 6:24).
  • Fifth, because they were simple men, they despised no one.  To such God gives his grace.  Authority of Christ: "I confess to you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to the little ones," (Mt 11:25).

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  The Novus Ordo Ordination Rites similar to the Anglican
Posted by: Stone - 12-27-2020, 02:23 PM - Forum: New Rite Sacraments - Replies (2)

The Angelus June 1979


Anglican Orders
by Rev. Michael Clifton

In 1896 Pope Leo XIII declared Anglican Orders invalid with his Bull Apostolicae Curae. The Ecumenical Movement has now gained such momentum that determined efforts are being made to secure a reversal of Pope Leo's decision so that the orders of clergy belonging to the worldwide Anglican Communion, which includes the Episcopal Church in America, will be recognized as equivalent to the orders of Catholic clergy. Father Michael Clifton, an English priest and an authority on recusant history, shows in this article that the teaching of Apostolicae Curae cannot possibly be reversed. He also shows the manner in which the movement to recognize Anglican Orders is linked to the Agreed Statements of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission which have not yet been rejected by the Vatican and that the new Catholic ordination rites have been influenced by ecumenical motives.

In recent years there has been much talk among ecumenically minded Catholics of the possibility of recognizing Anglican Orders despite the clear declaration by Pope Leo XIII in Apostolicae Curae (1896) "that ordinations carried out according to the Anglican rite have been, and are, absolutely null and utterly void." At first sight it may appear astonishing that the matter could be raised again, but when almost every doctrine that Catholics hold sacred is questioned from some quarters within the Church it is not surprising that there are those who would wish to overturn the solemn teaching of the Church on Anglican Orders. This would provide a short cut to so-called "Church-unity" based on a minimum of doctrine.

This article will deal briefly with the entire question of Anglican Orders and attempt to analyze the "new arguments" that are being advanced to circumvent the judgement of Pope Leo XIII. The term "Anglican Orders," as used within the article, includes the Episcopalian Church in the U.S.A. and all the other branches of the world-wide Anglican communion.

The history of the Anglican ordinal dates back to 1550 during the reign of the boy-king, Edward VI. In 1549, Archbishop Cranmer of Canterbury and his supporters had used force to impose Protestant liturgical forms upon the English people by means of his Book of Common Prayer. Although King Henry VIII had broken with Rome, the Church in England retained the Catholic liturgy and even those bishops appointed after the break with Rome were validly (though illicitly) consecrated with the traditional pontifical.

Archbishop Cranmer had become a convinced Protestant during Henry's reign and with the accession of the boy Edward he brought his beliefs into the open. Cranmer put in hand his famous Book of Common Prayer in which the Sacrifice of the Mass was abandoned in favor of a nondescript "communion service." The Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England still describes the sacrifices of Masses as "blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits."

Some Protestant churches retained the titles "Bishop" and "Priest" and still do. What is important is the significance they gave to these terms. Was it exactly the same as that of the Catholic Church from which they had broken away? By no means, for we find the key element of the priesthood, the power to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass, is explicitly excluded from the new "ministry." To this end, Cranmer altered the ordination rites drastically and expunged every reference to the sacrificial role of the priesthood. In doing so, he vitiated the form of the sacrament and the so-called bishops and priests ordained with his new ordinal are not bishops or priests at all in the sense the Catholic Church understands these words. That is to say, they have not received valid Catholic orders. Between 1550 and 1554 all new bishops were consecrated with one or other versions of the new ordinal which was revised in an even more anti-Catholic direction in 1552. Those Catholic-minded bishops consecrated during the reign of Henry VIII who made a public stand for their Catholic principles were imprisoned. In 1554 Mary Tudor became queen. She was a Catholic.

Cardinal Reginald Pole was appointed Papal Legate to England and entrusted with the task of reconciling the English people to the Holy See. All bishops consecrated with the Edwardine Ordinal were declared to be deposed. Those consecrated with the traditional ordinal were re-instated if they had not married and were penitent for their activities during the reigns of Henry and Edward. The rest were officially degraded from the status of bishop or priest. Among these were Archbishop Cranmer and Bishops Ridley and Latimer who were eventually burnt at the stake. Episcopal Registers contain records of the re-ordination of sixteen clergy who had previously been ordained using the Edwardine Ordinal, but not a single instance has been produced of a cleric who had received Edwardine Orders only being allowed to continue his ministry without re-ordination.

Mary married Philip of Spain but when it became clear that she could not bear him a son he left England never to return. Mary died broken-hearted in 1559, realizing that her sister Elizabeth would soon make fresh break with Rome.

The Catholic Diocesan Bishops made a better showing in 1559 than they had in 1533, and this time they all were deprived of their sees for refusing to accept Protestantism. This left Elizabeth the problem of creating a new hierarchy. She had designated one Matthew Parker to be the new Archbishop of Canterbury and to consecrate him she prevailed upon Bishop Hodgkin, consecrated validly in 1537, together with two Edwardine bishops consecrated only with Cranmer's Ordinal.

But, although the chief consecrator was himself a validly ordained bishop, they used the Edwardine (Cranmerian) Ordinal and the consecration of Archbishop Parker was, therefore, invalid from defect of form. In all subsequent ordinations, the Edwardine Ordinal was used and thus all succeeding bishops of the Church of England are not bishops as the Catholic Church understands the term. Apostolic succession had been lost.

In 1661, some alteration was made to the Anglican Ordinal. The words "for the office and work of a Priest (or Bishop)" were added. However, these words do not remedy the abiding defect of form or intention in the Anglican ritual. In two cases of the reception of convert clergymen, it was declared that their orders had been null and void from the beginning. 1


THE ACTUAL FORMS

The 1552 ordinal, a slightly revised version of the one produced in 1550, has the following formula of ordination:
Quote:Receive the Holy Ghost, whose sins thou dost forgive they are forgiven; and whose sins thou dost retain they are retained. And be thou a faithful dispenser of the word of God, and of His holy sacraments: in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

The word priest does not even occur in this passage. Furthermore, Cranmer modified the entire rite in a sense which excluded the Catholic concept of priesthood (sacerdotium) in favor of the Lutheran position. To this end, all reference to the priestly power of offering sacrifice was removed from the rite, and the "Traditio" (handing over) of the Chalice, still included in the 1550 rite, was eliminated.

Cranmer's Ordinal is derived from a Latin Lutheran rite suggested to him by Martin Bucer, a radical disciple of Luther.2 The traditional (Sarum) pontifical had been drastically revised to accommodate a theology of the priesthood which was heretical. Bishop Bonner, although guilty of the sin of schism, had retained the Catholic faith in all other respects and was imprisoned for his Catholic beliefs during the reign of Edward VI. He wrote the following with regard to those ordained with Cranmer's Ordinal:
Quote:Priests being among other things called to the ministration of the Sacraments and the chiefest and most precious of all sacraments being the Sacrament of the Altar, in ministration whereof the priest ought to both consecrate and to offer. Therefore, the late made ministers in the time of the schism, in their new devised ordination having no authority at all given them to offer in the Mass the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ, but both they so ordered (or rather disordered, and their schismatical orderers) also, utterly despising and impugning not only the oblation or sacrifice of the Mass but also the real presence of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar, therefore I say that all such damnably and presumptuously did offend against Almighty God...you may thereby consider what thanks you owe to Almighty God who hath restored unto you the right use of the Sacraments again and also how much you ought to esteem the right priesthood, now brought home again by which as an ordinary means, God works his graces amongst you.3

Here Bishop Bonner clearly sees that the Edwardine "priests" were in no way Catholic priests.

In 1662 the form was revised as follows.:
Quote:Receive the Holy Ghost for the office and work of a priest in the Church of God, now committed unto thee by the imposition of our hands. Whose sins thou dost forgive they are forgiven and whose sins thou dost retain they are retained. And be thou a faithful dispenser of the Word of God and of His Holy Sacraments ... In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.4

Even though the words have been amended there is still no suggestion of a sacrificial priesthood and the word committed is not the same as conferring. In the Catholic Priesthood, new powers are transmitted (conferred) on the ordinand. The Church confers Sacraments. In any case, by 1662, the Apostolic Succession had long been lost.


EARLY CONDEMNATIONS OF ANGLICAN ORDERS

Although the Bull of Pope Leo XIII Apostolicae Curae constitutes the final papal condemnation of the validity of Anglican Orders, it is by no means the first. When Cardinal Pole came to England to regularize the religious position after Queen Mary came to the throne, he asked for guidance from Rome. In 1555, Pope Paul IV issued a Bull entitled Praeclara Charissimi which clarifies the powers given to Cardinal Pole. The following passage is relevant here:
Quote:Provided always that those who have been promoted to a major as well as minor ecclesiastical orders, by any other person than a bishop or an archbishop duly and rightly ordained shall be bound to receive the said orders anew from their ordinary, and shall not in the meanwhile minister in the said orders.5

Here there is no question of doubtful ordination or conditional re-ordination. It is quite determined....the Edwardine Orders are null and void and re-ordination is required.

Later in the same year, the Pope clarified the matter still further by writing:
Quote:We declare that it is only those Bishops and Archbishops who were not ordained and consecrated in the form of the Church that can not be said to be duly and rightly ordained and therefore the person promoted by them to these orders have not received orders but ought and are bound to receive anew these said orders from the ordinary ....6


THE BULL APOSTOLICAE CURAE

During the 19th century many important Anglicans had been received into the Catholic Church and there was quite a large body of Anglicans usually known as "Anglo-Catholics" who were eager for corporate reunion with Rome. Anglo-Catholics are still to be found in the Church of England. They hold views and positions very close to those of the Catholic Church and in some cases in almost complete opposition to the doctrines of the Church of England as found in the Thirty-Nine Articles.

An influential member of the Anglo-Catholic party at that time was Lord Halifax, and he considered it would help matters along if Rome could be persuaded to accept Anglican Orders as valid. Pope Leo XIII was very anxious to obtain unity with the Anglicans but had been totally misinformed regarding the true situation in England. Cardinal Gasquet relates in his diaries the events of 1895 during the visit to Rome of Cardinal Vaughan of Westminster. Vaughan told Gasquet of his first meeting with the Pope:
Quote:Directly he entered the Pope's room, the Holy Father began at once about his great desire to effect the "re-union of England with the Holy See"....He told me, "You Catholics of England are quite mistaken in the real attitude of those who are outside the Church in England towards re-union. They are really just on the point of coming in, but are being continually repelled by the hostility of Catholics....whereas it only requires some paternal, kind, come now, etc., take courage etc., to bring them back en masse to the fold of the true Church." With regard especially to the question of Anglican Orders the Pope went on to say, If indeed they really seemed to be doubtful, for his part, he was disposed to grant that they (the Anglicans who submitted to the authority of the Church) should be allowed to receive ordination sub conditione as in the case of a doubtful baptism.7

Cardinal Vaughan then spent the rest of the interview trying to explain the real state of affairs in England to the Pope.

All this goes to show that Pope Leo was favorably disposed towards Anglicans and their orders. But at the end of the day after he had appointed a theological commission to look into the question he promulgated his final decision "absolutely null and uttterly void."

In the actual bull Apostolicae Curae, Pope Leo opens by giving an account of the history of Anglican Orders, then analyzes the defects of form and intention. Section 25 reads:
Quote:But the words which until recently were commonly held by Anglicans to constitute the proper form of priestly ordination—namely "Receive the Holy Ghost," certainly do not in the least definitely express the Sacred Order of Priesthood or its grace and power, which is "chiefly the power of consecrating and of offering the true Body and Blood of Our Lord" (Trent, Sess. 23 de Sac. Ord., Canon 1) in that sacrifice which is "no nude commemoration of the sacrifice offered on the Cross" (Trent, de Sac. Missae Can. 3).

This form had indeed, afterwards added to it the words "For the office and work of a priest" etc.; but this rather shows that the Anglicans themselves perceived that the first form was defective and inadequate. But even if this addition could give to the form its due signification, it was introduced too late as a century had elapsed since the adoption of the Edwardine Ordinal.

In paragraphs 30 and 31 the Pope deals with the Edwardine Ordinal:
Quote:In the whole Ordinal, not only is there no clear mention of the sacrifice of consecration, of the priesthood, and of the power of consecrating and offering sacrifice, but every trace of these things which had been in such prayers of the Catholic rite as they had not entirely rejected, was deliberately removed and struck out. In this way the native character or spirit as it is called of the ordinal clearly manifests itself.

His Holiness also deals with defect of intention in the rite:
Quote:The Church does not judge about the mind and intention in so far as it is something by its nature internal, but insofar as it is manifested externally she is bound to judge concerning it. A person who has correctly and seriously used the requisite matter and form to effect and confer a sacrament is presumed for that very reason to have intended to do what the Church does. On this principle rests the doctrine that a Sacrament is truly conferred by the Ministry of one who is a heretic or unbaptized, provided the Catholic rite be employed. On the other hand, if the rite be changed with the manifest intention of introducing another rite not approved by the Church and of rejecting what the Church does, and what by the institution of Christ belongs to the nature of the Sacrament, then it is clear that not only is the necessary intention wanting to the Sacrament but that the intention is adverse to and destructive of the Sacrament.

Finally, in Paragraph 36 comes the final judgement.
Quote:"We pronounce and declare that ordinations carried out according to the Anglican rite have been, and are, absolutely null and utterly void."

It might be imagined that this was the end of the matter. But almost immediately the Pope had to make the position crystal clear in a letter to Cardinal Richard of Paris concerning suggestions in an ecumenically orientated journal, the Revue Anglo Romaine, that his Bull had not finally settled the question of Anglican Orders:
Quote:There  are  some  among  its  writers (Revue Anglo Romaine) who instead of defending and illustrating this constitution, try instead to weaken it by explaining it away....It was our intention thereby to deliver a final judgement and to settle absolutely that most grave question about Anglican Orders which indeed was long since lawfully defined by Our predecessors but by Our indulgence was entirely reheard....All Catholics were bound to receive it with the utmost respect as being finally settled and determined without any possible appeal. 8

The theological status of Apostolicae Curae at very minimum would seem to be that it possesses infallibility from the ordinary magisterium of the Church, re-iterating her constant teaching from the start of the Reformation. It has the nature of a "Dogmatic Fact." The following description of dogmatic facts is taken from Dr. Rahner:
Quote:They are facts which cannot indeed be deduced from the revealed word of God but which the Church must nevertheless recognize and formulate as such with certainty because they are necessary for the preservation of the Deposit of Faith in all its purity.9

Yet in spite of Apostolicae Curae and the clarifying letter, the arguments have continued albeit along slightly different lines. The aim, however, is always the same—to get around the decree at all costs to clear the way for a pseudo-unity.


MORE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

After the 1st Vatican Council there came into existence a small break-away body known as the "Old Catholics", based mainly in Holland, which rejected Papal Infallibility. They retained nearly everything else of Catholic belief and their bishops possess valid orders as far as one can tell. On certain occasions Old Catholic bishops have participated with Anglicans in "ordaining" ministers. The Catholic Church, however, would not accept these as valid ministers because the formula they used (the Anglican Ordinal) is defective. Father Francis Clarke S.J. writes:
Quote:However orthodox may have been the subjective intention of those Old Catholic prelates, the formula they used, insufficiently determinate in itself, was outwardly and objectively determined to a defective sense by the ritual setting in which it was pronounced. The original anti-sacerdotal significance of the Ordinal...remained decisive . . . .10

It has been strongly rumored that several leading Anglican and Episcopalian bishops have visited Holland especially to receive Catholic Orders at the hands of Old Catholic bishops. Such bishops may, indeed, possess valid Catholic Orders now. But any Anglican ordination in which they participate are still invalid because of the intrinsic invalidity of the Anglican Ordinal.

In more recent times new arguments have been adduced, notably by Fr. Yarnold S.J, in order to get around Apostolicae Curae. The Church has always taught that valid orders can only be conferred by ordination from a bishop who can trace his orders through an unbroken chain of Episcopal Succession back to the time of the Apostles. Now, Fr. Yarnold tells us that this "assumption" is being questioned. It is said that we cannot prove from history that this principle has always been followed, and also that there are "two strands" of succession. The first is by ordination from a bishop in the Apostolic Succession and the second is "a call coming from a community which seeks to be faithful to the teaching commission of Christ handed down through the apostles to the whole Church." Fr. Yarnold suggests that in the absence of the first strand, this absence is not sufficient to invalidate the orders if the second strand holds. The argument goes that although both should be present, the second source might suffice to keep the priesthood and the episcopacy alive.

This view is, of course, a complete novelty. The true position is that to be in total conformity with the teaching of the Apostles it is necessary to be in communion with the successors of the Apostles. Christ founded one Church and those who belong to bodies which were originally constituted in opposition to the one true Church of Christ, cannot be held to be completely in conformity of mind and heart to the life of Christ who willed that there be but one flock and one shepherd.

Father Yarnold appears to be saying that if any small group comes together and states that it is seeking to follow Apostolic teaching then the Catholic Church should recognize the validity of the orders of the ministers of that sect. The theory has its origin in a Lutheran theologian, E. Schlink, but is cautiously suggested by Hans Kiing in his book Structures of the Church.11

However Father Yarnold's main argument for a "revision" of Apostolicae Curae would seem to be that, granted the form is vague, the intention to "do what the Church does" even if falsely understood by the reformers, would in fact validate the orders. Yarnold argues that the words "Holy Sacraments" in the Anglican Ordinal would cover the "Eucharist" even though its sacrificial interpretation was excluded, and that by continuing the basic structure of bishops and priests, the Ordinal expresses the intention to do what the Church does in this regard.

In fact both these points are covered in Apostolicae Curae but on the point of the basic structure, the preface to the Edwardine Ordinal nowhere suggests that ordination, itself, is a Sacrament. The reformers only allowed two Sacraments, Baptism and the Lord's Supper. All the Anglican rite does is to denote the bestowing of authority to exercise an office in the community. The Lutheran position is that while bishops are appropriate persons to ordain, where necessary the local community could ordain its own presbyters and superintendants. So, quite simply, "His Holy Sacraments" do not include the rite which the Anglican ordinand is taking part in nor is his "Eucharistic Ministry" in any way a continuation of the Catholic Church as the essential sacrificial element in it has been denied.


MODERN ATTACK ON THE NATURE OF THE PRIESTHOOD

Behind this attempt by Fr. Yarnold to evade Apostolicae Curae lies a none too subtle attack on the very nature of the Catholic priesthood itself. Hans Küng has already written a book Why Priests? in which he reproduces extreme Lutheran teaching and states that the Catholic Church should accept it. In his view, there is no real distinction between priest and layman. The Church has supposedly got it all wrong since the end of the first century. There was an early clash between the Judaisers and the Hellenisers, and in the end the Judaisers won the day which meant the Church adopted a hierarchical ministry instead of the pure simplicity that Our Lord really intended for His followers.

Küng does not believe the Mass is a Sacrifice in any real sense at all. It is merely a commemoration meal based on the Last Supper. And have we not all heard just about enough about the Mass being merely a "Meal"?

Well, with the Mass reduced in status, and priest reduced in status to a mere layperson, Küng wishes to have "Eucharistic Presidents" elected by their "local communities." They take no vows and can be elected for just as long as their local committee wants them. The blurring of the distinction between priest and laity is, of course, well under way at present. We have Communion in the hand, lay ministers of Communion, priests abandoning their clerical dress, being called by their Christian names, considering themselves more as social workers, demanding release from the vows of celibacy, and rejecting the orders of such bishops as are still disposed to issue any!

Matters have not been helped by the production of the so-called "Agreed Statements" particularly those on the "Ministry" and the "Eucharist." These statements were drawn up after discussions between Catholic and Anglican theologians. They have not been formally approved by either Church and one sincerely hopes they never will be. Readers will not be surprised to learn that one of the Catholic theologians was Father Yarnold S.J. and that in these documents one will look in vain for a definite statement of the Catholic Church's teaching. Rather one will find what may be termed "studied ambiguity." The cause of ecumenism is not helped by attempting to produce an anemic religion based on the lowest common denominator of doctrine.


NEW ORDINALS

A revised Catholic Ordinal was issued in 1968. In 1947 Pope Pius XII had decreed that the essential words in the ordination of a priest were:
Grant we beseech Thee, Almighty Father, to this thy servant, the dignity of the Priesthood; renew the spirit of holiness within him, that he may hold from Thee O God, the second rank in thy service and by the example of his behaviour afford a pattern of Holy living.

This essential formula is found in the new Rite. However, all the prayers and ceremonies of the traditional Catholic rite which gave explicit sacerdotal significance to the indeterminate formula quoted above have been omitted. In Apostolicae Curae we have seen that the Anglican form was part also of a ceremony in which all reference to the sacrificial elements had been removed. The reader might well be tempted to ask then what difference is there between the Anglican Ordinal and the new Catholic ritual. The answer, with regret, is "very little." The reader might then say, "The Catholic Church is making the same mistakes as the reformers did?" Well, not quite. There is an escape route. Although the form is not backed up by any definite reference to the sacrificial function of a priest, one may conclude that the intention of the Catholic Consecrating Bishops is to ordain a sacrificing priest in the sense that the Catholic Church has always maintained. The new ordination rite for a bishop also has a form which, in itself, is rather general; but the admonition given to the priest about to be ordained a bishop is crystal clear:
Quote:By the laying on of hands which confers the sacrament in its fullness, the apostles passed on the gift of the Holy Spirit which they themselves had received from Christ. In that way by a succession of bishops unbroken from one generation to the next the powers conferred in the beginning were handed down and the work of the Saviour lives and grows in our time.

This is certainly very clear, but I understand it is optional in the rite. If this is so, I would humbly request those with authority that it be made a compulsory section of the ceremony. Also, would it be too much to ask if the rite of ordination of a priest could contain one definitive mandatory reference to the priest's sacrificial role?

At the moment the Anglicans are pressing for a Common Ordinal and have produced a Series 3 Ordinal as a starter. This is a study in "ecumenical ambiguity" seeking to please all sides and probably succeeding in pleasing none. In fact, it represents nothing more than the appointment by the community to exercise an office within the Church. Nowhere does it state the person who possesses new powers which the generality of the faithful do not possess. The Catholic concept of the priesthood is nowhere specifically excluded. Everything is simply left in a cloud of unknowing. What hope for priests in the future if this kind of process is allowed to prosper?


NOTES

For a fuller account of all the matters dealt with in this article I recommend a recently published book, The Order of Melchisedech, by Michael Davies. It can be obtained for $7.00, postage paid, from Angelus Press. Among the appendices to the book are the Bull Praeclara Charissimi of Pope Paul IV (1555); his Declaratory Brief of 1555; the Bull Apostolicae Curae of Pope Leo XIII and his letter to Cardinal Richard of Paris (both dated 1896). The paragraph numbers for Apostolicae Curae used in the article are taken from this appendix. The various passages quoted from the successive Anglican Ordinals are also included together with facsimile reproductions of the originals. The book is referred to in the notes as OM.

1. The two convert clergymen were a French Calvinist who had received ordination in the Church of England, and John Gordon, convert Bishop of Galloway in 1704.
2. OM, pp. 107-108.
3. OM, pp. 32-33.
4. Background to this revision, OM, p. 40
5. OM, pp. 154-155.
6. OM, p. 157.
7. Gasquet, Leaves from My Diary, (London, 1911), pp. 7-8.
8. OM, p. 173.
9. Concise Theological Dictionary, p. 134 On the status of Apostolicae Curae as a Dogmatic Fact, see also The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), Vol. I, p. 498 and Clark's Anglican Orders and Defect of Intention, pp. 9-10.
10. Yarnold, Anglican Orders, A Way Forward? (Catholic Truth Society, London, 1977).
11. Ibid, p. 11.
12. Sacramentum Ordinis.

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  Examination of Conscience for Adults
Posted by: Stone - 12-27-2020, 01:59 PM - Forum: Resources Online - No Replies

Examination of Conscience for Adults

By REV. DONALD F. MILLER, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph E. Ritter St. Louis, April 7, 1959

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Introduction

Self-examination has always been con­sidered a necessary means of progress in vir­tue. All Religious Orders and congregations have provision in their rules for at least one daily examination of conscience. While the practice is also necessary for lay people, there have been few booklets offered to them whereby a systematic examination of con­science might be made at definite times. Lists of sins may be found in prayer books and pamphlets, but frequently they lack com­pleteness, or they make no clear-cut distinc­tions between mortal and venial sin, or they make no reference to the helps and counsels that might build up virtue and prevent sin.

The object of this booklet is to initiate lay people into the practice of concentrating their efforts at self-perfection on one virtue a month. It provides a fairly complete list of mortal sins to be avoided, of venial sins to be corrected, and of helps and counsels that may be practiced. For each month a short explana­tion of the virtue to be practiced is given, an aspiration is suggested for frequent use, and a prayer is added containing sorrow for the past and resolve for the future.

The division of the obligations of the Chris­tian life into twelve virtues is not one that can be made without some degree of arbitrary ar­rangement of material. There will be overlap­ping, some repetition, and not always a strictly logical inclusion of questions under a given head. The practical purpose has been kept in mind, rather than the theoretical; an effort has been made to bring into each month reminders of some of the fundamental obliga­tions every Christian has, as these can be related to given virtues.

A warning should be given to souls who are inclined to scrupulosity. Such souls are fre­quently disturbed by reading lists of sins, because they erroneously think themselves guilty where they are not guilty at all. They should have permission of their confessor before they undertake to make a minute ex­amination of conscience, and in every doubt must obey their confessor blindly. Aside from the scrupulous, some persons may find doubts arising from certain questions because circumstances not mentioned may confuse particular issues. It is to be remembered at all times that a mortal sin is not committed unless three conditions are pre­sent, viz:

1) sufficient reflection,

2) full consent of the will, and

3) a violation of God’s law in a serious matter.

The mortal sins listed repre­sent only objectively serious matter; if one or both of the other conditions necessary for the commission of a mortal sin be lacking in a particular case, the guilt would not be incur­red. In prudent doubt, a confessor should be asked for a solution.

It is recommended that once a week during each month, the examen for that month be read carefully and thoughtfully. On some oc­casions this would be best done before confes­sion. The ejaculatory prayer of the month should be said frequently every day.

Bracketed numbers [] following prayers in­dicate the number of the indulgence accord­ing to the New Official List of Indulgences Preces et Pia Opera, dated December31, 1937, by The Sacred Penitentiary Apostolic in Rome.


FAITH


Faith is the theological virtue, infused by God, by which we firmly assent to all the truths that God has revealed to mankind because God cannot deceive or be deceived. Faith is the foundation of all justification, the beginning of all supernatural virtue, the starting point of sanctification and perfec­tion. “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”

While faith is infused as a free gift by God, it nevertheless is given in strict accordance with the nature of man, and after it has been given it requires intelligent cooperation lest it be weakened or lost. This cooperation means three things:

1) Every Catholic must pray for the preser­vation and increase of his faith. Ordinarily, prayer is necessary for the attainment of any grace from God; since faith is the greatest grace, one who has received it must pray throughout life for perseverance and strengthening in his faith

2) Every Catholic must strive to be faithful to the obligations imposed through faith. To offend God deliberately and repeatedly is to run the risk of some day finding that faith has been lost through failure to cooperate with God’s grace.

3) Every Catholic must use his mind both to understand the motives for believing God’s word, which are perfectly satisfactory to human reason, and to know the truths revealed by faith, in which nothing contradic­tory, nothing inconsistent, nothing intellec­tually incredible is to be found. On the negative side, this means that every Catholic is bound to preserve himself, in so far as possible, from every influence that would prove dangerous to his faith.

Therefore all sins against faith centre about either the denial of one’s faith, or the neglect of means to preserve and increase it, or the deliberate entrance into occasions that might destroy it.


I. MORTAL SINS


1. Have I denied that I was a Catholic, or openly expressed my disbelief in any doctrine of the Catholic faith?

2. Have I affiliated myself, even for a short time, with a non-Catholic sect or religious body?

3. Have I suggested or encouraged doubts about the Catholic faith in the minds of others?

4. Have I seriously expressed the opinion that all religions are equally good or equally true or equally pleasing to God?

5. Have I neglected to settle, by reading, studying, consulting, etc., serious doubts about my faith, when such neglect was evidently leading to a loss of faith?

6. Have I, without the necessary permis­sion, read or kept or given to others forbidden books, such as Protestant Bibles, books on the Index of Prohibited Publications, books that pretend or profess to disprove the truth of the Catholic faith or that profess to prove the truth of a religion contrary to my faith?

7. Have I, without a serious reason, associated with persons who tried to destroy my faith?

8. Have I attended meetings or listened to speeches or sermons which I knew would destroy or seriously weaken my faith?

9. Have I joined a secret society forbidden by the laws of the Church, such as the Masons, the Odd fellows, etc?

10. Have I taken part in a Protestant church service?

11. Have I contributed to the advancement of a non-Catholic religious sect or movement as such?

12. Have I consulted a fortune-teller in the serious belief that I could learn something about the future, or made others think that I could tell their future when I knew that there was no adequate natural means of doing so?

13. Have I attended a spiritualistic séance?

14. Have I planned to marry, or actually pretended to enter the state of marriage, before a minister, or a judge, or a civil magistrate? Have I approved of other Catholics doing this or stood up for them when they did it?

15. Have I, without the necessary permis­sion or reason, sent my children to a non-Catholic grade school, or approved of other Catholics doing so? Or without serious reason approved by the diocesan authorities, to a non-Catholic high school or university? Or have I done these things without making any provision to safeguard the faith of my children?


II. VENIAL SINS

1. Have I been irreverent in church and before the Blessed Sacrament?

2. Have I disturbed and distracted others in their prayers and devotions?

3. Have I kept others from prayer or devo­tions for some selfish reason?

4. Have I carefully avoided giving any sign that I was a Catholic because I might have been subjected to some ridicule if I did?

5. Have I read only such books and magazines as might be called dangerous, even though they are not strictly forbidden, e.g., books giving false and worldly views of life, novels that are frothy and barren of any prin­ciple?

6. Have I seldom, if ever, made an explicit act of faith?

7. Have I been slow in trying to banish or overcome doubts against faith?

8. Have I been careless and half-hearted in teaching my children to love their faith and to make acts of faith?

9. Have I deliberately passed up direct oppor­tunities of informing others about the Catholic faith by going out of my way to avoid speaking of it?

10. Have I accepted the will of God and believed firmly in His providence in the sor­rows of life?

11. Have I been irreverent in the use of sacramentals, such as holy water, the Sign of the Cross, etc.?


III. HELPS AND COUNSELS

1. Have I frequently thanked God for my faith?

2. Have I prayed for stronger faith every day?

3. Have I purchased or borrowed books that could enlighten me further about my faith?

4. Have I read any Catholic newspapers or magazines to gain a better knowledge of my faith?

5. Have I thought at all about the impor­tant truths of faith: death, judgment, heaven, hell?

6. Have I tipped my hat, or bowed my head, when passing a Catholic church?

7. Have I greeted a priest, as a represen­tative of Christ, when meeting one on the street?

8. Have I visited the Blessed Sacrament when opportunities presented themselves?

9. Have I sacrificed any time or self-interest to attend devotions or sermons not commanded?

10. Have I invited non-Catholics to attend a Catholic service with me, or to read any Catholic literature?

11. Have I placed signs of my faith in my home, such as a crucifix, pictures of the Bless­ed Mother or the saints?

12. Have I carried a rosary, or worn a medal, or had anything on my person show­ing my faith?

13. Have I contributed prayers, services, or money to Catholic missionary organizations or labourers for the spread of the faith?

14. Have I tried to see in others, not their faults and sins, but the image of God and the souls for which He shed His Blood?

15. Have I tried every day to recall at set in­tervals the presence of God near me and within me?

16. Have I, after a serious sin, realized that so long as that sin remained on my soul I was an enemy of God and deserving of being con­demned to hell?


EJACULATORY PRAYER: Lord, increase our faith! (500 days indulgence.) [28]

PRAYER: 0 Lord Jesus Christ, he who followeth Thee walketh not in darkness. Remember that I am one of those to whom Thou hast said: “You are the light of the world.” Remember that I must no longer live of myself, but that Thou must live in me. This is impossible unless I first believe all that Thou hast revealed. Therefore permit not that human folly should ever obscure my mind and make me as the blind leading the blind. Grant me a strong faith that I may never cease to think and speak and act according to Thee and Thy holy Gospel. May I firmly believe with an explicit and perfect faith; may I recognize God’s presence everywhere; may I never forget, my Jesus, Thy love; may I be constantly mindful of the mystery of Thy In­carnation and life and sufferings, the inef­fable grace of Thy Sacraments, the need I have of union with Thee, the necessity of the help of Mary my Mother, the importance of prayer, the value of humility, the strength and wisdom of Thy cross and the purpose of my life for time and eternity. Grant that my faith may be so firm as to be unmoved by the impulses of fallen human nature; so bright as not to be obscured by the fascination of worthless things; so simple that I may believe with a blind and obedient faith; so efficacious that I may think and speak according to what I believe; so strong that I may resist every temptation of the evil one. Through the in­tercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and all my patron saints grant these, my requests. Amen.

If thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

HOPE

Without the virtue of hope, one not only falls into many sins, but finds it very difficult to lead a cheerful, contented life and to bear the crosses that are the inevitable lot of all mankind. Therefore this examination shall be not only a test of one’s relationship to God, but also a study of whether or not his attitude towards life is religiously right and psychologically sound.

Hope is a theological virtue by which we confidently expect the help of God in attain­ing our eternal happiness, and anything we need as a means to that end. The virtue of hope demands therefore that we firmly believe that God will provide us with suffi­cient grace to avoid sin, and with sufficient strength to fulfil the obligations imposed upon us, and with sufficient comfort to make every cross bearable, if we do our part. The virtue of hope, therefore, forbids two things and all that is connected with them, viz., presumption and despair.

Presumption is the sin whereby we expect God’s help without doing our part, as when we count on God’s forgiveness even when we are committing a sin, or put off the renuncia­tion of sin because we expect to have an op­portunity to confess just before we die Despair is the sin whereby we give up trying because we do not believe that even God’s grace is sufficiently strong to help us over­come our own weakness or to grant us forgiveness.


I. MORTAL SINS

1. Have I denied the necessity of God’s help to attain my salvation, believing that I could win heaven by my own efforts alone?

2. Have I said or seriously thought that God was too merciful to condemn anyone to hell, and that, therefore, despite my serious sins, I would surely be saved?

3. Have I continued in a habit of mortal sin because I believed that some day I would cer­tainly have the grace to repent and be forgiven?

4. Have I committed a mortal sin just because I expected God to forgive me in con­fession afterwards?

5. Have I said or thought that prayer was not necessary for one who made up his mind to be good?

6. Have I neglected saying any prayer whatsoever for as long as a month at a time?

7. Have I refused to pray in a grave tempta­tion because I did not want God to help me overcome it?

8. Have I deliberately entered a serious and unnecessary occasion of sin, thinking that God would miraculously preserve me from sin or graciously forgive me if I fell?

9. Have I induced others to commit a sin by telling them that God would forgive them afterward?

10. Have I said that I did not believe in eternal hell?

11. Have I said or thought that it was im­possible for me to overcome a certain passion or sinful habit?

12. Have I believed that because my sins in the past were so numerous or so terrible, I could not expect God to forgive me?

13. Have I quit going to Mass or praying because of the thought, “It doesn’t do any good”?

14. Have I seriously complained that God sent me more trials than it was possible for me to bear?

15. Have I stopped praying for the grace to avoid sin and save my soul because God did not grant me a certain material favour for which I prayed?

16. Have I given up trying to overcome in­terior temptation because God would not take the temptation away?

17. Have I encouraged others to commit sins of impurity because “they could not stop committing them anyway”?

18. Have I used poverty as a reason for committing certain serious sins, because I did not believe that God could give me any material aid?

19. Have I scoffed at the joys of heaven, saying I would prefer to have heaven here on earth?


II. VENIAL SINS

1. Have I brooded over my past sins, giving in half-voluntarily to the fear that they might not be forgiven?

2. Have I permitted discouragement to take possession of my heart because of my frequent faults or my lack of progress in vir­tue?

3. Have I permitted myself to worry ex­cessively over material setbacks and dif­ficulties, as if God did not know them and could not help me?

4. Have I been morose, melancholy, gloomy, in the presence of others, thus mak­ing them uncomfortable and unhappy?

5. Have I been overanxious in regard to my health, overfearful lest some terrible disease might be contracted?

6. Have I complained against God for not preventing the sins of others which injured me in some way?

7. Have I deliberately neglected easy oppor­tunities for prayer and devotion which would have made me stronger in virtue?

8. Have I neglected prayer entirely for days at a time?

9. Have I given in to unreasonable fear of death and of God’s judgment?

10. Have I said that I was content to avoid hell, but would not try to avoid or shorten my purgatory?

11. Have I been slothful about trying to ac­quire the habit of praying in serious tempta­tion?

12. Have I neglected practicing any devo­tion to the Mother of God, though saints and theologians tell us her help is morally necessary for all?

13. Have I neglected receiving the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Communion only because I could not feel any profit from them?

14. Have I given up prayer when prayer seemed difficult and uninviting?

15. Have I become so preoccupied working for money or a reputation, or my family, that I did not give myself time to pray or think of doing anything for heaven?


III. HELPS AND COUNSELS

1. Have I prayed for the grace of a firmer and stronger hope of eternal happiness?

2. Have I read or meditated about the hap­piness that God has in store for those who are faithful to Him?

3. Have I tried to increase my hope of heaven by thinking now and then of the pains of hell, and determining to escape them?

4. Have I strengthened my hope of God’s help by gazing at or thinking of the crucifix, which reminds us that, since Christ died for us, there is nothing we need that He will refuse us?

5. Have I prayed every morning and even­ing and during the day, knowing that every prayer would be heard and would make easier my salvation?

6. Have I frequently received Holy Commu­nion, which is called the pledge of immortali­ty?

7. Have I willingly accepted sorrows and trials as reminders that we must suffer on earth to earn heaven?

8. Have I practiced daily devotion to the Mother of God, with childlike confidence that she would help me?

9. Have I trusted in God’s grace and at the same time determined to work for my salva­tion as if it depended on my efforts alone?

10. After a fault, have I joined an act of sor­row to an act of hope that God would give me the grace not to fall again?


EJACULATORY PRAYER: Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in Thee. (300 days indulgence.) [195]


PRAYER: 0 Lord Jesus Christ, Redeemer of the world, Thou who didst ask faith and con­fidence from all the sick and sore distressed and didst grant to each one according to his faith, grant me the grace of an unshakable hope and confidence in Thee. Let me remember that since Thou didst die for me, there is no good thing Thou wilt ever deny me if only I trust in Thee always. Relying on Thy merits and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary I firmly hope for the pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and life everlasting. In difficulties, in desolations, in anxieties and trials, make me content to be deprived of all human help and consolation and to be dependent wholly on Thee. Make me remember my weakness and distrust myself so that I shall ever seek Thy help in prayer. Help me to learn that nothing in life is worth possessing if the cost means separation from Thee. Permit me, in the hour of death, to say with all the confidence of Thy saints and martyrs: “In Thee, 0 Lord, have I hoped; I shall not be confounded forever.”


LOVE OF GOD


The love of God is the highest and strictest obligation binding on all men. No one should ever forget the answer of Christ to the ques­tion: “Which is the first and greatest com­mandment of the law?” His words were sim­ple, direct, forceful: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul, with thy whole mind and with all thy strength.’ Without the fulfilment of this law, therefore, all striving for other virtues and qualities would be without profit.

Every sin ever committed is an action con­trary to the love of God. But in this examina­tion of conscience, only those sins and faults shall be included which in some way involve a direct slighting of the person of God or of His authority, or a breaking of those commands which are specifically directed towards the maintenance and strengthening of the love of God in the soul, or an expression of disregard or contempt or hatred of God. An exception shall be made here: all sins committed in speech against God shall be reserved for the examination of next month — on Reverence for God. Of course, the love of God as express­ed in love of neighbour shall be reserved for later treatment.

The love of God is the infused theological virtue by which we love God above all other things because of His infinite perfection and lovableness, and manifest that love in thought, word and deed. (Let it be noted again that the love of neighbour is really a part of the love of God, because it has the same motive, namely, God Himself, in whom all one’s neighbours are to be loved. This will be shown in the examination on the love of neighbour.) The love of God forbids. in general. the neglect of duties and obligations that spring from love, as well as the misuse or degrading of things given by God or dedicated to Him.


I. MORTAL SINS

1. Have I neglected to fulfil the precept of going to confession at least once a year?

2. Have I failed to observe the law which commands me to receive Holy Communion during the Paschal season?

3. Have I missed Mass on a Sunday or a holyday without a sufficient reason?

4. Have I, as a mother or father or guar­dian, caused or permitted my children who are above the age of reason, to miss Mass on Sundays or holydays of obligation?

5. Have I induced others to miss Mass on Sundays, or approved of their so doing?

6. Have I without reason come late to Mass, missing the Offertory, or have I left before the Communion of the Mass?

7. Have I tried to do serious bodily injury to any person consecrated to God?

8. Have I engaged in servile work, such as gardening, building, repairing, sewing, laundering, etc., for more than two hours on the Lord’s Day, when there was no urgent reason for so doing?

9. Have I made others work on Sunday when it was not necessary?

10. Have I broken a serious vow made to God, by which I had bound myself under pain of mortal sin?

11. Have I committed a sacrilege by receiv­ing the Sacrament of Communion, Confirma­tion, or Matrimony while in the state of mor­tal sin?

12. Have I tried to lead a person bound to God by the vow of chastity into sin against his vow?

13. Have I stolen something valuable from the House of God, whether an article used in divine services or money given to the Church?

14. Have I deliberately mocked or made fun of the Sacraments or the Mass or any of the liturgical functions?


II. VENIAL SINS

1. Have I been unconcerned and indifferent about acquiring a strong and faithful love of God?

2. Have I performed my external duties to God, such as hearing Mass, saying my prayers, receiving the Sacraments, in a distracted, impersonal, half-hearted manner?

3. Have I seldom, if ever, made a real act of love of God, except such as were implicit in the fulfilment of other duties?

4. Have I been disrespectful to God’s very presence in church, by profane and useless talking and worldly actions?

5. Have I failed to think of the passion and death of the Son of God in my own suffering thus permitting myself to grumble and com­plain instead of making an act of love and submission?

6. Have I been unfaithful to little promises made to God?

7. Have I never shown my love of God by means of gratitude for the many favours He has given me?

8. Have I given in to worldly desires, which I knew in the beginning to be inconsistent with the love of God?

9. Have I been so fond of some venial sin like petty gossip, or vanity, or exaggerating, that I have made no effort to overcome it?

10. Have I never made the good intention of doing everything for love of God?

11. Have I been disrespectful towards or concerning those whom God has placed over me and who represent God?


III. HELPS AND COUNSELS

1. Have I made an effort to arouse strong desires of the love of God in my heart?

2. Have I repeated a direct act of love of God in the morning, at definitely proposed times during the day, in moments of suffering and misery, at night before retiring?

3. Have I laboured to acquire the habit of fre­quently renewing my intention of doing all things for the love of God?

4. Have I given any time to the thought of God’s goodness, in creating me out of nothing, in redeeming me with His Blood, in raising me to the supernatural state, and sur­rounding me with means to advance in vir­tue?

5. Have I trained myself to see God’s hand and God’s love in the natural blessings I en­joy — blessings of family, friends, education, surroundings, innocent enjoyments, etc., and then to thank Him by a return of love?

6. Have I frequently turned my mind to the greatest proof of God’s love — His death on the Cross — that I might be inspired to stronger love?

7. Have I received Holy Communion fre­quently, realizing that the best proof of love is union with the one beloved’?

8. Have I made special acts of love of God at the time of Mass and Communion, realiz­ing that these bring me closest to God?

9. After a venial sin, have I made an act of love of God and determined to become perfect in my habit of love?

10. Have I subjected all my affections to the love of God, trying to make them perfect­ly conformed to His will so that I can say I love all things and persons in and with God?

11. Have I readily conformed my will to God’s will, not only by keeping His com­mandments, but also by consenting to His will when He has permitted some misfortune to befall me?

12. Have I tried to know God better that I might love Him more, by reading, listening to sermons, studying?

13. Have I realized that the love of God is not necessarily accompanied by emotional feelings and warm sentiments, and that it is more meritorious if, without these things, I continue the practices of love?


EJACULATORY PRAYER: Jesus, my God, I love Thee above all things. (300 days indulgence.) [57]

PRAYER: 0 great Lord of heaven and earth, Infinite Good, infinite Majesty, who hast lov­ed men so tenderly, how is it that Thou art so much despised by them? Yet amongst those men, 0 my God, Thou hast loved me in a part­icular manner and hast bestowed on me special graces that have not been given to so many others. And I have despised Thee more than others. I deserve to be cast off on ac­count of my frequent ingratitude to Thee. But Thou hast said that Thou wilt not reject a penitent soul that returns to Thee. My Jesus, I am sorry for having offended Thee. I now acknowledge Thee for my Lord and Redeemer, who hast died in order to save me and to be loved by me. I this day resolve to love Thee with my whole heart, and to love nothing but Thee. I adore Thee for all those who do not adore Thee, and I love Thee for all those who do not love Thee. My Lord, give me Thy love, but a fervent love which will make me forget all creatures; a strong love, which will make me conquer all difficulties in order to please Thee; a perpetual love which will never be dissolved between me and Thee. 0 Mary, my Mother, fill my heart with love for my Saviour!


REVERENCE FOR GOD


God has made a special commandment out of the natural duty and obligation of respec­ting His name. That this should be necessary sometimes strikes us as very strange. God is a Father, Provider, Protector, Preserver of us all; He became Man and died for us on the Cross, He resides in the tabernacles of our churches to be near us, and He wanted to reward us all with a happiness that will never end.

On the basis of these things we are bound to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and will, and love is diametrically op­posed to disrespect, irreverence, scorn and contempt in using a lover’s name. A good mother does not have to command her children not to abuse her name; a worthy father has never been known to have to im­plore his sons to speak respectfully of him. Yet such is the perversion of human nature in regard to God that He has to make a special commandment that His creatures may not take His name in vain.

The chief forms of irreverence against God are blasphemy, unnecessary swearing, per­jury, cursing, and profanity. The questions below deal with all these things according to the guilt they involve.


I. MORTAL SINS


1. Have I denied any of the attributes of God, e.g., saying that He is not all-powerful, all-merciful, all-just, etc.?

2. Have I said that I did not believe in God’s providence, either directly by denying that He watches over all who love Him, or in­directly by saying that it is necessary to sin to avoid certain hardships?

3. Have I spoken with contempt of God, or of Christ, or of the Holy Eucharist, or of the Passion of Christ?

4. Have I deliberately expressed the wish that there were no God, so that I could sin without fear of punishment?

5. Have I accused God of cruelty, injustice, discrimination against me, because of some sorrow I had to bear?

6. Have I wished evil to God — for example, that He would be forgotten by men and of­fended more frequently?

7. Have I spoken slightingly or contemp­tuously of the Mother of God, or of the saints, or of monks, nuns, priests as such?

8. Have I ridiculed the Sacraments or the Mass or any other holy ceremony?

9. Have I said that God did not and could not have inspired the Bible, or that there are things in the Bible that need not be believed?

10. Have I said that Christ did not found the Church, or that He has not preserved it from error?

11. Have I said that God expects too much of an individual by imposing the ten com­mandments on him?

12. Have I stated that any one of the com­mandments of God or precepts of the Church cannot be observed by ordinary folk?

13. Have I said that I owed nothing to God and therefore did not need to go to Church or practice any religion?

14. Have I denied the miracles of our Lord, or attributed them to deceit or natural causes?

15. Have I sworn falsely at a public trial, deliberately telling a falsehood when I had taken an oath to tell the truth?

16. Have I lied about important matters to which I had to swear in drawing up a state­ment or answering a questionnaire, e.g., per­taining to insurance, position, taxes, etc.?

17. Have I sworn to God that I would keep a certain promise or perform a certain work when I did not intend to do so at all?

18. Have I deliberately called upon God to witness the truth of a lie that I told someone in private life?

19. Have I sworn to God that I would do something gravely unjust, like defrauding a neighbour, taking revenge, hurting someone?

20. Have I deliberately cursed a human being, which means seriously wishing or ask­ing that God condemn his soul to hell or visit some other grave misfortune upon him?

21. Have I twisted the words of Christ or of the Bible into an obscene or evil form?

22. Have I, as a parent or guardian, blasphemed or cursed or sworn falsely before my children or even to my children?

23. Have I encouraged others to commit any of the above sins?


II. VENIAL SINS


1. Have I used the name of “God” or “Christ” or “Jesus” or “Lord” as a byword, or as an expression of impatience, or in jest?

2. Have I spoken, not maliciously, but pro­fanely and irreverently, of any holy thing?

3. Have I sworn, i.e., called upon God to witness the truth of what I was saying, when there was no serious reason for so doing, when the matter was trivial or foolish, even though I told no lie?

4. Have I used the language of cursing against inanimate things, or against animals, or against human beings even though I did not really wish the damnation of these last?

5. Have I permitted myself to acquire the habit of using God’s name profanely, or of swearing or cursing almost without realiza­tion of what I was saying?

6. Have I laughed at others’ profane use of God’s name or other irreverent speech, as if I thought it amusing and wanted them to con­tinue?

7. Have I neglected to correct a child sub­ject to me, when the child used irreverent or profane language?

8. Have I permitted my children to go about with companions who made frequent use of profanity?

9. Have I repeated the profanity of others as something amusing and clever?


III.HELPS AND COUNSELS

1. Have I bowed my head when uttering or hearing the name “Jesus”?

2. Have I said an interior act of adoration, praise, or love, when genuflecting before the Blessed Sacrament?

3. Have I ever offered up an act of repara­tion to God for the many irreverences in speech committed throughout the world?

4. When hearing someone abusing God’s name, have I tried to atone for it by a short prayer in my heart?

5. Have I joined in reciting the divine praises at the end of Benediction of the Bless­ed Sacrament, to atone for profane speech?

6. (FOR MEN) Have I joined the Holy Name Society, taken the pledge against bad language and honestly tried to keep it?

7. In temptations to anger and impatience; when I am inclined to use bad language, do I try to say an interior prayer for patience?

8. Have I learned any ejaculatory prayers, by which I might frequently speak lovingly to God during the day?

9. Have I ever meditated on the folly of any misuse of God’s name, because of His greatness and majesty, and because of His goodness to me?

10. Have I shown my displeasure to others when they were constantly misusing God’s name?

11. Have I tried to instil in those under my care a deep respect for and love of God, which would prevent them from ever using His name in vain?

12. Have I, in every morning prayer, renewed my resolution not to misuse God’s name?

13. Have I, when saying my evening prayers, made an act of sorrow for every sin of speech against God?


ASPIRATION: Blessed be the name of God. (500 days indulgence if said devoutly on hear­ing a blasphemy.) [8]

PRAYER: My Lord and Saviour, who was revil­ed by the chief-priests, falsely accused by criminals, condemned by Pilate, mocked by the throngs and ridiculed by the soldiers who put Thee to death, let me atone by sorrow and penance for all my sins and the sins of the world against Thy holy name. Teach me to use the great gift of speech Thou hast bestow­ed upon me to honour and praise Thee for the rest of my life. Grant me the power to silence unholy language on the lips of others, and to teach those dependent upon me the reverent and holy use of Thy name. With all the moun­tains and hills I praise Thee; with all the seas and rivers I glorify Thee; with all the plants and animals I honour Thee as Lord and Master. May the heavens and earth be filled with Thy Glory; and may the lips of all men be taught to acclaim Thy goodness, Thy mer­cy, and Thy love.

To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:17)

LOVE OF NEIGHBOR

(Positive obligations)


The love of one’s neighbour is essentially bound up with the love of God. St. John put the matter simply when he said: “If any man say that he loves God and hateth his neighbour, that man is a liar and the truth is not in him.” This stands to reason when one considers that God, whom we are bound to love first and foremost and with all our hearts and souls, loves every human being whom He created and desires his salvation. Hence it would be a contradiction to profess love of God and at the same time to exclude a neighbour from our love.

The object of all love is the good of the one loved. The object of love of God is the honour and glory of God; the object of love of neighbour is the welfare of our fellowmen, both spiritual and temporal, and through that the honour and glory of God. Therefore the love of neighbour imposes many positive duties upon us, such as almsgiving, correction, forgiveness, etc., each one of which is directed towards the well-being and happiness of our neighbour; at the same time it forbids certain sins which would bring unhappiness, spiritual or temporal, to a neighbour. In the following exam the positive duties will be enumerated; in the next chapter, the questions will be bas­ed on the sins that must be avoided by one who wishes to practice true love of neighbour.


I. MORTAL SINS

1. Have I, over a long period, refused to give any alms for the relief of the needy, even though I had many opportunities and suffi­cient means without depriving myself or my family of the necessities of life?

2. Have I, on un-Christian principles, refus­ed to give any aid to missionaries working for the salvation of abandoned souls, though I could have given without great sacrifice?

3. As a doctor or a nurse, have I refused to give my needed services to someone in ex­treme danger of death because I knew there was no hope of being paid?

4. Have I demanded gravely exorbitant and unreasonable fees from those who needed my services?

5. Have I deliberately permitted a person to die without a priest and without religious ministrations?

6. Have I, out of human respect or fear of what others might think, failed to assist the dying spiritually when I knew they needed my help?

7. Have I squandered or given away money outside my home to the extent that it left my immediate family in want of necessary things?

8. Have I refused to remind someone of the danger of his state when I knew that that per­son had committed a mortal sin and that my warning alone would probably awaken repen­tance?

9. Have I refused to warn someone subject to my influence when I knew that person was about to commit a mortal sin and that I could easily and probably prevent it?

10. As a husband or wife have I made no ef­fort to prevent mortal sins of my partner?

11. As a superior or one in authority have I neglected my duty of preventing those in my charge from committing mortal sin, or correc­ting them after they had fallen?

12. Have I failed to report to someone in authority the certain sins of a neighbour, which I knew were doing harm to innocent persons or to the community as a whole?

13. Have I done nothing to prevent the cir­culation of obscene books and magazines when I had the opportunity?

14. As a public official, have I permitted evil persons, such as abortionists, dope-peddlers, obscene book-dealers to continue their illegal and immoral practices?

15. Have I permitted another to suffer grave injustice or mistreatment when my authority or influence could have prevented it?

16. Have I refused in my heart to forgive a person who has injured me?

17. Have I over a considerable period of time refused to talk to or acknowledge someone who has wronged me?

18. When I myself was guilty of doing evil against my neighbour, have I refused in word or in deed to show that I was sorry and wish­ed to be forgiven?

19. When mutual offence was given between myself and another, have I refused to make any advances toward reconciliation unless the other person made them first?

20. Have I, by silence or approval, failed to prevent the serious defamation of another’s character when I could have done so?


II. VENIAL SINS


1. Have I been miserly and grudging in giv­ing alms for the relief of the poor?

2. Have I been careless and negligent in my care of the sick who were dependent on me?

3. Have I failed to consider the poverty of others in charging them for my services?

4. Have I complained about being asked fre­quently to give alms for the salvation of aban­doned souls at home or abroad?

5. Have I, as a well-to-do person, given far less than I could easily have contributed for the relief of the needy?

6. Have I measured my charity only by what others gave, or by what I might receive in return, instead of by my ability to give and the need of others?

7. Have I demanded publicity and praise for every alms I gave?

8. Have I been ashamed or afraid to rebuke others for evil, even though I was not bound under pain of mortal sin to do so?

9. Have I, as a parent or guardian, negligently permitted those under my care to go uncorrected in their venial faults?

10. Have I nursed resentment against others, even though I did make an effort at forgiveness?

11. Have I allowed my sensitiveness to lead to hurt feelings and coolness towards others?

12. Have I failed to try to make others hap­py and comfortable, giving in to morose, gloomy, selfish moods?

13. Have I rejected ready-made oppor­tunities to comfort someone in sorrow, or to encourage someone in danger of despair?

14. Have I gone out of my way to evade an opportunity to enlighten someone on religious truth?

15. Have I permitted gossip and petty tale-bearing to go on in my presence without an ef­fort to change the subject?


III. HELPS AND COUNSELS


1. Have I tried to deepen my faith in the truth that every act of charity towards a neighbour is also an act of love of God?

2. Have I tried to make some sacrifice in giving alms for the relief of the needy?

3. Have I cheerfully given as much as I could spare for the salvation of abandoned souls?

4. Have I supported and strengthened the St. Vincent de Paul Society either as a member or as a contributor?

5. Have I frequently recalled the principle of the stewardship of wealth, viz., that I am to be God’s administrator of the things I possess or gain?

6. Have I faced the truth that I shall take nothing with me beyond death, and that the memory and merit of deeds of charity will then be my greatest consolation?

7. Have I recalled, when hurt by others, how God has forgiven me for my many sins, and have I tried to forgive in the same generous spirit?

8. Have I been quick to show my sorrow in some way when I have, either consciously or inadvertently, given pain to others?

9. Have I prayed for others, especially when tempted to angry thoughts and feelings?

10. Have I prayed daily for my parents and all my benefactors?

11. Have I adopted the twofold motto: (1) never to give pain and (2) to add to the hap­piness of others whenever possible?


ASPIRATION: Sweet Heart of Jesus, have mer­cy on us and on our erring brothers. (300 days indulgence.) [202]
PRAYER: 0 loving and merciful Saviour, enkindle in my heart a fire of charity towards my neighbour like unto Thine own. Thou didst spend Thyself in behalf of others; Thou didst suffer cold and heat, hunger and thirst, pover­ty and want, a bitter passion and painful death to save others from their sins and to bring them happiness. Thou didst say that charity would be the mark of Thy true disciples, and didst promise that whatever we do for others will be accepted as done for Thee. I am sorry for all my past neglect of op­portunities to help others; for all my selfishness and pride and greed; for all my failure to lead souls nearer to Thee. Grant me the grace to be kind and considerate in my words, thoughtful and helpful in my actions, generous and forgiving towards my enemies, and mindful always that I am bound to love others as myself for the love of Thee. Give me a great zeal for souls, that I may be inspired to use every means within my power to enlighten the ignorant, to win sinners away from their sins, and to assist all whom I may meet to place their hope and trust in Thee. 0 Mary, mother of mercy and compassion, ob­tain for me the grace of true charity and fraternal love.

Let us therefore love God, because God first hath loved us. If any man say, I love God, and hateth his brother; he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother, whom he seeth, how can he love God whom he seeth not? And this commandment we have from God, that he, who loveth God, love also his brother.” (1 John 4:19-21)

LOVE OF NEIGHBOR

(Negative Obligations)



Besides the positive duties of fraternal charity, such as almsgiving, correction, forgiveness, etc., there are many sins to be avoided in the practice of the same virtue, and these may be listed under the head of its negative obligations.

Every human being has it in his power not only to help his neighbour, but also to hurt him. This latter may take the form of tem­poral harm, as it does in the sins of hatred, slander, detraction, and similar sins, or it may do eternal harm as in the case of scandal and cooperation in another’s sins. Each of these topics has a wide variety of applica­tions, of which the chief ones are touched on in this examen.


I. MORTAL SINS

1. Have I hated others, which means actually and deliberately wishing them grave harm on earth or the loss of their souls?

2. Have I callously rejoiced over the serious misfortunes that came to others, not because they might be turned away from sin thereby, but because it pleased me to see them suffer?

3. Have I sought opportunities to revenge myself on others by inflicting serious pain on them?

4. Have I slandered others, i.e., attributed serious sins to them which they did not com­mit, or of which I had no evidence?

5. Have I ruined the reputation of others, telling their secret serious sins to persons who could not otherwise have known and who had no reason to know these sins?

6. Have I lied in order that I might gain from another’s serious loss?

7. Have I directly desired and tried to lead another into sin, because I wanted to turn him away from religion?

8. Have I induced another to sin to gratify my own passions?

9. Have I tried to induce another person to sin seriously, even though I did not succeed?

10. Have I advised or otherwise induced persons to practice contraception, or abor­tion, or to get a divorce and remarry?

11. Have I taught employees or others under my supervision how to cheat in business for the sake of profit?

12. Have I sold or given away obscene magazines, bad pictures, or contraceptives, or other things designed for sin?

13. Have I destroyed or lessened the faith of others by speaking contemptuously about religion, or the Church, or priests, etc.?

14. Have I advised or encouraged Catholics not to send their children to a Catholic school?

15. Have I urged another to keep on drink­ing until he became intoxicated?

16. Have I sold liquor to persons when I knew they were already intoxicated and would keep on drinking, or when I knew they were about to become intoxicated?

17. Have I committed a mortal sin that did not involve others, knowing, however, that my example would probably lead others to do the same?

18. Have I given occasion to evil thoughts in others by gravely immodest dress, looks, words, or actions?

19. Have I cooperated with another in the commission of a mortal sin — for example, of stealing, by providing the necessary means or the necessary occasion?

20. Have I helped doctors perform illegal operations, or businessmen to consummate unjust transactions, or heretics to spread false doctrines?

21. Have I assisted at the invalid marriage of a Catholic before a judge or minister, or taken part in any non-Catholic religious ceremony?

22. Have I deprived an unborn child of its right to life by causing an abortion, or paying for an abortion, or cooperating in it in some other way?


II. VENIAL SINS

1. Have I been touchy and sensitive towards those around me?

2. Have I permitted jealousy of another who was promoted ahead of me to show itself in any conduct?

3. Because I did not like others, did I refuse to cooperate with them in work we were given to do?

4. Have I engaged in petty gossip about my neighbours?

5. Have I told my friends the unkind remarks others made about them, thus fomenting ill-will?

6. Have I attributed bad motives to others when I could not be certain of their motives?

7. Have I hurt others by my flare-ups of anger and impatience?

8. Have I made cutting, sarcastic remarks to others?

9. Have I contributed to the venial sins of others by unreasonably teasing or annoying them?

10. Have I lessened the fear of ‘sin in others by thoughtlessly making light of some sin?

11. Have I led others into venial sin by sug­gestion or bad example?

12. Have I prevented others from perform­ing a good work by dissuading them from it?

13. Have I committed venial sins in the presence of children, knowing that they might possibly imitate me?

14. Have I approved the venial sins of others by providing them with justifying reasons?

15. Have I failed to remove the possibility

of scandal being taken from some good action of mine when I could easily have done so?


III. HELPS AND COUNSELS


1. Have I pondered the awful meaning of the Saviour’s words: “If anyone scandalize one of these my little ones, it were better for him that a millstone be hanged around his neck and he be cast into the depths of the sea”?

2. Have I tried to cultivate a genuine zeal for souls, which will show itself first and foremost by a ceaseless effort to prevent sin?

3. Have I a wholesome disregard of human respect, which makes so many people afraid to try to prevent sin?

4. Have I realized the far-reaching power of my example, which influences others for good or bad even when I am unaware of that in­fluence?

5. Have I an earnest desire to offset the power of Satan, who is constantly trying to lead others into sin?

6. Do I guard my words and conduct especially in the presence of children, know­ing their great susceptibility to imitate older people?

7. Do I remember these words of Christ, which apply to sins against charity: “What­soever you have done to the least of my little ones, you have done it to me”?


ASPIRATION: O my God, I love Thee, and I love my neighbour as myself for the love of Thee. (Indulgence of three years.) [26]

PRAYER: 0 patient Jesus, how unworthy I am of Thee! Thou was all charity towards Thy persecutors; I am so easily moved to hatred and rancour towards my enemies! Thou didst pray so lovingly for those who crucified Thee, and I so often seek revenge against those who offend me! Thy words were always words of kindness and compassion, or words of rebuke only when rebuke was necessary to win back a sinner s love; my words are so often inspired by dislike and ill-will towards others! Thou didst die to prevent sin, and I am one of those who so often made Thy death in vain by leading others into sin by my example or my cooperation. I am sorry now for all the harm I have done to souls that Thou didst purchase with Thy Precious Blood; I promise now to make atonement, and to be ready to lay down my life for the salvation of my neighbour. Grant me the grace to remember the power of my example and my words and my actions over the lives of others; let me say or do nothing that might bring pain to one of the little ones beloved by Thee. 0 Mary, who didst add thy sufferings to the sufferings of Jesus in behalf of sinners, accept the sacrifices I shall make in behalf of charity and unite them to thine, that with thee and in thee I may help to save many souls.

A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another.” (John 13:35, 36)

JUSTICE


Among the virtues that have suffered most in modern times, one of the outstanding is that of justice. It has been attacked by many false principles, such as: “Business is business,” “You can’t get ahead without some sharp dealing,” and “So long as a thing ‘is legal it is O.K.” Such disregard of the prin­ciples of justice between man and man has gradually distorted the necessary distinc­tions between “mine” and “thine” until in some instances the conscience is completely dulled.

Despite all popular notions to the contrary, justice is still an essential part of the natural law, and every sin and fault against it will be punished by God. It is defined as the virtue whereby a man respects the rights of others to what they possess; whereby he gives to every man what is his due, and takes from no man anything except that to which he has a just title. Just titles for the acquisition of material things are: 1) occupation, e.g., settl­ing on unowned and unclaimed land, finding a lost article without trace of the owner, etc.; 2) the acceptation of increase, fruit or additional value that arises in a thing already possessed; 3) exchange of material things with other men, either thing for thing, or money for thing, or services for thing, etc.; 4) heredity. Any taking of material things from others without one of these titles or a title akin to one of them is injustice. It can readily be seen, therefore, that there are many ways in which justice can be violated. .The principal ones are outlined in the questions below.


I. MORTAL SINS


1. Have I directly stolen anything of con­siderable value from another, i.e., either 1) of great value to the person involved, as one or two dollars might be to a poor person, or five dollars might be to a person of more means; or 2) of great value in itself and in the com­mon estimation of society, so that even if it were taken from a corporation or a very rich person, it would still be considered a grave in­justice?

2. Have I stolen a considerable sum of money or valuable articles from a church, which adds sacrilege to the sin of theft?

3. Have I stolen small sums from a person or corporation with the intention of continu­ing the practice over a period of time?

4. Have I actually continued to steal small amounts at regular intervals and so taken a large sum over a period of time?

5. Have I joined with others in stealing, each one agreeing to take a little, but the total amounting to a grave sum?

6. Have I failed to make restitution for grave thefts when I could have done so?

7. Have I accepted stolen goods from another, either as a gift or a sale, to be used by myself or sold again?

8. Have I wilfully injured the property of another to a serious extent?

9. Have I refused to pay for another person’s property that I have wilfully and seriously damaged?

10. Have I defrauded another of something valuable, to which he had a right, by telling a lie, or giving false testimony, or secretly changing a contract or a will?

11. Have I acquired the property of another through deceit, lying, misrepresentation, etc.,’ or sold a bad investment in the same way?

12. Have I found something of considerable value and kept it when I knew the owner, or failed to try to find the owner when there was a possibility of doing so?

13. Have I deprived my family of. a decent living by keeping my money for myself or foolishly spending it?

14. Have I, as executor or official represen­tative of another in business matters, enrich­ed myself or others by acting contrary to his known will, or refused to carry out his express will in distributing his goods?

15. Have I given short weight or measure in selling things to others, either to the extent of a grave amount on one occasion, or by cheating in small amounts regularly and con­tinuously?

16. Have I charged a gravely exorbitant price for something because I knew that somebody would pay that much?

17. Have I lied about the quality of something I sold or exchanged, thus cheating another gravely?

18. Have I enriched myself by paying gravely inadequate wages to those who work­ed for me?

19. Have I campaigned and conspired to prevent labourers from obtaining a living wage?

20. Have I cheated my employer by serious­ly neglecting the work I was hired to do?

21. Have I supported communists or racketeers in making unjust demands upon employers?

22. Have I cooperated in sabotage or the destruction of property because of labour disputes?

23. Have I cheated or deceived a partner in business so that there was a gravely unjust distribution of profits?

24. Have I bribed others to give me con­tracts to which I had no right, so that somebody was unjustly deprived of gain?

25. Have I taken bribes for the use of my authority either in business or public life, to give unjust preferences or awards to others?

26. As an official of the people, have I ac­cepted bribes on condition that I would per­mit evil or allow it to go unpunished?

27. Have I cheated in gambling, or offered fixed devices for gambling to others, thus winning valuable stakes to which I had no right?

28. Have I evaded paying any just and grave debt I had incurred?


II. VENIAL SINS


1. Have I deliberately stolen anything of small value, even though it was worth very little?

2. Have I used the property of others without their permission?

3. Have I damaged things belonging to others by carelessness and misuse?

4. Have I borrowed things from others, such as books, articles of clothing, etc., and never returned them?

5. Have I kept lost articles of small value when I knew or could find the owner?

6. Have I accepted small things from others which I knew were stolen?

7. Have I given away small things that were not mine to give?

8. Have I lied my way out of small debts and obligations?

9. Have I been guilty of petty cheating in games of chance, thus gaining by dishonesty?

10. Have I induced people to give me things by lying about the extent of my property?

11. Have I failed to reveal to others the mistakes they inadvertently made in giving me too much change or more of a commodity than I paid for?

12. Have I neglected to make restitution for small articles I had stolen or unjustly ac­quired?
III. HELPS AND COUNSELS

1. Have I trained myself to remember that ‘‘every penny’' of stolen goods will have to be repaid in some way before I can enter heaven?

2. Have I a deep conviction that without justice the world would soon become a bat­tlefield where might would always conquer right?

3. Have I tried to cultivate a spirit of detachment from riches and possessions, which is the best preventive of temptations to injustice?

4. Have I, as a parent, inculcated a strict sense of honesty and justice in my children, punishing every slight theft or deceit?

ASPIRATION: Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come. (300 days indulgence.) [97]



PRAYER: O Lord, who didst impose upon all men the commandment: “Thou shalt not steal,” who will demand a strict account of all who have been unjust in their dealings with their neighbour, I am profoundly sorry for every sin and fault whereby I have wronged my fellow-man, and promise to make full reparation. Thy greatest praise of Thy foster father, St. Joseph, was contained in the sim­ple words that “he was a just man.” Give me the strength to imitate his praise: to be just in my business affairs and private transactions; to be just in my dealings with those who are subject to me and those to whom I am sub­ject; to be just in making restitution for all my injustices of the past. Let me not be mov­ed by the example of the world, nor by the desire of riches and power, nor by the urgings of those who take no thought of Thee and of Thy law. Let me be detached from all earthly possessions and not envious of those who have great riches, in order that I may call Thee my only treasure. 0 Mary, my Mother, obtain for me the grace to deal justly and fair­ly with all my neighbours.

And when the Son of Man shall come in His majesty, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory; and before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate them one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.” (Matthew 25:31-33)

CHASTITY



The sixth commandment of the Decalogue is called the difficult commandment; the vir­tue of chastity is called the angelic virtue. Perhaps it is only right that the virtue that makes man most like an angel should be the most difficult to practice perfectly; always the best things must be paid for at the highest price.

But Christian men and women of today have not only their own unruly flesh and the suggestions of the devil to conquer in attain­ing chastity; they must contend likewise with the concerted efforts of the world around them to make chastity seem either impossible or not worth while. Pseudo-intellectuals scoff at chastity, and if some of them could have their way, concepts like immodesty, adultery, lust, sensuality, etc., would be stricken from the minds of all mankind. Many who do not go so far as to deny the virtue of chastity in theory, nevertheless live as if it were impossi­ble of attainment, and frankly tell their friends and neighbours that it is impossible for them, too. Worst of all, there are some Catholics (so called) who join hands with the pagan world in discouraging the practice of chastity. Count among them those who both practice and preach birth-prevention; those who philander while married themselves, or with others who are married; those who take part in the dissemination of obscene and in­flammatory incentives to lust. Chastity becomes doubly difficult in the face of such influences to the contrary.

Chastity is defined as the virtue by which, with the help of God’s grace attained by prayer and the Sacraments, human beings are enabled to refrain from all misuse of their sex faculties. This implies two things: 1) that they never directly desire or consent to sex pleasure outside the sphere and contrary to the purposes for which sex-pleasure was in­tended. The proper sphere of sex activity is the state of marriage, and there it is intended as a means of procreation and of the expres­sion of love between husband and wife. To directly desire and seek sex-pleasure in mar­riage while excluding by interference the pur­pose of procreation, or to desire and indulge it in any direct way outside of marriage, would always be a grave sin. 2) The definition of chastity also implies that human beings must avoid those unnecessary actions that in­directly but usually lead to indulgence in sex ­pleasure, even though the latter be not in­tended at the beginning. Thus to read obscene books would be seriously inducive to consent in sex-pleasure. Sometimes, of course, an un­necessary action is only slightly inducive to consent to sinful pleasure; in that case it would constitute a venial sin. Misunderstanding arises in the minds of some by the oft-quoted principle: In matters of chastity there is no lightness of matter; every sin is a grave sin. This is true, it must be known, in regard to all direct and volun­tary desires and indulgences in sex-pleasure outside of marriage or contrary to the pur­pose of sex. Nevertheless, some sins against chastity may be venial because of lack of full consent of the will, or because of lack of full deliberation, or because an action, such as a momentary indecent glance, or a passing thought, could not be called gravely inducive to sinful consent.

Self-examination on the virtue of chastity must keep these fundamental principles in view.

I. MORTAL SINS

1. Have I deliberately taken delight in im­pure thoughts and images in my mind after I recognized them to be evil?

2. Have I knowingly consented to a desire for impure experiences, without any effort to suppress the desire?

3. Have I taken part in impure conversation for the express purpose of giving others bad thoughts or with the realization that they would probably consent to bad thoughts?

4. Have I gone out of my way to hear im­pure conversation or taken sinful pleasure in it when I heard it?

5. Have I read obscene books or looked at obscene pictures after I knew that they would cause serious temptations to sins of impuri­ty?

6. Have I gone to places where I knew the entertainment was lewd and immoral, or at­tended obscene stage shows or movies?

7. Have I touched others impurely, or taken part in prolonged and intense kisses and em­braces?

8. Have I caused or consented to solitary lust?

9. Have I taken part in sins of lust with others, and were they married or single, of the same sex or the opposite sex?

10. Have I sinned with someone related to me by blood or affinity?

11. Have I added sacrilege to the sin of im­purity by desiring, or attempting, or consen­ting to sin with a person consecrated to God?

12. Have I made animals a means or an oc­casion of seriously sinful actions?

13. Have I forced another to submit to my lustful actions?

14. Have I encouraged others to sin against purity or told them that they could not avoid it?

15. Have I exposed others to grave danger by impure signs, actions or exposure?

16. (FOR MARRIED PERSONS) Have I used con­traceptive means whether natural (such as in­terruption) or artificial (such as instruments) in performing marriage duties?

17. Have I, without a good reason, refused or neglected to render the marriage obligation when seriously asked?

18. Have I, as a married person, committed sins of impurity with others, and were they married or single?

19. Have I failed to correct or train my children in regard to chastity when it was evi­dent that there was need of such correction or training?

20. Have I exercised no watchfulness over the company-keeping of my adolescent sons and daughters, permitting and encouraging them to spend long hours alone and ·in dangerous circumstances?

21. Have I bought or sold, lent or given, obscene books or magazines or other objects to be used for impure purposes?


II. VENIAL SINS


1. Have I, without a reason, read books or magazines that were at least dangerous, or concerned only with impassioned love?

2. Have I allowed my eyes to wander in curiosity over dangerous objects?

3. Have I been slow and half-hearted in try­ing to banish bad thoughts and desires?

4. Have I permitted decent expressions of love or friendship for another to be prolonged to the point of danger of lust?

5. Have I gone to shows or movies that I knew to be somewhat dangerous, at least in part?

6. Have I been careless about my clothing, posture, appearance, thus exposing others to some danger?

7. Have I shown half-deliberate interest in the evil conversation of others?

8. Have I, on the spur of the moment, ut­tered double-meaning words or phrases?

9. Have I sought out or continued compa­nionship with others whom I knew to be in­clined to evil jests and words?

10. Have I supported the publishers of dar­ing and dangerous picture magazines or of

border line periodicals by buying or spreading their publications in any way?

11. Have I neglected to use special oppor­tunities of grace and prayer when I was pass­ing through a period of more than usual temp­tation?

12. Have I failed to check vigorously im­pulses and daydreams of unruly love and af­fection?


III. HELPS AND COUNSELS


1. Have I learned the necessity of praying daily for the grace to remain pure?

2. Have I acquired the habit of saying an ejaculatory prayer when evil thoughts, desires or inclinations arise?

3. Have I made regular or frequent use of the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Com­munion as a means of strength against im­purity?

4. Have I practiced any special devotion to Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, whose ex­ample and intercession are powerful aids to purity?

5. Have I trained my will power for strength in temptation by practicing some form of voluntary mortification?

6. Have I tried to avoid idleness, daydream­ing, sloth, knowing that to keep occupied is one of the best defences against impurity?

7. Have I made known even my serious temptations in confession, realizing that to reveal temptations is to gain strength against them?

8. Have I been diligent in observing even the smaller rules of modesty, such as not to touch others even carelessly, and not to let my eyes wander too freely in public?

ASPIRATION: O Mary, through thy Im­maculate Conception, keep my body pure and my soul holy. (300 days indulgence.) [326]
PRAYER: O Lord Jesus Christ, who hast said: “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God,” grant me the grace of spotless chastity. Thou didst favour St. John with a special mark of Thy friendship because of Thy great love for the holy virtue; let me prac­tice this virtue according to my state that I, too, may be Thy special friend. I am sorry for every fault committed against purity in the past; for every undisciplined thought, for every evil word, for every sensual or impure action. For the future I promise that I shall call upon Thy name and the name of Thy Im­maculate Mother in every temptation that assails me; I shall avoid every occasion of sin that might lead me to seek for sinful gratifica­tion; I shall insist on chastity in word and deed from those around me; and I shall mor­tify my body in order that it may be strengthened against the assaults of evil desire. Moreover, I shall try to make some atonement for all the sins that are committed against chastity in the world, which made Thy physical pain so great in Thy bitter pas­sion. I dedicate my life to the defence of this virtue, that the Christian home may be defended and protected and that many souls may be saved from the terrible condemnation that impurity must receive. O Mary, Im­maculate Mother, inspire in my heart thy own great love of the virtue of purity.



Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but within they are full of robbery and uncleanness. Thou blind Pharisee! clean first the inside of the cup and of the dish, that the outside, too, may be clean. Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you are like whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear to men beautiful, but within are full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness. So you also out­wardly appear just to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” (Matthew 23: 25-28)


TEMPERANCE


Temperance is defined as the virtue by which a man has the power to control his con­cupiscible appetites, especially those that are appealed to through the sense of taste and the sense of touch. Concupiscible appetites are man s appetites for sense pleasure. The two strongest sense pleasures that are within the experience of man are those related to the preservation of his body, enjoyed through eating and drinking, and those related to the preservation of the race, enjoyed through the relationships of sex.

The virtue of chastity, is, therefore, a species of temperance, but since it has been treated in a special examen, the present one will confine itself to temperance in eating and drinking. Just as in matters pertaining to sex there is lawful and unlawful indulgence in sense pleasure, so in eating and drinking. God created the appetites and pleasures connected with eating and drinking and the objects that satisfy them, so that man would have an add ed incentive for preserving his life by taking nourishment. When the pleasure of eating and drinking is not separated from the pur­pose of self-preservation, and not contrary to it by being harmful to either body or soul, then it is morally good.

Opposed to temperance in this restricted sense are the sins of gluttony and drunken­ness. These have always been pre-eminently pagan vices, from the time of the ancient Roman epicureans down to modern times when neo-paganism has promoted the eager pursuit of pleasures of sense for their own sake alone. Opposed to intemperance is the practice of mortification, whereby one not only rejects inordinate indulgence in the pleasures of sense, but practices self-denial even in some lawful things so that he will be strengthened in will against the assaults of temptation. Sins against temperance may be outlined as follows:


I. MORTAL SINS


1. Have I, as a physician, nurse or atten­dant, deliberately given medicine or food to a sick person which I knew would bring about their death?

2. Have I drunk intoxicating liquor to the extent that I lost control of my senses?

3. Have I sold intoxicating liquor to one whom I knew to be on the verge of intoxica­tion?

4. Have I made my family suffer grave privation by spending most of my income on drink?

5. Have I knowingly broken my fast and then received Holy Communion?

6. Have I broken the law of abstinence by deliberately eating meat on a day of abstin­ence, unless excused or dispensed?

7. Have I without a reason of health or hard work or without a dispensation, broken the law of fast by taking more than one full meal on a day of fast?

8. Have I used drugs or narcotics, not under a doctor’s orders, but for the sake of losing consciousness or with the danger of becoming an addict?

9. Have I, without serious reason, given drugs to others whom I knew to be in danger of becoming addicts?


II. VENIAL SINS


1. Have I semi-deliberately made myself in­disposed by overeating?

2. Have I given in to gluttony by nibbling almost every hour of the day?

3. Have I been indiscreet in not obeying the advice of a doctor as to my choice of foods?

4. Have I eaten slightly more than was per­mitted on days of fast when I had no excuse or dispensation?

5. Have I taken more intoxicating liquor than was good for me, even though I did not become actually drunk?

6. Have I run the risk of either harming my health or becoming an addict of drink by tak­ing some form of alcohol too frequently?

7. Have I spent more than I could rightly afford on intoxicating beverages?

8. Have I jested about drunkenness and so lessened others’ hatred of it as a grave sin?

9. Have I encouraged others to drink more than was good for them?

10. Have I broken a promise or pledge not to drink intoxicating liquor for a certain period of time?


III. HELPS AND COUNSELS


1. Have I practiced any mortification of taste either by denying myself certain foods or by not eating at certain times?

2. Have I meditated on the thirst of Our Lord on the Cross, that I might be inspired to share his suffering for my sins?

3. Have I tried to use my influence over friends and acquaintances to prevent any kind of overindulgence in alcohol?

4. Have I prayed before and after meals, both to show gratitude to God for His gifts and to ask for strength not to misuse them?

5. Have I realized that intemperance in eating or drinking easily leads to in­temperance in the form of lust?


ASPIRATION: O good Jesus, within Thy wounds hid me. (300 days indulgence.) [169]


PRAYER: O gentle Jesus, who didst suffer agonizing thirst on the Cross to atone for the many sins that would be committed through the sense of taste, accept my sorrow for all my lack of mortification and my many sins in this regard. Thou didst bestow on us so many things which we did not deserve that it should be impossible even to think of offen­ding Thee by misusing them in any way. And yet our ingratitude reaches even so far that we have been unwilling to share in the smallest way the many and great privations of Thy own life and death, and have rebelled against Thy commandments and Thy Church in gratifying excessively the appetites Thou hast given us. Let me atone for my own sins of the past by acquiring strong habits of mor­tification, and let me make reparation for the many sins of gluttony and drunkenness in the world by penance and self-denial. 0 Mary, Mother of Christ, obtain for me the grace to use rightly and reasonably all the good things bestowed on me by God.

OBEDIENCE


The first commandment in the Decalogue, after the three which deal with man’s duties to God, is that which reads: Honour thy father and thy mother. There is a reason for its being mentioned at the head of the list of those which comprise man’s duties to his fellow-man. The reason is that, in the order of nature, a human being’s first relationships are toward the parents who were responsible for his coming into the world and on whom he is dependent through many helpless years.

The law of obedience, in regard to children, is really a law of self-preservation. When the child is born, it is incapable of caring for itself in any way. Its helplessness and dependence, in somewhat diminishing degree, continue for many years. Unless others provide for its physical needs, its intellectual needs, its moral and spiritual needs, it will never reach perfect maturity. This dependence can be made fruitful and effective unto self-preservation and development only by obe­dience, respect, honour and love toward those whose responsibility it is to provide for the child.

But children are not the only ones on whom the obligation of obedience falls. Whenever there is a necessary dependence of one man upon another, either in the natural or super­natural order, there are obligations of obe­dience. Thus, in the natural order, the citizen owes obedience to the state; the workman to his employer; the pupil to the teacher. Accor­dingly, in the supernatural order, the parishioner owes obedience to the pastor, and the religious to his superiors.

Indirectly, obedience also imposes obliga­tions on those who hold authority to direct and command others. There is a right use of authority and a wrong use; it can be neglected or abused to the detriment of subjects. Therefore, every form of obedience involves obligations on the part of those in command. The sins of both subjects and superiors are therefore outlined here.


I. MORTAL SINS

1. Have I deliberately given in to hatred of my mother or my father, refusing to speak to them over a considerable period of time?

2. Have I deliberately wished serious harm to my parents, e.g., that they would die so that I might possess their goods?

3. Have I habitually treated my parents harshly, speaking contemptuously to them or of them, ridiculing them, cursing them, caus­ing them severe pain and sorrow?

4. Have I refused to relieve the serious needs of my parents when I was able to do so, leaving them dependent on strangers for necessary food, clothing, or without medical care in sickness and danger of death?

5. Have I done nothing to insure spiritual care for my mother or father when it was needed, neglecting to provide for their receiv­ing the Sacraments in danger of death?

6. Have I, as a lawyer or politician or in­fluential business man, used my power to break down or render useless just laws of the state made for the welfare of all?

7. Have I purposely struck my mother or father in resentment or deliberate bad will?

8. Have I disobeyed parents when they for­bade my going with bad companions, or to bad shows and dangerous places?

9. Have I, as an official of the state, serious­ly failed in my duty by accepting bribes, per­mitting corruption, letting criminals off, etc.?

10. Have I, as a parishioner, fomented rebellion and disobedience among the people of a parish, by slander, conspiracy, etc., against my pastor?

11. Have I upset the home of my parents by frequently disobeying the rules they had a right to make — concerning the persons to be brought into the house, concerning the hours I kept at night, concerning decent conduct within the home?

12. Have I, when earning money while liv­ing under the parental roof or while still sub­ject to parents, refused to give them part of my earnings when they needed it or demand­ed it?

13. Have I, as a parent, given in to deliberate hatred of a son or daughter, by con­tinual mistreatment, cursing, driving them out of my home without a serious reason?

14. Have I failed entirely to teach and discipline my children in serious matters such as morality and religion?

15. Have I, with deliberate and grave carelessness, endangered the life of a child, either by seriously dangerous conduct before birth, or by neglect of proper attention through the years of infancy?

16. Have I failed to have my child baptised at least within two weeks or thereabouts after birth, when there was no serious obstacle to so doing?

17. Have I given serious bad example to my children, by cursing in their presence, by serious quarrelling, by impure talk, by neglec­ting serious religious obligations?

18. Have I failed to correct and punish my children for serious wrongs, or to forbid them to enter serious occasions of sin?

19. Have I refused to send my children to a Catholic school when I could have done so and had no permission from bishop or pastor to do otherwise?

20. Have I selfishly interfered with the vocation of a son or daughter when God seem­ed to be calling them to marriage or to a religious vocation and I had no serious reason for refusing to let them go?

21. Have I, as a pupil in school, seriously undermined the authority and harmed the work of my teacher by slander, rebellion, etc.,?

22. Have I, as a teacher, seriously neglected my duties by failing to prepare myself in any way for my classes, by not teaching subjects I was hired to teach, etc.,?

23. Have I, as an employee, failed to a grave degree in carrying out commands of an employer for which I was hired, or fomented rebellion and disobedience and sabotage among others?

24. Have I, as am employer, been seriously unjust to one or many of my employees, by driving them tyrannically, by demanding more than human nature could do, by allow­ing inhuman working conditions?


II. VENIAL SINS

1. Have I failed to show love and gratitude to my parents, either by neglecting oppor­tunities to do so, or by positively hurting them in small ways?

2. Have I failed in the respect due my parents, by laughing at them, being openly ashamed of them, talking harshly or angrily to them, saying unkind things about them?

3. Have I disobeyed my parents in small things that they commanded or forbade?

4. Have I lied to my parents to avoid a reprimand or punishment?

5. Have I been stubborn and peevish and openly resentful against parents?

6. Have I neglected to ask or take advice from parents in matters in which their knowledge and experience are meant to guide me?

7. Have I selfishly refused to make life more comfortable and enjoyable for my parents when I could have done so?

8. Have I, in my own mature years, left my parents alone, seldom visiting them, seldom showing any gratitude or love?

9. As a parent, have I slothfully neglected the lesser duties I owed to my children, such as taking an interest in their school work, ex­plaining difficult religious matters to them, encouraging extra habits of piety?

10. Have I given bad example to my children in venial matters, by anger, gossip, lying, etc.?

11. Have I failed to cooperate with teachers of my children by criticizing them to the children, countermanding some of their orders, etc.?

12. Have I, as a pupil in school, been disrespectful and disobedient to teachers?

13. Have I, as a teacher, given bad example to pupils, or failed to prepare well for my classes, or to fulfil minor obligations I assumed?

14. Have I, as an employee, been disobe­dient to just orders given by my employer, thus causing slight losses?

15. Have I, as an employer, given way to anger, partiality, unfairness in dealing with my employees?

16. Have I, as a citizen, disregarded laws made for the safety and well-being of all, or ridiculed those in authority who made the laws?


III. HELPS AND COUNSELS

1. Have I convinced myself of the truth that all valid authority comes from God, and that obedience to such authority is obedience to God?

2. As a son or daughter, have I ever reflected on the gratitude I owe to parents, which is the basis of the love, respect and obe­dience I owe them?

3. Have I trained myself to overlook the human faults in those who hold authority, remembering that these faults do not remove my obligation of obedience to all just com­mands?

4. Have I meditated on what chaos would engulf the world if there were no obedience, and on how much misery has already been caused by rebellion against authority?

5. Have I realized the old Scriptural princi­ple that obedience to parents in youth is the surest means of gaining loyal obedience from others when I may be placed in authority?

6. Have I meditated on the example of Christ, who became man out of obedience and who was obedient to all lawful authority even unto His death?


ASPIRATION: All for Thee, most Sacred Heart of Jesus! (300 days indulgence.) [203]


PRAYER: O Jesus, my Saviour, Thou didst say on entering the world: “I am come to do Thy will, 0 God,” and didst fulfil Thy promise by becoming obedient even unto the death of the cross — O, do Thou teach me to be obedient in all things like unto Thee. In the past I have often rebelled against those who represent Thy own authority; permit me now by Thy grace to rebel no longer. Thou didst obey Mary and Joseph at Nazareth, and all Thy civil and religious rulers. Let me see in my own superiors the same divine authority Thou didst obey, no matter what human defects Thy representatives may possess. And if Thou willest that I should have authority over others in any sphere, grant that I may exercise that authority with the same gentleness, meekness, kindness and charity that were always present in Thee. 0 Mary, who didst say to the angel who represented God: “Be it done unto me accor­ding to thy word,” let me echo thy beautiful submission whenever God’s will is made known to me through my superiors.

The Lord hath given Him power and honor and a kingdom; and all peoples, tribes and tongues shall serve Him. The nation and kingdom that will not serve Thee shall perish; the nations shall be laid waste as a desert." — Lauds (Festival of Christ the King)


MEEKNESS


Meekness is the virtue that enables one to overcome the tendencies of anger, revenge, hatred and enmity. Many of its manifesta­tions have already been listed under the heading of charity, because the principal in­centives to anger come from the words or ac­tions of a fellow human being. Thus meekness presupposes the virtue of charity or love of neighbour, which provides the motives and the means of overlooking insult, injustice and in­jury, real or imaginary, from others.

The vice of anger, to which meekness is op­posed, is responsible for very much of the misery in the world. It is a vice in which an animal passion in man is permitted to dominate his words and actions as if he possessed neither reason nor free will. In the brute animals, anger is directed by instinct to the purposes of self-defence and self-preservation, as exemplified when a brute fights for food, or against an enemy, or in defence of its young. In man, anger is also designed by nature to be a means of self-defence and self-preservation, but, like all the passions, in him it is meant to be under the complete control of reason and free will. This means that even in a man who possesses merely natural virtue, all motivations to anger must be trained to submit to the judg­ment of reason, and that the will be permitted to act, not on the suggestion of anger but on the judgment of reason. A man who possesses supernatural virtue has all the teachings of faith to assist his judgment in deciding against the impulses of anger.

Anger, therefore, as a vice, is the habit of acting as the passion dictates without subjec­ting it to reason or faith. One who habitually acts thus, indulging in intemperate words and vicious actions, places himself below the level of the brutes. Brutes are guided at least by instinct. Reason is to take the place of that instinct in man, and when it is abandoned there is nothing left but blind and selfish force.


I. MORTAL SINS


1. Have I deliberately permitted myself to become so violently angry that it destroyed my reason for a time and made me incapable of acting like a human being?

2. Have I hurt others seriously in anger?

3. Have I knowingly and deliberately made others angry to a point where they were bereft of reason?

4. Have I planned revenge against others, looking for an opportunity to do serious harm to them?

5. Have I actually taken revenge by doing serious harm, e.g., by ruining a person’s business, by destroying his reputation, by stealing?

6. Have I permitted anger against others to become hatred, so that I wished them serious misfortune and refused to speak to them for a considerable length of time?

7. Have I refused to forgive others who had wronged me and who asked for forgiveness in a direct or indirect way?

8. After causing another to show signs of hatred for me, have I refused to show by any sign that I wanted to be forgiven?

9. Have I induced others to hate their neighbours by working on their anger and pro­viding motives for continued hatred?

10. Have I, through jealousy of others, deliberately tried to destroy a good work that they were doing or to hamper it seriously?


II. VENIAL SINS


1. Have I taken part in petty quarrels and bitter arguments?

2. Have I given in to sudden spurts of anger by harsh words, by calling names, by abusive language?

3. Have I shown dislike and antipathy for others by snubbing them, by being sarcastic toward them, or by any unkindness?

4. Have I given in to moods of sullenness and moroseness towards others?

5. Have I shown sensitiveness and hurt feelings over trifling matters?

6. Have I carried and shown a grudge against others for some time?

7. Have I talked back peevishly to superiors when I was corrected?

8. Have I, as a superior, corrected others in the heat of anger?

9. Have I shown envy of others by picking at their characters, by lessening their esteem in the eyes of others?

10. Have I teased others until I made them angry?

11. Have I approved and promoted the angry feelings of others?


III. HELPS AND COUNSELS


1. Have I analysed the nature of anger as a passion and recognized how it should be sub­jected to reason?

2. Have I realized that giving in to anger signifies the presence of great pride, because one who does not try to control his anger thinks so highly of himself that he believes no one should cross him in any way?

3. Have I ever meditated on the example of Christ, especially how He practiced silence when His enemies hired criminal witnesses to testify against Him?

4. Have I reminded myself often of the words of Christ: “If any man be angry with his brother he shall be in danger of the judg­ment”?

5. Do I know that not anger but meekness is the greatest sign of strength of character a person can give?

6. Am I aware that an ungovernable temper is the surest sign that a person is incapable of leading or ruling others in any way?


ASPIRATION: O God, grant us union of minds in truth and union of hearts in charity. (300 days indulgence.) [10]

PRAYER: O sweet Redeemer, how great is the contrast between Thy conduct, under insult and injury, and mine! Thou was silent when they accused Thee falsely; Thou didst not complain when they crowned Thee with thorns and scourged Thee at the pillar; Thou didst pray for the forgiveness of even those who nailed Thee to Thy cross. And I — how quick I have been to show resentment for even the unintended slights I received; how often I have plotted revenge against someone for an imaginary wrong, and how long I have harboured ill-feelings toward others within my heart. I am sorry that I have been so unwor­thy a follower of Thee. Grant me the grace to be prompt to forgive; to be generous with those who are niggardly with me; to be meek and patient whenever I am tempted to anger. O Mary, who didst share in the ignominy of Thy Son’s passion and death without com­plaint, obtain for me the grace to overcome every temptation to hatred and anger.

For Thy power, O Lord, is not in a multitude, nor is Thy pleasure in the strength of horses, nor from the beginning have the proud been acceptable to Thee: but the prayer of the humble and the meek hath always pleased Thee.” — Judith 9:16


HUMILITY


Pride is defined as an inordinate love of one s own excellence. It is called an inordinate love because everyone is bound to love self in an ordinate or rational way, which means to love self inasmuch as and after the manner in which one is loved by God. God loves every human being that He has created; this means that God desires the happiness and salvation of each one and directs all His laws and all His providence and all His gifts and graces to these ends. A rightful love of self is really reducible to the love of God, because it means seeking what God seeks, conforming self to God’s will, fulfilling God’s plans in regard to one’s destiny.

An inordinate love of self or of one’s ex­cellence means setting oneself against God and above God. For example, it means at­tributing to one’s own judgment a higher value than to the wisdom of God. It means thinking that one can find and follow a better road to happiness than that made known by the all-wise God. It means rebelling against God because it is assumed that God does not know what is best for one’s body and soul.

It stands to reason, therefore, that pride is in some way responsible for every deliberate sin that is ever committed. If a person sins through lust or indulgence in forbidden sense pleasure, it is fundamentally because he believes he can find some happiness in that, whereas by keeping God’s law happiness could not be attained. If a person sins through malice, i.e., by deliberately breaking a law like that of hearing Mass on Sunday, it is radically because he thinks that God made a useless law. If he sins through fear of pover­ty or pain, then it is because he will not admit that God can take care of those who keep His law. So with every kind of sin: in some way it signifies pride, assuming that the sinner knows more than God or can do more than God or can find greater happiness in rebellion against God than by remaining subject to His authority and by keeping His law.

For this reason it is difficult to enumerate mortal and venial sins that are sins of pride alone. Pride usually reveals itself in the breaking of some specific law that God has made. However, in order to trace the in­fluence of pride in our lives, it is well to ex­amine our minds for the motives of various sins, because it will quickly be found that pride is a major factor in all. Thus sins already contained in previous examinations of this series will be repeated here, with special reference to the form of pride that causes them. The list will not be exhaustive but representative of how pride works.

Of course, the only remedy for pride is humility. Humility is the fundamental virtue by which a person remembers his utter dependence on God and God’s laws and God’s providence, and the utter folly of any action or any judgment or any self-glorification that is contrary to the will of God.


I. MORTAL SINS


1. Have I considered myself capable of reading forbidden books without permission — books dealing with things contrary to my faith or destructive of morals —because I thought my judgment about these things was better than that of God and His Church which forbids such reading?

2. Have I decided that it could do me no harm to attend non-Catholic services even though God’s law and the law of His Church forbid it?

3. Have I made light of or even ridiculed certain doctrines or laws of the Catholic religion, as if I knew more than Christ or His Church?

4. Have I, with but a shallow and mediocre training in religious teaching, presumed to make quick judgments about doctrines I hardly even understood?

5. Have I shown my independence of God by missing Mass on Sunday without a reason, by eating meat on abstinence days, refusing to fast on days appointed, etc.?

6. Have I practically expressed the convic­tion that I know more than God and His Church by refusing to send my children to a Catholic school, or by saying that I do not believe a Catholic education is necessary for a Catholic child?

7. Have I drawn others into sins of impuri­ty on the ground that God’s law in this mat­ter is old-fashioned, impossible, unimportant, or harmful?

8. Have I practiced any form of preventing conception in marriage because I maintained that God’s law could not be kept, or, if kept, would result in too much hardship?

9. Have I refused to forgive someone who wronged me because I considered my honor a more valuable thing than that of God, who forgave His enemies and commanded me to forgive mine?

10. Have I slandered others because I thought revenge against them was necessary for my honour even though it is forbidden by God?

11. Have I used unjust methods in business because I deemed it more important for me to make money and “to get ahead” than to be obedient to God?

12. Have I used sinful means to attain social or political power because I would rather be above my fellow-human beings than subject to God?

13. Have I rebelled against superiors and the serious commands they gave because I thought my knowledge and dignity freed me from the necessity of obedience?

14. Have I failed to confess certain mortal sins I had committed because I said they were “my own affair,” that “they were no business of the priest,” that “I could get along without God’s forgiveness”?

15. Have I maintained, either in word or ac­tion, that it is unnecessary for a man to pray?


II. VENIAL SINS


1. Have I been guilty of the form of pride called vanity, by considering myself more in­telligent, more learned, more handsome, even more charitable than others?

2. Have I bragged about my ac­complishments, my virtues, my abilities?

3. Have I given in to anger against others because I thought myself better than they were, and that they should know better than to cross me?

4. Have I shown my pride in the form of sensitiveness, resentment, pouting, peevishness?

5. Have I talked about the faults of others, as if to say: “I have no faults at all”?

6. Have I complained about God’s pro­vidence in permitting me certain trials, as if I were deserving of better treatment from Him?

7. Have I looked down on others who were less wealthy, less cultured, less learned, less prominent, less gifted than I?

8. Have I been too proud to take second place in any work or activity, withdrawing from it or hindering it because I could not be first?

9. Have I shown my pride in constant disobedience to my superiors in small things, or by stubbornness and disrespectful language to those who had a right to com­mand me?

10. Have I neglected daily prayer as if I were strong enough and good enough to get along without God’s help?


III. HELPS AND COUNSELS


1. Have I realized that humility is the foun­dation of all other virtues because it keeps me mindful of my complete dependence on God and the need I have of perfectly accepting and accomplishing His will?

2. Have I learned to detest pride as the cause of all sin, the reason for the creation of hell, and the source of all the evil in the world?

3. Have I a consciousness of the just deserts of my sins — so that I am ready to ac­cept any trial or hardship from God to atone for those sins?

4. Am I convinced how foolish it would be to set up my judgment and my little knowledge against the teachings of Christ and of His Church, and against God’s knowledge of the past, present and future?

5. Do I meditate often on the humility of Christ, who emptied Himself of all honour and became a servant to show me what I must be in the eyes of God?

6. Have I adopted this as one of my favourite prayers: “0 Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine”?

ASPIRATION: Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine. (500 days indulgence.) [196]

PRAYER: My Lord Jesus Christ, who, though Thou was the Creator and Master of the universe, didst humble Thyself and become a servant to redeem the world, help me to understand that humility is necessary for every other virtue I desire to possess. Thou dost resist the proud and give Thy grace only to the humble. I, therefore, renounce the pride that has caused me to offend Thee so often in the past, that has made me place myself above Thee, the Sovereign Lord of all. Let me prove my humility by accepting cheerfully every humiliation I receive from others; by submitting unreservedly to Thy commands and the authority of Thy Church; by seeking no honour and no recognition from the world, but only Thy approbation and Thy reward. 0 Mary, whose humility was so pleasing to the Most High, obtain for me the grace to re­nounce all self- will in complete surrender to God.

My hand made all these things, and all these things were made, saith the Lord. But to whom shall I have respect, but to him that is poor and little, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my words.” (Isaias 66:2)

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  Fr. Cardozo: On the Errors of Bp. Williamson
Posted by: Stone - 12-27-2020, 12:32 PM - Forum: True vs. False Resistance - Replies (2)

The following is from a thread in 2016 on the Cor Mariae site when they were still fighting the errors of the False Resistance.
With slight adaptations for ease of reading [all emphasis in the original]:



Part I

The following article is a summary of the differences and similarities of Bishop Williamson's Disastrous Actions.
w/ English translation of a Letter to Father Cardozo 1/17/2016

Dear Father,

Patience. This chaos is about to get even worse. We are going to need even more patience.

I send you my blessing,

In Christo,
+Richard Williamson

This chaos seems not to have an end, and a faithful priest (Father Cardozo) warned to leave controversial things to the private sphere and to try to confirm the faithful in the war against modernism -which is his duty as a bishop. Bishop Richard Williamson is not worried about the division and confusion he created with his imprudent Eleison Comments, but he anticipates that this chaos will continue to get worse. And in fact it continues.

We need more patience because the bishop has decided to continue with his work of the destruction of the "Resistance," and to hold on to the same position of Bishop Fellay.

At this moment, there is almost no difference between the "Resistance" and the "Neo-SSPX." Bishop Williamson and his followers (Bishop Faure, Father Tomas Aquinas, Fr. Trincado, etc.) continue to have a similar position as Bishop Fellay's, which contradicts Archbishop Lefebvre's and Bishop Antonio de Castro Mayer's. Let's consider the following:

- Bishop Fellay: 95% of the second Vatican council is acceptable (interview with magazine La Liberté, 5/11/2001)

- Bishop Williamson: the neo-church is somewhat Catholic (EC 445). Catholics, be generous! Recognize God's intention to save many souls outside of the "tradition," (EC438).

- Dominicans of Avrillé: The Catholic Church has, mysteriously, something of the conciliar church. It is necessary to distinguish them, without separating them. (Le Sel de la terra, winter 2015)

- Father Thomas Aquinas: it cannot be said, absolutely, that the conciliar church is not the Catholic Church. ("Em defensa de D. Williamson I").

- Bishop Faure: it is not possible that God has abandoned 98% of the souls. We have to read attentively and understand what Bishop Williamson wants to say. There can be, within us, the danger of radicalization. (Sermon 12/06/15, Saltillo, Mexico)

- From the Catechism: "There's no salvation outside of the Roman, Catholic and Apostolic Church, just as there is no one outside of Noah's Arc, which was the figure of the church, was saved."

- Archbishop Lefebvre: it was the council and its aftermath, that destroyed the Holy Mass, destroyed our Faith, destroyed the catechisms and the Social Reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ in civil society. How can we accept it? (Homily, November 19, 1989)

"Let no one deceive you, this is not a contest between Archbishop Lefebvre and Pope Paul VI. This is the radical incompatibility between the Catholic Church and the conciliar church". (Archbishop Lefebvre, Sermon, Econe June 29, 1976)

"The conciliar church is a schismatic church, because it breaks away from the Catholic Church as it has always been. It has its new dogmas, new priesthood, new institutions, its new cult, all of them already condemned by the church in many official and definite documents. (...) This conciliar church, therefore, is not Catholic." (Archbishop Lefebvre, June 29, 1976)

"We never wanted to belong to this system that calls itself conciliar church, and identifies itself with the Novus Ordo, with indifferent ecumenism, and with the secularization of society. Yes, we have nothing to do, nullam partem habemus, with the pantheon of religions of Assisi. We don't ask for anything better than to be excommunicated..." (Open letter to Cardinal Gantin).

"To talk about the means of "salvation" of other religions is heresy. And "to respect their way of behavior and their doctrines, is a fact that scandalizes the true Christians." (They Have Uncrowned Him: From Liberalism to Apostasy, p. 191)

Bishop Antonio de Castro Mayer: the church that adheres formally and totally to Vatican II, with all its heresies is not, and can never be, the Church of Jesus Christ. To belong to the Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ, it is necessary to have the Faith, that is to say, not to doubt or deny any article of the Revelation. Well, the church of Vatican II accepts doctrines that are heretical." (The Roman Catholic, August 1985). He who adheres himself to the Vatican, without any restriction, just because of that fact, disconnects himself from the true Church of Jesus Christ. Nobody can, at the same time, be Catholic and endorse all that Vatican II has established. We would say that the best way to abandon the Church of Christ, the Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, is to accept without reserve all that the Vatican II proposed and thought. He is the anti-Church." (Diarios de Los Padres de Campos-#33)

[Signed]
Father Cardoza


Part II

The following was compiled by Thiago Maria, parishioner of the Mission Cristo Rey de Ipatinga/MG



RELATIONS WITH MODERNIST ROME

- Bishop Fellay: if the Pope calls me, I will rapidly go...better still, I'll go running! (Interview with "30 Days," magazine #9, October 2002)

- Bishop Williamson: if the Holy Father gives me the authority to found a religious society, I would be in the next plane to Rome. (Post Falls, Idaho, USA, June 1st. 2014)

- Bishop Faure: if in the future, I would be invited to go to Rome to speak with the Pope, I would go with Bishop Williamson. (Interview, March 2015)

- Father Thomas Aquinas: it is false that Bishop Williamson and Bishop Faure were expelled because they opposed any kind of relations with Rome. (Answer to Menzingen, March 2015)

Archbishop Lefebvre: supposing that at a determined time Rome calls us, that they would like to see us to return to the dialogue...at that moment it would be I who would impose the conditions. I will not accept to be in the situation that we found ourselves during the conversations. That's finished. (...) if you do not accept the doctrine of your predecessors, it is useless to talk. (Interview by Fideliter, #66, November-December 1988)

What church are we talking about? If it's about this conciliar church, it would be necessary that we, that have fought against it for 20 years, because we want to be the Catholic Church, to integrate into this conciliar church to make it Catholic? THIS IS A COMPLETE ILLUSION! It is not the subjects who make the superiors, but the superiors that make the subjects. In all this Roman Curia, amongst all the bishops of the world, who are progressivist, I would have been completely asphyxiated, couldn't have been able to do anything, not even to protect the faithful and the seminarians. (Interview a year after the episcopal consecrations, Fideliter #70, July-August 1989)

THE NEW MASS


- Bishop Fellay: the New Mass was legitimately promulgated (Doctrinal Declaration April 15, 2012)

- Bishop Williamson: the new mass can and is still is used to build the faith. There are cases where you can assist the new mass. This is almost heresy, but this is what I think. I'm not going to say that everyone should stay away from the new mass. (Mahopac Conference, New York, 6/28/2015)

There are elements in the new mass that can nourish our faith. (EC 445)

In the New Mass, we can preserve the faith (EC 447)

There are miracles in the New Mass (EC 438), these miracles – always assuming they are authentic – have lessons also for the Catholics of Tradition who have to some extent or another stood back from the Novus Ordo framework. (EC 438)

Since the 1960’s a Mass of Catholic sheep have become too worldly to deserve to keep the true rite of Mass, they have loved the Mass enough not to lose it altogether. (EC 438)

- Father Trincado: Father the New Mass has a place inside the Catholic Church. (Letter to Fr Cardozo, 12/13/15: but, my dearest father, the argument related to the possibility of the miracle outside of the Catholic Church, has no relation to the 3 EC of Bishop Williamson, which are about the possible miracles in the NO Masses, because these Masses are celebrated inside the Church,

- Bishop Faure: where did you see that Archbishop Lefebvre said that the New Mass is outside the Church? (Letter to Father Ernesto Cardozo, 1/6/2016: "where did you see that Archbishop Lefebvre said that the new mass is outside the Church? I know, there is ONE quote on which we could think that...one out of one thousand?")

- Father Thomas Aquinas: we should come to the conclusion that there is something good in the New Mass. ("In defense of Bishop Williamson II")

"I don't see anything wrong in Bishop Williamson’s writings." (Catechism monastery of Santa Cruz/ RJ, December/2015)

"I believe Bishop Williamson didn't write anything wrong" (letter to Father Cardozo 1/27/2016)

- Archbishop Lefebvre: we are convinced that this new rite of the Mass expresses a new faith, a faith that is not ours, a faith that is not the Catholic faith. This New Mass is a symbol, an expression, an image of a new faith, a modernist faith". (sermon Econe, June 29, 1976)

Since this reform is the fruit of liberalism and modernism, it is entirely poisoned; it comes from heresy and it ends in heresy, even though all its acts are not formally heretical. (The Mass of All Times" p. 352)

This Mass is poisoned, it is bad and it leads to the loss of faith little by little, we are clearly obliged to reject it ("The Mass of All Times" p. 353)

With relation to the New Mass, let us immediately destroy this ridiculous idea: if the new mass is valid, we can participate in it. The church has always forbidden the faithful to assist at the Masses of the schismatic and heretics, even if they are valid. It is evident that we cannot participate in the sacrilegious masses, and neither in the Masses that are a danger to our faith. (Declaration about the new mass and the pope, 11/811979).

RELATIONS WITH THOSE THAT DISAGREE WITH THEIR POSITIONS:

- Bishop Fellay: Sedevacantists!
- Bishop Williamson: Ecclesiovacantists (EC 445)
- Father Thomas Aquinas: I advise people not to receive him(...) I've heard that in Ipatinga they removed Bishop Williamson's portrait from the Mission. As long as this lasts, it is hard for me to take any other position." (Letter to Father Ernesto Cardozo, 1/27/2016

Dear Father Cardozo,

You should be aware that I do not advise people to receive you. The reason being the controversy surrounding Bishop Williamson's writings.

I think Bishop Williamson didn't write anything bad, and that this is an unnecessary controversy which is causing harm to many people who end up walking away, one way or another, from Bishop Williamson.

I think the best thing for you to do is to reach an agreement with Bishop Williamson, so that I can again recommend your presence to the people who are asking me what to do.

I've heard that in Ipatinga they have removed Bishop Williamson's portrait from the Mission. As long as this lasts, it is hard for me to take any other position."

I will talk to you more later.
En Xto Rege.
-Thomas Aquinas


Prohibition to the faithful of San Pablo to invite Father Cardozo to say Mass - Monastery of Santa Cruz/RJ, January 2016

Prohibition to the faithful of Santo Andres to invite Father Cardozo to say Mass - Monastery of Santa Cruz/RJ, February 2016

- Bishop Faure: Do not invite Father Cardozo to say Mass. (Letter to the faithful of Santo Andres)

- Father Trincado: you are using in your website, a cross that I designed; I named it the cross of the resistance, and I made it public in Non Possumus. Well now, it happens that, I do not want that cross to be used by sites that publicly criticize any of the two bishops of the resistance, and regrettably you have done so in the site that you manage. Consequently, I ask you to remove all the pictures of the cross from your site." (Letter to a parishioner from Ipatinga, 12/21/2015)

Expulsion from the mission of a parishioner for having published an article against assisting the Neo-SSPX masses.
"Will you please remove my name from your contact list" (Letter to a parishioner from Ipatinga, 1/10/2016).

- Carlos Nougue: keep away from these "pure ones" ! (Letter to the Brazilian resistance members, 12/18/2015)


ATTACKS AGAINST FRANCISCO


-Bishop Fellay: (?)
-Bishop Williamson: (?)
-Bishop Faure: (?)
-Father Thomas Aquinas: (?)


Given the above, it is only possible to conclude that Bishop Williamson is no longer a defender of the Faith as many still believe, but an absolute liberal who is taking souls into grave error, and that he doesn't care about the division he is causing and the sheep that are left on the way. The "Resistance" is now only resistance in name. His only end is to stop any reaction to modernism and to create situations to alienate and weaken Catholics that, nevertheless, remain firm. Watch how they create a controversy, see who follows them blindly, and promote/reward them (episcopal consecration of Father Thomas Aquinas, 3/19/2016); thus creating a structure against those who do not share their position.

There are no major attacks against modernism, neither attacks against Francisco, who pronounces a heresy every day. On the contrary, Bishop Williamson affirmed that Tradition needs a generous spirit (EC 438) and his only job is to fluster and defend issues that he refuses to condemn. (Ex: VCII, Conciliar church, and the new mass). As a consequence we have priests that are putting down their swords in exchange of a miter, and many lukewarm and flattering faithful, that poorly know their basic catechism and blindly believe everything that their bad superiors tell them, without questioning, just because they are bishops and belong to a religious order. They're happy with appearances.

We, Catholics - I don't want to use any other adjectives - cannot follow this pathway paved by Bishop Williamson and Bishop Faure, because they are unreliable bishops and their doctrine is at least dangerous; on the contrary, if we do not end up in modernism or in the Neo-FSSPX, we will follow a dead and lukewarm path, and we could incur a divine curse: " I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot. But because thou art lukewarm—neither cold nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out my mouth. (Apocalypse III, 15-16)

Because of all these reasons, my conscience refuses to continue following these two bishops (now three, with Father Thomas Aquinas, who's always defending Bishop Williamson, and who forbids the faithful to attend Father Cardozo's Masses), and I ask my friends and the faithful not to follow in this path and to separate themselves from these bad shepherds. It's better not to have a bishop than to have bishops who are a danger to our Faith. We're living now the times spoken of by Sister Lucia, when we would not be able to trust in any bishop, and each Catholic would have to answer for his own salvation. We must unite ourselves only to those priests that remain firm and faithful. Do not be afraid! Our Lord is in control, and we do not have to worry. He will give us the necessary graces for these exceptional circumstances, through His Most Holy Mother. He who loves Our Lord and Our Lady, must, … keep the faith and these things shall be added unto you. (Matt 6:33).

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  Sunday withing the Octave of Christmas
Posted by: Stone - 12-27-2020, 10:49 AM - Forum: Christmas - Replies (3)

INSTRUCTION ON THE SUNDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS
Taken from Fr. Leonard Goffine's Explanations of the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays, Holydays throughout the Ecclesiastical Year, 1880

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INTROIT For while all things were in quiet silence, and the night came was in the midst of her course, Thy almighty Word, O Lord, down from heaven, from Thy royal throne (Wis. 18:14-15). The Lord hath reigned, he is clothed with beauty: the Lord is clothed with strength, and hath girded himself (Ps. 92:1). Glory be to the Father.

COLLECT Almighty and everlasting God, direct our actions according to Thy good pleasure; that in the name of Thy beloved Son we may deserve to abound in good works. Through our Lord.

EPISTLE (Gal. 4:1-7). Brethren, as long as the heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all: but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed by the father: so we also, when we were children, were serving under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent his Son, made of a woman, made under the law: that he might redeem them who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying: Abba, Father. Therefore now he is not a servant, but a son; and if a son, an heir also through God.

EXPLANATION St. Paul desired to instruct the Galatians, many of whom still clung to the Mosaic law, that this was no longer necessary, because Christ had freed them from its hard bondage, which contained merely the rudiments, so to speak, of the one only saving faith, and had made them children and heirs of God, for which they should rejoice.

Ours is a far greater happiness than that which the Jews received, because we, through our ancestors, were converted by apostolic messengers of the faith from heathenism to the true, saving Catholic faith, and by this holy religion were changed from vassals of Satan, into children and heirs of God. What a great advantage is this! Must it not be dearer to us than all the kingdoms of the world? Let us thank the Lord for it, and be careful not to lose this prerogative of being a child of God, an heir to heaven, let us not by sin give ourselves anew, as voluntary slaves to Satan.

GOSPEL (Lk. 2:33-40). At that time, Joseph and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were wondering at those things which were spoken concerning him. And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother: Behold, this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted: and thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed. And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser; she was far advanced in years, and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow until fourscore and four years; who departed not from the temple, by fastings and prayers serving night and day. Now she at the same hour coming in, confessed to the Lord; and spoke of him to all that looked for the redemption of Israel. And after they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. And the child grew and waxed strong, full of wisdom: and the grace of God was in him.


Why did Mary and Joseph wonder at the things which were spoken of the child Jesus?

They wondered, not because that which was said of the child Jesus by Simeon was new to them, for they already knew why He was sent from God, but because of the marvellous ways in which God revealed the mysteries of the new-born Savior to Simeon, the shepherds, and to other pious people.


How is Christ set for the fall of many?

Christ is set for the fall, that is, for the eternal damnation, of all those who either reject His doctrine, or live not according to its teachings. They themselves, not Christ, are the cause of their damnation on account of their perversity and hard-heartedness. "If I had not come and spoken to them," says Christ, "they would not have sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin" (Jn. 15:22).


For whom is Christ the resurrection?

For those who believe in Him, and live in accordance with the teachings of His doctrine. These, if they persevere will at the Last Day rise to eternal life.


Why is Christ a sign that shall be contradicted?

Because, by His birth from a virgin, by His life and death, and especially by His heavenly doctrine, which is entirely opposed to the carnal spirit of this world, Christ became an object of mockery and blasphemy. Even now, according to the saying of St. Bernard, Christ is a sign of contradiction for many Christians who contradict His humility by their pride, His poverty by their avarice, His fasting by their gluttony, His purity by their impurity, His zeal by their indolence, etc., thus denying by their actions that which they confess with their lips, proving thereby that they are Christians but in name, of whom it is written: "Thou hast the name of being alive, but thou art dead" (Apoc. 3:1).


What is meant by these words: Thy own soul a sword shall pierce?

It means that the greatest grief should cut like a sword through the inmost parts of the soul, which came to pass, when Mary heard the calumnies and blasphemies of the Jews against her Son, and when she saw Him die on the cross between two thieves. Meditating on this grief of the most loving mother Mary, St. Bonaventure exclaims: "Never was there grief so great, for never was there a Son so loved!"


What else do we learn from this gospel?

The widows should learn from Anna, who spent nearly all her life in the temple, to serve God by prayer and fasting; for a widow who prays not, but lives in pleasures, is dead, while she is living (I Tim. 5:6). Parents should learn from it, to be careful that their children not only increase in knowledge, but that they by a pious life advance in grace before God and man.


ASPIRATION O Jesus, Thou new-born Savior, do Thou move our hearts to the fulfillment of Thy precepts that Thou mayst be set for our fall; for it would be much better for us, not to have known the ways of righteousness, than having known them, to have departed from them.


INSTRUCTION ON BLESSING
"And Simeon blessed them "(Lk. 2: 34).
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What is meant by a blessing?

A blessing on the part of God, means the giving to man some spiritual or temporal grace; a blessing on the part of an angel or a man, means the expression in prayer of a wish or desire that God would give to some particular person a corporal or spiritual grace. In the proper sense of the word, only God can give a blessing, because all spiritual and temporal good comes from Him; angels and men can only wish and ask of God that He would bestow His gifts.


Have we examples of blessing in the Bible?


Yes, for the angels blessed Jacob (Gen. 32:26), and Jacob blessed his sons and grandsons (Gen. 48:15), Melchisedech blessed Abraham (Gen. 14:19), and Rebecca was blessed by her brothers (Gen. 24:60).


Is it well for parents to bless their children?

Yes, for God frequently ratifies the blessings wished by the parents, as in the case of Isaac who blessed Jacob, and Jacob who blessed his own sons (Gen. 49). And, on the contrary, God permits the curses of parents to be fulfilled on their children as history shows. "The father's blessing establisheth the houses of the children; but the mother's curse rooteth up the foundation" (Ecclus. 3:11).


What power has the priest's blessing?

A very great one, because it is given by the priest, the vicar of Christ on earth, in the name of Jesus, and of the Church founded by Him, in which He has deposited the plenitude of His blessings. The Church expresses this, when the bishop, anointing the hands of the newly ordained, makes the sign of the cross over them. "All that they bless, is blessed; that they consecrate, is consecrated and sanctified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." The blessing of the priest is to be prized therefore, and an obstacle not set to it by a sinful life. Parents should ask his blessing for their children when he happens to visit them. Children were brought to Christ that He might lay His hands on them and bless them (Mt. 19:13).


What is the effect of God's blessing?

In spiritual life it gives great joy and strength to practice virtue; and in physical life it gives fruitful prosperity in our occupations and undertakings. Therefore, all is contained in the blessing of God, and he who receives it, is richer than if he possessed the whole world. We should endeavor by a pious life to secure this blessing, for it rests only on the head of the just (Prov. 10:6).

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  December 27th: St. John Evangelist
Posted by: Stone - 12-27-2020, 10:24 AM - Forum: December - Replies (2)

DECEMBER 27
SAINT JOHN, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST

Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)

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Nearest to Jesus’ Crib, after Stephen, stands John, the Apostle and Evangelist. It was only right, that the first place should be assigned to him, who so loved his God, that he shed his blood in his service; for, as this God himself declares, greater love than this hath no man, that he lay down his life for his friends [1 John, 15:13] and Martyrdom has ever been counted, by the Church, as the greatest act of love, and as having, consequently, the power of remitting sins, like a second Baptism. But, next to the sacrifice of Blood, the noblest, the bravest, and which most wins the heart of Him who is the Spouse of souls, is the sacrifice of Virginity. Now, just as St. Stephen is looked upon as the type of Martyrs, St. John is honoured as the Prince of Virgins. Martyrdom won for Stephen the Crown and palm; Virginity merited for John most singular prerogatives, which, while they show how dear to God is holy Chastity, put this Disciple among those, who, by their dignity and influence, are above the rest of men.

St. John was of the family of David, as was our Blessed Lady. He was, consequently, a relation of Jesus. This same honour belonged to St. James the Greater, his Brother; as also to St. James the Less, and St Jude, both Sons of Alpheus. When our Saint was in the prime of his youth, he left, not only his boat and nets, not only has lather Zebedee, but even his betrothed, when everything was prepared for the marriage. He followed Jesus, and never once looked back. Hence, the special love which our Lord bore him. Others were Disciples or Apostles, John was the Friend, of Jesus. The cause of this our Lord’s partiality, was, as the Church tells us in the Liturgy, that John had offered his Virginity to the Man-God. Let us, on this his Feast, enumerate the graces and privileges that came to St. John from his being The Disciple whom Jesus loved.

This very expression of the Gospel, which the Evangelist repeats several times – The Disciple whom Jesus loved [John, 13:23, 19:26, 21:7, 21:20] – says more than any commentary could do. St. Peter, it is true was chosen by our Divine Lord, to be the Head of the Apostolic College, and the Rock whereon the Church was to be built: he, then, was honoured most; but St. John was loved most. Peter was bid to love more than the rest loved, and he was able to say, in answer to Jesus’ thrice repeated question, that he did love him in this highest way: and yet, notwithstanding, John was more loved by Jesus than was Peter himself, because his Virginity deserved this special mark of honour.

Chastity of soul and body brings him who possesses it into a sacred nearness and intimacy with God. Hence it was, that at the Last Supper – that Supper, which was to be renewed on our Altars, to the end of the world, in order to cure our spiritual infirmities, and give life to our souls – John was placed near to Jesus, nay, was permitted, as the tenderly loved Disciple, to lean his head upon the Breast of the Man-God. Then it was, that he was filled, and from their very Fountain, with Light and Love: it was both a recompense and a favour, and became the source of two signal graces, which make St. John an object of special reverence to the whole Church.

Divine wisdom wishing to make known to the world the Mystery of the Word, and commit to Scripture those profound secrets, ‘which, so far, no pen of mortal had been permitted to write – the task was put upon John. Peter had been crucified, Paul had been beheaded, and the rest of the Apostles had laid down their lives in testimony of the Truths they had been sent to preach to the world; John was the only one left in the Church. Heresy had already begun its blasphemies against the Apostolic Teach ings; it refused to admit the Incarnate Word as the Son of God, Consubstantial to the Father. John was asked by the Churches to speak, and he did so in language heavenly above measure. His Divine Master had reserved to this his Virgin-Disciple the honour of writing those sublime Mysteries, which the other Apostles had been commissioned only to teach – THE WORD WAS GOD, and this WORD WAS MADE FLESH for the salvation of mankind.

Thus did our Evangelist soar, like the Eagle, up to the Divine Sun, and gaze upon Him with undazzled eye, because his heart and senses were pure, and there fore fitted for such vision of the uncreated Light. If Moses, after having conversed with God in the cloud, came from the divine interview with rays of miraculous light encircling his head: – how radiant must have been the face of St. John, which had rested on the very Heart of Jesus, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge! [Col. 2:3] how sublime his writings! how divine his teaching! Hence, the symbol of the Eagle, shown to the Prophet Ezechiel, [Ezechiel 1:10, 10:14] and to St. John himself in his Revelations, [Apoc. 4:7] has been assigned to him by the Church: and to this title of The Eagle has been added, by universal tradition, the other beautiful name of Theologian, This was the first recompense given by Jesus to his Beloved John  a profound penetration into divine Mysteries. The second was the imparting to him a most ardent charity, which was equally a grace consequent upon his angelic purity, for purity unburdens the soul from grovelling egotistic affections, and raises it to a chaste and generous love. John had treasured up in his heart the Discourses of his Master: he made them known to the Church, and especially that divine one of the Last Supper, wherein Jesus had poured forth his whole Soul to his own, whom he had always tenderly loved, but most so at the end [John, 13:1]. He wrote his Epistles, and Charity is his subject: God is Charity – he that loveth not, knoweth not God – perfect Charity casteth out fear – and so on throughout, always on Love.

During the rest of his fife, even when so enfeebled by old age as not to be able to walk, he was for ever insisting upon all men loving each other, after the example of God, who had loved them and so loved them! Thus, he that had announced more clearly than the rest of the Apostles the divinity of the Incarnate Word, was by excellence the Apostle of that divine Charity, which Jesus came to enkindle upon the earth.

But, our Lord had a further gift to bestow, and it was sweetly appropriate to the Virgin-Disciple. When dying on his cross, Jesus left Mary upon this earth. Joseph had been dead now some years. Who, then, shall watch over his Mother? who is there worthy of the charge? Will Jesus send his Angels to protect and console her? – for, surely, what man could ever merit to be to her as a second Joseph? Looking down, he sees the Virgin-Disciple standing at the foot of the Cross: we know the rest, John is to be Mary’s Son – Mary is to be John’s Mother. Oh! wonderful Chastity, that wins from Jesus such an inheritance as this! Peter, says St. Peter Damian, shall have left to him the Church, the Mother of men; but John, shall receive Mary, the Mother of God, whom he will love as his own dearest Treasure, and to whom he will stand in Jesus’ stead; whilst Mary will tenderly love John, her Jesus’ Friend, as her Son.

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Can we be surprised after this, that St John is looked upon by the Church as one of her greatest glories? He is a Relative of Jesus in the flesh; he is an Apostle, a Virgin, the Friend of the Divine Spouse, the Eagle, the Theologian, the Son of Mary; he is an Evangelist, by the history he has given of the Life of his Divine Master and Friend; he is a Sacred Writer, by the three Epistles he wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost; he is a Prophet, by his mysterious Apocalypse, wherein are treasured the secrets of time and eternity. But, is he a Martyr? Yes, for if he did not complete his sacrifice, he drank the Chalice of Jesus [Matt. 20:22], when, after being cruelly scourged, he was thrown into a caldron of boiling oil, before the Latin Gate, at Rome. He was, therefore, a Martyr in desire and intention, though not in fact. If our Lord, wishing to prolong a life so dear to the Church, as well as to show how he loves and honours Virginity, – miraculously stayed the effects of the frightful punishment, St John had, on his part, unreservedly accepted Martyrdom.

Such is the companion of Stephen at the Crib, wherein lies our Infant Jesus. If the Protomartyr dazzles us with the robes he wears of the bright scarlet of his own blood – is not the virginal whiteness of John’s vestment fairer than the untrod snow? The spotless beauty of the Lilies of Mary’s adopted Son, and the bright vermilion of Stephen’s Roses – what is there more lovely than their union? Glory, then, be to our New-Born King, whose court is tapestried with such heaven-made colours as these! Yes, Bethlehem’s Stable is a very heaven on earth, and we have seen its transformation. First, we saw Mary and Joseph alone there – they were adoring Jesus in his Crib; then, immediately, there descended a heavenly host of Angels singing the wonderful Hymn; the Shepherds soon followed, the humble simple-hearted Shepherds; after these, entered Stephen the Crowned, and John the Beloved Disciple; and, even before there enters the pageant of the devout Magi, we shall have others coming in, and there will be, each day, grander glory in the Cave, and gladder joy in our hearts. Oh! this Birth of our Jesus! Humble as it seems, yet, how divine! What King or Emperor ever received, in his gilded cradle, honours like these shown to the Babe of Bethlehem? Let us unite our homage with that given him by these the favoured inmates of his court. Yesterday, the sight of the Palm in Stephen’s hand animated us, and we offered to our Jesus the promise of a stronger Faith: to-day, the Wreath, that decks the brow of the Beloved Disciple, breathes upon the Church the heavenly fragrance of Virginity – an intenser love of Purity must be our resolution, and our tribute to the Lamb.


MASS

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The Church commences her chants of the holy Sacrifice with words taken from the Book of Ecclesiasticus, which she applies to St. John. Our Lord has proclaimed his mysteries to the Church, by the teaching of his Beloved Disciple. He favored him with his divine intimacy, which filled him with the spirit of wisdom. He clad him with a robe of glory in reward for his virginal purity.

Introit
In medio Ecclesiæ aperuit os ejus; et implevit eum Dominus Spiritu sapientiæ et intellectus; stolam gloriæ induit eum.
Ps. Bonum est confiteri Domino, et psallere nomini tuo, Altissime.
℣. Gloria. In medio.

He opened his mouth in the midst of the Church, and the Lord filled him with the spirit of wisdom: he clad him with a robe of glory.
Ps. It is good to give praise to the Lord, and to sing to thy name, O Most High.
℣. Glory, &c. He opened.


In the Collect, the Church asks for the Light, that is, for the Word of God, of whom St. John was the propagator by his sublime writings. She aspires to the eternal possession of this Emmanuel, who is come to enlighten the world, and who has revealed to his Beloved Disciple the secrets of heaven.

Collect

Ecclesiam tuam, Domine, benignus illustra: ut beati Joannis, Apostoli tui et Evangelistæ, illuminata doctrinis, ad dona perveniat sempiterna. Per Dominum.

Mercifully, O Lord, enlighten thy Church: that being taught by blessed John, thine Apostle and Evangelist, she may come to thy eternal rewards. Through, &c.


Commemoration of Christmas Day

Concede, quæsumus, omnipotens Deus, ut nos Unigeniti tui nova per carnem nativitas ilberet, quos sub peccati jugo vetusta servitus tenet.

Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that we who groan under the old captivity of sin, may be freed therefrom by the new Birth of thine Only Begotten Son.


Commemoration of St. Stephen

Da nobis, quæsumus, Domine, imitari quod colimus: ut discamus et inimicos diligere, quia ejus natalitia celebramus, qui novit etiam pro persecutoribus exorare Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum. Qui tecum.

Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that we may imitate him whose memory we celebrate, so as to learn to love even our enemies, because we now solemnize his martyrdom who knew how to pray, even for his persecutors, to our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son. Who liveth, &c.


Epistle
Lesson from the Book of Wisdom. Ecclus ch. xv.

He that feareth God, will do good: and he that possesseth justice, shall lay hold on her, And she will meet him as an honourable mother, and will receive him as a wife married of a virgin. With the bread of life and understanding, she shall feed him, and give him the water of wholesome wisdom to drink: and she shall be made strong in him, and he shall not be moved: And she shall hold him fast, and he shall not be confounded: and she shall exalt him among his neighbours. And in the midst of the church she shall open his mouth, and shall fill him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and shall clothe him with a robe of glory. She shall heap upon him a treasure of joy and gladness, and shall cause him to inherit an everlasting name.
Quote:The Wisdom here spoken of, is Jesus the Eternal Word, who came to St. John and called him to the Apostolate. The Bread of life wherewith she fed him is the divine Bread of the Last Supper, the Body and Blood of Jesus; the wholesome Water is that promised by our Savior to the Samaritan Woman, and of which St. John drank so abundantly from its very source, when he rested his head on the Heart of Jesus. The immovable Strength is the Saint’s close and resolute custody of the treasure of his Virginity, and the courageous profession of the religion of Christ before the Proconsuls of Domitian. The Treasure which Wisdom heaped upon him is the magnificence of the prerogatives granted to him. Lastly, the everlasting Name is that glorious title given him of John the Beloved Disciple.

Gradual

Exiit sermo inter fratres, quod disciplus ille non moriter; et non dixit Jesus: Non moritur;
℣. Sed: Sic eu ovlo manere, donec veniam; tu me sequere.

A report was spread among the brethren, that that Disciple should not die; but Jesus said not: He should not die;
℣. But: So I will have him remain till I come; follow thou me.

Alleluia, alleluia.
℣. Hic est discipulus ille, qui testimonium perhibet de his; et scimus quia verum est testimonium ejus. Alleluia.

Alleluia, alleluia.
℣. This is the Disciple that beareth testimony of these things; and we know his testimony is true. Alleluia.


Gospel
Sequel of the holy Gospel according to St. John. Ch. xxi.

At that time: Jesus said to Peter: Follow me. Peter turning about, saw that disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also leaned on his breast at supper, and said: Lord, who is he that shall betray thee? Him therefore when Peter had seen, he saith to Jesus: Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith to him: So I will have him to remain till I come, what is it to thee? follow thou me. This saying therefore went abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die. And Jesus did not say to him: He should not die; but, So I will have him to remain till I come, what is it to thee? This is that disciple who giveth testimony of these things, and hath written these things; and we know that his testimony is true.
Quote:This passage of the holy Gospel has been much commented upon. Some of the Fathers and Commentators interpret it as signifying that St. John was to be exempt from death, and that he is still living in the flesh, awaiting the coming of the Judge of the living and the dead. It is certain that this opinion regarding our Apostle has been entertained; and one of the arguments in its favor was this passage. But the general opinion of the Holy Fathers is that nothing further is implied by it than the difference between the two vocations of St. Peter and St. John. The former shall follow his divine Master by dying, like him, on the cross; the latter shall remain—he shall live to a venerable old age—and at length, Jesus shall come and take him out of this world by sending him a sweet and peaceful death.


During the Offertory, the Church makes a remembrance of the flourishing Palms which grew up around the Beloved Disciple; she tells us of the all the spiritual children he had trained, and of the Churches he had founded; all which, like young cedars round the venerable parent-tree on Libanus, multiplied under the fostering care of their Father.

Offertory

Justus ut palma florebit; sicut cedrus, quæ in Libano est muliplicabitur.

The just shall flourish, like the palm tree; he shall grow up like the cedar of Libanus.


Secret

Suscipe, Domine, munera quæ in ejus tibi solemnitate deferimus, cujus nos confidimus patrocinio liberari
. Per Dominum.

Receive, O Lord, the offerings we make to thee, on this feast, by whose intercession we hope to be delivered. Through, &c.


Commemoration of Christmas Day

Oblata, Domine, munera, nova Unigeniti tui nativitate sanctifica: nosque a peccatorum nostrorum maculis emunda.

Sanctify, O Lord, our offerings by the new Birth of thine Only Begotten Son, and cleanse us from the stains of our sins.


Commemoration of St. Stephen

Suscipe, Domine, munera, pro tuorum commemoratione Sanctorum; ut sicut illos passio gloriosos effecit, ita nos devotio reddat innocuos. Per Dominum.

Receive, O Lord, these offerings in memory of thy Saint; and as their sufferings have made them glorious, so may our devotion render us free from sin. Through, &c.


The Preface, as in “Season of Christmas”: but on the Octave Day it is as below:

Preface
For the Octave Day

Vere dignum et justum est æquum et salutare, te Domine suppliciter exorare, ut gregem tuum, Pastor æterne, non deseras, sed per beatos Apostolos tuos continua protections custodias. Ut iisdem rectoribus gubernetur, quos operis tui vicarios eidem contulisti præesse Pastores. Et ideo cum Angelis et Archangelis, cum Thronis et Dominationibus, cumque omni militia cœlestis exercitus, hymnum gloriæ tuæ canimus, sine fine dicentes: Sanctus, &c.

It is truly meet and just, right and available to salvation, humbly to beseech thee, that thou, O Lord, our eternal Shepherd, wouldst not forsake thy flock, but keep it under thy continual protection, by thy blessed Apostles. That it may be governed by those whom thou hast appointed its vicars and pastors. And therefore with the Angels and Archangels, with the Thrones and Dominations, and with all the heavenly host, we sing an everlasting hymn to thy glory, saying: Holy, &c.


The mysterious words of the Gospel are repeated in the Communion, that is, at the moment when Priest and people have partaken of the Victim of salvation, they convey this teaching—that he who eats of this Bread, though he must die the death of the body, will yet live for the coming of the supreme Judge and Rewarder.

Communion

Exiit sermo inter fratres quod disciplus ille non moritur. Et non dixit Jesus: Non moritur; sed: Sic eum volo manere donec veniam.

A report was spread among the brethren, that that disciple should not die. But Jesus said not: He should not die; but: So will I that he remain till I come.


Postcommunion

Refecti cibo potuque cœlesti, Deus noster, te supplices deprecamur; ut in cujus hæc commemoratione percepimus, ejus muniamur et precibus. Per Dominum.

Being refreshed, O Lord, with this heavenly meat and drink, we humbly beseech thee, that we may be assisted by his prayers, on whose feast we have received these sacred mysteries. Through, &c.


Commemoration of Christmas Day

Præsta, quæsumus, omnipotens Deus: ut natus hodie Salvator mundi, sicut divinæ nobis generationis est auctor, ita et immortalitatis sit ipse largitor.

Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that as the Savior of the world, who was born this day, procured for us a divine birth, he may, also, bestow on us immortality.


Commemoration of St. Stephen

Auxilientur nobis, Domine, sumpta mysteria; et intercedente beato Stephano, Martyre tuo, sempiterna protectione confirment. Per Dominum.

May the mysteries we have received, O Lord, be a help to us; and, by the intercession of the blessed Martyr Stephen, strengthen us with thy perpetual protection. Through, &c.

†  †  †

VESPERS

The Antiphons and Psalms are sung as yesterday, the Feast of St. Stephen: they are given in page 234. After the last Psalm, the Office of St. John is resumed, commencing as follows:
CAPITULUM
(Ecclus. XV.)

Qui timet Deum, faciet bona: et qui continens est justitiae, apprehendet illam, et obviabit illi quasi mater honorificata.

He that feareth God, will do good: and he that possesseth justice, shall lay hold on her, and she shall meet him as an honourable mother.

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HYMN

Let the earth exult with joy: let the heavens re-echo with praise: the glory of the Apostles is sung by both earth and heaven.

O ye, the Judges of the world, and the true Lights of the earth! we pray to you with all earnestness of heart: hear the prayers of your clients.

’Tis ye that have power, by your word, to shut and open the gates of heaven: we beseech you, loosen us from the bonds of sin.

Sickness and health promptly do your bidding; on! heal our languid souls, bring us growth in virtue;

That so, when Jesus, our judge, shall come again at the end of the world, he may grant us to be partakers of never-ending bliss.

Glory be to thee, O Jesus, that wast born of the Virgin! and to the Father, and to the Spirit of love, for everlasting ages. Amen.


℣. Valde honorandus est beatus Joannes.
℟. Qui supra pectus Domini in coena recubuit.

℣. Most worthy of honour is the blessed John.
℟. Who leaned upon the Lord’s breast at the supper.


ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Ant. Exiit sermo inter fratres, quod discipulus ille non moritur: et non dixit Jesus: Non moritur; sed: Sic eum volo manere donec veniam.

OREMUS.

Ecclesiam tuam, Domine, benignus illustra, ut beati Joannis Apostoli tui et Evangelistae illuminata doctrinis, ad dona perveniat sempiterna. Per Dominum.

Ant. There went abroad among the brethren this saying, that that disciple should not die: and Jesus did not say to him: He should not die; but: So I will have him to remain till I come.

LET US PRAY

Mercifully, O Lord, enlighten thy Church: that being taught by blessed John, thine Apostle and Evangelist, she may come to thy eternal rewards. Through,& c.


Commemoration of the Holy Innocents

Ant. Hi sunt, qui cum mulieribus non sunt coinquinati: virgines enim sunt, et sequuntur Agnum quocumque ierit.
℣. Herodes iratus occidit multos pueros.
℟. In Bethlehem Judae, civitate David.
OREMUS.
Deus cujus hodierna die praeconium Innocentes martyres non loquendo, sed moriendo confessi sunt, omnia in nobis vitiorum mala mortifica: ut fidem tuam, quam lingua nostra loquitur, etiam moribus vita fateatur.

Ant. These are they who were not defiled with women: for they are virgins, and follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.

℣. Herod, being angry, killed many children.
℟. In Bethlehem of Juda, the city of David.

LET US PRAY.
O God, whose praise the holy Martyrs, the Innocents, published this day, not by speaking, but by dying; mortify in us all our vicious inclinations: that we may show forth in our actions, thy faith,
which we profess with our lips.


Commemoration of Christmas Day

Ant. Hodie Christus natus est: hodie Salvator apparuit: hodie in terra canunt Angeli, laetantur Archangeli: hodie exsultant justi, dicentes: Gloria in excelsis Deo. Alleluia.

℣. Notum fecit Dominus, alleluia.
℟. Salutare suum, alleluia.
OREMUS.
Concede, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus, ut nos Unigeniti tui nova per carnem Nativitas liberet, quos sub peccati jugo vetusta servitus tenet.

Ant. This day, Christ is born; this day, the Saviour hath appeared; this day, the Angels sing on earth; the Archangels rejoice; this day, the just exult, saying: Glory be to God in the highest, alleluia.

℣. The Lord hath made known, alleluia.
℟. His salvation, alleluia.

LET US PRAY.
Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that we who groan under the old captivity of sin, maybe freed therefrom by the new Birth of thine Only Begotten Son.


Commemoration of St Stephen

Ant. Sepelierunt Stephanum viri timorati, et fecerunt planctum magnum super eum.
℣. Stephanus vidit coelos apertos.
℟. Vidit et introivit: beatus homo cui coeli patebant.
OREMUS.
Da nobis, quaesumus. Domine imitari quod colimus, ut discamus et inimicos diligere: quia ejus natalitia celebramus, qui novit etiam pro persecutoribus exorare Dominum nostrum Jesum
Christum, Filium tuum, Qui tecum
.

Ant. Devout men buried Stephen, and made great mourning over him.
℣. Stephen saw the heavens opened.
℟. He saw and entered: blessed man, to whom the heavens opened.
LET US PRAY.
Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that we may imitate him whose memory we celebrate, so as to learn to love even our enemies, because we now solemnise his martyrdom who knew how to pray, even for his enemies, to our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son, Who liveth, &c.

†  †  †

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Now let us listen to the several Churches, proclaiming, in their liturgical praises, the glory of St, John. We begin with the Church of Rome, from which we take this beautiful Preface of the
Leonian Sacramentary.

PREFACE

Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi gratias agere. Pater omnipotens, beati Apostoli tui Joannis Evangelistae natalitia venerantes. Qui Domini nostri Jesu Christi Filii tui vocatione suscepta, terrenum respuit patrem, ut posset invenire coelestem: retia saeculi, quibus implicabatur, abjecit, ut aeternitatis dona mente libera sectaretur: nutantem fluctibus navem reliquit, ut in ecclesiasticae gubernationis tranquilliate consisteret: a piscium captione cessavit, ut animas mundanis gurgitibus immersas, calamo doctrinae salutaris abstraheret: destitit pelagi profundari mari, secretorum scrutator redditus divinorum. Eo usque procedens, ut et in coenae mysticae sacrosancto convivio in ipsius recumberet pectore Salvatoris; et eum in cruce Dominus constitutus, vicarium sui, Matri Virgini Filium subrogaret, et in principio Verbum, quod Deus erat apud Deum, prae caeteris ostenderet praedicandum.

It is truly meet and just, right and available to salvation, that we should give thanks to thee, O Almighty Father! now that we are celebrating the Feast of thy blessed Apostle, John the Evangelist. Having received the vocation of our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son, he left his earthly father, that he might find one in heaven. He threw down the nets of this world, wherein he was entangled, that he might, with a free soul, pursue the goods that are eternal He abandoned his boat, which was ever tossing on the waves, that he might calmly steer a spiritual bark in the Church. He gave up his trade of fishing, that, by the hook of saving doctrine, he might draw out souls ingulfed in the surges of the world. He ceased his searching in the deep waters of the sea, that he might be made worthy to penetrate into secrets divine. Even thus was he favoured – he leaned his head on the Saviour’s breast, in the most holy banquet of the mystic supper; our Lord, when hanging on the cross, gave him to the Virgin-Mother to be her Son in His own stead; and it was he, above all others, that showed how this was to be preached: In the beginning was the Word, who was God with God.

The Church of Milan, in her Ambrosian Missal, thus sings forth the praises of the Beloved Disciple:

Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi gratias agere, aeterne Deus: beati Joannis Evangelistae merita recolentes, quem Dominus Jesus Christus non solum peculiari semper decore ornavit; sed et in cruce positus, tamquam haereditario munere prosecutus, vicarium pro se Matri Filium clementer attribuit. Quem ad eum usque dignitatis gradum divina benignitas evexit, ut et fac tus ex piscatore Discipulus, et humanae dispensationis modum excedens, ipsam Verbi tui sine initio Deitatem prae caeteris et mente conspiceret, et voce perferret.

It is truly meet and just, right and available to salvation , that we should give thanks to thee, O Eternal God! whilst celebrating the merits of blessed John the Evangelist, whom our Lord Jesus Christ not only adorned with every peculiar grace, but to whom also, he, when fastened to the cross, lovingly granted, as though it were the gift of inheritance, to take his own place and be the Son of Mary. Even unto this grade of honour did thy divine goodness raise him, that being changed from a fisher man into a Disciple, and, in the dispensing thy Truth, going beyond the measure of other men – he, above all others, both saw and preached the very Divinity of thy Eternal Word.


The Mozarabic Missal has the following prayer to our holy Apostle and Evangelist:

PRAYER

O Son of God! Begotten of the Unbegotten infinite God! who didst open the sacred treasury of thy Breast to thine Apostle, when he, reclining on thy Bosom, merited to drink in, from the very fountain of thy Heart, the streams of his own Gospel: look upon us with an eye of pity, that so, by thee, we may know thy mysteries, and do the good thou hast manifested unto us. Reveal unto us the hidden things of thy Heart, whereby we may be taught both the weakness of our own nature, and the Divinity which is thine. Show us thyself, that we may love thee; show us in ourselves what we must correct. That thus, by the prayers of thy beloved Disciple, our evil ways being converted, pestilence may flee from us, sickness disappear, and the sword be sheathed. May all that is adverse to Christian faith perish; may all that prospers it, be strengthened. May famines cease, may dissensions be appeased, may the upholders of heresy be confounded. May the earth be pregnant with fruits, our souls he clad with virtues, and all good things come unto us all. That thus, faithfully serving thee our God, we may both use these gifts without sin, and, hereafter, enjoy the bliss of possessing thee for eternity. Amen.


The following Hymn, which we have taken from the Milan Liturgy, is attributed to St. Ambrose; it certainly bears a resemblance to his style – sublime thoughts, majestically told.

HYMN

John – the honoured loved- one of Jesus, and named by Him the Son of Thunder – revealed in sacred words, the hidden things of God.He was a fisherman, and supported his aged parent by his toil:

whilst sailing on the troubled waves, he received the faith, and firmly did he hold to it.
He throws his hook into the deep, and takes the Word of God; he lets down his nets into the waters, he draws in Him who is the Light of the world.

His fervent Faith is the good Fish which swam through the briny flood of this world; it rested on the Breast of Christ, and thus spoke in the Holy Spirit:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.”

“All things were made by Him.” Then, let us sing the praises of this Disciple, and since he bears the laurels of the Spirit, let his writings be his crown.

Martyrdom has been granted to many, and this shedding of their own blood purifies them from every sin; our John did what was better than Martyrdom – he taught to the world that which made the Martyrs.

Yet we are told, that he was bound by wicked men, and plunged into boiling oil; it did but cleanse him from this world’s dust, and give him victory over the enemy.

Glory be to thee, O Lord, that wast born of the Virgin! and to the Father, and to the Holy Ghost, for everlasting ages. Amen.


We will now give a few stanzas from the Hymns which the Greek Church, in her accustomed pomp of language, sings in honour of St. John. She keeps his Feast on the 26th September.

(XXVI. Septembris, in magno Vespertino, et passim.)

Come, ye Faithful, let us this day crown with sacred hymns the glorious and Beloved John, an abyss of wisdom, and the writer of orthodox dogmas: for it was he that uttered. In the beginning was the Word. Therefore did he appear as with the voice of thunder, enlightening the world with his Gospel – he the exceeding wise and world-wide famed Disciple.Thou wast truly and manifestly the great bosom-friend of Jesus thy Master; for thou didst recline upon his Breast, imbibing thence the dogmas of wisdom, wherewith, as God’s sublime herald, thou enrichest the earth’s circuit, and which the glad Church of Christ, now possessing it, exultingly honours.

Rejoice, thou true Theologian! rejoice, thou most amiable Son of our Lord’s Mother! for, when standing nigh the Cross of Jesus, thou didst hear his divine voice saying unto thee: Behold now thy Mother. Therefore do we all bless thee, as the great and Beloved Apostle of Christ.

The contemplator of ineffable revelations, the interpreter of God’s most high mysteries, the son of Zebedee, wrote us the Gospel of Christ, and thereby taught us how to speak theologically of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

This heaven-hymned Harp attuned by God, this mystic writer, this mouth that speaks divine things, is now sweetly- singing the Canticle of Canticles, and prays for our salvation.

Let us, O ye mortals! proclaim his many praises:- John, the Son of thunder – the source of divine language – the Prince of Theology – the first preacher of true wisdom’s dogmas – the Beloved and Virgin-Disciple.

The streams of Theology gushed from thy venerable lips, O Apostle! the Church of God has drunk them in, O teacher of truth! and adores the consubstantial Trinity. O holy Theologian John! now pray that our souls may be unwavering and saved.

The flower of purity, the fragrant perfume, breathes upon this day’s feast; let us, therefore, pray to him: Blessed Apostle John! who didst recline upon Jesus’ Breast! who didst pour out The Word upon the earth; who didst guard the Virgin as the apple of thine eye! Oh! ask Jesus to show his great mercy unto us.

Come, ye faithful! let us bless the most renowned John, the exalted one among the Apostles, the trumpet of theology, the spiritual guide – he that brought the world into subjection to God – he that was raised above the earth, not taken away from it, and is living and awaiting the dread second coming of our Lord. O thou the mystic Friend of Christ, that didst lovingly lean upon his Breast, help us, who celebrate thy memory, help us by thy prayers to present ourselves guiltless before our judge.


As usual, we will close these liturgical praises of our dear Saint, by a Prose of the Western Churches in the Middle-Ages, which we have taken from the collection of the Monastery of Saint Gal. It was composed by the Blessed Notker, and was for centuries in the Roman-French Missals.

SEQUENCE

O John! the dearly Beloved Virgin-Disciple of Jesus!
For love of Him, thou didst leave thy father Zebedee and his boat.

Thou didst disdain the caresses of thy young betrothed, and didst follow the Messias,
That thou mightest merit to drink at the sacred fount of his Heart.

Thou, too, when on this earth, didst behold the transfiguration of the Son of God,
Which vision, as we are taught, is not granted save to the Saints in life eternal.

Jesus, when conquering on his cross, entrusted his Mother to thy keeping;
That thou, a Virgin, mightest protect and care for the Virgin, in His stead.

Imprisoned and torn by scourges, thou didst rejoice – for it was thy bearing testimony to Christ.
Thou, too, raisest the dead to life, and, in the name of Jesus, breakest the poison’s power.

To thee, above the rest; the Almighty Father reveals his own embosomed Word.
Do thou ever commend us all to God, by unwearied intercession, O John, Disciple dear to Christ!
Amen.

†  †  †

Beloved Disciple of the Babe of Bethlehem! – how great is thy happiness! how wonderful is the reward given to thy love and thy purity! In thee was fulfilled that word of thy Master: Blessed are the dean of heart; for they shall see God. Not only didst thou see this God-Man – thou wast his Friend, and on his Bosom didst rest thy head. John the Baptist trembles at having to bend the head of Jesus under the water of Jordan; Magdalene, though assured by his own lips that her pardon was perfect as her love, yet dares not raise her head, but keeps clinging to his feet; Thomas scarce presumes to obey him when he bids him put his finger into his wounded Side; – and thou, in the presence of all the Apostles, sittest close to Him, leaning thy head upon his Breast! Nor is it only Jesus in his Humanity that thou seest and possessest; but, because thy heart is pure, thou soarest, like an eagle, up to the Sun of Justice, and fixest thine eye upon him in the light inaccessible, wherein he dwelleth eternally with the Father and the Holy Ghost.

Thus was rewarded the fidelity wherewith thou didst keep intact for Jesus the precious treasure of thy Purity. And now, O worthy favourite of the great King! forget not us poor sinners. We believe and confess the Divinity of the Incarnate Word, whom thou hast evangelised unto us; but we desire to draw nigh to him during this holy season, now that he shows himself so desirous of our company, so humble, so full of love, so dear a Child, and so poor! Alas! our sins keep us back; our heart is not pure like thine; we have need of a Patron to introduce us to our Master’s Crib! [Isai. 1:3] Thou, O Beloved Disciple of the Emmanuel! thou must procure us this happiness. Thou hast shown us the Divinity of the Word in the bosom of the Eternal Father; lead us now to this same Word made flesh. Under thy patronage, Jesus will permit us to enter into the Stable, to stand near his Crib, to see with our eyes, and touch with our hands [1 John 1:1], this sweet Fruit of eternal Life. May it be granted us to contemplate the sweet Face of Him, that is our Saviour and thy Friend; to feel the throbs of that Heart, which loves both thee and us – and which thou didst see wounded by the Spear, on Calvary. It is good for us to fix ourselves here near the Crib of our Jesus, and share in the graces he there lavishes, and learn, as thou didst, the grand lesson of this Child’s simplicity; – thy prayers must get us all this.

Then too, as Son and Guardian of Mary, thou hast to present us to thine own and our Mother. Ask her to give us somewhat of the tender love wherewith she watches over the Crib of her Divine Son; to see in us the Brothers of that Child she bore; and to admit us to a share of the maternal affection she had for thee, the favoured confidant of the secrets of her Jesus.

We also pray to thee, O holy Apostle! for the Church of God. She was planted and watered by thy labours, embalmed with the celestial fragrance of thy virtues, and illumined by thy sublime teachings; – pray now, that these graces may bring forth their fruit, and that, to the end of her pilgrimage, faith may be firm, the love of Jesus fervent, and christian morals pure and holy. Thou tellest us, in thy Gospel, of a saying of thy Divine Master: I will not now call you my Servants, but my Friends [John 15:15]: pray, dear Saint, that there may come to this, from our hearts and lips, a response of love and courage, telling our Emmanuel, that, like thyself, we will follow him whithersoever he leads us.

Let us, on this second day after our Divine Infant’s Birth, meditate upon the Sleep he deigns to take. Let us consider how this God of all goodness, who has come down from heaven to invite his creature man to come to him and seek rest for his soul – seeks rest himself in our earthly home, and sanctifies, by his own divine Sleep, that rest, which to us is a necessity. We have just been dwelling, with delighted devotion, on the thought of his offering his Breast as a resting-place for the Beloved Disciple, and for all souls that imitate John in their love and devotedness: now, let us look at this our God, sweetly sleeping in his humble Crib, or on his Mother’s lap.

†  †  †

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St. Alphonsus Liguori, in one of his delicious Canticles, thus describes the Sleep of Jesus and the enraptured love of the Mother (Translation by the Very Rev. R.A. Coffin.):

Mary sings – the ravish’d heavens
Hush the music of their spheres;
Soft her voice, her beauty fairer
Than the glancing stars appears:
While to Jesus slumbering nigh.

Thus she sings her lullaby.
Sleep my Babe! my God! my Treasure!

Gently sleep: but ah! the sight
With its beauty so transports me,
I am dying of delight:
Thou canst not thy Mother see,
Yet thou breathest flames to me.

If within your lids unfolded,
Slumbering eyes! you seem so fair;
When upon my gaze you open,
How shall I your beauty bear?

Ah! I tremble when you wake,
Lest my heart with love should break.
Cheeks than sweetest roses sweeter.
Mouth where lurks a smile divine –
Though the kiss my Babe should waken,
I must press those lips to mine.

Pardon, Dearest, if I say,
Mother’s love will take no nay.
As she ceased, the gentle Virgin
Clasped the Infant to her breast.

And upon his radiant forehead
Many a loving kiss impress’d:
Jesus woke, and on her face
Fixed a look of heavenly grace.

Ah! that look, those eyes, that beauty.
How they pierce the Mother’s heart;
Shafts of love from every feature
Through her gentle bosom dart
Heart of stone! can I behold
Mary’s love, and still be cold?

Where, my soul! thy sense, thy reason?
When will these delays be o’er?
All things else, how fair so ever.
Are but smoke:- resist no more!

Yes! ’tis done! I yield my arms
Captive to those double charms.
If, alas, O heavenly beauty!

Now so late those charms I learn.
Now at least, and ever, ever,
With thy love my heart will burn
For the Mother and the Child,
Rose and Lily undefiled.

Plant and fruit, and fruit and blossom,
I am theirs, and they are mine;
For no other prize I labour,
For no other bliss I pine;
Love can every pain requite,
Love alone is full delight.


Let us, then, adore the Divine Babe in this state of Sleep, to which he voluntarily subjects himself, and contrast it with the cruel fatigue, which are one day to be His when he is grown up, and come to the age of manhood, he will go through every toil and suffering in search of us his Lost Sheep. But these first slumbers shall not be troubled by any- thing of ours, which could pain this losing wakeful Heart; and the Blessed Mother shall not be disturbed in the blissful contemplation of her Sleeping Child, over whom she is, at a future time, to shed such bitter tears. The day is not far distant, when he will say: The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head [Matt. 8:20].

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“Christ has had three resting-places,” says Peter of Celles. “The first was in the Bosom of his Eternal Father. He says: I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? [John, 14:11]. What repose could be compared to this, of the Father’s complacency in the Son, and the Son’s complacency in the Father? It is a mutual and ineffable love, and they are happy in the union. But, whilst maintaining this place of his eternal rest, the Son of God has sought a second, in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He overshadowed her with the Holy Ghost, and slept a long sleep in her chaste womb, whilst his Body was there being formed. The holy Virgin troubled not the sleep of her Child: she kept all the powers of her soul in a silence like that of heaven; and, rapt in self-contemplation, she heard mysteries which it is not permitted to man to utter. The third resting-place of Christ is in man. Jesus dwells in a heart that is purified by faith, enlarged by charity, raised above Earth by contemplation, and is renewed by the Holy Ghost. Such a heart as this offers to Jesus not an earthly but a heavenly dwelling; and the Child, who is born unto us, will not refuse to enter it, and take his rest within it.” [Fourth Sermon On our Lord’s Nativity.]

To this Eternal Word, made Flesh for our salvation, let us offer up this Hymn of our great ecclesiastical Poet, Prudentius.

HYMN

Born from the bosom of the Father before the world began, his name is Alpha and Omega. He is the beginning and end of all things present, past, and future.He commanded and they were created, he spoke and they were made: earth, heaven, and sea – the triple kingdom – and all things that are in them, under the sun and moon.

He clothes himself with a frail Body, and with members subject to death; lest the human race, the offspring of Adam, should perish together with their first Parent, whom a terrible sentence had condemned to the depth of hell.

O that happy Birth, when a Virgin-Mother, having conceived of the Holy Ghost, brought forth the Child that was our salvation ‘, and the Babe, the Redeemer of the world, showed unto us his divine Face!
Let high heaven sing, and sing all ye Angels! Let every living creature sing to the praise of God! Let every tongue proclaim it, and every voice join in the hymn of praise.

Behold the Promised Messias, of whom sang the Seers in the ancient times, and whom the Prophets foretold in their truthful oracles! Praise be to him from every creature.

May the aged, and the young, and children, mothers, and virgins, and innocent maidens, sing to thee, O Jesus! and with concordant voice chastely hymn thy praise!
May the flowing river and the sea-shore wave, rain and heat, snow and frost forest and zephyr, day and night, for ever and for ever give thee praise. Amen.

†  †  †

Let us now honour and invoke the ever Blessed and most Merciful Mother of our God, and use the words of this beautiful Hymn of the ancient Roman-French Missals:

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HYMN

Rejoice, O Virgin-Mother! in thy joy-giving delivery, for thy chaste womb was made fruitful of the very Son of God.O wondrous sight – Jesus feeding from the Lily of Purity! Yea, most pure Virgin, thou feedest at thy breasts his infant life.

The Only Begotten of the Father, by whom he made this world, is dwelling here the Babe of a poor Mother. There, be is feeding the holy Angels with joy:- here, he is in hanger and thirst, from his cradle.

There, he holds all things in subjection:- here, he is in subjection to a Mother. There, le commands:- here, he obeys his Handmaid.

There, he is seated on the throne of highest majesty:- here, he is lying swathed and weeping in a manger.

Think on this, O man! and to thy memory recall these stupendous works of God’s mercy.

And though thy sins be great, yet canst thou not despair, for the proofs thou seest here of Jesus’ love speak but of pardon.

Thou wouldst have pardon? fly to the Mother for protection, for she holds on her lap the Infinite Fountain of Mercy.

Often bend thy knee before her, and, with hopeful love, salute her thus: hail! full of grace!
As thou, of old, didst feed thy Jesus, and stay his infant tears; so now, dear Mother, appease him angered by our sins.

Hear, O Jesus! thy sweet Mother’s prayers, and, with an eye of pity, look upon us sinners! Correct and change us, and make us worthy to be citizens of heaven. Amen.

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  St. Gertrude the Great: Greetings to the Child Jesus
Posted by: Stone - 12-27-2020, 08:35 AM - Forum: In Honor of Our Lord - No Replies

Greetings to the Child Jesus

Hail, most loving little Jesus, sweetest love, far above all created love!
I greet Thee, and in the desires of all Christendom I embrace Thee.
Hail, most charming little Jesus, noble Child of Nazareth,
full rose of Jericho, blooming flower from Heaven!
Draw our hearts to Thyself and refresh them with Thy sweetness.

Hail, most lovable little Jesus, living Bread of Bethlehem, innocent Lamb of Jerusalem,
newly-born King of Judea! Receive us into the number of Thy chosen servants.
Hail, most beautiful little Jesus, watchful Shepherd of the heavenly sheep,
beloved fellow-Brother of all the children of men, delicate flower planted by the Holy Spirit
in the virgin heart of Mary, bright daybreak rising out of the dark night to the joy of the whole earth!
Drive away from us the darkness of sin.

Glory and praise be to Thee, tender, sweet little Jesus!
From the depths of my heart I pray and adore Thee because for the love of me and of all mankind
Thou wert willing to lie in the manger and to suffer such great poverty and misery.
I thank and adore Thy tender limbs and Thy tender hands and feet, and I praise the inexpressible love
which didst draw Thou forth from the bosom of the Heavenly Father, down to a poor and miserable stable.

Glory and praise be to Thee, noble little Jesus! I greet and praise Thee with the same fervent love
with which Thy mother loved and praised Thee so intensely.
Glory and praise be to Thee, most beloved little Jesus, sweet delight of eternal bliss.
I greet and praise Thee with the same love which madst Thou leave Heaven and become a poor Child.
Glory and praise be to Thee, most precious little Jesus, joy and honor of Thy Heavenly Father!
I thank Thee through Thine Own sweet Heart which Thou hast revealed to the whole world through Thy birth.
I greet Thee over and over again, most beautiful little Jesus, sweetest delight of the Father's Heart,
refreshment of sick souls. I offer to Thee my own heart for Thine eternal glory and service.

Jesus, crown, love, joy, bliss of virgins! Thy love madst
Thou the Son of a Virgin. May Thou be glorified and praised forever. Amen.

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  Venerable Mary of Agreda: Christ Our Savior Is Born in Bethlehem
Posted by: Stone - 12-27-2020, 08:24 AM - Forum: Christmas - No Replies

Christ Our Savior Is Born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem, Juda [Judea]
From The Mystical City of God by Ven. Mary Agreda

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The palace which the supreme King of kings and the Lord of lords had chosen for entertaining His eternal and incarnate Son in this world was a most poor and insignificant hut or cave, to which most holy Mary and Joseph betook themselves after they had been denied all hospitality and the most ordinary kindness by their fellowmen, as I have described in the foregoing chapter. This place was held in such contempt that though the town of Bethlehem was full of strangers in want of night-shelter, none would demean or degrade himself so far as to make use of it for a lodging; for there was none who deemed it suitable or desirable for such a purpose, except the Teachers of humility and poverty, Christ our Savior and His purest Mother. On this account the wisdom of the eternal Father had reserved it for Them, consecrating it in all its bareness, loneliness and poverty as the first temple of light (Malachy 4, 2; Ps. 111, 4) and as the house of the true Sun of justice, which was to arise for the upright of heart from the resplendent Aurora Mary, turning the night of sin into the daylight of grace.

Most holy Mary and Saint Joseph entered the lodging thus provided for them and by the effulgence of the ten thousand Angels of their guard they could easily ascertain its poverty and loneliness, which they esteemed as favors, and welcomed with tears of consolation and joy. Without delay the two holy travelers fell on their knees and praised the Lord, giving Him thanks for His benefit, which they knew had been provided by His wisdom for His Own hidden designs. Of this mystery the heavenly Princess Mary had a better insight; for as soon as She sanctified the interior of the cave by her sacred footsteps She felt a fullness of joy which entirely elevated and vivified Her. She besought the Lord to bless with a liberal hand all the inhabitants of the neighboring city, because by rejecting Her they had given occasion to the vast favors, which She awaited in this neglected cavern. It was formed entirely of the bare and coarse rocks, without any natural beauty or artificial adornment; a place intended merely for the shelter of animals; yet the eternal Father had selected it for the shelter and dwelling-place of His Own Son.

The Angelic spirits, who like a celestial militia guarded their Queen and Mistress, formed themselves into cohorts in the manner of court guards in a royal palace. They showed themselves in their visible forms also to Saint Joseph; for on this occasion it was befitting that he should enjoy such a favor, on the one hand in order to assuage his sorrow by allowing him to behold this poor lodging thus beautified and adorned by their celestial presence, and on the other, in order to enliven and encourage him for the events which the Lord intended to bring about during that night, and in this forsaken place. The great Queen and Empress, who was already informed of the mystery to be transacted here, set about cleaning with her own hands the cave, which was so soon to serve as a royal throne and sacred mercy-seat; for neither did She want to miss this occasion for exercising her humility, nor would She deprive her Only begotten Son of the worship and reverence implied by this preparation and cleansing of His temple.

Saint Joseph, mindful of the majesty of his heavenly Spouse (which, it seemed to him, She was forgetting in her ardent longing for humiliation), besought Her not to deprive Him of this work, which he considered as his alone; and he hastened to set about cleaning the floor and the corners of the cave, although the humble Queen continued to assist him therein. As the holy Angels were then present in visible forms, they were (according to our mode of speaking) abashed at such eagerness for humiliation, and they speedily emulated with each other to join in this work; or rather, in order to say it more succinctly, in the shortest time possible they had cleansed and set in order that cave, filling it with holy fragrance. Saint Joseph started a fire with the material which he had brought for that purpose. As it was very cold, they sat at the fire in order to get warm. They partook of the food which they had brought, and they ate this, their frugal supper, with incomparable joy of their souls. The Queen of Heaven was so absorbed and taken up with the thought of the impending mystery of her Divine delivery, that She would not have partaken of food if She had not been urged thereto by obedience to her spouse.

After their supper they gave thanks to the Lord as was their custom. Having spent a short time in this prayer and conferring about the mysteries of the incarnate Word, the most prudent Virgin felt the approach of the most blessed Birth. She requested her spouse Saint Joseph to betake himself to rest and sleep as the night was already far advanced. The man of God yielded to the request of his Spouse and urged Her to do the same; and for this purpose he arranged and prepared a sort of couch with the articles of wear in their possession, making use of a crib or manger, that had been left by the shepherds for their animals. Leaving most holy Mary in the portion of the cave thus furnished, Saint Joseph retired to a corner of the entrance, where he began to pray. He was immediately visited by the Divine Spirit and felt a most sweet and extraordinary influence, by which he was wrapt and elevated into an ecstasy. In it was shown him all that passed during that night in this blessed cave; for he did not return to consciousness until his heavenly Spouse called him. Such was the sleep which Saint Joseph enjoyed in that night, more exalted and blessed than that of Adam in paradise (Gen. 21, 2).

The Queen of all creatures was called from her resting-place by a loud voice of the Most High, which strongly and sweetly raised Her above all created things and caused Her to feel new effects of Divine power; for this was one of the most singular and admirable ecstasies of her most holy life. Immediately also She was filled with new enlightenment and Divine influences, such as I have described in other places, until She reached the clear vision of the Divinity. The veil fell and She saw intuitively the Godhead Itself in such glory and plenitude of insight, as all the capacity of men and Angels could not describe or fully understand. All the knowledge of the Divinity and humanity of her most holy Son, which She had ever received in former visions was renewed and, moreover, other secrets of the inexhaustible archives of the bosom of God were revealed to Her. I have not ideas or words sufficient and adequate for expressing what I have been allowed to see of these sacraments by the Divine light; and their abundance and multiplicity convince me of the poverty and want of proper expression in created language.

The Most High announced to His Virgin Mother, that the time of His coming into the world had arrived and what would be the manner in which this was now to be fulfilled and executed. The most prudent Lady perceived in this vision the purpose and exalted scope of these wonderful mysteries and sacraments, as well in so far as related to the Lord Himself as also in so far as they concerned creatures, for whose benefit they had been primarily decreed. She prostrated Herself before the throne of His Divinity and gave Him glory, magnificence, thanks and praise for Herself and for all creatures, such as was befitting the ineffable mercy and condescension of His Divine love. At the same time She asked of the Divine Majesty new light and grace in order to be able worthily to undertake the service and worship and the rearing up of the Word made flesh, whom She was to bear in Her arms and nourish with her virginal milk. This petition the heavenly Mother brought forward with the profoundest humility, as one who understood the greatness of this new sacrament. She held Herself unworthy of the office of rearing up and conversing as a Mother with a God incarnate of which even the highest seraphim are incapable. Prudently and humbly did the Mother of wisdom ponder and weigh this matter. And because She humbled Herself to the dust and acknowledged her nothingness in the presence of the Almighty, therefore His Majesty raised Her up and confirmed anew upon Her the title of Mother of God. He commanded Her to exercise this office and ministry of a legitimate and true Mother of Himself; that She should treat Him as the Son of the eternal Father and at the same time the Son of her womb. All this could be easily entrusted to such a Mother, in whom was contained an excellence that words cannot express.

The most holy Mary remained in this ecstasy and Beatific Vision for over an hour immediately preceding her Divine delivery. At the moment when She issued from it and regained the use of her senses She felt and saw that the body of the infant God began to move in her virginal womb; how, releasing and freeing Himself from the place which in the course of nature He had occupied for nine months, He now prepared to issue forth from that sacred bridal chamber. This movement not only did not cause any pain or hardship, as happens with the other daughters of Adam and Eve in their child births; but filled Her with incomparable joy and delight, causing in her soul and in her virginal body such exalted and Divine effects that they exceed all thoughts of men. Her body became so spiritualized with the beauty of Heaven that She seemed no more a human and earthly creature. Her countenance emitted rays of light, like a sun incarnadined, and shone in indescribable earnestness and majesty, all inflamed with fervent love. She was kneeling in the manger, her eyes raised to Heaven, her hands joined and folded at her breast, her soul wrapped in the Divinity and She herself was entirely deified. In this position, and at the end of the heavenly rapture, the most exalted Lady gave to the world the Only-begotten of the Father and her own, our Savior Jesus, true God and man, at the hour of midnight, on a Sunday, in the year of the creation of the world five thousand one hundred and ninety-nine (5199), which is the date given in the Roman Church, and which date has been manifested to me as the true and certain one.

At the end of the Beatific rapture and Vision of the Mother ever Virgin, which I have described above, was born the Sun of Justice, the Only-begotten of the eternal Father and of Mary most pure, beautiful, refulgent and immaculate, leaving---Her untouched in her virginal integrity and purity and making Her more god-like and forever sacred; for He did not divide, but penetrated the virginal chamber as the rays of the sun penetrate the crystal shrine, lighting it up in prismatic beauty.

The infant God therefore was brought forth from the virginal chamber unencumbered by any corporeal or material substance foreign to Himself. But He came forth glorious and transfigured for the Divine and infinite wisdom decreed and ordained that the glory of His most holy Soul should in His Birth overflow and communicate itself to His body, participating in the gifts of glory in the same way as happened afterwards in His Transfiguration on mount Tabor in the presence of the Apostles (Matth. 17, 2). This miracle was not necessary in order to penetrate the virginal enclosure and to leave unimpaired the virginal integrity; for without this Transfiguration God could have brought this about by other miracles. Thus say the holy doctors, who see no other miracle in this Birth than that the Child was born without impairing the virginity of the Mother. It was the will of God that the most blessed Virgin should look upon the body of her Son, the God-man, for this first time in a glorified state for two reasons. The one was in order that by this Divine vision the most prudent Mother should conceive the highest reverence for the Majesty of Him Whom She was to treat as her Son, the true God-man. Although She was already informed of His two-fold nature, the Lord nevertheless ordained that by ocular demonstration She be filled with new graces, corresponding to the greatness of her most holy Son, which was thus manifested to Her in a visible manner. The second reason was to reward by this wonder the fidelity and holiness of the Divine Mother; for her most pure and chaste eyes, that had turned away from all earthly things for love of her most holy Son, were to see Him at his very Birth in this glory and thus be rejoiced and rewarded for her loyalty and beautiful love.

The sacred evangelist Luke tells us that the Mother Virgin, having brought forth her first-begotten Son, wrapped Him in swathing clothes and placed Him in a manger. He does not say that She received Him in her arms from her virginal womb; for this did not pertain to the purpose of his narrative. But the two sovereign princes, Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel, were the assistants of the Virgin on this occasion. They stood by at proper distance in human corporeal forms at the moment when the incarnate Word, penetrating the virginal chamber by Divine power, issued forth to the light, and they received Him in their hands with ineffable reverence. In the same manner as a priest exhibits the sacred Host to the people for adoration, so these two celestial ministers presented to the Divine Mother her glorious and refulgent Son. All this happened in a short space of time. In the same moment in which the holy Angels thus presented the Divine Child to His Mother, both Son and Mother looked upon each other, and in this look, She wounded with love the sweet Infant and was at the same time exalted and transformed in Him. From the arms of the holy princes the Prince of all the heavens spoke to His holy Mother: "Mother, become like unto Me, since on this day, for the human existence, which thou hast today given Me, I will give thee another more exalted existence in grace, assimilating thy existence as a mere creature to the likeness of Me, Who am God and Man." The most prudent Mother answered: (Cant. 1, 3) "Raise me, elevate me, Lord, and I will run after Thee in the odor of Thy ointments. In the same way many of the hidden mysteries of the Canticles were fulfilled; and other sayings which passed between the infant God and the Virgin Mother had been recorded in that book of songs, as for instance: "My Beloved to me, and I to Him, and His desire is toward me" (Cant. 2, 16). "Behold thou art beautiful, my friend, and thy eyes are dove's eyes. Behold, my beloved, for thou art beautiful"; and many other sacramental words which to mention would unduly prolong this chapter.

The words, which most holy Mary heard from the mouth of her most holy Son, served to make Her understand at the same time the interior acts of His holiest Soul united with the Divinity; in order that by imitating them She might become like unto Him. This was one of the greatest blessings, which the most faithful and fortunate Mother received at the hands of her Son, the true God and man, not only because it was continued from that day on through all her life, but because it furnished Her the means of copying His Own Divine life as faithfully as was possible to a mere creature. At the same time the heavenly Lady perceived and felt the presence of the most holy Trinity, and She heard the voice of the eternal Father saying: "This is my beloved Son, in Whom I am greatly pleased and delighted" (Matth. 17, 5). The most prudent Mother made entirely god-like in the overflow of so many sacraments, answered: "Eternal Father and exalted God, Lord and Creator of the universe, give me anew Thy permission and benediction to receive in my arms the Desired of nations (Agg. 2, 8); and teach me to fulfill as Thy unworthy Mother and lowly slave, Thy holy will." Immediately She heard a voice, which said: "Receive thy Only-begotten Son, imitate Him and rear Him; and remember, that thou must sacrifice Him when I shall demand it of thee." The Divine Mother answered: "Behold the creature of Thy hands, adorn me with Thy grace so that Thy Son and my God receive me for His slave; and if Thou wilt come to my aid with Thy Omnipotence, I shall be faithful in His service; and do Thou count it no presumption in Thy insignificant creature, that she bear in her arms and nourish at her breast her own Lord and Creator."

After this interchange of Words, so full of mysteries, the Divine Child suspended the miracle of His transfiguration, or rather He inaugurated the other miracle, that of suspending the effects of glory in His most holy Body, confining them solely to His Soul; and He now assumed the appearance of one capable of suffering. In this form the most pure Mother now saw Him and, still remaining in a kneeling position and adoring Him with profound humility and reverence, She received Him in her arms from the hands of the holy Angels. And when She saw Him in her arms, She spoke to Him and said: "My sweetest Love and light of my eyes and being of my soul, Thou hast arrived in good hour into this world as the Sun of justice (Malachy 4, 2), in order to disperse the darkness of sin and death! True God of the true God, save Thy servants and let all flesh see Him, Who shall draw upon it salvation (Is. 9, 2). Receive me Thy servant as Thy slave and supply my deficiency, in order that I may properly serve Thee. Make me, my Son, such as Thou desirest me to be in Thy service." Then the most prudent Mother turned toward the eternal Father to offer up to Him His Only-begotten, saying: "Exalted Creator of all the Universe, here is the altar and the sacrifice acceptable in Thine eyes (Malachy 3, 4). From this hour on, O Lord, look upon the human race with mercy; and inasmuch "as we have deserved Thine anger, it is now time that Thou be appeased in Thy Son and mine. Let Thy justice now come to rest, and let Thy mercy be exalted; for on this account the Word has clothed Itself in the semblance of sinful flesh (Rom. 8, 3), and became a Brother of mortals and sinners (Philip 2, 7). In this title I recognize them as brothers and I intercede for them from my inmost soul. Thou, Lord, hast made me the Mother of Thy Only-begotten without my merit, since this dignity is above all merit of a creature; but I partly owe to men the occasion of this incomparable good fortune; since it is on their account that I am the Mother of the Word made man and Redeemer of them all. I will not deny them my love, or remit my care and watchfulness for their salvation. Receive, eternal God, my wishes and petitions for that which is according to Thy pleasure and good will."

The Mother of mercy turned also toward an mortals and addressed them, saying: "Be consoled ye afflicted and rejoice ye disconsolate, be raised up ye fallen, come to rest ye uneasy. Let the just be gladdened and the Saints be rejoiced; let the heavenly Spirits break out in new jubilee, let the Prophets and Patriarchs of Limbo draw new hope, and let all the generations praise and magnify the Lord, Who renews His wonders. Come, come ye poor; approach ye little ones, without fear, for in my arms I bear the Lion made a lamb, the Almighty, become weak, the Invincible subdued. Come to draw life, hasten to obtain salvation, approach to gain eternal rest, since I have all this for all, and it will be given to you freely and communicated to you without envy. Do not be slow and heavy of heart, ye sons of men; and Thou, O sweetest joy of my soul, give me permission to receive from Thee that kiss desired by all creatures." Therewith the most blessed Mother applied her most chaste and heavenly lips in order to receive the loving caresses of the Divine Child, Who on His part, as her true Son, had desired them from Her.

Holding Him in Her arms She thus served as the altar and the sanctuary, where the ten thousand Angels adored in visible human forms their Creator incarnate. And as the most blessed Trinity assisted in an especial manner at the birth of the Word, Heaven was as it were emptied of its inhabitants, for the whole heavenly court had betaken itself to that blessed cave of Bethlehem and was adoring the Creator in His garb and habit of a pilgrim (Phil. 2, 7). And in their concert of praise the holy Angels intoned the new canticle: "Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis" (Luke 2, 14). In sweetest and sonorous harmony they repeated it, transfixed in wonder at the new miracles then being fulfilled and at the unspeakable prudence, grace, humility and beauty of that tender Maiden of fifteen years, who had become the worthy Trustee and Minister of such vast and magnificent sacraments.

It was now time to call Saint Joseph, the faithful spouse of the most discreet and attentive Lady. As I have said above he was wrapped in ecstasy, in which he was informed by Divine revelation of all the mysteries of this sacred Birth during this night. But it was becoming that he should see, and, before all other mortals, should in his corporeal faculties and senses be present and experience, adore and reverence the Word made flesh; for he of all others had been chosen to act as the faithful warden of this great sacrament. At the desire of his heavenly Spouse he issued from his ecstasy and, on being restored to consciousness, the first sight of his eyes was the Divine Child in the arms of the Virgin Mother reclining against her sacred countenance and breast. There he adored Him in profoundest humility and in tears of joy. In great joy and admiration, which no doubt would have taken away and destroyed life in him, if Divine power had not preserved it; and he certainly would have lost all the use of his senses, if the occasion had permitted. When Saint Joseph had begun to adore the Child, the most prudent Mother asked leave of her Son to arise (for until then She had remained on her knees) and, while Saint Joseph handed Her the wrappings and swaddling-clothes, which She had brought, She clothed Him with incomparable reverence, devotion and tenderness. Having thus swathed and clothed Him, His Mother, with heavenly wisdom, laid Him in the crib, as related by Saint Luke (Luke 2, 7). For this purpose She had arranged some straw and hay upon a stone in order to prepare for the God-Man His first resting-place upon earth next to that which He had found in her arms. According to Divine ordainment an ox from the neighboring fields ran up in great haste and, entering the cave, joined the beast of burden brought by the Queen. The blessed Mother commanded them, with what show of reverence was possible to them to acknowledge and adore their Creator. The humble animals obeyed their Mistress and prostrated themselves before the Child, warming Him with their breath and rendering Him the service refused by men. And thus the God made man was placed between two animals, wrapped in swaddling-clothes and wonderfully fulfilling the prophecy, that "the ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel hath not known Me, and My people hath not understood." (Is. 13.)


WORDS OF THE QUEEN


My daughter, if men would keep their heart disengaged and if they would rightly and worthily consider this great sacrament of the kindness of the Most High towards men, it would be a powerful means of conducting them in the pathway of life and subjecting them to the love of their Creator and Redeemer. For as men are capable of reasoning, if they would only make use of their freedom to treat this sacrament with the reverence due to its greatness, who would be so hardened as not to be moved to tenderness at the sight of their God become man, humiliated in poverty, despised, unknown, entering the world in a cave, lying in a manger surrounded by brute animals, protected only by a poverty-stricken Mother, and cast off by the foolish arrogance of the world? Who will dare to love the vanity and pride, which was openly abhorred and condemned by the Creator of Heaven and earth in His conduct? No one can despise the humility, poverty and indigence, which the Lord loved and chose for Himself as the very means of teaching the way of eternal life. Few there are, who stop to consider this truth and example: and on account of this vile ingratitude only the few will reap the fruit of these great sacraments.

But if the condescension of my most holy Son was so great as to bestow so liberally upon thee his light and knowledge concerning these vast blessings, ponder well how much thou art bound to co-operate with this light. In order that thou mayest correspond to this obligation, I remind and exhort thee to forget all that is of earth and lose it out of thy sight; that thou seek nothing, or engage thyself with nothing except what can help thee to withdraw and detach thee from the world and its inhabitants; so that, with a heart freed from all terrestrial affection, thou dispose thyself to celebrate in it the mysteries of the poverty, humility and Divine love of the incarnate God. Learn from my example the reverence, fear and respect, with which thou must treat Him, remembering how I acted, when I held Him in my arms; follow my example, whenever thou receivest Him in thy heart in the venerable Sacrament of the holy Eucharist, wherein is contained the same God-Man, Who was born of my womb. In this holy Sacrament thou receivest Him and possessest Him just as really, and He remains in thee just as actually, as I possessed Him and conversed with Him, although in another manner.

I desire that thou go even to extremes in this holy reverence and fear; and I wish that thou take notice and be convinced, that in entering into thy heart in the holy Sacrament, thy God exhorts thee in the same words, which thou hast recorded as spoken to me: become like unto Me. His coming down from Heaven onto the earth, His being born in humility and poverty, His living and dying in it, giving such rare example of the contempt of the world and its deceits; the knowledge, which thou hast received concerning His conduct and which thou hast penetrated so deeply by Divine intelligence: all these things should be for thee like living voices, which thou must heed and inscribe into the interior of thy heart. These privileges have all been granted to thee in order that thou discreetly use the common blessings to their fullest extent, and in order that thou mayest understand, how thankful thou must be to my most holy Son and Lord, and how thou shouldst strive to make as great a return for His goodness, as if He had come from Heaven to redeem thee alone and as if He had instituted all His wonders and doctrines in the holy Church for none else than thee (Gal. 7, 12).

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  Venerable Mary of Agreda: The Birth of Our Lord, As Described by Our Blessed Lady
Posted by: Stone - 12-27-2020, 08:18 AM - Forum: Christmas - Replies (2)

The Birth of Our Lord, As Described by Our Blessed Lady
Taken From "The Mystical City of God" by Venerable Mary of Agreda
Imprimatur: 1949

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Our travelers arrived at the town of Bethlehem at four o'clock, a Saturday. As it was at the time of the winter solstice, the sun was already sinking and the night was falling. They entered the town, and wandered through many streets in search of a lodging-house or inn for staying over night. They knocked at the doors of their acquaintances and nearer family relations; but They were admitted nowhere and in many places they were met with harsh words and insults. The most modest Queen followed Her spouse through the crowds of people, while he went from house to house and from door to door. Although She knew that the hearts and the houses of men were to be closed to Them, and although to expose Her state at Her age to the public gaze was more painful to Her modesty than their failure to procure a night-lodging, She nevertheless wished to obey Saint Joseph and suffer this indignity and unmerited shame. While wandering through the streets they passed the Office of the Public Registry and They inscribed their names and paid the fiscal tribute in order to comply with the edict and not be obliged to return. They continued their search, betaking themselves to other houses. But having already applied at more than fifty different places, They found themselves rejected and sent away from them all.

It was nine o'clock at night when the most faithful Joseph, full of bitter and heart rending sorrow, returned to his most Prudent Spouse and said: "My Sweetest Lady, my heart is broken with sorrow at the thought of not only being able to shelter Thee as Thou deservest and as I desire, but in not being able to offer Thee even any kind of protection from the weather, or a place of rest, a thing rarely or never denied to the most poor and despised in the world. No doubt Heaven in thus allowing the hearts of men to be so unmoved as to refuse us a night-lodging, conceals some mystery. I now remember, Lady, that outside the city walls there is a cave, which serves as a shelter for the shepherds and their flocks. Let us seek it out; perhaps it is unoccupied, and we may there expect some assistance from Heaven, since we receive none from men on earth." The most prudent Virgin answered: "My spouse and My master, let not thy kindest heart be afflicted because the ardent wishes which the love of Thy Lord excites in thee cannot be fulfilled. Since I bear Him in My womb, let us, I beseech thee, give thanks for having disposed events in this way. The place of which thou speakest shall be most satisfactory to me. Let thy tears of sorrow be turned to tears of joy, and let us lovingly embrace poverty, which is the inestimable and precious treasure of My Most Holy Son. He came from Heaven in order to seek it, let us then afford Him an occasion to practice it in the joy of Our Souls; certainly I cannot be better delighted than to see thee procure it for me. Let us go gladly wherever the Lord shall guide us." The holy Angels accompanied the Heavenly pair , brilliantly lighting up the way, and when they arrived at the city gate they saw that the cave was forsaken and unoccupied.

The palace which the Supreme King of Kings and the Lord of Lords had chosen for entertaining His Eternal and Incarnate Son in this World was a most poor and insignificant hut or cave, to which Most Holy Mary and Joseph betook themselves after they had been denied all hospitality and the most ordinary kindness by their fellow-men, as I have described in the foregoing chapter. This place was held in such contempt that though the town of Bethlehem was full of strangers in want of night-shelter, none would demean or degrade himself so far as to make use of it for a lodging; for there was none who deemed it suitable or desirable for such a purpose, except the Teachers of humility and poverty, Christ Our Savior and his Purest Mother. On this account the wisdom of the Eternal Father had reserved it for Them, consecrating it in all its bareness, loneliness and poverty as the "First Temple of Light" [Malachy 4, 2, Ps. Ill, 4] and as the house of the True Sun of Justice, which was to arise for the upright of heart from the resplendent Aurora Mary, turning the night of sin into the daylight of grace.

Most Holy Mary and Saint Joseph entered the lodging thus provided for them and by the effulgence of the ten thousand Angels of their guard they could easily ascertain its poverty and loneliness, which they esteemed as favors and welcomed with tears of consolation and joy. Without delay the two Holy Travelers fell on Their knees and praised the Lord, giving Him thanks for His benefit, which they knew had been provided by His wisdom for His own hidden designs. Of this mystery the Heavenly Princess Mary had a better insight; for as soon as She sanctified the interior of the cave by Her sacred footsteps She felt a fullness of joy which entirely elevated and vivified Her. She besought the Lord to bless with a liberal hand all the inhabitants of the neighboring city, because by rejecting Her they had given occasion to the vast favors, which She awaited in this neglected cavern. It was formed entirely of the bare and coarse rocks, without any natural beauty or artificial adornment; a place intended merely for the shelter of animals; yet the Eternal Father had selected it for the shelter and dwelling-place of His Own Son.

The Angelic spirits, who like a celestial militia guarded their Queen and Mistress, formed themselves into cohorts in the manner of court guards in a royal palace. They showed themselves in their visible forms also to Saint Joseph; for on this occasion it was befitting that he should enjoy such a favor, on the one hand in order to assuage his sorrow by allowing him to behold this poor lodging thus beautified and adorned by their celestial presence, and on the other, in order to enliven and encourage him for the events which the Lord intended to bring about during that night, and in this forsaken place. The great Queen and Empress, who was already informed of the mystery to be transacted here, set about cleaning with Her Own hands the cave, which was so soon to serve as a royal throne and sacred mercy-seat; for neither did She want to miss this occasion for exercising Her humility, nor would She deprive Her Only-begotten Son of the worship and reverence implied by this preparation and cleansing of His temple.

Saint Joseph, mindful of the majesty of his Heavenly Spouse [which, it seemed to him, She was forgetting in Her ardent longing for humiliation], besought Her not to deprive Him of this work, which he considered as his alone; and he hastened to set about cleaning the floor and the corners of the cave, although the humble Queen continued to assist him therein. As the holy Angels were then present in visible forms, they were [according to our mode of speaking] abashed at such eagerness for humiliation, and they speedily emulated with each other to join in this work; or rather, in order to say it more succinctly, in the shortest time possible they had cleansed and set in order that cave, filling it with holy fragrance. Saint Joseph started a fire with the material which he had brought for that purpose. As it was very cold, they sat at the fire in order to get warm. They partook of the food which they had brought, and they ate this, their frugal supper, with incomparable joy of their souls. The Queen of Heaven was so absorbed and taken up with the thought of the impending mystery of Her Divine delivery, that She would not have partaken of food if She had not been urged there to by obedience to Her spouse.

After their supper they gave thanks to the Lord as was their custom. Having spent a short time in this prayer and conferring about the mysteries of the Incarnate Word, the Most Prudent Virgin felt the approach of the Most Blessed Birth. She requested Her spouse Saint Joseph to betake himself to rest and sleep as the night was already far advanced. The man of God yielded to the request of his Spouse and urged Her to do the same; and for this purpose he arranged and prepared a sort of couch with articles of wear in their possession, making use of a crib or manger , that had been left by the shepherds for their animals. Leaving Most Holy Mary in the portion of the cave thus furnished, Saint Joseph retired to a corner of the entrance, where he began to pray. He was immediately visited by the Divine Spirit and felt a most sweet and extraordinary influence, by which he was wrapt and elevated into an ecstasy. In it was shown him all that passed during that night in this blessed cave; for he did not return to consciousness until his Heavenly Spouse called him. Such was the sleep which Saint Joseph enjoyed in that night, more exalted and blessed than that of Adam in paradise [Gen. 21, 2].

The Queen of all creatures was called from Her resting place by a loud voice of the Most High, which strongly and sweetly raised Her above all created things and caused Her to feel new effects of Divine power; for this was one of the most singular and admirable ecstasies of Her Most Holy Life. Immediately also She was filled with new enlightenment and Divine influences, such as I have described in other places, until She reached the clear vision of the Divinity. The veil fell and She saw intuitively the Godhead Itself in such glory and plenitude of insight, as all the capacity of men and Angels could not describe or fully understand. All the knowledge of the Divinity and humanity of Her Most Holy Son, which She had ever received in former visions was renewed and, moreover, other secrets in the inexhaustible archives of the bosom of God were revealed to Her. I have not ideas or words sufficient and adequate for expressing what I have been allowed to see of these Sacraments by the Divine Light; and their abundance and multiplicity convince me of the poverty and want of proper expression in created language.

The Most High announced to His Virgin Mother, that the time of His coming into the World had arrived and what would be the manner in which this was now to be fulfilled and executed. The Most Prudent Lady perceived in this vision the purpose and exalted scope of these wonderful Mysteries and Sacraments, as well in so far as related to the Lord Himself as also in so far as they concerned creatures, for whose benefit they had been primarily decreed. She prostrated Herself before the throne of His Divinity and gave Him glory, magnificence, thanks and praise for Herself and for all creatures, such as was befitting the ineffable mercy and condescension of His Divine Love. At the same time She asked of the Divine Majesty new light and grace in order to be able worthily to undertake the service and worship and the rearing up of the Word made Flesh, whom She was to bear in Her arms and nourish with Her virginal milk. This petition the Heavenly Mother brought forward with the profoundest humility, as one who understood the greatness of this new sacrament. She held Herself unworthy of the office of rearing up and conversing as a Mother with a God Incarnate of which even the highest Seraphim are incapable. Prudently and humbly did the Mother of Wisdom ponder and weigh this matter. And because She humbled Herself to the dust and acknowledged Her nothingness in the presence of the Almighty, therefore His Majesty raised Her up and confirmed anew upon Her the title of Mother of God. He commanded Her to exercise this office and ministry of a legitimate and true Mother of Himself; that She should treat Him as the Son of the Eternal Father and at the same time the Son of Her womb. All this could be easily entrusted to such a Mother, in whom was contained an excellence that words cannot express.

The Most Holy Mary remained in this ecstasy and beatific vision for over an hour immediately preceding Her Divine delivery. At the moment when She issued from it and regained the use of Her senses She felt and saw that the Body of the Infant God began to move in Her virginal womb; how. releasing and freeing Himself from the place which in the course of nature He had occupied for nine months. He now prepared to issue forth from that sacred bridal chamber. This movement not only did not cause any pain or hardship, as happens with the other daughters of Adam and Eve in their childbirths; but filled Her with incomparable joy and delight. causing in Her Soul and in Her Virginal Body such exalted and Divine effects that they exceed all thoughts of men. Her body became so spiritualized with the beauty of Heaven that She seemed no more a human and earthly creature. Her countenance emitted rays of light, like a sun incarnadined, and shone in indescribable earnestness and majesty, all inflamed with fervent love. She was kneeling in the manger. Her eyes raised to Heaven, Her hands joined and folded at Her breast, Her soul wrapped in the Divinity and She Herself was entirely deified. In this position, and at the end of the Heavenly rapture, the Most Exalted Lady gave to the World The Only-begotten of the Father and Her Own, Our Savior Jesus, True God and man, at the hour of midnight, on a Sunday, in the year of the creation of the world five thousand one hundred and ninety-nine [5199], which is the date given in the Roman Church, and which date has been manifested to me as the true and certain one.

At the end of the beatific rapture and vision of the Mother ever Virgin, which I have described above, was born the Sun of Justice, the Only-begotten of the Eternal Father and of Mary most pure, beautiful, refulgent and immaculate, leaving Her untouched in Her virginal integrity and purity and making Her more Godlike and forever sacred; for He did not divide, but penetrated the virginal chamber as the rays of the sun penetrate the crystal shrine, lighting it up in prismatic beauty.

The Infant God therefore was brought forth from the virginal chamber unencumbered by any corporeal or material substance foreign to Himself. But He came forth glorious and transfigured for the Divine and Infinite Wisdom decreed and ordained that the Glory of His Most Holy Soul should in His birth overflow and communicate itself to His body, participating in the gifts of glory in the same way as happened afterwards in His Transfiguration on Mount Tabor in the presence of the Apostles [Matth. 17, 2]. This miracle was not necessary in order to penetrate the virginal enclosure and to leave unimpaired the virginal integrity; for without this Transfiguration God could have brought this about by other miracles. Thus say the holy doctors, who see no other miracle in this Birth than that the Child was born without impairing the virginity of the Mother. It was the will of God that the Most Blessed Virgin should look upon the body of Her Son, the God-Man, for this first time in a glorified state for two reasons. The one was in order that by this Divine Vision the Most Prudent Mother should conceive the highest reverence for the Majesty of Him whom She was to treat as her Son, the True God-Man. Although She was already informed of His two-fold nature, the Lord nevertheless ordained that by ocular demonstration She be filled with new graces, corresponding to the greatness of Her Most Holy Son, which was thus manifested to Her in a visible manner. The second reason was to reward by this wonder the fidelity and holiness of the Divine Mother; for Her most pure and chaste eyes, that had turned away from all earthly things for love of Her Most Holy Son, were to see Him at His very Birth in this glory and thus be rejoiced and rewarded for Her loyalty and beautiful love.

The sacred evangelist Luke tells us that the Mother Virgin, having brought forth Her first begotten Son, wrapped Him in swathing clothes and placed Him in a manger. He does not say that She received Him in Her arms from Her virginal womb; for this did not pertain to the purpose of his narrative. But the two sovereign princes, Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel, were the assistants of the Virgin on this occasion. They stood by at proper distance in human corporeal forms at the moment when the Incarnate Word, penetrating the virginal chamber by Divine power, issued forth to the light, and they received Him in their hands with ineffable reverence.

In the same manner as a priest exhibits the Sacred Host to the people for adoration, so these two celestial ministers presented to the Divine Mother Her Glorious and Refulgent Son. All this happened in a short space of time. In the same moment in which the Holy Angels thus presented the Divine Child to His Mother, both Son and Mother looked upon each other, and in this look, She wounded with love the Sweet Infant and was at the same time exalted and transformed in Him. From the arms of the Holy Princes the Prince of All the Heavens spoke to His Holy Mother: "Mother, become like unto Me, since on this day, for the human existence, which Thou hast today given Me, I will give Thee another more exalted existence in grace, assimilating Thy existence as a mere creature to the likeness of Me, who am God and Man." The Most Prudent Mother answered: "Trahe me post Te, curremus in odorem unguentorum tuorum" [Cant. 1, 3]. Raise me, elevate Me, Lord, and I will run after Thee in the odor of Thy ointments. In the same way many of the hidden mysteries of the Canticles were fulfilled; and other sayings which passed between the Infant God and the Virgin Mother had been recorded in that book of songs, as for instance: "My Beloved to Me, and I to Him, and His desire is toward Me" [Cant. 2, 16]. "Behold Thou art beautiful, my friend, and Thy eyes are dove's eyes. Behold, My beloved, for Thou art beautiful;" and many other sacramental words which to mention would unduly prolong this chapter.

The words, which Most Holy Mary heard from the mouth of Her Most Holy Son, served to make Her understand at the same time the interior acts of His Holiest Soul united with the Divinity; in order that by imitating them She might become like unto Him. This was one of the greatest blessings, which the Most Faithful and Fortunate Mother received at the hands of her Son, the True God and man, not only because it was continued from that day on through all Her life, but because it furnished Her the means of copying His Own Divine life as faithfully as was possible to a mere creature. At the same time the Heavenly Lady perceived and felt the presence of the Most Holy Trinity, and She heard the voice of the Eternal Father saying: "This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am greatly pleased and delighted," [Matth. 17, 5]. The Most Prudent Mother made entirely Godlike in the overflow of so many sacraments, answered: "Eternal Father and Exalted God, Lord and Creator of the Universe, give Me anew Thy permission and benediction to receive in My arms the Desired of Nations [Agg. 2, 8]; and teach Me to fulfill as Thy unworthy Mother and lowly slave, Thy Holy Will." Immediately She heard a voice which said: "Receive Thy Only begotten Son, imitate Him and rear Him; and remember, that Thou must sacrifice Him when I shall demand it of Thee." The Divine Mother answered: "Behold the creature of Thy hands, adorn Me with Thy grace so that Thy Son and My God receive Me for His slave; and if Thou wilt come to My aid with Thy Omnipotence, I shall be faithful in His service; and do Thou count it no presumption in Thy insignificant creature, that She bear in Her arms and nourish at Her breast Her Own Lord and Creator."

After this interchange of Words, so full of mysteries, the Divine Child suspended the miracle of His Transfiguration, or rather He inaugurated the other miracle, that of suspending the effects of glory in His Most Holy Body, confining them solely to His Soul; and He now assumed the appearance of one capable of suffering. In this form the Most Pure Mother now saw Him and, still remaining in a kneeling position and adoring Him with profound humility and reverence, She received Him in Her arms from the hands of the Holy Angels. And when She saw Him in Her arms, She spoke to Him and said: "My sweetest Love and light of My eyes and being of My Soul, Thou hast arrived in good hour into this World as the Sun of Justice [Malach. 4, 2], in order to disperse the darkness of sin and death! True God of the True God, save Thy servants and let all flesh see Him, who shall draw upon it salvation [Is. 9, 2]. Receive Me Thy servant as Thy slave and supply My deficiency, in order that I may properly serve Thee. Make Me, My Son, such as Thou desirest Me to be in Thy service." Then the Most Prudent Mother turned toward the Eternal Father to offer up to Him His Only begotten, saying: "Exalted Creator of all the Universe, here is the altar and the sacrifice acceptable in Thy eyes [Malachy 3, 4,]. From this hour on, O Lord, look upon the human race with mercy; and inasmuch as we have deserved Thy anger; it is now time that Thou be appeased in Thy Son and Mine. Let Thy justice now come to rest, and let Thy mercy be exalted; for on this account the Word has clothed Itself in the semblance of sinful flesh [Rom. 8, 3], and became a Brother of mortals and sinners [Philip 2, 7]. In this title I recognize them as brothers and I intercede for them from my inmost soul. Thou, Lord, hast made me the Mother of Thy Only begotten without My merit, since this dignity is above all merit of a creature; but I partly owe to men the occasion of this incomparable good fortune; since it is on their account that I am the Mother of the Word made man and Redeemer of them all. I will not deny them My love, or remit My care and watchfulness for their salvation. Receive, Eternal God, My wishes and petitions for that which is according to Thy pleasure and good will."

The Mother of mercy turned also toward all mortals and addressed them, saying: "Be consoled ye afflicted and rejoice ye disconsolate. be raised up ye fallen, come to rest ye uneasy. Let the just be gladdened and the Saints be rejoiced; let the Heavenly spirits break out in new jubilee, let the Prophets ahd Patriarchs of limbo draw new hope, and let all the generations praise and magnify The Lord, Who renews His wonders. Come, come ye poor; approach ye little ones, without fear, for in My arms I bear the Lion made a Lamb, the Almighty, become weak, the Invincible subdued. Come to draw life, hasten to obtain salvation, approach to gain eternal rest, since I have all this for all, and it will be given to you freely and communicated to you without envy. Do not be slow and heavy of heart, ye sons of men; and Thou, O Sweetest Joy of My Soul, give Me permission to receive from Thee that kiss desired by all creatures." Therewith the Most Blessed Mother applied Her most chaste and heavenly lips in order to receive the loving caresses of the Divine Child, Who on His part, as Her True Son, had desired them from Her.

Holding Him in Her arms, She thus served as the altar and the sanctuary, where the ten thousand Angels adored in visible human forms Their Creator Incarnate. And as the Most Blessed Trinity assisted in an especial manner at the Birth of the Word, Heaven was as it were emptied of its inhabitants, for the Whole Heavenly Court had betaken itself to that Blessed Cave of Bethlehem and was adoring the Creator in His garb and habit of a Pilgrim [Phil. 2, 7]. And in their concert of praise the Holy Angels intoned the new canticle: "Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis" [Luke 2, 14]. In sweetest and sonorous harmony they repeated it, transfixed in wonder at the new miracles then being fulfilled and at the unspeakable prudence, grace, humility and beauty of that tender Maiden of fifteen years, who had become the worthy Trustee and Minister of such vast and magnificent sacraments.

It was now time to call Saint Joseph, the faithful spouse of the most discreet and attentive Lady.

As I have said above he was wrapped in ecstasy, in which he was informed by Divine Revelation of all the Mysteries of this Sacred Birth during this night. But it was becoming that he should see, and, before all other mortals, should in his corporeal faculties and senses be present and experience, adore and reverence the Word Made Flesh; for he of all others had been chosen to act as the faithful warden of this Great Sacrament. At the desire of his Heavenly Spouse he issued from his ecstasy and, on being restored to consciousness, the first sight of his eyes was the Divine Child in the arms of the Virgin Mother reclining against Her sacred countenance and breast. There he adored Him in profoundest humility and in tears of joy. He kissed his feet in great joy and admiration, which no doubt would have taken away and destroyed life in him, if Divine power had not preserved it; and he certainly would have lost all the use of his senses, if the occasion had permitted. When Saint Joseph had begun to adore the Child, the Most Prudent Mother asked leave of Her Son to arise [for until then She had remained on Her knees] and, while Saint Joseph handed Her the wrappings and swaddling-clothes, which She had brought, She clothed Him with incomparable reverence, devotion and tenderness. Having thus swathed and clothed Him, His Mother, with Heavenly wisdom, laid Him in the crib, as related by Saint Luke [Luke 2, 7]. For this purpose She had arranged some straw and hay upon a stone in order to prepare for the God-Man His first resting-place upon earth next to that which He had found in Her arms. According to Divine ordainment an ox from the neighboring fields ran up in great haste and, entering the cave, joined the beast of burden brought by the Queen. The Blessed Mother commanded them, with what show of reverence was possible to them to acknowledge and adore Their Creator. The humble animals obeyed their Mistress and prostrated themselves before the Child, warming Him with their breath and rendering Him the service refused by men. And thus the God made man was placed between two animals, wrapped in swaddling-clothes and wonderfully fulfilling the prophecy, that "the ox knoweth His owner, and the ass His master's crib; but Israel hath not known Me, and My people hath not understood." [Is. 13.]

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