A Blessed Nativity

Today the Virgin gives birth to him who is above all being,
and the earth offers a cave to him whom no one can approach.
Angels with shepherds give glory,
and magi journey with a star,
for to us there has been born
a little Child, God before the ages.

Bethlehem has opened Eden, come, let us see;
we have found delight in secret, come, let us receive
the joys of Paradise within the cave.
There the unwatered root whose blossom is forgiveness has appeared.
There has been found the undug well
from which David once longed to drink.
There a virgin has borne a babe
and has quenched at once Adam's and David's thirst.
For this, let us hasten to this place where there has been born
a little Child, God before the ages.

(And Mary said to the child,)
“High King, what have you to do with beggars?
Maker of heaven, why have you come to those born of earth?
Did you love a cave or take pleasure in a manger?
See, there is no place for your servant in the inn,
I do not say a place, not even a cave,
for that too belongs to another.
To Sarah, when she bore a child,
a vast land was given as her lot. To me, not even a fox hole.
I used the cavern where willingly you made your dwelling,
a little Child, God before the ages.”

“Save the world, O Savior. For this you have come.
Set your whole universe aright. For this you have shone
on me and on the magi and on all creation.
For see, the magi, to whom you have shown the light of your face,
fall down before you and offer gifts,
useful, fair and eagerly sought.
For I have need of them, since I am about
to go to Egypt and flee with you and for you,
my Guide, my Son, my Maker, my Redeemer,
a little Child, God before the ages.”

~from the Kontakion on the Nativity, by St. Romanos the Melodist, 6th century

The Prayer of a Father

From Father Mark:

Jesus is in the midst of speaking. He allows this certain ruler, called Jairus, to interrupt his discourse. Jairus enters the scene suddenly, almost breathlessly. He adores Jesus, that is to say that he falls down before Him. His prayer goes straight to the point. It is simple and artless: "Lord, my daughter is even now dead; but come, lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live." It strikes me that Jairus must have blurted out his prayer after having prepared it in his heart on the way to Jesus. He has even devised a little "sacramental rite" that includes the laying on of Jesus' hand. (Read entire post.)

The Gaze of Christ

From Vultus Christi:

The Face of Christ or, if you will, the Gaze of Christ, is a motif that recurs frequently in the preaching of Pope Benedict XVI, as well as in his writings. In today's Angelus Address, the Holy Father alludes to that mysterious exchange of gazes, by which a particular vocation -- and often one to the priesthood or monastic life -- is both offered and received. That exchange of gazes is, of course, but the beginning. A priestly or monastic (or religious) vocation cannot be sustained except by growing into an exchange of gazes that becomes habitual. And this habitual exchange of gazes is, in fact, the gift of contemplation.

There may be readers of Vultus Christi who have, at one time or another, recognized the gaze of Christ resting upon with with an unspeakable tenderness. This sometimes happens when one is lingering in the radiance of the Eucharistic Face of Jesus. It may also happen when one is bent over the Word of God, or praying the Psalms. Meet the gaze of Christ with your own gaze. Look at Him. Begin to live, as Blessed Elisabeth of the Trinity says, with "your eyes in His eyes." And should He call you to monastic life, communicate with us at Silverstream Priory. Do not go away sad. Say "yes" to the joy of having nought but Christ, and of preferring nothing whatsoever to His love. (Read entire post.)

The Year of Faith

It opens today. In the words of Our Holy Father:

Recent decades have seen the advance of a spiritual “desertification”. In the Council’s time it was already possible from a few tragic pages of history to know what a life or a world without God looked like, but now we see it every day around us. This void has spread. But it is in starting from the experience of this desert, from this void, that we can again discover the joy of believing, its vital importance for us, men and women. In the desert we rediscover the value of what is essential for living; thus in today’s world there are innumerable signs, often expressed implicitly or negatively, of the thirst for God, for the ultimate meaning of life. And in the desert people of faith are needed who, with their own lives, point out the way to the Promised Land and keep hope alive. Living faith opens the heart to the grace of God which frees us from pessimism. Today, more than ever, evangelizing means witnessing to the new life, transformed by God, and thus showing the path. The first reading spoke to us of the wisdom of the wayfarer (cf. Sir 34:9-13): the journey is a metaphor for life, and the wise wayfarer is one who has learned the art of living, and can share it with his brethren – as happens to pilgrims along the Way of Saint James or similar routes which, not by chance, have again become popular in recent years. How come so many people today feel the need to make these journeys? Is it not because they find there, or at least intuit, the meaning of our existence in the world? This, then, is how we can picture the Year of Faith: a pilgrimage in the deserts of today’s world, taking with us only what is necessary: neither staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money, nor two tunics – as the Lord said to those he was sending out on mission (cf. Lk 9:3).... (Read entire article.)

The Pope on Tepidity

From The Catholic Herald:

Because faith isn’t an abstract notion, Christians also must live their faith and share it with the world through acts of charity and love, the Pope said.

“Being tepid is the greatest danger for Christians,” he said. “We pray that faith becomes like a fire in us and that it will set alight others.”

The synod formally opened on yesterday with a Mass in St Peter’s Square.

During his homily, Pope Benedict said that the “Church exists to evangelise” by sharing the Gospel with people who have never heard of Christ, strengthening the faith of those who already have been baptised and reaching out to those who “have drifted away from the Church”.

“At various times in history,” he said, “divine providence has given birth to a renewed dynamism in the church’s evangelising activity”, as happened, for example, with the evangelisation of the Americas beginning late in the 15th century.

“Even in our own times, the Holy Spirit has nurtured in the Church a new effort to announce the good news,” the Pope said.(Read entire article.)

Scruples and Their Cure

From Fr. Doyle:

It is a fundamental truth that we cannot love God unless we believe in His love for us. Scrupulosity completely represses such a belief, and thus paralyses all generous effort. At every moment it creates trouble between the soul and its Creator by pessimistic feelings about the past, and about its present dispositions and actions. The conclusions foolishly arrived at under the influence of these feelings boldly give the lie to the wise decisions of the confessor, and lead the soul to rebel against his spiritual guidance, and to put itself at the mercy of its enemy.

Soon the soul, seriously believing itself to be in a bad way, becomes discouraged, and often begins to commit real sin.

Even though sin does not follow from scruples, scrupulosity, nevertheless, retards the soul's progress in several other ways. It represents prayer as full of difficulties. It stops the ears of the poor downcast soul to the consoling voice of the Holy Ghost. It destroys confidence. It prevents the frequentation of the Sacraments, and thus stops their strengthening effects. It almost takes away the power of resisting temptation. It causes discouragement, and may even lead to despair. (Read entire post.)

Cure for Scrupulosity

Fr. Mark quotes St. John of Avila, our new Doctor of the Church:

How long will you continue your minute self-examinations? It is like raking up a dust heap from which nothing can come but rubbish and unpleasantness. Feel sure of this, that it is not for your own merits, but for those of Jesus crucified, that you are loved and made whole. Do not give way to such discouragement about your faults, the results will show you how displeasing it is to God. It would be far better to be courageous and strong-hearted. Meditate on the benefits you have received through Jesus Christ in the past and possess now; reflect on them in such a manner as to lead you to sorrow for your sins against Him and to avoid offending Him, without losing your peace and patience if you happen to fall. (Read entire post.)

The Cross and Its Exaltation

From Father Mark:

There are those, even, alas, among Catholics, who would argue that the Passion of Christ, once accomplished, at a given moment in history, is over and done with, swallowed up in the triumph of the Resurrection and, in no way, prolonged in history. Divine Revelation, however (being both Scripture and Tradition), as well as the experience of the saints and mystics affirm that Christ suffers, and will continue to suffer, in His Mystical Body and in His Eucharistic Body, and this until the end of time....

Mother Mectilde practiced what she preached. Readily she accepted whatever humiliations, calumnies, accusations, and offenses came her way, seeing in them so many occasions of mystical union with the Christus Passus. Not without wit, Mother Mectilde declared, "The Invention [Finding] of the Cross is a feast that occurs every day, because, ceaselessly, one encounters suffering; but it is not so with the Exaltation of the Cross; nothing is more rare than to see tribulation honoured and accepted."  (Read entire post.)

Two New Doctors of the Church

On October 7 Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI will proclaim St. Hildegard von Bingen and St. John of Avila to be Doctors of the Church, which is like a canonization of their teachings.

ROME, SEPT. 28, 2012 (Zenit.org).- The Holy See announced today that Pope Benedict XVI will preside at the Solemn Mass for the opening of the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, during which the Holy Father will proclaim two new Doctors of the Church: Saint John of Avila and Saint Hildegard of Bingen.

Joining the ranks of Saint Therese of Avila, Saint Catherine of Sienna, and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, German mystic Saint Hildegard of Bingen, canonized this past May, will be the fourth woman in Church history to be declared Doctor of the Church. Born circa 1098 in County Palatine of the Rhine (a region in modern-day Germany), she was a Benedictine abbess known for her visions, which she began to receive at the age of three. Hildegard was also known for her contribution to medieval music, having composed dozens of original pieces throughout her lifetime. She died Sept. 17, 1179.

Saint John of Avila, canonized in 1970 by Pope Pius VI, was born May 10, 1500, to a wealthy Catholic family of Jewish descent in Almodòvar del Campo, Spain. He was known for his preaching and for his reform of clerical life in his native country. Included among his followers were Saint Francis Borgia, and fellow Doctors of the Church, Saints John of God and Teresa of Avila. He died in Seville on May 10, 1569.

A doctor of the Church is one whose writings have proved to be of particular value to the life of the Church, especially in the area of theology and Doctrine. For a saint to be named "doctor of the Church" these three conditions must be present: eminens doctrina (eminent learning), insignis vitae sanctitas (high degree of sanctity), and Ecclesiae declaration (proclamation by the Church). (Read entire post.)

Homilies on Our Lady

From Fr. Angelo at Downside Abbey in Cornwall.

More HERE.

Pope Benedict in Lebanon

Muslim women welcome the Pope in Lebanon

The full texts. To quote Our Holy Father:

You have a special place in my heart and in the whole Church, because the Church is always young! The Church trusts you. She counts on you! Be young in the Church! Be young with the Church! The Church needs your enthusiasm and your creativity! Youth is the time when we aspire to great ideals, when we study and train for our future work. All this is important and it takes time. Seek beauty and strive for goodness! Bear witness to the grandeur and the dignity of your body which "is for the Lord" (1 Cor 6:13b). Be thoughtful, upright and pure of heart! In the words of Blessed John Paul II, I say to you: "Do not be afraid! Open the doors of your minds and hearts to Christ!" An encounter with Jesus "gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction" (Deus Caritas Est, 1). In Christ you will find the strength and courage to advance along the paths of life, and to overcome difficulties and suffering. In him you will find the source of joy. Christ says to you: "Salàmi ō-tīkum" This is the true revolution brought by Christ: that of love.

The frustrations of the present moment must not lead you to take refuge in parallel worlds like those, for example, of the various narcotics or the bleak world of pornography. As for social networks, they are interesting but they can quite easily lead to addiction and confusion between the real and the virtual. Look for relationships of genuine, uplifting friendship. Find ways to give meaning and depth to your lives; fight superficiality and mindless consumption! You face another temptation, too: that of money, the tyrannical idol which blinds to the point of stifling the person at the heart. The examples being held up all around you are not always the best. Many people have forgotten Christ’s warning that one cannot serve both God and mammon (cf. Lk 16:13). Seek out good teachers, spiritual masters, who will be able to guide you along the path to maturity, leaving behind all that is illusory, garish and deceptive. (Read entire article.)

Imbued With Joy

A recent message from Our Holy Father the Pope:

Now, some might say, is it right to be so happy, while the world is so full of suffering, when there is so much darkness and so much pain? Is it legitimate to be so defiantly joyful? The answer can only be a yes! Because saying 'no' to this joy benefits nobody, but only makes the world darker. And those who do not love themselves cannot give to love their fellow man, can not help them, can not be a messenger of peace. We know this from our faith, and we see it every day: the world is beautiful and God is good and He became man and entered into us, suffers and lives with us, we know this definitely and concretely : yes, God is good and it is good to be Man. We live in this joy, and try to bring this joy to others, to reject evil and to be servants of peace and reconciliation. (Read entire post.)

Consecration to the Sacred Heart

Fr. Mark discusses the importance of enthroning the Sacred Heart of Jesus as King of our families.

The value of images of the Sacred Heart derives from this: that the pierced Heart of Jesus sets before our eyes the whole mystery of the merciful love of God, softens our resistances to that love, and invites us to grown in confident surrender to it. One understands just why Our Lord said to Saint Margaret Mary: "I will bless those places wherein the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated."

Enthronement of the Sacred Heart

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me" (Ap 3:20). The enthronement of an image of the Sacred Heart in one's home is a way of opening family life to the merciful love of Christ. Those who introduce an image of the Sacred Heart into their homes express their desire to say with the Apostle John, "So do we know and believe the love God has for us" (1 Jn 4:16). God who inspires that desire will also fulfill it.

Deus Caritas Est

God is love.

One Sunday after Pentecost, on the 28th of June, 1767, when Sister Teresa Margaret was officiating in choir, she read out the little chapter at Terce: “Deus caritas est.” She had heard these words repeatedly, Sunday after Sunday, for the past three years, but now it seemed as though she understood them for the first time - or rather, her understanding of them was raised to an entirely different plane. (Read entire post.)

Darkness and Doubts

A letter to a young monk.

I realized then that there are seasons and hours in the spiritual life when, in spite of one's best efforts, one is unable to say to Our Lord with Saint Peter, "Thou knowest that I love Thee." There is too much self-doubt. One's prayer is inhibited by fear. In such seasons and in such hours, I propose, dear Wilfrid, that you say only the first part of Saint Peter's prayer: "Lord, thou knowest all things." Repeat it over and over, until the Lord Himself, operating in you by the Divine Comforter, the Holy Ghost, makes it possible for you to say the second half of it: "Thou knowest that I love Thee."

Pray then, as you can, Wilfrid, and not as you can't. When one tries to pray as one can't, one strains too much the faculties of the soul, and so brings on oneself a kind of spiritual exhaustion. (Read entire post.)

Pastoral Authority of St. Peter, Part 2

More from Fr. Angelo:

Applying the principles of the faith to the problems of the modern world has been a complicated process.  Progressives used the liberty granted by the Council as a pretext for a modernist revolution.  It was a risk all the postconciliar popes have been to say was necessary to take, and while we can continue to argue to the end of the world about what hypothetically would have happened had there been no Council, Peter, to whom Christ entrusted his Church, has settled the matter. (Read entire post.)

The Pastoral Authority of St. Peter

Fr. Angelo offers a helpful discourse.

Take away the sovereign Pontiff and the Catholic Church would no longer be catholic. Moreover, without the supreme, effective, and authoritative pastoral office of Peter the unity of Christ’s Church would collapse. It would be vain to look for other principles of unity in place of the true one established by Christ Himself. As St. Jerome rightly observed: “There would be as many schisms in the Church as there are priests” (emphasis mine).

We would add that this cardinal principle of holy Church is not a supremacy of spiritual pride and a desire to dominate mankind, but a primacy of service, ministration, and love. It is no vapid rhetoric which confers on Christ’s vicar the title: “Servant of the servants of God.”

This passage from the first encyclical of Paul VI, Ecclesiam Suam (1964, 110) focuses its attention on the pastoral authority of the pope.  It is no less apropos today as it was during the Second Vatican Council.  There are countless schisms in the Church today across the whole spectrum of belief, so that while liberal and conservative are unfortunate and inadequate appelatives in reference to Catholic belief, we nevertheless find it necessary to distinguish between the dissenters of both extremes.  Often the argument is given, regardless where the dissenter lies along the spectrum, that this or that particular teaching of the Church is not “infallible.”  It is the same argument, whether it has to do with Humanae Vitae or Dignitatis Humanae. (Read entire post.)

Roy Campbell and St. John of the Cross

How the South African poet saved the letters of Our Holy Father St. John from being destroyed in the Spanish Civil War.

It was March 1936. A series of anti-clerical riots swept through Toledo. Churches were burned and priests and monks were attacked in the streets. During these disturbances several Carmelite monks, disguised in lay clothes, sought shelter in the home of the South African poet, Roy Campbell, who had moved to the city with his wife, Mary, and their two young daughters in the previous year. Four months later, on July 21, republican forces advanced on the city. Under cover of darkness, the Carmelite monks once again called on the Campbells. This time, however, they were not seeking refuge for themselves but for their priceless archives, which included the personal papers of St John of the Cross. Campbell agreed to take possession of these precious archives and that night a heavy trunk of ancient documents was delivered secretly from the Carmelite library to the hallway of the Campbells’ house.

During the following day republican forces advanced through the city, forcing the defenders to fall back towards the Alcazar. Without the soldiers of the garrison to defend them, the priests, monks and nuns fell prey to the republican militiamen. The 17 monks from the Carmelite monastery were rounded up, herded into the street and shot. In the square outside Toledo’s town hall the Madrid militia lit huge bonfires which were fueled with crucifixes, vestments, missals and any other religious items discovered in looted churches and houses. From their home, the South African poet and his family watched in horror as they saw the Carmelite library set ablaze.

Several days later the Campbells were visited by a search party of militiamen. Expecting such an intrusion, Roy and Mary had already taken the precaution of removing all crucifixes and religious pictures from the walls. Their main fear was that the trunk containing the Carmelite archives, including the personal letters of St John of the Cross, would be discovered. The search, however, was not particularly thorough. At one stage some of the militiamen even leaned their rifles on the trunk without thinking of opening it. (Read entire post.)

The Checkmate of Pope Benedict

Our Holy Father works to unify the Church.

Pope Benedict has effectively brought the dialogue between the Holy See and the Society of St. Pius X to a magisterial conclusion.  Bishop Fellay has certainly transformed his way of looking at things.  In responding to the grave concerns of three SSPX bishops, Mons. Fellay is now selling Pope Benedict’s hermeneutic of continuity.  Or is he? (Read entire post.)

The Maternal Heart of Mary

From Father Mark in Ireland:

In his Marian Consecration of Priests at Fatima in May 2010, and again in Rome in June of the same year, Pope Benedict XVI chose to use, from among any number of expressions possible, that of the Maternal Heart. It was a remarkable English woman, the Venerable Mother Mary Potter (1847-1913), who, with energy and perseverance, devoted herself to promoting the title of the "Maternal Heart of Mary."

...Pope Leo XIII addressed the following words to the universal Church in his Encyclical Letter Octobri Mense:

Mary is this glorious intermediary; she is the mighty Mother of the Almighty; but-what is still sweeter - she is gentle, extreme in tenderness, of a limitless loving-kindness. As such God gave her to us. Having chosen her for the Mother of His only begotten Son, He implanted in her a maternal heart that breathes nothing but pardon and love. Such Christ desired she should be, for He consented to be subject to Mary and to obey her as a son a mother. Such He proclaimed her from the cross when he entrusted to her care and love the whole of the race of man in the person of His disciple John. Such, finally, she proves herself by her courage in gathering in the heritage of the enormous labours of her Son, and in accepting the charge of her maternal duties towards us all. (Read entire post.)

St. Angelus

 Here is the biography of an extraordinary saint. To quote:

"Angelus came into Sicily with the religious who emigrated to the island from Carmel and he died there, according to the traditional data — which, however, seem worthy of belief — having been killed at Licata at the hands of "impious infidels", during the first half of the XIII cent. Since he was considered a martyr, a church was erected in his honor on the site of his death, and his body was placed upon an altar in the church. These brief details are gathered from the Catalogue of Saints, which dates from the end of the XIV cent. or the beginning of the XV, while another mention, gathered, it is said, about 1370 by Nicholas Processi, a beneficiary of St. John Lateran's, speaks of a visit of Angelus to Rome.

Especially well-known and widespread is the life written by a certain Henoch, who is said to have been a Carmelite and a patriarch of Jerusalem. (Read More)

Commending Oneself to Mary

A prayer.

O holy Mary, my Mistress, into thy blessed trust and special blessing, into the bosom of thy tender mercy, this day, every day of my life and at the hour of my death, I commend my soul and body; to thee I entrust all my hopes and consolations, all my trials and miseries, my life and the end of my life, that through thy most holy intercession and thy merits, all my actions may be ordered and disposed according to thy will and that of thy divine Son. Amen. (Read more.)

Flame of Joy

From the biography of Sister Marie-Angélique of Jesus:

"With true psychological insight, Marie-Angélique in her Autobiography (unedited passage) noted the dangers of the musical art: the amount of work which this art imposes is not reconcilable with a life of pleasure, nor even with too easy a life. But Yvonne [Sr Marie-Angélique's baptismal name], so vibrant, did not ignore 'the extraordinary development which it gives to human passions.' - 'If the artist does not vibrate for God, joy, sorrow, hate, love increase -in nature- all the more as the art makes it vibrate further.'

And of the danger of vanity: 'to be tempted to vainglory, one has to be truly an artist.'

'Personally,' she adds, 'although I went through only the early stages of art, I can say that, by divine grace, my soul never vibrated except for its Creator. I don't believe that there has ever been a false note in my chant, yes, I have always had Jesus Christ in view but I have not escaped totally from the temptation of vainglory, and in spite of my vigilance, if my Savior had not withdrawn me from there, it is certainly by this way what I would have been lost. Thanks to the zeal of the divine Master for preserving me from all evil, indifferent to things from without, I passed that year entirely with Him.' One of Sr Marie-Angélique's novitiate companions later noted with what insistence she said to her one day: 'One must have tasted human glory in order to realize how intoxicating it is, what fascination it can exercise on the soul.'

This preservation extended to her entire life int he world, and one person who knew her well, could say: 'Yvonne passed by without seeing anything, her eyes fixed on her ideal. Nothing evil touched her, even lightly. She was really the rose that blossomed among thorns.'"

-- Flame of Joy: Souvenirs, Autobiography, Letters of  Marie-Angélique of Jesus, ocd

The Church in Pakistan

Let us pray for the brethren.

Six people – including two children – were burned alive in anti-Christian attacks on 1^st August 2009. That same day, an elderly man – the children’s grandfather – was shot dead. The killings happened as thousands of people rampaged through the Christian quarter of Gojra in the Punjab Province. It had been reported that Christians had cut up pages of the Qur’an to make wedding confetti. The mob, carrying sticks, clubs and firearms, attacked property including more than 150 homes and two churches.

This attack – described in detail on pp103-04 – is one of many inextricably linked to the country’s blasphemy laws (paragraphs B and C of Section 295 of Pakistan’s Penal Code). Offences against the Qur’an receive a sentence of life imprisonment and insults against the Prophet Mohammed can be punished by death. According to the Catholic Church’s National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), between 1986 and 2010 at least 993 people were charged with either desecrating the Qur’an or slandering Mohammed. Most of the charges have been brought against Muslims: 479 of the accused were Muslims (many from the Shia group) and 340 were Ahmadis, an Islamic religious movement regarded by many orthodox Muslims as heretical. 120 of those accused were Christians.

Reports show that the blasphemy laws are often invoked by people with a personal vendetta against a particular group or individual. Since 2001 at least 50 Christians have been killed by those using the blasphemy laws as a pretext. Accusations against alleged blasphemers are often false or motivated by petty interests, encouraging mobs to mete out rough justice without reference to the law. (Read more.)

HERE is an interview with a Pakinstani bishop, via Zenit.

The Birth of Our Holy Mother St. Teresa

Avila celebrates the birth of La Santa.

AVILA-SPAIN (28-03-2012).- A solemn celebration of the Eucharist, at which presided the Vicar Provincial of the Castile province, Fr Luis Javier Fernández Frontela, brought to the close a day full of events to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Saint Teresa of Jesus.

Religious from throughout the city, together with a great number of others, gathered to take part in the Eucharist celebrated in the “La Santa” church which is built over the house where Teresa of Jesus was born.

In his sermon, Fr Luis Javier mentioned incidents from the childhood of this saint from Avila, and stressed the importance of family, the home and family house in the early years of the one who was to become the foundress of the Discalced Carmel. (Read entire post.)

The Illusion of Coziness

Fr. Mark writes of the potential offered to us in this sacred season and how living in the past can be lethal to our spiritual growth.

Easter, or Pascha as the Church calls it in her official liturgical books, is about moving out and moving on. Out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. Out of darkness into light. Out of sin into holiness. Out of decrepitude into vigor. Out of a pitiful self-absorption into fascination with the beauty of holiness that shines on the Face of Christ. Out of death into life.

The Illusion of Coziness
It is a strange thing that, when it comes to getting on with it spiritually, some of us drag our feet. There is something inside us that remains attached to that old life of bondage under Pharaoh in Egypt. We reminisce about the "bad old days" and our imagination twists them into the "good old days" that they never were. There is nothing worthy of nostalgia about living in sin, under sin, or with sin. One of the devil's ploys is to make us feel comfortable in our sins. He likes nothing better than to appeal to our innate desire for feeling cozy, and he creates the illusion of coziness by using our sins. In this way, he suggests that we really need not move forward, that things are fine just as they are, and that those think otherwise are either fanatics or idealists.

Today's Introit says that the Lord brought forth His people with joy, and His chosen ones with gladness. Joy because a new life was opening before them. Gladness because God had taken care of their enemies -- a symbol of the old sins that pursue us -- by sending them headlong into the churning waters of the Red Sea. Joy, because "the strife was o'er, the battle won." Gladness because, as the Exultet puts it, we have been "restored to grace . . . and separated from the vices of the world and the darkness of sinners." (Read entire post.)

Rogation Days

Scott Richert explains what they are, since most of us have no idea. Rogation Days are one of those many things that the Second Vatican Council did not abolish but made optional, which then, for some reason, led to them being completely forgotten. Perhaps if we revive such public devotions in a spirit of penitence, God will guide the Church out of the bog of scandal into which she has fallen.

On Persecution

Our Holy Father the Pope invites us to face persecution with prayer, as did the martyrs before us.

As with the first Christian community, prayer helps us to interpret personal and collective history according to the right and faithful perspective, that of God. And we too want to renew the request for the gift of the Holy Spirit, that warms the heart and illumines the mind, to see how the Lord realizes what we plead for according to his will of love and not according to our ideas. Guided by the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ, we will be able to face every situation of life with serenity, courage and joy and boast with St. Paul “in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces patience, patience proved virtue and proved virtue hope”: that hope that “does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been bestowed upon us” (Romans 5:3-5). (Read entire post.)

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The Soul of the Apostolate

Dom Chautard and living a devout life in the world. As Fr. Angelo says:

As anyone who is trying to live the interior life knows, there is an inherent tension between the interior and active life, and though in no way mutually exclusive, one can tend to dominate and destroy the other.  In the vast majority of cases it is the active life and encroaches on the interior life, because, in fact, it is easier to be active than prayerful.  In fact, Dom Chautard writes that nothing is more difficult than fidelity to the interior life.  It also may and does happen that certain interior souls adopt unsound habits and allow their personal devotions to impinge upon their responsibilities, for example, a mother to her children, but by far the most common problem is that we sacrifice our prayer to our work.  This problem is critical because of the primacy of prayer over action: without grace our work has no merit and prayer is our conduit to the grace of God. (Read entire post.)

On Beauty

From a Carmelite friar (via The Association of Catholic Women Bloggers):

Rarely do we ever receive direct access into God, but when our lives are in harmony — with those around us, with nature, and especially interiorly — we become aware of all the interconnections and how exquisitely they are crafted. And in times of super-harmony, all the events of our lives make sense and fit together. Then, we begin to understand the Composer and even glimpse the Composer. Yes, I think we see God’s Beauty when we strive to live in harmony and peace with our neighbor and strive to find interior harmony and interior peace. Therefore, to live a spiritual life is to strive to live a harmonious life. (Read entire post.)

Come to Me

It is already the marriage supper of the Lamb. As Father Mark says:

How are we to understand this Introit today? Our Lord is addressing the newly-baptized. His first word to them is, "Come." Venite, benedicti Patris mei. Where else do we hear this same word, Venite, in the mouth of Jesus? In Matthew 11:28: "Come to me, all you that labour and are burdened; I will give you rest." I see Our Lord pronouncing this word with His arms spread wide in a gesture of welcome. The hands nailed to the wood of the Cross shine with His glorious wounds. His Holy Face is radiant. A torrent of light flows from His Open Side. When He says, "Come," who can resist His invitation?

Our Lord calls the newly-baptized benedicti Patris mei, blessed of my Father. Is not this what Saint Paul develops in the first chapter of his Epistle to the Ephesians? "Blessed be that God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us, in Christ, with every spiritual blessing, higher than heaven itself" (Eph 1:3). There is no greater blessing than incorporation into the Body of Christ that is the Church. The children of the Church, the Bride of Christ, are nourished from the altar of His Sacrifice with the mysteries of His Body and Blood. It is in the Eucharist that we are blessed, here and now, with every spiritual blessing, higher than heaven itself.

To receive the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion is to receive "the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world" (Mt 25:34). The Most Holy Eucharist is a foretaste of heaven. It is already the "Wedding Banquet of the Lamb" (Ap 19:9). The Orthodox theologian, Father Alexander Schmemann, calls the Eucharist, "the ascent of the Church to the heavenly altar." The kingdom prepared for us since the foundation of the world is offered to us sacramentally in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The Mass is the Church assumed into heaven, and heaven filling the Church.

To the City and the World

From Our Holy Father:

Every Christian relives the experience of Mary Magdalene. It involves an encounter which changes our lives: the encounter with a unique Man who lets us experience all God’s goodness and truth, who frees us from evil not in a superficial and fleeting way, but sets us free radically, heals us completely and restores our dignity. This is why Mary Magdalene calls Jesus “my hope”: he was the one who allowed her to be reborn, who gave her a new future, a life of goodness and freedom from evil. “Christ my hope” means that all my yearnings for goodness find in him a real possibility of fulfillment: with him I can hope for a life that is good, full and eternal, for God himself has drawn near to us, even sharing our humanity.

The Bridegroom

Thirty years among us dwelling
His appointed time fulfilled,
Born for this he meets his passion,
For that this he freely willed;
On that cross the Lamb is lifted,
Where his lifeblood shall be spilled.

He endured the nails, the spitting,
Vinegar, and spear, and reed:
From that holy body beaten
Blood and water forth proceed:
Earth and stars and sky and ocean
By that flood from stain are freed.

Faithful Cross above all other,
One and only noble Tree!
None in foliage, none in blossom,
None in fruit thy peer may be;
Sweetest wood and sweetest iron!
Sweet the Weight that hangs on thee!

Bend thy boughs, O tree of Glory!
Let thy rigid sinews bend;
For a while the ancient rigor,
That thy birth bestowed, suspend;
And the King of heavenly beauty,
On thy bosom, gently tend.

Thou alone was counted worthy
This world's ransom to sustain;
That a shipwrecked race forever
Might a port of refuge gain;
With the sacred Blood anointed
Of the Lamb for sinners slain.

Glory be to God, and honor
In the highest! as is meet,
To the Son, and to the Father,
and eternal Paraclete,
Whose is boundless grace and power
Through the ages infinite.

Invocabo nomen tuum, Domine: ne avertas faciem tuam a clamore meo!

I will invoke Thy Name, O Lord, turn not thy face away from my cry!

In nomine Jesu omne genu flectatur caelestium, terrestrium, et infernorum: et omnis lingua confiteatur, quia Dominus Jesus Christus in gloria et Dei Patris.

At the name of Jesus every knee shall bend of those in heaven, on earth and under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that the Lord Jesus Christ rests in the glory of God the Father.

~ from The Monastic Diurnal

( Via Irenikon)

Our Lady of America

Some friends asked me about the vision of Our Lady of America. I knew nothing about it and so found this article informative. To quote:

History being what it was however, the United States consists primarily of English-speaking Anglo-Celtic peoples, with the exception of the Southwest corner of the United States, which is heavily Spanish-Mexican in language and culture.  That being clarified, let's get into what we know to be the prophecies of the coming era, especially as they relate to private revelation and the future of the United States.

Above I briefly mentioned the devotion to Our Lady of America.  This was canonically approved in 1963 by the Archbishop of Cincinnati, the late Paul Francis Leibold.  Because of some concern over this, the canonical approval was reviewed by canon lawyer Archbishop (now Cardinal) Raymond Burke in 2007.  (Cardinal Burke is now Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura at the Vatican.)  Cardinal Burke's letter of canonical review can be read here.  Cardinal Burke determined that Archbishop Leibold did indeed canonically approve the apparition and message according to the canonical norms of the Catholic Church, and that because of this, Catholics are free to practice what he described as this 'beautiful devotion.'  The message of Our Lady of America is long, but essentially simple in nature.  Basically, it involves a commitment to the indwelling presence of the Holy Trinity within the hearts of every Christian, and an absolute commitment to chastity and spiritual purity.  We are told in this message that this is God's will for the people of the United States, to lead the world in chastity and spiritual purity, and that failure to embrace God's will on this will only result in our national misery.  Not many details are given as to what this 'misery' entails.  We can assume that much of it is our own doing, since it is obvious that we Americans, as a nation, have not heeded the warning and reformed our lives accordingly.  We have seen American society unravel before our very eyes. (Read entire article.)

The Pope at Guadalupe

During his recent apostolic visit to Mexico Our Holy Father said:

Dear brothers and sisters, do not forget that true devotion to the Virgin Mary always takes us to Jesus, and "consists neither in sterile nor transitory feelings, nor in an empty credulity, but proceeds from true faith, by which we are led to recognize the excellence of the Mother of God, and we are moved to filial love towards our Mother and to the imitation of her virtues" (Lumen Gentium, 67). To love her means being committed to listening to her Son, to venerate the Guadalupana means living in accordance with the words of the blessed fruit of her womb.

At this time, when so many families are separated or forced to emigrate, when so many are suffering due to poverty, corruption, domestic violence, drug trafficking, the crisis of values and increased crime, we come to Mary in search of consolation, strength and hope. She is the Mother of the true God, who invites us to stay with faith and charity beneath her mantle, so as to overcome in this way all evil and to establish a more just and fraternal society.

With these sentiments, I place once again this country, all Latin America and the Caribbean before the gentle gaze of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I entrust all their sons and daughters to the Star of both the original and the new evangelization; she has inspired with her maternal love their Christian history, has given particular expression to their national achievements, to their communal and social initiatives, to family life, to personal devotion and to the Continental Mission which is now taking place across these noble lands. In times of trial and sorrow she was invoked by many martyrs who, in crying out "Long live Christ the King and Mary of Guadalupe" bore unyielding witness of fidelity to the Gospel and devotion to the Church. I now ask that her presence in this nation may continue to serve as a summons to defence and respect for human life. May it promote fraternity, setting aside futile acts of revenge and banishing all divisive hatred. May Holy Mary of Guadalupe bless us and obtain for us the abundant graces that, through her intercession, we request from heaven. (Read entire post.)

Blesseds Thomas Pilchard and Matthew Flathers

From Stephanie Mann. Not for the faint of heart.

Remember that hanging, drawing and quartering was live vivisection: a fumbling, inept executioner could prolong the suffering. It was a mercy if the hangman allowed the victim to die while hanging, or at least be unconscious. (Read entire post.)

Stephanie Mann on the HHS

From the Catholic Writers Guild:

CWG Member Stephanie Mann recently spoke at Discerning Hearts about the connection between the English Reformation and the struggle for religious freedom in the face of the current HHS mandates.

The wonderfully intrepid Stephanie Mann joins us once again to discuss “Supremacy and Survival:  How Catholic Endured the English Reformation”.  The lessons of the past have much to teach us today, especially those experienced in England during the times of the Tudors and Stuarts.  Religious liberty was the issue then, and is the issue today in many places throughout the world…even in the U.S.  It’s not just about freedom of speech, it’s about the freedom of religion.  What will they be writing about 500 years from now about the Catholics in America?  Interesting…

Go here to find the podcast and hear what Stephanie has to say. (Read entire post.)

Suffering and Love

From Colleen Hammond:

First, suffering detaches from this world and obliges the heart to rise to heaven, by means of the discomfort which it makes it experience here below, and which proves to it that it is made for something better than the perishable enjoyments of this world, namely, for eternal bliss. Without suffering, our heart would be lost in the love of present things; suffering alone can break the deceptive charms which incline us towards the earth and make us recognize that God alone is the bed of our repose, that outside Him all is vanity and vexation of spirit. Second, suffering purifies virtue, disengages it from all alloy, and makes it enter into that blessed state where God alone is everything to the heart. This is why the more God loves a soul, the less He allows it to remain sleeping for a long time at its ease; He troubles it in its vain enjoyments, and does not permit its heart to be soiled by the current of the waters of Babylon, that is to say, by worldly pleasures, Second, suffering strengthens virtue and gives it the character of solidity which atone renders it worthy of God. As long as a soldier has not exposed himself to fire in the battle, his courage is open to suspicion. It is in the same way impossible to count upon an effeminate soul which has not been tried in the crucible of suffering. A contradiction, a loss, a want of the respect due to it, is sufficient to make it murmur and complain. It is a deceptive piety which is only a mockery of true piety, false gold which shines in the sun, but which cannot resist the fire and vanishes in the crucible. The soul which is tried by tribulation, on the contrary, is fashioned to suffering and contradiction, and is accustomed to sacrifice, remains calm amidst the trials of life, kisses the hand of God which strikes it, directs a glance of submission towards heaven, and rejoices even in its trials, in which it sees the guarantee of future happiness. Whatever our fantastic nature of human judgment may cause it to suffer, the inequalities of temper which oppose it, the deceptions of self-love, the disgust to or the fatigue consequent upon labor, it is firm and unshaken, and the more its heart is wounded and made to bleed through contradiction, the happier it is to be able to offer itself to God as a victim marked with the sign of the cross of His well-beloved Son. Are these our dispositions? (Read entire post.)

Silence in Church

A novel conception. What don't we give it a try? To quote:

There is a simple truth at stake. There can be no real relationship with God, there can be no real meeting with God, without silence. Silence prepares for that meeting and silence follows it. An early Christian wrote, 'To someone who has experienced Christ himself, silence is more precious than anything else.' For us God has the first word, and our silence opens our hearts to hear him. Only then will our own words really be words, echoes of God's, and not just more litter on the rubbish dump of noise. (Read entire post.)

St. John Ogilvie

A Scottish martyr. According to Fr. Hardon:

What ever else was true of Ogilvie he was never lacking, let's call it, daring. He figured, 'all right, I can't seem to do much in Scotland, I'll go to England.' He went to London, got in touch with King James I. He figured, I'll start at the top. The Jesuits in disguise in England said, "Look, in England we don't do it this way. You go back to Paris and get directions from superiors, this free-lancing, we've got enough troubles without you, get directions." So he went back to France to Paris, for directions. First of all, he was reprimanded. The biographers say he was strongly rebuked by his official French superiors for having gone to Scotland in the first place. He got permission to go. They told him, "when we let you go to Scotland, we didn't give you permission to come back." 'Well, the Jesuit superiors in England told me to go back.' "Well, we're telling you, go back to Scotland." So he went back to Scotland and he went to the Metropolitan See of Attenborough and then and again his ministry, very short, very (?) and ended on the gallows.
He would organize more groups of Catholics, always disguised. He specialized in visiting the Catholics who were imprisoned for their faith. Those in prison, he would encourage, the others he would minister with the Sacraments. We're told that he made a few, but very few converts. It might be well to mention here just in passing that Presbyterianism was introduced into Scotland through the murder of the Cardinal Archbishop, primate of Scotland.

More here, from Nobility.

Remembering Clement Shahbaz Bhatti

The first anniversary of a martyrdom has just passed.

He was a devout Catholic deeply committed to justice for those on the margins, especially the Christian minority,  who said not long before he died, I only want a place at the feet of Jesus. I want my life, my character, my actions to speak for me and say that I am a follower of Jesus Christ. (Read entire post.)

Stations of the Cross

They date back to the fourth century.

The emperor Constantine permitted Christians to legally worship in the Roman Empire in 313 after 250 years of persecution. In 335, he erected the Church of the Holy Sepulcher at the site where Jesus’ tomb was believed to have been. Processions of pilgrims to the church, especially during Holy Week, began soon after its completion.

A woman named Egeria, a pilgrim from France, described one such pilgrimage which took place in the fourth century. The bishop of Jerusalem and about 200 pilgrims began "at the first cockcrow" at the site of Jesus’ agony on Holy Thursday night. They said a prayer, sung a hymn, and heard a Gospel passage, then went to the garden of Gethsemane and repeated the procedure.

They continued to Jerusalem itself, "reaching the (city) gate about the time when one man begins to recognize another, and thence right on through the midst of the city. All, to a man, both great and small, rich and poor, all are ready there, for on that special day not a soul withdraws from the vigils until morning," Egeria wrote.

Pilgrimages eventually took a fixed route from the ruins of the Fortress Antonia, where Pilate had his judgment hall, to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. That route through Jerusalem’s Old City gained acceptance as the way Jesus went to his death and remains unchanged today. It is known as the Via Dolorosa, Latin for the "Sorrowful Way."

Stops developed on the way to note specific events on the road to Calvary. In many cases, the pilgrims could only guess where some incidents took place because Jerusalem had been almost completely destroyed by Roman armies in 70 A.D.

The pilgrims brought back oil from the lamps that burned around Jesus’ tomb and relics from the holy places, and sometimes tried to recreate in Europe what they had seen in the Holy Land. The Moslem conquest of Palestine in the seventh century made such shrines more significant, since it made travel to the Holy Land dangerous.

Devotions to the Way of the Cross began in earnest after 1342, when the Franciscan friars were given custody of the holy sites in the Holy Land. The Franciscans have been closely identified with the devotion ever since; for years, Church regulations required a set of the stations to be blessed by a Franciscan when possible.

The number of stations varied widely, with some manuals of devotion listing as many as 37. The term "stations" in describing the Way of the Cross was first used in the narrative of an English pilgrim, William Wey, who visited the Holy Land twice in the 15th century.

Depictions of the events described in the Stations did not start becoming common in churches until Pope Innocent XI permitted the Franciscans in 1686 to erect such displays in all their churches. He also declared that all indulgences given for visiting the sacred sites in the Holy Land would apply to any Franciscan or Franciscan lay affiliate visiting a set of stations in a church.

Pope Benedict XIII extended that privilege to all the faithful in 1726. Five years later, Pope Clement XII allowed all churches to have stations and fixed the number at 14, where it has been ever since. In recent years, many churches have included the Resurrection as a 15th station. Benedict XIV specifically urged every church in 1742 to enrich its sanctuary with stations. (Read entire post.)

On Temptation

The Holy Father speaks:

As we read in the book "The Imitation of Christ," "as long as he lives man is never entirely free from temptation ... but it is with patience and with true humility that we become stronger than every enemy" (Liber I, c. XIII, Città del Vaticano 1982, 37), the patience and humility of following the Lord every day, learning to build our life not apart from him or as if he did not exist, but in him and with him, because he is the font of true life. The temptation to remove God, to create order in ourselves and the world by ourselves, counting on our own resources, is always present in human history.

Jesus proclaims that "the time is accomplished and the kingdom of God is at hand" (Mark 1:15), announces that in him something new is happening: God addressed man in an unexpected way, with a unique and concrete nearness, full of love; God becomes incarnate and enters into the world of man to take sin upon himself, to conquer evil and being man and the world back to God. But this announcement is accompanied by the request to correspond to a great gift. Jesus, in fact, adds: "convert and believe in the Gospel" (Mark 1:15); it is the invitation to have faith in God and every day to convert our life to his will, orienting every action and thought of ours to the good. The time of Lent is the propitious moment to renew and strengthen our relationship with God, through daily prayer, gestures of penance, works of fraternal charity. (Read entire post.)

St. Anne Line

Killed for trying to protect priests.

She was the daughter of William Heigham of Dunmow, Essex, a gentleman of means and an ardent Calvinist, and when she and her brother announced their intention of becoming Catholics both were disowned and disinherited. Anne married Roger Line, a convert like herself, and shortly after their marriage he was apprehended for attending Mass. After a brief confinement he was released and permitted to go into exile in Flanders, where he died in 1594.

When Father John Gerard established a house of refuge for priests in London, Mrs. Line was placed in charge. After Father Gerard’s escape from the Tower in 1597, as the authorities were beginning to suspect her assistance, she removed to another house, which she made a rallying point for neighboring Catholics.

On Candlemas Day, 1601, Father Francis Page, S.J. was about to celebrate Mass in her apartments, when priest-catchers broke into the rooms. Father Page quickly unvested, and mingled with the others, but the altar prepared for the ceremony was all the evidence needed for the arrest of Mrs. Line. She was tried at the Old Bailey 26 Feb., 1601, and indicted under the Act of 27 Eliz. for harboring a priest, though this could not be proved. The next day she was led to the gallows, and bravely proclaiming her faith, achieved the martyrdom for which she had prayed. Her fate was shared by two priests, [Blessed] Mark Barkworth, O.S.B., and Roger Filcock, S.J., who were executed at the same time. (Read entire post.)

The Judgment of God

From an old homily.

Make use of the time given you to work your salvation, and live such a life as may end with a happy death, and so obtain that favorable judgment which shall say: "Come, O soul, blessed of God my Father, possess the kingdom which is prepared for you from the beginning of the world."

There is no better means to avoid the rigor of God's judgments than to consider them continuously. Imitate the tree ... which, being designed to make a ship, and finding itself wind-shaken as it grew upon the land, said, "What will become of me in the sea?" If we be already moved in this world by the sole consideration of the punishment due to sin, think what it will be in that vast sea and dreadful abyss of God's judgment....

Nicolas Caussin, S.I.

La sagesse évangelique pour les sacrés entretiens de carême

1635

(Transl.: Sir Basil Brooke, adapted)

(Read entire post.)

The Practice of the Presence of God

Here is a magnificent passage from Fr. Killian Lynch, O.Carm.:

This hunger for God is our opportunity, as Carmelites – sons and daughters of the Prophet – to present the Practice of the Presence of God to our age in such a way that it will be relevant. It is our duty to re-vitalize this old Exercise that has been the very substance of Carmelite spirituality.

The time seems to be opportune. Fr. Dalrymple, who is a man of wide experience in England, holds that young people today find the beginnings of their prayer in things about them, especially in people, and from there they rise to God. He adds that “The idea of presence is an increasingly meaningful one to describe prayer and contemplation. By considering the different ways we are present to a stranger, a friend and a lover, we can see how prayer develops beyond the stage of saying prayers to an abiding sense of being with God in all the multifarious activities of the day till an enduring relationship (I-Thou) to God is achieved.” [4] (Read entire post.)

Confidence in God's Love

Fr. Mark offers some quotes from the great St. Peter Damian.

Your heart should beat with confidence in God's love and not grow hard and impenitent in the face of your great crime. It is not sinners, but the wicked who should despair; it is not the magnitude of one's crime, but contempt of God that dashes one's hopes. If, indeed, the devil is so powerful that he is able to hurl you into the depths of this vice, how much more effective is the strength of Christ to restore you to the lofty position from which you have plummeted? "Shall he that has fallen never get up again?" (Psalm 40:9). "If the ass of your flesh has fallen amuck under its load," (cf. Exodus 23:5) it is the goad of penance that urges it and the hand of the spirit that manfully draws it free. . . .

In the Desert with Jesus

Fr. Mark quotes the holy Benedictine abbess, Mother Mechtilde de Bar:

We must flee from creatures, withdraw into solitude, and keep a profound silence, and, through these things, enter into the dispositions of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not necessary that we should go looking for Him in the deserts of Palestine, where once He withdrew and fasted for forty days. He is solitary in the desert of the Most Holy Sacrament: there He has taken upon Himself the sins of all men, becoming (for our sakes) the penitent of the Eternal Father. (Read entire post.)

St. Claude in England

The spread of the Sacred Heart devotion.

Of a sudden, at the end of 1678, he was calumniously accused and arrested in connection with the Titus Oates "papist plot". After two days he was transferred to the severe King's Bench Prison where he remained for three weeks in extremely poor conditions until his expulsion from England by royal decree. This suffering further weakened Claude's health which, with ups and downs, deteriorated rapidly on his return to France.

During the summer of 1681 he returned to Paray, in very poor condition. On 15th February 1682, the first Sunday of Lent, towards evening Claude suffered the severe hemorrhage which ended his life.

On the 16th of June 1929 Pope Pius XI beatified Claude La Colombière, whose charism, according to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, was that of bringing souls to God along the gospel way of love and mercy which Christ revealed to us. (Read entire post.)

The Seven Servites

Seven young men who left the world.

This order was founded on the feast of the Assumption, 1233 when the Blessed Virgin appeared to seven noble Florentines, Buonfiglio dei Monaldi (Bonfilius), Giovanni di Buonagiunta (Bonajuncta), Bartolomeo degli Amidei (Amideus), Ricovero dei Lippi-Ugguccioni (Hugh), Benedetto dell’ Antella (Manettus), Gherardino di Sostegno (Sosteneus), and Alessio de’ Falconieri (Alexius). They belonged to seven patrician families of that city, and had earlier formed a confraternity of laymen, known as the Laudesi, or Praisers of Mary.

Our Lady bade them leave the world and live for God alone. On the following feast of her Nativity, 8 September, they retired to La Camarzia, just outside the walls of the city, and later on to Monte Senario, eleven miles from Florence.

Here again they had a vision of the Blessed Virgin. In her hands she held a black habit; a multitude of angels surrounded her, some bearing the different instruments of the Passion, one holding the Rule of St. Augustine, whilst another offered with one hand a scroll, on which appeared the title of Servants of Mary surrounded by golden rays, and with the other a palm branch. She addressed to them the following words: “I have chosen you to be my first Servants, and under this name you are to till my Son’s Vineyard. Here, too, is the habit which you are to wear; its dark colour will recall the pangs which I suffered on the day when I stood by the Cross of my only Son. Take also the Rule of St. Augustine, and may you, bearing the title of my Servants, obtain the palm of everlasting life.”

Among the holy men of the order was St. Philip Benizi, who was born on the day the Blessed Virgin first appeared to the Seven Founders (15 August), and afterwards became the great propagator of the order. The order developed rapidly not only in Italy but also in France and Germany, where the holy founders themselves spread devotion to the Sorrows of Mary. Their glorious son St. Philip continued the work and thus merited the title of Eighth Founder of the Order. The distinctive spirit of the order is the sanctification of its members by meditation on the Passion of Jesus and the Sorrows of Mary, and spreading abroad this devotion. (Read entire post.)

La Salle Martyrs to be Beatified

According to Zenit:

A great number of Church buildings were attacked and set on fire in 1931, including the most important school of the La Salle Brothers, the school Las Maravillas of Madrid. Moreover, some brothers who were canonized by Pope John Paul II -- I say canonized, because there was a miracle after their beatification -- were killed in Turón, Asturias, in 1934.

Then the Civil War followed and the killings continued and even worsened. At times things get somewhat mixed up and from this stems the mistake I just mentioned. It is the task of canonical processes to demonstrate with documents and testimonies the solely religious reasons that caused so many deaths. (Read entire article.)

"Soeur Espagne, sainte Espagne... tu as choisi!
Onze évêques, seize-mille prêtres massacrés... et pas une apostasie!"

~ Paul Claudel, "Aux martyrs espagnols"

The Virgin of the Poor

Fr. Mark reminds us of the Virgin of the Poor.

At Banneux, the Blessed Virgin revealed herself under two names. On January 19th, 1933, she said to little Mariette Béco, "I am the Virgin of the Poor." On the following March 2nd, she added, "I am the Mother of the Saviour, the Mother of God." Three times in the course of the apparitions, the Blessed Virgin asked Mariette to pray much. On Saturday, February 11th, she said, "I come to relieve suffering." (Read entire post.)

Five Martyrs and Their Shrine

From Supremacy and Survival:

Haydock had for a long time shown a great devotion to St. Dorothy, and was accustomed to commit himself and his actions to her daily protection. It may be that he first entered the college at Douai on that day in 1574-5, but this is uncertain. The "Concertatio Ecclesiae" says he was arrested on this day in 1581-2, but the Tower bills state that he was committed to the Tower on the 5th, in which case he was arrested on the 4th. On Friday the 7th all five were found guilty, and sentenced to death. The other four were committed in shackles to "the pit" in the Tower, but Haydock, probably lest he should elude the executioner by a natural death, was sent back to his old quarters. Early on Wednesday the 12th he said Mass, and later the five priests were drawn to Tyburn on hurdles; Haydock, being probably the youngest and certainly the weakest in health, was the first to suffer. An eyewitness has given us an account of their martyrdom, which Father Pollen, S.J., has printed in the fifth volume of the Catholic Record Society. (Read entire post.)

Blessed Thomas Sherwood

An English layman, tortured for the Faith.

He was by profession a wool draper and was associated with other Catholic families, in particular the family of Lady Tregonwell. The son of Lady Tregonwell turned him in to the authorities, who sent him to the Tower of London. There he was tortured in order to discover where he heard Mass, who the priest was who celebrated the Mass, and the names of other Catholics with whom he was associated.

St. Thomas More's son-in-law, William Roper, tried to send him money for medicine and food, but the officer at the Tower would not permit money to be spent on anything but clean straw for him to sleep on. Blessed Thomas Sherwood was twenty-seven years old at the time of his arrest, and his brother wrote an account of his sufferings and martyrdom. We also possess the directions given to the lieutenant of the Tower from the privy council, ordering him to obtain information from Thomas Sherwood on the rack. After his execution, his mother was arrested and put in prison, where she died fourteen years later. (Read entire post.)

Le Pèlerinage de Lourdes

A meditation from Pope Pius XII.

In many ways the nineteenth century was to become, after the turmoil of the Revolution, a century of Marian favors. To mention but a single instance, everyone is familiar today with the "miraculous medal." This medal, with its image of "Mary conceived without sin," was revealed to a humble daughter of Saint Vincent de Paul... .

A few years later, from February 11 to July 16, 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary was pleased, as a new favor, to manifest herself in the territory of the Pyrenees to a pious and pure child of a poor, hardworking, Christian family. "She came to Bernadette," We once said. "She made her her confidante, her collaboratrix, the instrument of her maternal tenderness and of the merciful power of her Son, to restore the world in Christ through a new and incomparable outpouring of the Redemption."

...
In a society which is barely conscious of the ills which assail it, which conceals its miseries and injustices beneath a prosperous, glittering, and trouble-free exterior, the Immaculate Virgin, whom sin has never touched, manifests herself to an innocent child. With a mother's compassion she looks upon this world redeemed by her Son's blood, where sin accomplishes so much ruin daily, and three times makes her urgent appeal: "Penance, penance, penance!" She even appeals for outward expressions: "Go kiss the earth in penance for sinners." And to this gesture must be added a prayer: "Pray to God for sinners."

As in the days of John the Baptist, as at the start of Jesus' ministry, this command, strong and rigorous, shows men the way which leads back to God: "Repent!" Who would dare to say that this appeal for the conversion of hearts is untimely today?

... the world, which today affords so many justifiable reasons for pride and hope, is also undergoing a terrible temptation to materialism ...

This materialism is not confined to that condemned philosophy which dictates the policies and economy of a large segment of mankind. It rages also in a love of money which creates ever greater havoc as modern enterprises expand, and which, unfortunately, determines many of the decisions which weigh heavy on the life of the people. It finds expression in the cult of the body, in excessive desire for comforts, and in flight from all the austerities of life. It encourages scorn for human life, even for life which is destroyed before seeing the light of day. ...

May priests be attentive to [the Blessed Virgin's] appeal and have the courage to preach the great truths of salvation fearlessly. The only lasting renewal, in fact, will be one based on the changeless principles of faith, and it is the duty of priests to form the consciences of Christian people. (Read entire post.)

Quis ut Deus?

Esther and I are reading the same book. Some thoughts, here:

Who is like God?

According to Father Charles Arminjon, the above was the war-cry uttered in heaven at the very beginning of time. This was cried out right from the moment when Lucifer the most "dazzling and radiant of the archangels" rebelled against God and became the ugliest and basest of the devils.

"There was then a great battle, in which truth and justice triumphed. The archangel Michael drew attention to the excellence and dignity of the Most High God. He reminded the good angels of the beneficence of Him who had created them... he kept them in fidelity and submission by saying to them, 'Quis ut Deus? Who is like God?'"...

At the time Father wrote his book The End of the Present World, (that is to say in 1881) he enjoined Christians to utter that battle-cry in order to awake the complacent and those blinded to the growing evils in the world. He wrote:

"Modern society today, in the face of heaven and earth, has proclaimed the most audacious boast every conceived by human pride; it declares that it will exclude God from laws and institutions, creating a social order and felicity completely independent of Him; and, confronted with this satanic design, it is our duty to protest loudly, saying, with the archangel, Quis ut Deus?

The foregoing could have been written in the present! We see our society more and more accepting of sin and evil and those who oppose it are maligned as the enemy. But take heart! Good will triumph over evil! It may not be an easy road to follow, but Christians cannot lose sight of God; we cannot lose hope. (Read entire post.)

A Happy Death

Scott Richert reminds us of the necessity of praying for a happy death. To quote:

All too often, we live each day, not as if it might be our last, but as if it is the first day of many. We slip into habits that don't seem that bad. We tell little white lies; we gossip and backbite; we can't quite find enough time for our children and spouse, let alone for prayer. But we think that we have all our bases covered, because we go to Mass every Sunday, and obey the other precepts of the Church.

A New Monastery in Ireland

Catholic Online reports.

The powerful story of this new Benedictine community must be read by my readers. You can find it in its entirety here. Here is a short excerpt:

The Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle is a community of men dedicated to the traditional monastic life according to the Rule of Saint Benedict, and to intercession for the sanctification of priests, in adoration and reparation before the Eucharistic Face of Christ. 

We were established during the Year of the Priest (2009-2010) in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma, by His Excellency, Most Reverend Edward J. Slattery.

By the grace of God, we have been invited by His Lordship, the Most Reverend Michael Smith, Bishop of Meath, to move our fledgling community to County Meath, Ireland. God willing, we will complete this move in February-March 2012.

Fr. Mark writes:

Ours is a mission to Ireland, it is true, but a mission that seeks not to teach, but to learn by abiding before the Eucharistic Face of Jesus; not to preach much, but to listen intently to the secrets of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus; not to reform anything or anyone but to reform ourselves by the steady and quiet pursuit of the conversion of our own hearts.