Tuesday, June 6, 2017
Litany of English Saints



For Private Devotion Only.

Remember not. O Lord, our offenses, nor those of our parents: neither take thou vengeance of our sins.

Lord have mercy.
Lord have mercy.

Christ have mercy.
Christ have mercy.

Lord have mercy.
Lord have mercy.

Jesus, receive our prayers. Lord Jesus, receive our petitions.

God the Father, Creator of the world, Have Mercy on us.

God the Son, Redeemer of mankind, Have Mercy on us.

God the Holy Ghost, Perfecter of the elect, Have Mercy on us.

Sacred Trinity, three Persons and one God, Have Mercy on us.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for England. *

Holy Mary, Queen of Angels, who alone destroyest all heresies, *

Holy Mary, Virgin of virgins, whose eminent sanctity our Lord hath honoured with so many miracles, *

St. Michael, prince of the Church, *

St. Gabriel, glorious messenger of our Saviour's Incarnation, *

St. Raphael, faithful guide of those who have lost their way, *

Holy Angel, to whose pious custody this province is committed, *

All ye holy Angels and blessed Spirits of heaven, who celebrate with joy the conversion of sinners, *

St. John Baptist, precursor of the Messias, and great example of penance, *

All ye holy Patriarchs and Prophets, friends of God, and advancers of His truth, *

St. Peter, prince of the Apostles, and supreme pastor of Christ's sheep, *

St. Paul, doctor of the Gentiles, who, of a persecutor, becamest a preacher, *

St. Andrew, first disciple of Christ, and constant lover of the cross, *

All ye holy Apostles and Evangelists, chief planners of the Christian faith, and zealous maintainers of Catholic unity, *

St. George, our principal patron, *

St. Alban, our first martyr, *

St. Thomas of Canterbury, who, as a faithful shepherd, laidst down thy life in defense of the Church, *

All ye holy Martyrs of this nation, who voluntarily lost your lives here to find them in a joyful eternity, *

St. Gregory, most vigilant Bishop of the Universal Church, whose pious zeal sent missioners from Rome for the conversion of our ancestors, *

St. Augustin, Apostle of this nation, by whom our forefathers were reclaimed from paganism and infidelity, *

St. Bede, most venerable Confessor, by whose religious life and learned writings the Catholic faith was eminently propagated amongst us, *

All ye holy Bishops and Confessors, by whose wisdom and sanctity this island was once a flourishing seminary of religion, *

St. Helen, most holy queen, and mother of the first Christian emperor, *

St. Ursula, most blessed martyr, who died in the a glorious defense of faith and chastity, *

St. Winefride, most admirable virgin, even in this unbelieving generation still miraculous, *

All ye holy Saints of this nation, who, amidst the innumerable joys of heaven, still retain a particular charity for the salvation of your country, *

All ye holy Saints of all places who, though divided here in several regions, were united in the same faith, and now enjoy one common felicity, *

Be merciful, Spare us, O Lord.

Be merciful, to us

Graciously hear us, O Lord.

From the dangers most justly threatening our sins, Deliver England, O Lord. **

From the spirit of pride, rebellion, and apostacy, **

From the spirit of hypocrisy, profaneness, and sacrilege, **

From the presumption of private opinion, and contempt of the authority of thy Church, **

From schism, heresy, and all blindness of heart, **

From gluttony, drunkenness, and the false liberty of an undisciplined life, **

We sinners, Beseech thee, hear us.

That it may please thee to hasten the conversion of this our miserable country, and reunite it to the ancient faith and communion of thy Church, We beseech thee, hear us. ***

That it may please thee particularly to have mercy on our relations, friends, and benefactors, and open their eyes to see the beauty of thy truth, and embrace it, ***

That it may please thee to comfort and strengthen thy servants, who suffer for the Catholic faith, ***

That it may please thee not to permit the weakest of us by any temptation whatsoever, to fall away from thee and thy truth, ***

That it may please thee to assist with thy special grace those good pastors who venture their lives for their flock, ***

That it may please thee daily to augment in them the fire of thy love and the zeal of gaining souls, ***

That it may please thee to preserve the Catholics of this land from all sin and scandal, ***

That it may please thee so to adorn their lives with solid piety, that others, seeing their good works, may glorify thee our heavenly Father, ***

That it may please thee to enlighten the hearts of all schismatics with thy powerful grace, ***

That it may please thee to shew them the danger of their state, and the great importance of eternal salvation, ***

That it may please thee mercifully to look down from heaven on the tears of the afflicted, and the blood of so many martyrs, who have spent their lives, and suffered death, to convert us to thee, ***
Son of God, ***

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.

Christ hear us.
Christ graciously hear us.

Let us pray.

Almighty and everlasting God, whose judgments are righteous and counsels unsearchable; who visitest the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation, and yet at length rememberest mercy; forgive, we beseech thee, the sins of our forefathers, and turn away thy wrath from their posterity: deliver the ignorant from being seduced by false teachers, and the learned from being abused by their passions, and the whole nation from the spirit of contradiction, licentiousness, and discord; that instead of so many divisions and changes in religion, under which they labour, they may be again restored to that unity of mind, steadiness of faith, and tranquillity of conscience, which is no where to be sought but in the communion of thy Church, nor possible to be found but by the conduct of thy grace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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Friday, June 2, 2017
Sts. Marcellinus, Peter, and Erasmus


Simple (1954 Calendar): June 2

The following is taken from The Liturgical Year by Abbot Gueranger:

The glory of martyrdom illumines this day with a profusion rarely met with in the cycle; and already we seem to descry the rosy dawn of that brightest day of this month, on which Peter and Paul will consummate in their blood their own splendid confession. Italy and Gaul, Rome and Lyons concur in forming a legion of heroes in the service of heaven. For today Lyons, the illustrious daughter of Rome, is keeping the special festival of a whole phalanx of warriors, headed by the veteran chief, St Pothinus, disciple of St Polycarp, who, in the second century, levied the brave recruits of his battalion on the banks of the Rhone. But to the mother Church are due the first honours. Let us, then, hail Marcellinus, together with the numerous progeny begotten by his fruitful priesthood, and rendered worthy by the Holy Ghost to share in his triumph. Let us hail, likewise, the exorcist, Peter, leading to the sacred font a long line of pagans whom he won over to Christ by proving to them the weakness of the demons.

When Christianity appeared on earth, Satan was indeed, and visibly so, the Prince of this world. Unto him was every altar reared; to his empire were all laws and customs subservient. From the depths of their famous temples, the demon chiefs directed the political affairs of the cities that came to consult their oracles; under divers names, the frailest of the fallen angels found honour and influence, at the domestic hearth; others had posts assigned to them, in forests, on mountains, at fountains, or on sea, occupying, in opposition to God, this world that had been created by him for his Glory, but which Satan, through man’s complicity, had conquered. Four thousand years of abandonment on the part of Heaven, permitted the usurper to consolidate his conquest; and a well planned resistance was skillfully prepared, against the day wherein the lawful King should offer to re-enter on his rights.

The coming of the Word made Flesh, was the grand signal for the asserting of the divine claim. The prince of this world, personally vanquished by the Son of God, understood well enough that he must needs return to the depths of hell. But the countless powers of darkness constituted by him, would maintain the struggle, through the length of ages, and dispute their position inch by inch. Driven from towns by the abjurations of holy Church and the triumph of martyrs, the infernal legions would fain marshall their ranks in the wilderness; there under the leadership of an Anthony or a Pachomius, the soldiers of Christ must wage against them ceaseless and terrific battle. In the West, Benedict, the Patriarch of Monks, in his turn, meets with altars to the demons, yea, with demons themselves on the heights of Cassino, as late as the sixth century. Even in the seventh, they are found contending against St. Gall, for hold on the woods, lakes, and rocks of what we now call Switzerland; and at last they are heard uttering mournful complaint, because, driven as they have been from the haunts of men, even such desolate spots as these are denied them. Verily, in the divine mind, the vocation of a monk to the desert, has for its end, not alone flight of the world and its concerns, but likewise, the pursuit of demons into their last entrenchments.

We have dwelt thus upon the foregoing considerations, because their importance is extreme, and is equalled only by depth of systematic ignorance persisted in, on this subject. True Christians of course firmly believe, now as formerly, in the secret and wholly spiritual combat which the soul has to sustain against hell, in the privacy of one’s own conscience; but too many have no scruple in rejecting, as if belonging to the domain of imagination, whatever is related of those other combats maintained, by our fathers, against the demons, in an exterior and more public manner. The excuse for such Christians is no doubt, in the fact that they live in a land, where, centuries ago, this war in its external phases, was ended by the social victory of Christendom. But the Holy Ghost has declared that the old serpent, bound up for a thousand years, is at last to be again unchained for a while.1 If, perchance, we be nearing this fatal epoch, it is high time to look about us; ill prepared shall we be for the waging again of the olden battles, by such ignorance as ours, in which we are maintained by that habit of abandoning, to the conceited impertinence of the shallow science that rules the day, facts, (under the name of legend,) the best attested in the history of our ancestors. After all, what is History, even, since the revolt of Lucifer, but the picture of the war that is being waged between God and Satan? Now if, as we have said, Satan has, by divine permission, invaded the exterior world, as well as that of souls, must it not be needful, in order, (as our Lord expresses it) to cast him out, (John, xii. M. 2) that the struggle with him be breast to breast and foot to foot, inasmuch as it has assumed an exterior and visible character?

“The Word,” says Saint Justin, ” was made Flesh “for two ends: to save believers, and to drive away “demons.” (Apol. vi.)  So also, the expulsion of demons from the places they occupy in this material world, and specially the bodies of men, the noblest part thereof, would appear in the Gospel, to have been one of the chief characteristics of our Saviour’s power. Again, when on quitting the earth, He sent his Apostles to continue His work amidst the Nations, this is the very thing He singles out as a primary sign of the mission they are to fulfil. (Mk, 16:17) The world of that day made no mistake about it. Soon enough had the pagans to state the cessation of the ancient oracles, in every place; (Plutarch, De oraculor. Defectu) the cause of a phenomenon of such import to the ancient religion was evident to all: the very demons themselves were not backward in ascribing to the Christian, this their enforced silence. As regards this power of Christianity against hell, the Apologists of the second and third centuries, appeal, on the subject, to public testimony, without fear of a contradicting voice. “Before the eyes of everyone,” says Saint Justin to the Emperors, “the Christians drive “out demons in the Name of Jesus Christ, not “only in Rome, but in the whole universe.” (2 Apol. vi.) The gods of Olympus beheld themselves shamefully unmasked, in the presence of their confused adorers, and Tertullian might well challenge thus the magistrates of the Empire: “Let one of those men, who declare themselves to be under the power of the gods be brought before your tribunals: at the commanding word of the first comer amongst us, the spirit whereby they are possessed, will be constrained to confess what he is ; if he avow not himself a demon and no god, fearing to lie unto a Christian, at once shed the blood of this Christian blasphemer. But no; the terror they have of Christ is the reason why the mere touch, or even breathing of one of his servants, forces them to take to flight.” (Apol. 23)

So then, we see, Baptism sufficed to give unto man such power as this; and verily this was the real meaning of our Lord’s promise, when speaking of those who would believe in Him, and not alone of the heads of the Church, He said: In my name they shall cast out devils. (Mk 16:17)  At an early date, however, the Church organising the holy war, constituted among her sons one special Order having for its direct mission the pursuit of Satan, on every point of this visible world. The Exorcists were by this delegation, invested with a power that must needs accelerate the downfall of the prince of this world; and, what would be all the more odious and humiliating in this defeat, the Church raised no higher than to the rank of inferior clergy, an order so terrible to hell. Lucifer had aimed at being equal to the Most-High; (Is 14:12-15) hurled down from heaven, he at least flattered himself in his folly to be able to supplant God upon the earth: and lo! the charge of defeating him here, is confided not to angels, his equals by nature, but to men, yea, to the least and lowest of this race so easily tricked, that for long ages he had seen men prostrate before him! Lo ! the hand of flesh constrains him, spirit though he be, to come off his throne; at their word he must needs cast away his vain adornments, he must unmask himself; the water they bless, rekindles within him his eternal tortures; of the prince of this world and his pomps, naught remains but mere Satan, the ugly faced apostate, the condemned criminal wincing in the dust, at the feet of the sons of men, or fleeing like a dry leaf, at the breath of their mouth.

The archangel Michael recognizes in these sons of Adam, the worthy allies of the faithful angels he led forward to victory. But amid these continuators of the mighty battle begun on the heights of heaven,1 the Exorcist, Peter, comes before us to-day radiant with matchless splendour. The triumph of martyrdom has been added to his victories, won over Satan’s cohorts. None better than he, drove hell backwards; for, chasing the demons out of men’s bodies, he moreover made conquest of their souls. The Priest Marcellinus, his companion in martyrdom, as he had been in victory, is likewise his associate in glory. The Church wishes that these two names of theirs so redoubtable to the spirits of darkness, should shine in one same aureola here below as in heaven. Daily doth she render them the most solemn homage in her power by naming them both, on the dyptich of the Holy Sacrifice together with the Apostles and her first song. Such was the importance of the mission they fulfilled and the renown of their final combat, that their bodies, translated to the Via Latina, became the nucleus of an illustrious cemetery. The Christians of the age of peace, that came soon after their glorious confession, vied with one another in obtaining sepulture near these soldiers of Christ whose protection they craved; Constantine the Great, the vanquisher of Idolatry, deposited at their sacred feet, the remains of his mother, Saint Helena, who had herself become a terror to the demons by her discovering the True Cross. A celebrated inscription was composed in their honour, by Saint Damasus, who in childhood, had learned the details of their martyrdom, from the very executioner himself, afterwards converted; this inscription hard by their tomb, completed the monuments of that catacomb, wherein Christian art had multiplied its richest teachings.

To the memory of Saints Marcellinus and Peter, is joined in the Liturgy of to-day, the name of a holy Bishop and Martyr, formerly well known to the Faithful. If the Acts of his life that have reached us, are not free from all reproach in a critical point of view, the favours obtained by the intercession of this Saint Erasmus or Elmo, wafted his name over the whole of Christendom, as is attested by the numberless forms this name assumed, in various countries of the West during the Middle Ages. He holds a place in the group of Saints styled auxiliatores or Helpers, whose cultus is wide spread in Germany and Italy more particularly. Mariners look upon him as their patron, because of a certain miraculous voyage related in his life; one of the tortures to which he was subjected during his Martyrdom, has made him be invoked for the cholic. Nor should we forget to mention here, how great a veneration Saint Benedict, the Patriarch of Western Monks, had for Saint Erasmus; when he quitted the Campagna for his solitude on the banks of the Anio, he marked his principal station between Subiaco and Monte Cassino, by building a church and monastery, at Veroli, under the invocation of this holy Martyr; another was dedicated by him in Rome likewise, to St. Erasmus.

Let us now read the few lines devoted by the Church to the memory of our three Saints:
Peter, an Exorcist, was cast into prison at Rome, under the Emperor Diocletian, by the Judge Serenus, because he confessed the Christian faith. He there set free Paulina, the daughter of Artemius, the keeper of the prison, from an evil spirit which tormented her. Upon this, Artemis and his wife and all their house, with their neighbours who had run together to see the strange thing, would fain be attached unto the service of Jesus Christ. Peter therefore brought them to Marcellinus, the Priest, who baptised them all. When Serenus heard of it, he called Peter and Marcellinus before him, aud sharply rebuked them, adding to his bitter words, threats and terrors, unless they would deny Christ. Marcellinus answered him with Christian boldness, whereupon he caused him to be buffeted, separated him from Peter, and shut him up naked, in a prison strewn with broken glass, without either food or light. Peter also’he straitly confined. But when both of them were found but to increase in faith and courage, in their bonds, they were beheaded, unshaken in their testimony, and confessing Jesus Christ gloriously, by their blood.

Erasmus Bishop was, in Campania, under the empire of Diocletian and Maximian, beaten with clubs and whips loaded with lead, and afterwards plunged into resin, sulphur, melted lead, boiling pitch, wax also and oil. From all this, he came forth whole and sound; which wonder converted many to believe in Christ. He was remanded again to prison, and straitly bound in iron fetters. But from these he was wondrously delivered by an Angel. At last, being taken to Formi, Maximian caused him to be subjected to divers torments, and, in the end, being clad in a coat of red-hot brass, the power of God made him be more than conqueror in all these things also. Afterwards, having converted to the faith and confirmed many therein, he obtained the palm of a glorious martyrdom.
You three holy Martyrs did all confess Jesus Christ, in the midst of the most terrific storm ever raised by the demon against the Churoh. Though all three in different grades of the hierarchy, you were alike guides of the Christian people, drawing them by thousands, in your train, into the arena of martyrdom, and by still more numerous conversions, filling up the void made in earth’s chosen band, by the departure of your victorious companions to heaven. Wherefore, the Church, this day, joins her grateful homage, here below, with the silvery shouts of glad congratulation that ring through the Church triumphant. Be ye propitious, as of yore, in alleviating the ills that overwhelm mankind in this vale of tears. The excess of man’s misery, is that he seems to have forgotten how to call on such powerful protectors, in his hour of need. Revive your memory, in our midst, by new benefits to our race.

As thou, O Erasmus, must formerly protected by heaven, do thou now, in thy turn, succour those who are a prey to the tempest-tossed sea. In thy last hour of bitter anguish, thou didst suffer thine executioners to tear thy very bowels; lend then a kindly aid to such as call upon thy name when racked by pains which bear some resemblance, though but faint, to what thou didst endure for Christ.

Peter and Marcellinus, linked one to another both in toil and in glory, cast gentle eyes upon us: one glance of yours would make all hell to tremble,— would drive far from us its darksome cohorts. But how much is your aid needed in society at large,—in the whole visible world! The foe you did so mightily thrust backwards into the fiery pit, is once more master. Alas! have we come to the time, in which again taking up war against the Saints, it shall be granted him to overcome them? Scarce does he even hide himself, now-a-days. Not only does he lead the world by a thousand springs ostensibly put in his hands by Societies formerly Secret; but he may be seen trying to push his way into gatherings of all sorts, into the very bosom of homes, as a family guest, as a comrade in diversion or in business, with table turning and all those processes for divination such as Tertullian denounced in your early day. The expulsion of demons by Christianity had been so absolute that up to more recent times, such fatal practices had fallen into utter oblivion amongst us. If at first, in Christian families, the warning voice of the Pastors of God’s Church has prevailed over the incitements of an unhealthy curiosity, still a sect has since been formed, in which Satan is sole guide and oracle. The Spiritists, as they are called, in concert with free-masonry, are preparing the way for the final invasion of the exterior world, by infernal bands. Antichrist, with his usurped power and vain prestige, will be but the common product of political lodges and of this sect, wherein the task is proposed of bringing back, under a new form, the ancient mysteries of paganism. Valiant Soldiers of the Church, make us, we beseech you, worthy of our forefathers. If the Christian army must needs decrease in numbers, let faith all the more wax strong therein; let courage neither lack nor go astray; may its ranks be seen facing the foe, at that last hour in which the Lord Jesus will slay, with the breath of His Mouth, the man of sin, and plunge once again and forever, the whole of Satan’s crew, down into the lowest depths of the bottomless pit.

Prayer:

O God, who dost gladden us by the yearly festival of Thy holy Martyrs Marcellinus, Peter and Erasmus, grant, we beseech Thee, that, as we rejoice in their merits, so our fervor may be kindled by their example. Through our Lord . . .
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Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Feast of Our Lady, Queen of All Saints and Mother of Fair Love

Today, May 31st, is a deeply Marian today.  Today is not only the Feast of the Queenship of Mary but also the Feast of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces and the Feast of Our Lady, Queen of All Saints and Mother of Fair Love.

The Feast of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces is a "Mass in Some Places" as is the Feast of  Our Lady, Queen of All Saints and Mother of Fair Love.   Propers for the Mass of Our Lady, Queen of All Saints and Mother of Fair Love follow.

Mass Propers for the Our Lady, Queen of All Saints and Mother of Fair Love

Introit:

Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see thy Queen, whom the morning stars praise: at whose beauty the sun and moon wonder, and all the sons of God make a joyful melody. (P.T. Alleluia, alleluia). Ps. How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! my soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord. V. Glory be to the Father

Collect:

O God, Who hast given us to honour the most blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of all Saints, and Mother of fair love: graciously grant that, by her safeguarding, we may love Thee in all things and above all things on earth, and enjoy the happy fellowship of Thy Saints in heaven. Through our Lord.

Epistle:

I have stretched out my branches as the turpentine tree: and my branches are of honour and grace. As the vine I have brought forth a pleasant odour: and my flowers are the fruit of honour and riches. I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope. In me is all grace of the way and of the truth: in me is all hope of life and of virtue. Come over to me, all ye that desire me: and be filled with my fruits. For my spirit is sweet above honey: and mine inheritance above honey and the honeycomb. My memory is unto everlasting generations. They that eat me shall yet hunger: and they that drink me shall yet thirst. He that hearkeneth to me shall not be confounded: and they that work by me shall not sin. They that explain me shall have life everlasting

Gradual:

The Lord made her regent over all his kingdom, and he gave her the crown, that she should bring up her son for the kingdom. V. A crown of gold upon her head wherein is engraved holiness, an ornament of honour, a work of strength

Alleluia:

Come thou, our Queen, come, O Lady, into thy garden. The smell of thy garments is above all aromatical spices. Alleluia

Gospel:

At that time: There stood by the cross of Jesus, His mother and His mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. When Jesus therefore had seen His mother and the disciple standing whom He loved, He saith to His mother: Woman, behold thy son. After that, He saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own

Offertory:

Whosoever is a little one, let him come to me. And to the unwise she said: Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mingled for you, alleluia.

Secret:

We offer thee, O Lord, the sacrifice of praise, rejoicing in the glory of the Mother of Thy Son: trusting that, supported by her patronage, we may be relieved both of ills at hand, and of those to come. Through the same our Lord.

Communion:

Most worthy Queen of the world, Mary ever a Virgin, intercede for our peace and salvation, thou who barest Christ the Lord, the Saviour of all (P.T. Alleluia).

Post Communion:

Having fed on heavenly delicacies, we humbly beseech Thee, Lord our God: that as Thou hast established a protection and patronage for us in the most blessed Mother of Thy Son, Thou mayest also bestow a crown of everlasting glory on those who celebrate her solemnities. Through the same our Lord
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Tuesday, May 30, 2017
St. Francis of Assisi before the Sultan

In 1219, the sultan Malik al-Kamil received St. Francis of Assisi in Damietta and posed to him a question: “Your Lord teaches in the Gospels that you should not return evil for evil nor refuse your mantle to someone who wants to take your tunic. Therefore, you Christians should not invade our lands.”

To which the Blessed Francis replied: “I think you have not read the whole Gospel. Elsewhere, indeed, it is said: ‘If you eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you.’ With that Jesus wanted to teach us that when a man has a relative, however beloved he must be, even if he was as dear as the apple of our eyes, if he tempted us to turn away from the faith and love of our God we should be resolved to separate, alienate and eradicate him from us. For all this, Christians act according to justice when they invade your lands and fight you, for you blaspheme the name of Christ and fight to take away from His religion as many as you can. However, if you want to know, confess and worship the Creator and Redeemer of the world, I will love you as myself.’ All those present were taken with admiration by his response

(Fonti Francescane, 3rd Section, Altre Testimonianze Francescane, N° 2691, as quoted in Crusade Magazine, May/June 2015, p. 9).
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St. Felix I


Double (1954 Calendar): May 30

Pope Felix I, a Roman by birth, was pope from 269 to 274 A.D. In his love of the true doctrine of the Church, he courageously condemned the heretical bishop of Antioch and is said to have died a martyr under Aurelian. "The sacred Liturgy puts all these gems [the virtues of the saints] before us . . . that guided by them we may follow the saints into glory" (Pope Pius XII).

Quoting from the Church, Dom Gueranger includes this life of Pope Felix in his Liturgical Year:
Felix, a Roman by birth, and son of Constantius, governed the Church during the reign of the emperor Aurelian. He decreed that the Mass should be celebrated upon the shrines and tombs of the Martyrs. He held two ordinations in the month of December, and made nine Priests, five Deacons, and five Bishops for divers places. He was crowned with Martyrdom, and was buried on the Aurelian Way, in a Basilica which he himself had built and dedicated. He reigned two years, four months, and twenty-nine days.
And Dom Guernager continues in his own words:
Thou, O holy Pontiff, didst imitate thy Divine Master in his Death, for thou gavest thy life for thy sheep. Like him, too, thou art to rise from thy tomb, and thy happy soul shall be reunited to its body, which suffered death in testimony of the truth thou proclaimedst at Rome. Jesus is the first-born of the dead; thou followedst him in his Passion, thou shalt follow him in his Resurrection. Thy body was laid in those venerable vaults, which the piety of early Christians honored with the appellation of Cemeteries—a word which signifies a place wherein to sleep. Thou, O Felix, wilt awaken on that great day, whereon the Pasch is to receive its last and perfect fulfillment:—pray that we also may then share with thee in that happy Resurrection. Obtain for us that we may be faithful to the graces received in this year’s Easter; and prepare us for the visit of the Holy Ghost, who is soon to descend upon us, that he may give stability to the work that has been achieved in our souls by our merciful Savior.
Prayer:

O Eternal Shepherd, who appointed blessed Felix shepherd of the whole Church, let the prayers of this martyr and supreme pontiff move You to look with favor upon Your flock and to keep it under Your continual protection. Through our Lord . . .

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Friday, May 26, 2017
St. Philip Neri

Double (1954 Calendar): May 26

Philip Neri (1515-95), a native of Florence, settled in Rome. He thought of offering himself for the foreign missions, but a Benedictine friend told him that his apostolate was in Rome. Philip gathered some companions into a group that later became the renowned Congregation of the Oratory. In 1551 he was ordained to the priesthood. Philip's Oratory soon constituted the center of religious life in the Eternal City, and its founder fully deserved the title by which he was called: "Second Apostle of Rome." This lovable saint attracted the trust and affection of people in every walk of life by his abounding joy in the Lord.

The following is Adapted from The Liturgical Year by Abbot Gueranger:

Joy is the leading feature of the Paschal Season—a supernatural joy which springs from our delight at seeing the glorious triumph of our Emmanuel, and from the happiness we feel at our own deliverance from the bonds of death. This interior joy was the characteristic of the Saint whom we honor today. His heart was ever full of a jubilant enthusiasm for what regards God; so that we could truly apply to him those words of Scripture: A secure mind is like a continual feast (Prov. 15: 15). One of his later disciples, the illustrious Father Faber, tells us in his beautiful treatise, Growth in Holiness, that cheerfulness is one of the chief means for advancing in Christian perfection. We will therefore welcome with gladness and veneration the benevolent and light-hearted St. Philip Neri, the Apostle of Rome, and one of the greatest Saints produced by the Church in the 16th century.

Love of God—but a love of the most ardent kind, and one that communicated itself to all that came near him—was our Saint's characteristic virtue. All the Saints loved God; for the love of God is the first and greatest of the commandments: but St. Philip's whole life was, in an especial manner, the fulfillment of this divine precept. His entire existence seemed to be but one long transport of love for his Creator; and had it not been for a miracle of God's power and goodness, this burning love would have soon put an end to his mortal career. He was in his 29th year, when one day—it was within the Octave of Pentecost—he was seized with such a vehemence of divine charity that two of his ribs broke, thus making room for the action of the heart to respond freely to the intensity of the love of the soul. The fracture was never healed; it caused a protrusion which was distinctly observable; and owing to this miraculous enlargement of the region of the heart, St. Philip was enabled to live fifty years more, during which time he loved his God with a fervor and strength which would do honor to one already in Heaven.

This seraph in human flesh was a living answer to the insults heaped upon the Catholic Church by the so-called Reformation. Luther and Calvin had called Holy Church the harlot of Babylon; and yet She had, at that very time, such children as St. Teresa of Avila and St. Philip Neri of Rome, to offer to the admiration of mankind. But Protestantism cared little or nothing for piety or charity; its great object was throwing off the yoke of restraint. Under pretense of religious liberty, it persecuted them that adhered to the true Faith; it forced itself by violence where it could not enter by seduction; but it never aimed at or thought of leading men to love their God. The result was that wheresoever it imposed its errors, devotedness was at an end—we mean that devotedness which leads man to make sacrifices for God or for his neighbor. A very long period of time elapsed after the Reformation before Protestantism ever gave a thought to the infidels who abounded in various parts of the globe... but anything like the devotedness of Catholic institutions is an impossibility for Protestantism, were it only for this reason, that its principles are opposed to the Evangelical Counsels, which are the great sources of the spirit of sacrifice, and are prompted by a motive of the love of God.

Glory, then, to St. Philip Neri, one of the worthiest representatives of charity in the 16th century! It was owing to his zeal that Rome and Christendom at large were replenished with a new life by the frequentation of the Sacraments and by the exercises of Catholic piety. His word, his very look, used to excite people to devotion. His memory is still held in deep veneration, especially in Rome, where his Feast was kept with the greatest solemnity. He shares with Ss. Peter and Paul the honor of being Patron of the Holy City. Formerly, on his Feast, the Pope went, with great solemnity, to the Church of St. Mary in Vallicella, and paid the debt of gratitude which the Holy See owes to the Saint who accomplished such great things for the glory of our Holy Mother the Church.

St. Philip had the gift of miracles; and though seeking to be forgotten and despised, he was continually surrounded by people who besought him to pray for them, either in their temporal or spiritual concerns. Death itself was obedient to his command, as in the case of the young prince Paul Massimo. The young prince, when breathing his last, desired that St. Philip should be sent for, in order that he might assist him to die well. The Saint was offering Mass at the time. As soon as the Holy Sacrifice was over, he repaired to the palace; but he was too late—he found the father, sister and the whole family in tears. The young prince had died after an illness of 65 days, which he had borne with most edifying patience. St. Philip fell upon his knees; and, after a fervent prayer, he put his hand on the head of the corpse, and called the prince by his name.

Thus awakened from the sleep of death, Paul opened his eyes, and looking at St. Philip, said to him, "My Father!" He then added these words: "I only wished to go to confession." The assistants left the room, and St. Philip remained alone with the prince. After a few moments the family were called back; and in their presence, Paul began to speak to St. Philip regarding his mother and sister who had been taken from him by death, and whom he loved with the most tender affection. During the conversation, the prince's face regained all it had lost by sickness. His animation was that of one in perfect health. The Saint then asked him if he would wish to die again. "Oh yes," answered the prince, "most willingly; for I should then see my mother and sister in Heaven." "Take then,” said St. Philip, "take thy departure for Heaven, and pray to the Lord for me." At these words, the young prince expired once more, and entered into the joys of eternal life, leaving his family to mourn his departure, and venerate a Saint such as Philip.

He was almost continually visited by Our Lord with raptures and ecstasies; he was gifted with the spirit of prophecy, and could read the secrets of the conscience. His virtues were such as to draw souls to him by an irresistible charm. The youth of Rome, rich and poor, used to flock to him. Some he warned against danger; others he saved, after they had fallen. The poor and sick were the object of his unceasing care. He seemed to be everywhere in the city by his works of zeal, which gave an impulse to piety that has never been forgotten.


St. Philip was convinced that one of the principal means for maintaining the Christian spirit is preaching the word of God: hence he was most anxious to provide the faithful with apostolic men, who would draw them to God by good and solid preaching. He established, under the name of The Oratory, an institute, the object of which is to encourage Christian piety among the people. By founding it, St. Philip aimed at securing the services, zeal, and talent of priests who are not called to the Religious life, but who, by uniting their labors together, would produce great good to the souls of men.

Thus did he afford to priests, whose vocation did not lead them to the Religious state, the great advantages of a common rule and mutual good example, which are such powerful aids both in the service of God and in the exercise of pastoral duties. But the holy Apostle was a man of too much faith not to have an esteem of the Religious life as a state of perfection. He never lost an opportunity of encouraging a vocation to that holy state. The Religious Orders were indebted to him for so many members, that his intimate friend and admirer, St. Ignatius of Loyola, used playfully to compare him to a bell, which calls others to the chapel (of the Religious life), yet never goes in itself!

The awful crisis of the 16th century, through which the Christian world had to pass, and which robbed the Catholic Church of so many provinces, was a source of keenest grief to St. Philip during the whole of his life. His heart bled at seeing so many thousands of souls fall into the abyss of error and heresy. He took the deepest interest in the efforts that were made to reclaim those that had been led astray by the pretended Reformation. He kept a watchful eye on the tactics wherewith Protestantism sought to maintain its ground. The Centuries of Magdeburg, for example, suggested to his zeal a counterbalance of truth. The Centuries was a series of historical essays, whereby the Reformers sought to prove that the Catholic Church had changed the ancient faith, and introduced superstitious practices in the place of those that were used in the early ages of Christianity. A work like this, with its falsified quotations, its misrepresentation and its frequent invention of facts, was destined to do great injury; and St. Philip resolved to meet it by a work of profound erudition—a true history, compiled from authentic sources.

One of the fathers of his Oratory, Caesar Baronius, was just the man for such an undertaking; and St. Philip ordered him to take the field against the enemy. The Ecclesiastical Annals were the fruit of this happy thought; and Baronius himself, at the beginning of Book VIII, acknowledges that St. Philip was the originator of the work. Centuries have passed away since then. It is easy for us, with the means which we now have, to detect certain imperfections in the Annals; at the same time, it is acknowledged on all sides that they form by far the truest and finest History of the Church of the first 1200 years—which is as far as the learned Cardinal went. Heresy felt the injury it must needs sustain by such a History. The sickly and untrustworthy erudition of the Centuriators could not stand before an honest statement of facts; and we may safely assert that the progress of Protestantism was checked by the Annals of Baronius, which showed that the Church was then as She had ever been—the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3: 15).

St. Philip's sanctity and Baronius' learning secured the victory. Numerous conversions soon followed, consoling the Church for the losses She had sustained. And if in more recent times many have returned to the ancient Faith, it is but fair to attribute the movement (especially the Oxford movement), in part at least, to the success of the historical method begun by the Annals.

Prayer:

O God, who didst exalt blessed Philip, Thy Confessor, with Thy Saints in glory, mercifully grant, that we who rejoice in his festival may profit by the example of his virtues. Through our Lord . . .
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Monday, May 22, 2017
Minor Rogation 2017

This year the Minor Rogation, the days leading up to Ascension Thursday, are May 22-24 inclusive. Today is the first day of the Minor Rogation, a day which should be a day of fasting.

These were traditionally days of penance, fasting, and praying litanies. If you are in good health, please remember to observe these days. I am greatly encouraging them. For more information on Rogation days, see the links in my post entitled Rogation Day: Fasting and Penance.

I greatly encourage people to observe these days and spend time praying the Litany of Saints not only for a bountiful harvest but also for mercy and repentance.

Commemoration of the MASS OF ROGATION (1962 Missal)

Mercifully grant us our requests, O Lord, that the consolation we receive in our grievous troubles may increase our love for You.
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Thursday, May 18, 2017
St. Venantius of Camerino


Double (1954 Calendar): May 18

Today is the Feast of Venantius of Camerino, who suffered martyrdom at a young age for the truths of the Catholic Religion. St. Venantius was born in Camerino, Italy. In the year 250, when he was 15 years of age, he was arrested because of his Christian faith and was condemned by a Roman judge to suffer cruel torments. The steadfastness of the young saint touched even hardened hearts, and many pagans were converted. On hearing of this, the governor had Venantius beheaded. Father Hugo Hoever, in "Lives of the Saints," writes: "Pope Clement X, who had been Bishop of Camerino, had a particular devotion to this martyr who had suffered while very young."

The following is taken from Dom Gueranger's Liturgical Year:
Today's Martyr carries us back to the persecutions under the Roman Emperors. It was at Camerino, in Italy, that he bore his testimony to the true Faith; and the devotion wherewith he is honoured by the people of those parts, (which are under the temporal Sovereignty of the Roman Pontiff,) has occasioned his Feast being kept throughout the Church. Let us, therefore, joyfully welcome this new champion, who fought so bravely for our Emmanuel. Let us congratulate him upon his having the privilege of suffering Martyrdom during the Paschal Season, all radiant as it is with the grand victory won by Life over Death.

The account given by the Liturgy, upon St. Venantius, is a tissue of miracles. The omnipotence of God seemed, on this and many other like occasions, to be resisting the cruelty of the executioners, in order to glorify the Martyr. It served also as a means for converting the bystanders, who, on witnessing these almost lavish miracles, were frequently heard to exclaim, that they too wished to be Christians, and embrace a Religion which was not only honoured by the superhuman patience of its Martyrs, but was so visibly protected and favored by heaven.
The Traditional Reading at Matins: 
Venantius, who was born at Camerino, was but fifteen years of age when he was accused of being a Christian, and arraigned before Antiochus, the Governor of the City, under the reign of the Emperor Decius. He presented himself to the Governor at the City Gate, where, after being long and uselessly coaxed and threatened, he was scourged, and condemned to be chained. But he was miraculously unfettered by an Angel, and was then burned with torches, and was hung, with his head downwards, over a fire, that he might be suffocated by the smoke. One of the officials, by name Anastasius, having noticed the courage wherewith he suffered his torments, and having also seen an Angel walking, in a white robe, above the smoke, and again liberating Venantius,--he believed in Christ, and, together with his family, was baptized by the priest Porphyrius, with whom he afterwards merited to receive the palm of martyrdom.

Venantius was again brought before the Governor; and being solicited, though to no purpose, to give up his Faith, he was thrown into prison. A herald, named Attalus, was sent thither, to tell him that he also had once been a Christian, but had renounced the profession on discovering that it was false, and that Christians were duped into giving up the good things of the present by the vain hope of what was to follow in the next life. But the high-minded soldier of Christ, knowing well the snares of our crafty enemy the devil, utterly spurned his minister from his presence. Whereupon, he was again led before the Governor, and all his teeth were beaten out, and his jaws broken; after which, he was thrown into a dung pit. But, being delivered by an Angel, thence also, he again stood before the judge, who, whilst Venantius was addressing him, fell from the judgment-seat, and died exclaiming: "The God of Venantius is the true One! destroy our gods!"

When this was made known to the Governor, he immediately ordered Venantius to be exposed to the lions: but those animals, forgetting their own savage nature, threw themselves at his feet. The Saint, meanwhile, instructed the people in the Christian Faith, and was therefore removed and again thrown into prison. On the following day, Porphyrius told the Governor, that he had had a vision during the night, and that he saw that those who were bathed with water, by Venantius, were brilliant with a splendid light, but that the Governor was covered with a thick darkness. This so irritated the Governor, that he immediately ordered Porphyrius to be beheaded, and Venantius to be dragged, until evening, along places covered with thorns and thistles.

He was left there half dead; but he again presented himself, in the morning, to the Governor, who at once condemned him to be cast headlong from a rock. Again, however, he was miraculously preserved in his fall, and was once more dragged, for a mile, over rough places. Seeing that the soldiers were tormented with thirst, Venantius made the sign of the Cross, and water flowed from a rock, which was in a neighboring dell; on which rock, Venantius left the impress of his knees, as may be still seen in the Church which is dedicated to him. Many were moved, by that miracle, to believe in Christ, and were all beheaded, together with Venantius, on that very spot, by the Governor's orders. So awful were the lightnings and earthquakes which followed the execution, that the Governor took to flight. But he was not able to escape divine justice; and, a few days after, met with a most humiliating death. Meanwhile, the Christians gave honorable burial to the bodies of all these Martyrs, and they are now reposing in the Church, which is dedicated to Venantius in the town of Camerino.
Prayer to St. Venantius:

Dear youthful Martyr, loved of the Angels, and aided by them in thy combat! pray for us. Like thyself, we too are soldiers of the Risen Jesus, and must give testimony, before the world, to the Divinity and the Rights of our King. The world has not always in its hands those material instruments of torture, such as it made thee feel; but it is always fearful in its power of seducing souls. It would rob us, also, of that New Life, which Jesus has imparted to us and to all them that are His members; holy Martyr, protect us under these attacks! Thou hadst partaken, during the days of thy last Easter, of the divine Flesh of the Paschal Lamb, and thy courage in Martyrdom redounded to the glory of this heavenly nourishment. We, also, have been guests at the same holy Table; we, also, have partaken of the Paschal Banquet. Like thee, we have known our Lord in the breaking of BREAD (St. Luke, xxiv. 35): obtain for us the appreciation of the divine mystery, of which we received the first-fruits at Bethlehem, and which has been gradually developed, within our souls, as well as before our eyes, by the merits of the Passion and Resurrection of our Emmanuel. We are now, at this very time, preparing to receive the plenitude of the divine gift of the Incarnation. Pray for us, O Holy Martyr, that our hearts may more than ever fervently welcome, and faithfully preserve, the rich treasures, which are about to be offered us, by the sublime mysteries of the Ascension and Pentecost. Amen

Collect:

O God, You sanctified this day by the triumph of Your blessed martyr Venantius. May we imitate the fortitude of his faith as we venerate his merits. Through Our Lord . . .
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Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Mass in Some Places: St. John Nepomucene

 Martyrdom of St. John Nepomuk by Szymon Czechowicz, National Museum in Warsaw.

Today in the pre-1955 Traditional Catholic Missal is the Mass in Some Places (pro aliquibus locis) of St. John Nepomucen (St. John of Nepomuk).  He is not to be confused with St. John Nepomucene Neumann.

The history of this special feast is related by the great liturgist of the modern era, Dom Prosper Gueranger in his Liturgical Year. He begins by quoting from what the Church recounts of his life:
John was born at Nepomuk a town in Bohemia (from which he took the name of Nepomucen), and of parents who were advanced in years. His future sanctity was foretold by the appearance of bright rays miraculously shining over the house wherein he was born. When an infant, he was seized with a dangerous illness; but was delivered from death by the protection of the Blessed Virgin, to whom his parents considered themselves indebted for his birth. He was blessed with an excellent disposition, and received a pious training, in keeping with the indications given from heaven. He spent his boyhood in the practice of religious exercises; among which it was his delight to be frequently at the Church, and serve the Priests when saying Mass. He went through his humanities at Zatek, and the higher studies at Prague, where he took his degrees in Philosophy, Theology, and Canon law. He was ordained Priest; and being, by his proficiency in the science of the Saints, well fitted for gaining souls, he devoted himself entirely to preaching the word of God. In consideration of the great fruits produced by his eloquence and piety, which extirpated vice and brought sinners back to the way of salvation, he was made a Canon of the Metropolitan Church of Prague. Being afterwards chosen as Preacher to King Wenceslaus the Fourth, he so far succeeded, that the King did many things through his advice, and had a great regard for his virtue. He offered him several high dignities; but the Saint peremptorily refused to accept them, fearing that they would interfere with his preaching the divine word.

He was entrusted with the distribution of the royal alms to the poor, and Queen Jane chose him as her own spiritual director. Wenceslaus having given himself up to vices, which disgraced both his kingly and christian character, and being displeased at the entreaties and counsels of his wife, he even dared to insist on John’s revealing to him the secrets, told to him as Priest, by the queen in the sacrament of Penance. The minister of God courageously resisted the King’s impious request, and neither bribes, nor tortures, nor imprisonment, could make him yield. Seeing that the King had got to such a pitch of rage that the laws of neither man nor God made him relent, the soldier of Christ plainly foretold in one of his sermons, his own approaching death, and the calamities that were to befall the kingdom. He then set out for Buntzel, where is kept the image of the Blessed Virgin that has been venerated for centuries: he there, in fervent prayer, implored heaven to grant him the assistance he needed, in order to fight the good fight. As he was returning home, on the evening before the Vigil of the Ascension, the King, who was standing at the palace window, saw him, and sent him word that he was to repair to the King. The King was more than ever urgent in his demand, and threatened John with immediate drowning, if he continued to refuse compliance. The Saint was not to be conquered, and showed the King that he was not afraid of his threats. Wherefore, by the King’s orders, he was thrown that same night, in to the river Moldaw, which flows through Prague; and John obtained the glorious crown of Martyrdom.

The sacrilegious crime, thus privately committed, was miraculously revealed, as was also the Martyr’s great glory. For as soon as life was extinct, and the corpse began to float down the stream, flaming torches were seen following on the surface of the water. The next morning, the Canons went and took the body from the sand on which it lay, and heedless of the King’s displeasure, they had it carried, with much solemnity, to the metropolitan Church, and gave it burial. The memory of this courageous Priest became gradually most venerable, both by the miracles that were wrought, and by the devotion of the Faithful—of those especially whose good name is injured by evil report. After upwards of three hundred years, a juridical examination was made of his body (which, during all that time, had lain under the ground) and his tongue was found to be incorrupt and as though it were that of a living man. Six hears later on, the tongue was shown to judges delegated by the Apostolic See; when, by a fresh miracle, it immediately resumed the fullness of life, and, from being of a brownish color, it became perfectly red. These and other miracles having been authentically approved, he was canonized by Pope Benedict the Thirteenth, on the nineteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord 1729, as the defender of the Sacramental Seal, and the first Martyr that had shed his blood for the maintenance of its holy secrecy.

Dom Gueranger, in "The Liturgical Year," writes thus of St. John Nepomucen:
How great, O glorious Martyr, was the honor reserved for thee by the Son of God, when he chose thee to be the one who was to attest, by laying down his life, the sacredness of the secret which protects the Sacrament of Penance! Other Priests, as well as thyself, have bravely suffered persecution for the sake of the secrecy of the mystery of Reconciliation; but thou wast the one chosen by heaven to give a solemn testimony of priestly discretion. Thy sufferings were known to more than to Angels: thy Martyrdom was a public one, and the Faithful honor thy courage as an eloquent proof of how truly our good Shepherd, Jesus, removes every difficulty that could deter the strayed sheep from returning to the fold.

We address ourselves to thee, O holy Martyr, on this the day of thy triumph, and we beg of thee to intercede for sinners. Admirable minister of the Sacrament of Penance! thou seest how many Christians there are who neglect to avail themselves of the means of salvation prepared for them by our Risen Savior. Instead of laying hold of this “second plank after shipwreck,” they let themselves be carried on to the deep abyss by the tide of their sinful habits. There are thousands who have turned a deaf ear, even this Easter, to the call of holy Church, who invited them, as an affectionate Mother, to approach the Tribunal of mercy and Reconciliation. We beseech thee, intercede for these blind, these unwary, these ungrateful men. Get them that grace which will lead them to the feet of the God of Mercy, who is ever ready to grant pardon.

There are others, again, who go to Confession, but who have not the dispositions requisite for receiving the grace of the Sacrament—the justification of their souls. Pray also for these, that they may see the danger they thus incur of profaning the Blood of Christ. Obtain for all them who approach the holy Tribunal, an honest avowal of their sins, and contrition of heart; that thus the life of our Risen Jesus may be imparted to them, and that they may never again lose it. By thy powerful intercession, raise up zealous and faithful ministers of this great Sacrament, of which thou wast the Martyr. Draw down on their arduous labor the blessing of heaven: then will the number of the children of God be increased, and the grace of the Holy Ghost triumph in souls that have long been dead in sin.

Cast, too, an eye of compassion on thy fatherland of Bohemia, where there are so many Faithful hearts that love and honor thee. Alas! there are tares which disfigure that portion of the Church. The enemy came, not many years after thy glorious martyrdom, and sowed the baneful weeds of heresy in thy native land. The good seed claims thy protection; but take pity also on the cockle, for even it may be turned, by the True Faith, into wheat, and be garnered into the House of our Heavenly Father. Secure to thy Bohemia the peace of which an ambitious diplomacy is now seeking to deprive her, and save her from the snares that are being laid for her.

Image of the Exact Spot in Prague Where St. John Nepomucene was martyred. Photo (c) A Catholic Life, 2022.

Collect:

O God, Whose Church the unconquerable sacramental silence of blessed John has enriched with yet another martyr's crown, grant that, we may set a guard upon our tongue, and be ready to endure any suffering the world can afflict, rather than risk the loss of our soul.
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Saturday, May 13, 2017
100th Anniversary of Fatima

Today is the 100th Anniversary of Our Lady appearing to the 3 shepherd children in Fatima.  Today is a cause of great concern for us.  You may click here to read about the history of these apparitions in detail.  But I would like to draw your attention to my post concerning The 17th Year of the Century: A Year of Disaster, Disorder, and Error

The Blessed Virgin Mary warned us that unless we be converted and Russia be consecrated to Her Immaculate Heart, there would be future disaster.  An unfortunately, the consecration was never done as Our Lady instructed it to be done.  If you are not familiar with the story of Fatima, now is the time to read again an overview of Fatima.  We must prepare for what may be a year of great disaster.

"The Present Moment is the most tragic the Church has seen since the Catacombs; this portentous scenario is dominated by Our Lady's appearance to the little shepherds.  Everything else that happens in the world is in function of her: Everything is unleashed because Our Lady was not heeded and her request was not obeyed" (Plinio Correa de Oliveira) 

While still Vatican Secretary of State, the future Pope Pius XII predicted: “A day will come when the civilized world will deny its God, when the Church will doubt as Peter doubted.  She will be tempted to believe that man has become God.  In our churches, Catholics will search in vain for the red lamp where God awaits them.  Like Mary Magdalene, weeping before the empty tomb, they will ask, “Where have they taken Him?”  
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