Novena to St. Anthony: Day Nine

Prayer:

O wonderful St. Anthony, glorious on account of the fame of your miracles, and through the condescension of Jesus in coming in the form of a little child to rest in your arms, obtain for me of His bounty the grace which I ardently desire from the depths of my heart . (State your intention)

You who were so compassionate toward miserable sinners, regard not the unworthiness of those who pray to you, but the glory of God that it may once again be magnified by the granting of the particular request (State your intention) which I now ask for with persevering earnestness. Amen

(Pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father, in honor of Saint Anthony.)

Saint Anthony, pray for us!

DAY NINE

Saint Anthony, servant of Mary, glory of the Church, pray for our Holy Father, our bishops, our priests, our Religious Orders, that, through their pious zeal and apostolic labors, all may be united in faith and give greater glory to God. St. Anthony, helper of all who invoke you, pray for me and intercede for me before the throne of Almighty God that I be granted the favor I so earnestly see in this novena (State your intention).

(One Our Father, one Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father, in honor of Saint Anthony).

Saint Anthony, pray for us!

May the divine assistance remain always with us.
Amen

May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen.

O God, may the votive commemoration of blessed Anthony, your confessor, be a source of joy to your Church, that she may always be fortified with spiritual assistance, and deserve to enjoy eternal rewards. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

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On Crosses and Crucifixes

I own a very nice St. Benedict's Crucifix. It is a rather large one to wear and it has the St. Benedict's medal in the center of the Crucifix behind the head of Jesus.

However, what I don't like is to see people wearing Crosses as opposed to crucifixes. Only a crucifix - the one with Jesus' body on it - truly means something - that Jesus Christ died our deaths for us. An empty cross is our own cross. Yet, it was Jesus Christ that took away our deaths. Only a crucifix is a medal of love and hope - not a cross. That's my own opinion.

St. Josemaría Escriva said, "Whenever you see a poor, wooden cross, alone, uncared-for, worthless...and without a corpus, don't forget that that cross is your cross--the everyday hidden cross, unattractive and unconsoling--the cross that is waiting for the corpus it lacks: and that corpus must be you."

If you don't own one, find some nice and inexpensive ones on Amazon.com.

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Ohio Prepares an Abortion Ban

As you know, South Dakota has passed a ban on all abortions except to save the life of the mother. Louisiana's Governor is expected to sign a ban that would prohibit abortions when Roe v. Wade is overturned except to save the life of the mother. Now, Ohio joins the club (LifeNews). Unlike the other bans, Ohio's bill, if it becomes law, would ban abortions in every circumstance - even the save the life of the mother.

Excellent news that another state is working to save the lives of the unborn. The bill, House Bill 228, has 17 co-sponsors right now, and is scheduled for its first legislative hearing on Tuesday.

Roe v. Wade's days are numbered. Let's keep praying

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Reports on Planned Parenthood's 2005 Numbers

LifeNews, one of the best pro-life new agencies on the Internet, posted about the new annual reports coming from Planned Parenthood.

As LifeNews.com previously reported, Planned Parenthood, a supposedly nonprofit organization, brought in $882 million in FY 2004-2005 a whopping increase of 8.9 percent over the previous reporting period. The abortion business made $63 million in profit last year.

New information shows Planned Parenthood, as of June 2005, had net assets valued at $784.1 million, of which $302.1 million is unrestricted. PPFA has another $107.6 million that is temporarily restricted.

...

The annual report shows Planned Parenthood did 255,015 abortions in 2004 alone (up 4.3% from 2003), generating an estimated $95 million. A scant 1,414 customers were referred to adoption agencies; down more than 20% from 2003.

The figures show Planned Parenthood continues to be the largest abortion business in the United States. In 1984, it did about 5.5 percent of all abortions nationwide, but the figure has increased to nearly 20 percent as of 2004.

Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood says it has sold 983,537 “emergency” birth control kits in 2004 (nearly 21.3% more than in 2003). The kits contain the morning after pill drug, also known as Plan B, which can sometimes cause an abortion.

Let us continue to pray that abortion is made illegal in the United States.

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Picture of St. Rose of Lima

St. Rose of Lima (1586 - 1617)

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Pope Benedict XVI: "Priest To Be An Expert At The Spiritual Life"

Today I am meeting you, priests called by Christ to serve him in the new millennium. You have been chosen from among the people, appointed to act in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. Believe in the power of your priesthood! By virtue of the sacrament, you have received all that you are. When you utter the words "I" and "my" ("I absolve you ... This is my body ..."), you do it not in your own name, but in the name of Christ, "in persona Christi," who wants to use your lips and your hands, your spirit of sacrifice and your talent.

At the moment of your ordination, through the liturgical sign of the imposition of hands, Christ took you under his special protection; you are concealed under his hands and in his Heart. Immerse yourselves in his love, and give him your love! When your hands were anointed with oil, the sign of the Holy Spirit, they were destined to serve the Lord as his own hands in today's world. They can no longer serve selfish purposes, but must continue in the world the witness of his love.

The greatness of Christ's priesthood can make us tremble. We can be tempted to cry out with Peter: "Lord, depart from me, for I am a sinful man" (Luke 5:8), because we find it hard to believe that Christ called us specifically. Could he not have chosen someone else, more capable, more holy? But Jesus has looked lovingly upon each one of us, and in this gaze of his we may have confidence. Let us not be consumed with haste, as if time dedicated to Christ in silent prayer were time wasted. On the contrary, it is precisely then that the most wonderful fruits of pastoral service come to birth.

There is no need to be discouraged on account of the fact that prayer requires effort, or because of the impression that Jesus remains silent. He is indeed silent, but he is at work. In this regard, I am pleased to recall my experience last year in Cologne. I witnessed then a deep, unforgettable silence of a million young people at the moment of the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament! That prayerful silence united us, it gave us great consolation. In a world where there is so much noise, so much bewilderment, there is a need for silent adoration of Jesus concealed in the Host. Be assiduous in the prayer of adoration and teach it to the faithful. It is a source of comfort and light particularly to those who are suffering.

The faithful expect only one thing from priests: that they be specialists in promoting the encounter between man and God. The priest is not asked to be an expert in economics, construction or politics. He is expected to be an expert in the spiritual life. With this end in view, when a young priest takes his first steps, he needs to be able to refer to an experienced teacher who will help him not to lose his way among the many ideas put forward by the culture of the moment. In the face of the temptations of relativism or the permissive society, there is absolutely no need for the priest to know all the latest, changing currents of thought; what the faithful expect from him is that he be a witness to the eternal wisdom contained in the revealed word. Solicitude for the quality of personal prayer and for good theological formation bear fruit in life.

© Copyright 2006 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana [translation by Holy See; adapted]

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Nicole Kidman is still Catholic

American Actress Nicole Kidman is journeying back to the Catholic faith as she prepares for her marriage to Keith Urban on June 25, 2006.

"For Nicole, you know this is a spiritual homecoming, coming back to the church and her faith in her old parish," said Jesuit Father Paul Coleman, a longtime friend of the Kidman family who advised them on the annulment of Kidman's marriage with Tom Cruise.

As someone exposed to both Scientology and Buddhism, she has remained faithful to the Catholic Church and the only truth of Christ, the Son of God. She recently told the Philippine Daily Enquirer: "Catholicism guides me. I certainly have a strong belief. I try to go to church regularly, and I try to go to confession." She has also asked for donations to Sydney Children's Hospital instead of wedding gifts.

Let us pray for her and thank God for leading her back home.

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Novena to St. Anthony: Day Eight

Prayer:

O wonderful St. Anthony, glorious on account of the fame of your miracles, and through the condescension of Jesus in coming in the form of a little child to rest in your arms, obtain for me of His bounty the grace which I ardently desire from the depths of my heart . (State your intention)

You who were so compassionate toward miserable sinners, regard not the unworthiness of those who pray to you, but the glory of God that it may once again be magnified by the granting of the particular request (State your intention) which I now ask for with persevering earnestness. Amen

(Pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father, in honor of Saint Anthony.)

Saint Anthony, pray for us!

DAY EIGHT

O holy St. Anthony, you have shown yourself so powerful in your intercession, so tender and so compassionate towards those who honor you and invoke you in suffering and distress. I beseech you most humbly and earnestly to take me under your protection in my present necessities and to obtain for me the favor I desire (State your intention). Recommend my request to the merciful Queen of Heaven, that she may plead my cause with you before the throne of her Divine Son.

One Our Father, one Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father, in honor of Saint Anthony.

Saint Anthony, pray for us!

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The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

"You see the revolving circle of the glory moving from Like to Like. The Son is glorified by the Spirit; the Father is glorified by the Son; again the Son has His glory from the Father; and the Only-begotten thus becomes the glory of the Spirit. For with what shall the Father be glorified, but with the true glory of the Son: and with what again shall the Son be glorified, but with the majesty of the Spirit? In like manner, again, Faith completes the circle, and glorifies the Son by means of the Spirit, and the Father by means of the Son" (St. Gregory of Nyssa).

Today is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, where we recall the most fundamental mystery of the Christian faith - that God is a Triune God. There is but One Almighty God as Our Lord declared to Moses on Mount Sinai. Yet, in the New Testament we realize the true nature of Our God - He is three persons. For God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are but the same God merely in three different persons. The Holy Trinity can be observed in the Gospel through the words of our Lord: "Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:18).

History of the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity

The feast of the Blessed Trinity was first introduced in the 9th century and was only made part of the general calendar of the Church in the 14th century by Pope John XXII. The SSPX website notes:

For the first thousand years of Christianity, no special feast was selected to celebrate this mystery since, as Pope Alexander II (1073) declared, every day of the liturgical year was devoted to the honor and adoration of the Holy Trinity.

It was to counteract the Arian heresy, which denied the fullness of divinity to the Son, that a special text of the Mass in honor of the Holy Trinity was introduced in the liturgical books. It was left to the devotion of each priest, pretty much like the present votive Masses. From the 9th century onwards, bishops of the Frankish kingdoms had a special celebration of the mystery, usually on the Sunday after Pentecost, using a Mass text from Charlemagne's advisor, Abbot Alcuin from 804.

But it was not until John XXII that it was inserted in the official calendar of the Western Church in 1334. However, it is interesting to note that the beautiful Preface of the Trinity (read throughout all Sundays after Pentecost), dates from the time of St. Gregory the Great. 

As Gregory DiPippo of the New Liturgical Movement relates, "There is a minority tradition, which was kept up in the Low Countries and some parts of Germany until the later part of the 16th century, that kept the octave day of Pentecost as a true octave and put Trinity on the Monday after, but that was never done at Rome. From the time it was adopted at Rome, it was always on the Sunday after Pentecost."

Today on the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, the Athanasian Creed is prayed in the 1961 Divine Office during Prime. Before the changes to the Office in 1955/1956, the rubrics in place under Divinu Afflatu promulgated by St. Pius X were in force. And per those rubrics, the Athanasian Creed was said on all Sundays after Epiphany and Sundays after Pentecost which did not fall within Octaves or on which a feast of a rank of Double or higher was celebrated or commemorated, in addition to being prayed on Trinity Sunday. Thus even Traditional priests who say the 1961 Breviary, will only pray this Creed once a year, on this Sunday.

Truths of the Holy Trinity

1. The Trinity is one. There are three persons but only one God. Each person is God wholly and entirely.
2. Each person is different the other two. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not different roles of the same person. Each person has a different origin.
3. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all share one nature. They are related but not the same person while each of them is fully God.

Roles of Each Person of the Trinity

1. The Father sent His only Son: "When the appointed time came, God sent his Son." (Gal. 4:4) also John 8:42
2. The Son came to die our death and free us
3. The Holy Spirit as one who proceeds from the Father and the Son

Addressing Trinitarian Heresies

Since the beginning, many lies and heresies have sprouted as Our Lord warned that many antichrists would come. Some heretics taught Jesus was not God, there were 3 gods, and the 3 persons were just three different roles of the same person. All of these lies and heresies were condemned.

While the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each God, the three persons each have a separate purpose in relation to the salvation of the World. However, all the Divine Persons of the Trinity act in perfect unity since God is one and has but one purpose.

While all of this is certainly confusing, we can only pray that through the Holy Spirit's inspiration, we can hope to understand the Trinity. In time we can understand the Trinity and the nature of Our One God better, but only in Heaven will we truly experience the joy of serving the One God and seeing the mystery of the Holy Trinity face to face.

After this brief recap of the truths of the Holy Trinity, let’s briefly identify six key heresies against the Trinity. Some of these same errors still come up, so study this carefully in order to refute them when you encounter them. Click here to learn more.

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FSSP June 2006 Ordinations

The ordinations were performed by His Excellency, Bishop Fabrian Bruskewitz in the Cathedral of Lincoln, Nebraska. Photos are from NLM.

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