Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday)

From Catholic Culture:

"Rejoice: the Lord is nigh." As Christmas draws near, the Church emphasizes the joy which should be in our hearts over all that the birth of our Savior means for us. The great joy of Christians is to see the day drawing nigh when the Lord will come again in His glory to lead them into His kingdom. The oft-repeated Veni ("Come") of Advent is an echo not only of the prophets but also of the conclusion of the Apocalypse of St. John: "Come, Lord Jesus," the last words of the New Testament. Today is known as Gaudete Sunday. The term Gaudete refers to the first word of the Introit: "Rejoice." Rose vestments are worn to emphasize our joy that Christmas is near, and we also light the rose candle on our Advent wreath.

Traditional Propers:

INTROIT
Philippians 4: 4-6
Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say, rejoice. Let your modesty be known to all men: for the Lord is nigh. Be nothing solicitous: but in every thing by prayer let your petitions be made known to God. -- (Ps. 84. 2). Lord, Thou hast blessed Thy land: Thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob. V.: Glory to the Father . . . -- Rejoice in the Lord always . . .

COLLECT - Incline Thine ear, we beseech Thee, O Lord, to our petitions: and, by the grace of Thy visitation, enlighten the darkness of our minds. Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity . . .

EPISTLE
Philippians 4:4-7
Brethren, Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say, rejoice. Let your modesty be known to all men. The Lord is nigh. Be nothing solicitous: but in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.

GRADUAL
Psalms. 72: 2,3,6
Thou, O Lord, that sittest upon the Cherubim, stir up Thy might and come. V.: Give ear, O Thou that rulest Israel: that leadest Joseph like a sheep. Alleluia, alleluia. V.: Stir up, O Lord, Thy might, and come to save us. Alleluia.

GOSPEL
John 1: 19-28

At that time the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and levites to John, to ask him: Who art thou? And he confessed, and did not deny: and he confessed: I am not the Christ. And they asked him: What then? Art thou Elias? And he said: I am not. Art thou the Prophet? And he answered: No. They said therefore unto him: Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself? He said: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the Prophet Isaias. And they that were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said to him: Why then dost thou baptize, if thou be not Christ, nor Elias, nor the Prophet? John answered them, saying: I baptize with water: but there hath stood one in the midst of you whom you know not. The same is He that shall come after me, who is preferred before me: the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose. These things were done in Bethania, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

OFFERTORY
Psalms 84: 2,3
Lord, Thou hast blessed Thy land: Thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob: Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of Thy people.

SECRET - May the Sacrifice of our devotion, we beseech Thee, O Lord, be continually offered up to Thee, may it both complete the institution of the holy Mysteries, and wondrously accomplish in us Thy salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost . . .

PREFACE (Preface of the Most Holy Trinity) - It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God; Who, together with Thine only-begotten Son, and the Holy Ghost, art one God, one Lord: not in the oneness of a single Person, but in the Trinity of one substance. For what we believe by Thy revelation of Thy glory, the same do we believe of Thy Son, the same of the Holy Ghost, without difference or separation. So that in confessing the true and everlasting Godhead, distinction in persons, unity in essence, and equality in majesty may be adored. Which the Angels and Archangels, the Cherubim also and Seraphim do praise: who cease not daily to cry out, with one voice saying:

COMMUNION
Isaias 3 5: 4
Say: Ye fainthearted, take courage and fear not: behold our God will come, and will save us.

POST COMMUNION - We implore, O Lord, Thy mercy: that these divine helps may expiate our sins, and prepare us for the approaching feast. Through our Lord . .

Read more >>

Holy Souls Novena: Day One

Our Lady, Mother Mary, has said that more souls are released from Purgatory on Christmas than any other day in the year. So, today is time to start a Novena for the Holy Souls in Purgatory.

This novena was written by Daniel Lord, S.J.

Day 1

Sin is the one thing that holds back the progress of man's ascent to God. Only sin blocks his path. Vice and crime throw human beings back to animal levels when they should be mounting toward the angels. Death in mortal sin means the complete failure that is hell. It flings a man, who is destined for eternal happiness, into eternal loss and pain. Death in venial sin or with the punishment due to sin still on the soul means a halt in the progress toward heaven. The poor soul---poor indeed in his eagerness to reach God and the tedious, painful delay that keeps him from God---must linger in God's prisonhouse. This is the sad land of purgatory. It is a place of anxious, almost impatient waiting. Since there are in purgatory relatives we loved and friends we knew and thousands of others who call to us for help, we pause and say:

The Prayer for the Holy Souls

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of thy servants and handmaids departed, the remission of all their sins; that through pious supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

Read more >>

Download the Chaplet of St. Michael

Note: these prayers and words are taken from EWTN's website

 

The Chaplet of St. Michael is a wonderful way to honor this great Archangel along with the other nine Choirs of Angels. What do we mean by Choirs? It seems that God has created various orders of Angels. Sacred Scripture distinguishes nine such groupings: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominations, Powers, Virtues, Principalities, Archangels and Angels (Isa. 6:2; Gen. 3:24; Col. 1:16; Eph. 1:21; Rom. 8:38). There may be more groupings but these are the only ones that have been revealed to us. The Seraphim is believed to be the highest Choir, the most intimately united to God, while the Angelic Choir is the lowest.

The history of this Chaplet goes back to a devout Servant of God, Antonia d'Astonac, who had a vision of St. Michael. He told Antonia to honor him by nine salutations to the nine Choirs of Angels. St. Michael promised that whoever would practice this devotion in his honor would have, when approaching Holy Communion, an escort of nine angels chosen from each of the nine Choirs. In addition, for those who would recite the Chaplet daily, he promised his continual assistance and that of all the holy angels during life. 

 

The Chaplet of St. Michael 

 

O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be to the Father, etc.

[Say one Our Father and three Hail Marys after each of the following nine salutations in honor of the nine Choirs of Angels]

1. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Seraphim may the Lord make us worthy to burn with the fire of perfect charity.
Amen.

2. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Cherubim may the Lord grant us the grace to leave the ways of sin and run in the paths of Christian perfection.
Amen.

3. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Thrones may the Lord infuse into our hearts a true and sincere spirit of humility.
Amen.

4. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Dominations may the Lord give us grace to govern our senses and overcome any unruly passions.
Amen.

5. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Virtues may the Lord preserve us from evil and falling into temptation. Amen.

6. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Powers may the Lord protect our souls against the snares and temptations of the devil.
Amen.

7. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Principalities may God fill our souls with a true spirit of obedience. Amen.

8. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Archangels may the Lord give us perseverance in faith and in all good works in order that we may attain the glory of Heaven.
Amen.

9. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Angels may the Lord grant us to be protected by them in this mortal life and conducted in the life to come to Heaven.
Amen.

Say one Our Father in honor of each of the following leading Angels: St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael and our Guardian Angel.

Concluding prayers: 

 

O glorious prince St. Michael, chief and commander of the heavenly hosts, guardian of souls, vanquisher of rebel spirits, servant in the house of the Divine King and our admirable conductor, you who shine with excellence and superhuman virtue deliver us from all evil, who turn to you with confidence and enable us by your gracious protection to serve God more and more faithfully every day.

Pray for us, O glorious St. Michael, Prince of the Church of Jesus Christ, that we may be made worthy of His promises.

Almighty and Everlasting God, Who, by a prodigy of goodness and a merciful desire for the salvation of all men, has appointed the most glorious Archangel St. Michael Prince of Your Church, make us worthy, we ask You, to be delivered from all our enemies, that none of them may harass us at the hour of death, but that we may be conducted by him into Your Presence.This we ask through the merits of
Jesus Christ Our Lord.

Amen. 

If you would like to buy a chaplet, some inexpensive ones are available online.  Click here for an option.  If you do buy a chaplet, remember to take it to a priest to have it blessed.

 

Read more >>

Why the Tridentine Mass?

Introibo ad altare Dei — “I will go unto the altar of God.” So begins the holy sacrifice of the Mass, as it has been celebrated in the Roman rite of the Church for well over a millennium. Contrary to the sincere wishes of the liturgical apparatus that has visited havoc upon orthodox Catholics for the past forty years, the traditional Latin liturgy still survives. Indeed, not only does it survive, but it is attracting new followers and exciting a profound piety in Catholics of all ages — many of whom, like myself, were born over a decade after the imposition of the new liturgy. With the recognition by many concerned Catholics that the lex orandi of the modern liturgy is not an adequate expression of the Church’s lex credendi, there has been concerted effort in recent years to address the poverty of Catholic liturgical life today. (The “reform of the reform” solution proposed by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and Fr. Joseph Fessio immediately comes to mind.) While many orthodox Catholics are directing their attention to salvaging the Novus Ordo Missae introduced by Pope Paul VI in 1969, many others are directing their energies toward the restoration — or at least the revival — of the traditional Latin Mass.

Source: New Oxford Review (continue reading)

Read more >>

Excommunications in the Diocese of Lincoln

Bishop James D. Conley prays at installation Mass outside of Risen Christ Cathedral in Lincoln, Neb. on Nov. 20, 2012. Credit: Seth DeMoor/CNA. From Catholic News Agency

As a preface, see What is Excommunication and Why Is it So Series 

For the most part, I am very happy to see a result in this. It's about times that members of those organizations are excommunicated. Now all members of those groups within the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska have been excommunicated barring them from the Sacraments. They can only return to the Church and the source of grace by repenting and confessing their sins.

However, one major error here is the inclusion of the Society of St. Pius X. You may not excommunicate a group for keeping the Catholic Faith, which is what the SSPX does. Their inclusion is invalid as a similar alleged excommunication was been overturned by Pope Benedict XVI as part of the "Hawaii Six".

The SSPX sent several letters to the Diocese of Lincoln which went unanswered. This false accusation against the SSPX is invalid.

Here is the original statement:

Statement issued by Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz (published in Southern Nebraska Register, March 22, 1996)

All Catholics in and of the Diocese of Lincoln are forbidden to be members of the organizations and groups listed below. Membership in these organizations or groups is always perilous to the Catholic Faith and most often is totally incompatible with the Catholic Faith.

Planned Parenthood
Society of Saint Pius X (Lefebvre Group)
Hemlock Society
Call to Action
Call to Action Nebraska
Saint Michael the Archangel Chapel
Freemasons
Job's Daughters
DeMolay
Eastern Star
Rainbow Girls
Catholics for a Free Choice

Any Catholics in and of the Diocese of Lincoln who attain or retain membership in any of the above listed organizations or groups after April 15, 1996, are by that very fact (ipso facto latae sententiae) under interdict and are absolutely forbidden to receive Holy Communion. Contumacious persistence in such membership for one month following the interdict on part of any such Catholics will by that very fact (ipso facto latae sententiae) cause them to be excommunicated. Absolution from these ecclesial censures is "reserved to the Bishop."

This notice, when published in the Southern Nebraska Register, is a formal canonical warning.

By mandate of the Most Reverend Bishop of Lincoln.

Reverend Monsignor Timothy Thorburn, Chancellor March 19, 1996

May they repent and return to the Catholic faith.

Read more >>

The Novena to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception

Please especially pray this Novena leading up to the feastday of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th. Here is a list of all the prayers for each day of the Novena.

• Day One
• Day Two
• Day Three
• Day Four
• Day Five
• Day Six
• Day Seven
• Day Eight
• Day Nine

Read more >>

The Mass

St. Athanasius said "Catholics who hold on to the traditions, even if they are reduced to but a handful, they are the true church."

Read more >>

Pray for the Repose of the Soul of Msgr. Robert C. Wurtz

I ask all of my blog readers to say a prayer for the repose of the soul of Msgr. Robert C. Wurtz, pastor of Our Lady of Victory Basilica, who passed away on December 12, 2006. I have been a fan of the website for the Our Lady of Victory Basilica especially the panoramic view of the Basilica. Go to the website and click on the picture and while holding down, move the pointer around.

Msgr. Wurtz always made sure to write nice messages in the church bulletin each week about Our Blessed Mother. He served the Basilica for approximately 30 years of his life. May the Virgin Mary lead his soul to Jesus Christ.

Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. Amen.

Image Source: Photo of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Believed to be in the Public Domain

Read more >>

Our Lady of Guadalupe & Our Lady of Good Success

III Class (1962 Calendar): December 12 (in the United States). The feastday is kept on November 16 in the Diocese of New Orleans. For those dioceses who keep our Lady of Guadalupe as patroness, this is I Class.

SemiDouble (1954 Calendar): December 12 (in the United States). For those dioceses who keep our Lady of Guadalupe as patroness, this is Double of the I Class. She is Double of the II Class in any Dioceses that keep her as a secondary patroness. She is kept as Double of the I Class in Mexico.

In 1531, Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to a converted Aztec man named Juan Diego at Tepeyac, which is now an area just outside of Mexico City.  Juan Diego had converted to Catholicism in 1524 or 1525 not long after the coming of the Spaniards. He would walk 14 miles, barefooted, to attend Mass and seek instruction in the faith.

Unlike the visionaries of Fatima and Lourdes, Juan Diego was not young. In fact, at age 57, he was considered “old” by the standards of those times. But what makes him similar to the children is his poverty and humility. He was of the lowest class in his society and he is reported to have told the Blessed Mother, ‘"I am a nobody, I am a small rope, a tiny ladder, the tail end, a leaf."

Juan Diego wore a coarse cloak made from cactus fibers. When the Bishop doubted his stories about the appearance of the Lady, Juan asked her for a sign to prove to the bishop that the visions were real. Our Lady told Juan to pick roses that were blooming out of season and bring them in his cloak to the bishop. When he opened his cloak, or tilma, our Blessed Mother’s likeness was revealed on the cloth. Although the cactus cloth should have deteriorated within 20 years, this tilma defies scientific explanation and remains intact today.

After bringing the tilma to the Bishop, Juan Diego spent the rest of his life in a room near the chapel where the image was housed. He cared for the church and the pilgrims who came to pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Twenty-five successive Popes have honored the appearance of Our Lady in Mexico. And millions of pilgrims visit the Basilica to see the miraculous images. Thousands of miracles are reported each year. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patron saint of the Americas and patron saint of the unborn. Her image has been analyzed in detail and it appears that she is portrayed as pregnant as indicated by the high black ribbon above her waist.

During the time before the Spaniards came to Mexico, the Aztecs, and other native peoples, ritually killed thousands of people each year, especially the pure and the young, as sacrifices to their gods. Only the modern era has seen a surpassing of that kind of Culture of Death in the killing of unborn babies.

On the pagan temples of Mexico, the serpent is a prevalent image. When the Blessed Mother came to Juan Diego she spoke in his native language and is believed by some to have called herself “coatlaxopeuh,” which is pronounced like the Spanish word “Guadalupe.” The word “coatlaxopeuh” means one “who crushes the serpent.” This is yet another reason to pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe on behalf of the unborn.

On December 12th, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Americas, ask your priest for the traditional blessing of roses.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, we pray to you for our country where the wholesale slaughter of the unborn now surpasses the killing of the innocents of any previous time!

Collect:

O God, You have placed us under the special patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and through her You have favored us with endless blessings. May we, who joyfully honor her this day on earth, enjoy her company forever in heaven. Through Our Lord . . .

Twenty-nine years after Juan Diego’s death, five Conceptionist nuns traveled from Spain to Quito, Ecuador, to bring the Word of God to the New World. Among this group was Mariana de Jesus Torres, who was 13 years old. During the sea journey, she and the other nuns were graced with spiritual visions. Later, as the Abbess of the Royal Convent of the Immaculate Conception, Mother Mariana was unjustly persecuted by other nuns and local authorities. She faced imprisonment with great courage asking to take on the sins of the world. She died two times as a result of the pain and shock which pierced her heart. Yet, she returned to life!

Our Lady of Good Success was the title Mary gave to Mother Mariana when she appeared to her beginning in 1594. Over several years, Our Lady revealed visions of the coming immorality of the 20th Century — that faith and morals would be totally corrupted; that secular education would lead to a shortage of priests and religious; that sacraments would be ridiculed and the sacrament of Extreme Unction would be little used; that women would dress without modesty and children would lose their innocence; that many priests would fail to uphold the sacredness of their office.

Our Lady of Good Success said, “As for the Sacrament of Matrimony, which symbolizes the union of Christ with His Church, it will be attacked and profaned in the fullest sense of the word. Masonry, which will then be in power, will enact iniquitous laws with the objective of doing away with this Sacrament, making it easy for everyone to live in sin, encouraging the procreation of illegitimate children born without the blessing of the Church. The Christian spirit will rapidly decay, extinguishing the precious light of Faith until it reaches the point that there will be an almost total and general corruption of customs.”

Mary revealed that belief in her appearance would be questioned and mocked, but She said that the simple and humble of heart would believe, and that would make a difference. As she said at Lourdes, over two centuries later, “The Immaculate Conception will triumph,” and the serpent will eventually be crushed when a holy “prelate” comes to bring change.

Mother Mariana was told that a truly Catholic president would come to Ecuador and would be martyred. That vision was fulfilled in 1875 when President Gabriel Garcia Moreno was murdered after trying to make reforms based on his faith.

Our Lady of Good Success commanded Mother Mariana to commission a tall statue to be created and placed above the Abbess chair at the convent. This statue was begun by a well-known sculptor but was miraculously completed in 1611 by the archangels and St. Francis of Assisi. This miracle was attested to by both the sculptor and the local bishop.

The appearance in Quito corresponds to a mysterious statue found by two Brothers from the Order of Minims in a cave in Catalonia, Spain. When the two set out to have their Order approved by the Holy See, they were shipwrecked and found shelter in a cave where they discovered the statue. They carried it to Pope Paul V, who blessed it and called the statue Our Lady of Good Success because of her aid of the travelers and spiritual petitioners. The year was 1607, just four years before a similarly appearing statue was commissioned by the Blessed Mother herself in Quito, Ecuador!

Read more >>

Words from Father F. X. Schouppe

As we continue to journey through Advent, let us remember to live a penitential life during this season.

"There is another disorder in the soul which God punishes severely in Purgatory, to wit, the abuse of grace. By this is understood the neglect to correspond to the aids which God gives us, and to the invitations which He presses upon us to the practice of virtue for the sanctification of our souls. This grace, which He offers us is a precious gift, which we may not throw away; it is the seed of salvation and of merit, which it is not permitted to leave unproductive. Now this fault is committed when we do not respond with generosity to the Divine invitation. I receive from God the means of giving alms; an interior voice invites me to do so. I close my heart, or I give with a miserly hand; this is an abuse of grace. I can hear Mass, assist at the sermon, frequent the Sacraments; an interior voice urges me to go, but I will not give myself the trouble. This again is an abuse of grace... this sin, as we have said, is severely punished in Purgatory." (Father F. X. Schouppe)

Read more >>