Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church
by VP
Posted on Friday May 31, 2024 at 12:00AM in Tradition
St. John the Baptist, Front Royal VA. ©capg
Prayer to Mary for the Holy Church
Queen of heaven, thy immense love for
God maketh thee likewise love His Church. We pray thee, come to its help
amidst the ills under which it is now suffering, rent asunder as she is
by her own children. Thy prayers, being a mother’s, can obtain all from
that God Who loveth Thee so well. Pray then, pray for the Church; ask for enlightenment for so
many unbelievers who are persecuting it, and obtain for faithful souls
the necessary strength to resist being caught in the snares of the
unbelievers who would drag them down into their own ruin.
Source: St. Alphonsus' Prayer Book, 1888 Father Edward Saint Omer, Redemptorist.
Ad Caeli Reginam - The Queenship of Mary - ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XII ON PROCLAIMING THE QUEENSHIP OF MARY
" Let all, therefore, try to approach with greater trust the throne of grace and mercy of our Queen and Mother, and beg for strength in adversity, light in darkness, consolation in sorrow; above all let them strive to free themselves from the slavery of sin and offer an unceasing homage, filled with filial loyalty, to their Queenly Mother. Let her churches be thronged by the faithful, her feast-days honored; may the beads of the Rosary be in the hands of all; may Christians gather, in small numbers and large, to sing her praises in churches, in homes, in hospitals, in prisons. May Mary's name be held in highest reverence, a name sweeter than honey and more precious than jewels; may none utter blasphemous words, the sign of a defiled soul, against that name graced with such dignity and revered for its motherly goodness; let no one be so bold as to speak a syllable which lacks the respect due to her name. By this Encyclical Letter We are instituting a feast so that all may recognize more clearly and venerate more devoutly the merciful and maternal sway of the Mother of God. We are convinced that this feast will help to preserve, strengthen and prolong that peace among nations which daily is almost destroyed by recurring crises. Is she not a rainbow in the clouds reaching towards God, the pledge of a covenant of peace?[62] "Look upon the rainbow, and bless Him that made it; surely it is beautiful in its brightness. It encompasses the heaven about with the circle of its glory, the hands of the Most High have displayed it."[63] Whoever, therefore, reverences the Queen of heaven and earth - and let no one consider himself exempt from this tribute of a grateful and loving soul - let him invoke the most effective of Queens, the Mediatrix of peace; let him respect and preserve peace, which is not wickedness unpunished nor freedom without restraint, but a well-ordered harmony under the rule of the will of God; to its safeguarding and growth the gentle urgings and commands of the Virgin Mary impel us.
52. Earnestly desiring that the Queen and Mother of Christendom may hear these Our prayers, and by her peace make happy a world shaken by hate, and may, after this exile show unto us all Jesus, Who will be our eternal peace and joy, to you, Venerable Brothers, and to your flocks, as a promise of God's divine help and a pledge of Our love, from Our heart We impart the Apostolic Benediction."
"On February 11, 2018, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments inscribed a new obligatory Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, into the General Roman Calendar. This memorial is celebrated every year on the Monday after Pentecost.
Latin liturgical texts were also promulgated the same day, and on January 13, 2022, the Congregation confirmed the English translation of those texts. (...)Mary, Mother of the Church by Pope Paul VI
"Taking into consideration the close ties by which Mary and the Church are bound together, to the glory of the Blessed Virgin and for our consolation, We declare Mary Most Holy to be Mother of the Church, that is, of the whole Christian people, faithful and Pastors alike, who invoke her as their most loving Mother; and We establish that by this sweetest of names the whole Christian people should henceforth give still greater honor to the Mother of God and offer her their supplications.
Venerable Brothers, this concerns a title by no means new to Christian piety; indeed the Christian faithful and the universal Church choose to invoke Mary principally by the name of Mother. In truth, this name belongs to the genuine nature of devotion to Mary, since it rests firmly on that very dignity with which Mary is endowed as the Mother of the Incarnate Word of God.
Just as the Divine Motherhood is the basis both for Mary's unique relationship with Christ and for her presence in the work of human salvation accomplished by Christ Jesus, so likewise, it is principally from the Divine Motherhood that the relationships which exist between Mary and the Church flow. Mary is indeed the Mother of Christ who, at the moment he assumed human nature in her virginal womb, joined to himself, as Head, his Mystical Body, which is the Church. Mary, therefore, as Mother of Christ, must also be regarded as Mother of all the faithful and Pastors alike, that is to say, of the Church.
Herein lies the reason why we, though unworthy and weak, yet in a spirit of trust and with ardent filial love, raise our eyes to her. She who once gave us Jesus, the fount of heavenly grace, cannot fail to offer her maternal help to the Church, especially at this time in which the Spouse of Christ strives with greater zeal to fulfill her salvific mission
These closest of bonds between our heavenly Mother and the human race urge Us, moreover, to foster and further strengthen this confidence. Even though she has been enriched with superabundant and wondrous gifts from God so as to be made worthy to be Mother of the Incarnate Word, nevertheless, Mary is very near to us. Like us, she is a child of Adam and so too our sister on account of our common human nature; she was preserved from the stain of original sin by reason of the future merits of Christ, but she added to these gifts received from on high the example of her own perfect faith and so merited the proclamation in the Gospel: "Blessed are you who have believed."
In this mortal life she embodied the perfect form of a disciple of Christ, she was the mirror of all virtues, and in her manner of life exemplified fully those beatitudes proclaimed by Christ Jesus. Consequently, the universal Church, while she lives out the many facets of her life and in her active zeal, draws from the Virgin Mother of God the peerless example of how to imitate Christ perfectly."
Source: From the Address of Pope Saint Paul VI, at the conclusion of the third session of the most holy Second Vatican Council(November 21, 1964: AAS 56 [1964], 1015-1016)
April 25th, Feast of St. Mark: Major Rogation Day
by VP
Posted on Thursday April 25, 2024 at 12:00AM in Tradition
Jules Breton, "The Blessing of the Fields," 1857
According to the previous liturgical calendar (1962), today is the Feast of St. Mark, and the Major Rogation Day. While no longer required after Vatican II, Rogation Days can still be observed by the faithful. Fasting and penance were required, and there were special liturgy and litanies for this day. Catholic Culture)
"On the feast of St. Mark Rogations take place, which are called the major Rogations or Litanies. The word Rogation is of Latin derivation, and means a petition, a prayer. A litany, originally meant a common, alternately spoken prayer. In the course of time this word was transferred to rogation, so that, in the language of the Church, Litany and Rogation are synonymous. The rogations of St. Mark's day are called the major rogations or Litanies, because from the beginning they were held with greater solemnity than the rogations in Rogation Week. These rogations on the feast of St. Mark are of very ancient date, for they can be traced back to St. Gregory the Great, who introduced them in the year 590. They have for their object to beg God in the spirit of humility and penance, that He may graciously protect us from all those evils with which natures threatens us. For, on account of the sins by which we have desecrated it, nature is in opposition to us, and causes us many damages. God being the Lord of nature, we supplicate Him by united prayers, that He may avert from us everything dangerous to our person and property." (The Pulpit Orator, page 147, By Rev. John Evangelist Zollner, 1884.)
"The object of these days? devotions is to ask of God, from whom every good and perfect gift proceeds, that He would be pleased to give and preserve the fruits of the earth, and bestow upon His creatures all those temporal blessings that are necessary for them in the course of their mortal pilgrimage. Besides the actual graces received by the devotions of the Rogations Days, the fact itself of being reminded to have recourse to Almighty God for temporal blessings is of great advantage in this material age, when the all-sufficiency of man has become one of the leading dogmas of misguided persons." (The Litanies, The Sacramentals of the Holy Catholic Church Page 197.)
St. Mark, Evangelist
"He was a disciple of St. Peter, and one of the Evangelists. Pray that the Gospel may be the rule of your life; and while you profess a faith of what it teaches, see that your practice be not a confutation of your profession. Pray for all those who read the Gospel, that they may not wrest it to their own perdition, through presumption and rashness; but being assisted by the same spirit, by which it was written, may be led into all truth.
St. Mark went into Egypt, and was the first who preached the Christian faith at Alexandria, where by his labours the Church was established, and by his example the faithful were trained up in that exact discipline conformable to the rules of the Gospel, that they were a pattern to all believers, and admired even by the enemies of their faith. And after having suffered great persecution, he was called to the reward of his labours, in the fourteenth year of the Emperor Nero. Pray for all who embrace the true faith; and for all the professors of it; that they may live up to the maxims of the Gospel, and give no occasion to unbelievers to blaspheme the name of Christ. There is nothing so scandalous, as a wicked life, joined with the true faith: it carries everywhere contagion with it, infecting both friends and enemies. There is nothing so provoking to Almighty God, as it involves a contempt of His greatest mercies, and therefore draws down His heaviest judgments. Pray for the reformation of all believers, that infidelity may not be the punishment of abused Christianity.
The litany of the saints is sung, or said, on this day, to beg that God would avert from us the scourges, which our sins deserve. It is the day of humiliation and penance, instituted by St. Gregory the Great, in acknowledgment of the Divine Mercy for putting a stop to a mortality in his time at Rome, which had
carried away many thousands. It has been ever since observed by the whole Church, as a day of humiliation
and prayer, for turning away God's anger from us, for preventing all
contagious and pestilential distempers, and for begging the divine blessing on the fruits of the earth. Join devoutly in the public devotion; and offer up your prayers with the Church. Implore God's mercy on all sinners, and beg pardon for your own offences, that so your sins may have no part in drawing down public calamities." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
On this day of Rogation, we beg of Thee, O Lord, in Thy mercy, to hear and answer our fervent petitions:
Do Thou, O Lord, defend Thy Holy Church and all Its members against the snares of the enemy, the powers of evil, and all temporal misfortunes; Deliver us, O Lord.
From all false doctrine and loss of faith; Deliver us, O Lord.
From famine, disease, and plague; Deliver us, O Lord.
From all captivity by our enemies; Deliver us, O Lord.
From the snares of the legions of Hell; Deliver us, O Lord.
From the spirit of the world and the flesh; Deliver us, O Lord.
From the spirit of pride and disobedience; Deliver us, O Lord.
That Godʼs Holy Church may dwell in peace and unity; O Lord, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thy True Catholic Church may spread throughout all nations; O Lord, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst preserve, bless, and defend the Bishop Thou hast chosen to govern Thy flock; O Lord, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst grant to the members of Thy Church the grace to live in humility and obedience; O Lord, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That all the members of Thy Holy Church be preserved from all spiritual and physical harm; O Lord, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst sustain all the members of Thy One, True, Church in holiness, physical well-being, and material necessity; O Lord, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst convert all peoples to Thy One, True, Holy, Catholic Church; O Lord, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst preserve Thy Church and our parishes from all division, dissension, and disunity; O Lord, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst preserve Thy Church from all those who have fallen into heresy and schism; O Lord, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst inspire in the hearts of the faithful a greater spirit of charity; O Lord, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst grant the blessings of wisdom and holiness to our Clerics in preparing for the Priesthood; O Lord, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst preserve our Priests and Religious in the spirit of charity, piety, holiness, and fervent zeal for souls; O Lord, we beseech Thee, hear us.
Thou wouldst bless all of our missionary and apostolic labors and grant abundant conversion of souls; O Lord, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst grant abundant laborers to work in the harvest of souls, and grant to all of our Religious perseverance in their holy Vocation; O Lord, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst imbue our youth with the spirit of piety and love of their Holy Faith; O Lord, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst grant to Thy Church a favorable outcome in all our court cases, legal actions, and attacks of the press and all of our enemies; O Lord, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst bless our Diocese, our Priory, our Friary, our Seminary, our Convent, our schools, and all our apostolic undertakings; O Lord, we beseech Thee, hear us.
Let us pray:
Almighty and Everlasting God, we commend unto Thee Thy Holy Catholic Church: that Thou wouldst grant unto Her peace, unity, and Thy protection, while shielding Her against the attacks of Her enemies and subjecting to Her the powers of evil. We thank Thee, O Lord, for the many blessings Thou hast bestowed upon us, and we beseech Thee to assist us to live peaceful and tranquil lives; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Patronage of St. Joseph. -Third Sunday after Easter.
by VP
Posted on Sunday April 21, 2024 at 12:00AM in Tradition
St. Joseph, Mother of Mercy, Washington, NC
"The Feast of the Patronage of St. Joseph, which a decree of the Congregation of Rites has fixed on the third Sunday after Easter, originated among the Carmelites in 1680. A general chapter of the Carmelites had already, in 1621, solemnly recognized St. Joseph as patron and father of all the order. Some churches soon adopted the Feast of the Patronage. At present, in virtue of a decree of the 10th September, it extends to all Catholicity. Among the Redemptorists and Passionists, in the Society of Mary and the Society of Jesus, it is celebrated with its own octave and office, with the double rite of first class." Devotion to Saint Joseph by Fr. Giuseppe Antonio Patrignani 1897
PRAYER
O glorious St. Joseph, to whom God has confided, as to a most loving and powerful patron, His universal Church, protect, I beseech thee, in the first place, the Sovereign Pontiff, who is the Vicar of thy Son on earth; protect also all the prelates of Holy Church, and extend thy patronage over all the faithful, that both the pastors and their sheep may enjoy eternal happiness together in heaven. Amen.
In proclaiming St. Joseph Patron of the Universal Church, the Sovereign Pontiffs seem to have wished to implicitly acknowledge the hidden but real influence which the holy Patriarch has exercised and still does exercise not only over the Church Militant, but also over the souls that are suffering in purgatory. It may be assumed that St. Joseph, through his powerful intercession, hastens the liberation of those souls. Furthermore, the patronage of St. Joseph may be said to extend in some way over the saints who reign with Christ in heaven. For there is not one who is not in some manner indebted to the holy Patriarch for the happy attainment of his eternal salvation, since to his wonderful guardianship was due the preservation of the Redeemer's life. The angels also must in some way acknowledge their dependence on the most holy spouse of Mary, since they are inferior to him in glory, and thus form, as it were, a crown for him in heaven.
But it is especially in regard to ourselves who are still paying the penalty of the transgression of our first parents in this land of exile that St. Joseph exercises with special efficacy his all-powerful patronage. The more perfect a saint is in charity, the more eager is he in praying for us poor wayfarers here below, and the more efficacious are his prayers as he stands nearer the throne of God.
St. Joseph, therefore, whose charity is surpassed by that of no other saint, his holy spouse alone being excepted, prays for us sinners oftener and with greater efficacy than does any other saint. He even anticipates our requests, interpreting our desires and presenting our needs before the Throne of divine mercy. Wherefore, to him may be applied these words spoken of Jeremias: "This is a lover of his brethren and of the people of Israel: this is he that prayeth much for the people and for all the Holy City."
As the patronage of St. Joseph extends over the entire Church, there is therefore no earthly necessity for which the holy Patriarch cannot efficaciously provide. No man on this earth can assist us in all our needs, since human mercy and power are necessarily limited. But so unbounded is the compassion which St. Joseph feels toward us, so great is his power in heaven, that his patronage is restricted neither by time nor place, and there is no manner of grace which he cannot obtain for us. His fatherly care extends to all our needs and embraces even our future wants. It seems, therefore, as if Jesus Christ Himself would say to us what Pharao once said to the Egyptians: "Go to Joseph; and do all that he shall say to you."
St. Joseph's provident care extends, then, to all the faithful who have recourse to him with confidence. He asks of God
for them whatever spiritual graces they may need to lead holy lives.
Nor does he forget to obtain for them the temporal graces necessary for
their eternal salvation. In fact, as the ancient Joseph, once in charge of the granaries of Pharao, procured food for the people of Egypt during the time of famine, so St. Joseph's solicitous care embraces the domestic needs of the faithful who trust in him and call on his help with filial confidence." Go to Joseph, Our Unfailing Protector: Considerations on the Life and Virtue ...Very Rev. By Alexis Henri Marie Lepicier, O.S.M. 1923
Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter
by VP
Posted on Wednesday February 21, 2024 at 11:00PM in Tradition
The Chair of St. Peter
"A day in memory of St. Peter's fixing his episcopal see at Antioch; where, as St. Luke informs us, the followers of Christ were first called Christians. It was just that the prince of the apostles should take this city under his particular care and inspection, which was then the capital of the East, and in which the faith took so early and deep root. St. Chrysostom says that St. Peter made a long stay at Antioch. St. Gregory the Great, that he was seven years bishop of that Church. St. Leo says that we ought to celebrate the chair of St. Peter with no less joy than the day of his martyrdom, for as in this he was exalted to a throne of glory in heaven, so by the former he was installed head of the Church on earth.
On this festival, adore and thank the divine goodness for the establishment and propagation of his Church; and earnestly pray that in his mercy he would preserve the same and extend it, that his name may be glorified by all nations and by all hearts to the boundaries of the earth. The Church of Christ is his spiritual kingdom. He not only founded it, but continues to govern it, and by his spirit to animate its members to the end of the world as its visible head; though he has left St. Peter and his successors as a visible head for its exterior government.
Give thanks on this day for the propagation of the gospel among the Gentiles; and pray that it may be still more and more enlarged, for the enlightening all those who sit in darkness, and know not God. Pray in particular for the people of the East. Pray for all the prelates in Christ's Church, that as they succeed the apostles, they may be animated with an apostolic spirit in renouncing the world and its ways, and applying themselves wholly to the good of their flock. Pray that none may be admitted to that dignity, but such as are truly qualified for the charge, and called by God, as the apostles were. Pray likewise for the peace and unity of the Church, for the remedying all abuses, and that there may be one pastor and one fold." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother
Priests' First Saturday
by VP
Posted on Saturday August 05, 2023 at 12:51PM in Tradition
Mary as Mother of Priests is in the Dominican Priory Church of the Holy Cross in Leicester. by Lawrence OP
"Listen to what our Holy Father, Pope Pius XI, says: " God in heaven and I on earth, we desire nothing more ardently than prayer and sacrifice for priests...Let us beg God that He may give holy priests! If we have this, all else will follow; but if this be wanting, all else will avail nothing." It was from this trend of thought that the idea of the Priest's Saturday" took its origin, which idea the Superior General of the Salvatorian Fathers placed before the Holy Father in special private audience on November 21, 1934. His Holiness was much pleased with the plan and said, in conclusion: "We heartily praise and bless the work....We repeat, the thing pleases Us, We praise and bless it heartily."
What is the plan?
The Priest's Saturday:
It is something quite simple and easy, yet immeasurable great in its results. You should make it a point to offer the Saturday after the First Friday of each month to your Savior, through the hands of Mary, the great mediatrix of all graces, for the sanctification of all the priests and students for the priesthood throughout the whole world. For this purpose you should give the Saturday wholly and entirely to Him, that is to say, Holy Mass, Holy Communion, all prayers, labors, sacrifices, joys and sorrows. Whatever you cannot do on this day (Holy Mass and Holy Communion) you ought to supply immediately on Sunday. So there is really nothing new for you to do. You merely offer up this Saturday (or even every Saturday or some other day) for the sanctification of priests. It is not a case of any sodality of fraternity or anything like that. Like the First Friday in honor of the Sacred Heart, the Priest's Saturday seeks to become something religiously observed by all the Catholics of the world.
(...) Concern about the holiness of priests is the concern of the Heart of the Divine Savior and of His blessed Mother. Therefore, you also should be sure to take part in this "apostolate to the apostles. " The Holy Father, all bishops, all priests, all students for the priesthood, and especially also your own pastor, earnestly beg of you thus to participate."
Source: Priest's Saturday Series, #2 Prayers and Devotions for Priest's Day. used with permission
Priests' First Saturday. Prayer:
Divine Savior, Jesus Christ, Who hast
entrusted the whole work of Thy redemption, the welfare and salvation of
the world, to priests as Thy representatives, through the hands of Thy
most holy Mother and for the sanctification of Thy priests and
candidates for the priesthood I offer Thee this present day wholly and
entirely, with all its prayers, works, sacrifices, joys, and sorrows.
Give truly holy priests who, inflamed with the fire of Thy divine love,
seek nothing but Thy greater glory and the salvation of our souls.
And thou, Mary, good Mother of priests, protect all priests in the
dangers of their holy vocation and, with the loving hand of a Mother,
also lead back to the Good Shepherd those poor priests who have become
unfaithful to their exalted vocation and have gone astray. Amen
In addition to the above make it a point also to recite frequently the following:
Divine Savior, Jesus Christ, Who Hast entrusted the weal and woes of
Thy Holy Church to priests, with all the fervor of my heart I recommend
to Thee the wants of my pastor and all priests. Enrich them more and
more with true priestly sanctity. Give them generous, all embracing,
apostolic hearts, full of love for Thee and for all Thy souls, so that
they, being themselves sanctified in Thee, may sanctify us who are
confided to their care, and may lead us safely to heaven. Bestow upon
them in rich abundance all Thy priestly graces!
Let them ever
give us a glowing example of love and fidelity towards Holy Mother
Church, towards the Pope, and bishops, and grant that by word and
example they may shine as models of every virtue.
Most loving
Jesus, bless all their priestly labors and sacrifices! Bless all their
prayers and words at the altar and in the confessional, in the pulpit,
and in school, in confraternities, and at the bedside of the sick!
Protect and preserve them in all dangers from within and from without.
Divine Savior, give to Thy Church priests who abound in true holiness!
Call many good boys and young men to the priestly and religious state!
Aid and sanctify all those who are to become Thy priests! And to the
souls of departed priests grant everlasting rest.
But to me
give a true spirit of faith and humble obedience, in order that in my
pastor I may ever behold the representative of God and willingly follow
all his teachings. Amen
Mass in the Catacombs during the Persecutions
by VP
Posted on Thursday June 29, 2023 at 11:09AM in Tradition
1. The traditional Roman liturgy of the Mass was the liturgy of our Catholic ancestors. It was the form of the Mass with which most of the European nations (except some Eastern European countries and the Ambrosian and Mozarabic rites), all American nations, and most of the African, Asian, and Oceanian nations were evangelized.
2. “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too” (Pope Benedict XVI).
3. “The problem with the new Missal lies in its abandonment of an ever-continuous history, before and after St. Pius V, and in the creation of a thoroughly new book (albeit compiled of old material)” (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger).
4. The new Missal’s “publication was accompanied by a kind of prohibition of all that came before it, which is unheard-of in the history of ecclesiastical law and liturgy” (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger).
5. “I can say with certainty, based on my knowledge of the conciliar debates and my repeated reading of the speeches made by the Council Fathers, that this [i.e., the reform as it is now in the new Missal] does not correspond to the intentions of the Second Vatican Council” (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger).
6. The traditional Roman liturgy of the Mass was the liturgy of all the Latin-rite Saints whom we know at least during the entire last millenium; hence its age is millennial. Although commonly called the “Tridentine” Mass, the exact same form of the Mass was already in use several centuries before the Council of Trent, and that Council asked only to canonize that venerable and doctrinally sure form of the liturgy of the Roman Church.
7. The traditional Roman liturgy of the Mass has the closest affinity with the Eastern rites in bearing witness to the universal and uninterrupted liturgical law of the Church: “In the Roman Missal of Saint Pius V, as in several Eastern liturgies, there are very beautiful prayers through which the priest expresses the most profound sense of humility and reverence before the Sacred Mysteries: they reveal the very substance of the Liturgy” (Pope John Paul II).
8. The Pope and the bishops do not have, therefore, the authority to forbid or to limit such a venerable form of the Holy Mass, which was offered by the Saints for over a thousand years, in the same way as the Pope or the Bishops would not have the authority to forbid or significantly reform the venerable form of the Apostolic or Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, precisely because of their venerable, continuous, and millennium-old use.
9. Complying with the abusive prohibition of that venerable form of the Mass of the Saints, issued unfortunately by current churchmen in a time of unprecedented ecclesial crisis, would constitute a false obedience.
10. Noncompliance with the prohibitions of the traditional Mass does not make one, by that fact, schismatic, provided one continues to recognize the Pope and the bishops and continues to respect them, and pray for them.
11. In disobeying formally such an unheard-of prohibition of an inalienable patrimony of the Roman Church, one in fact obeys the Catholic Church of all ages and all the Popes who diligently celebrated and commanded the preservation of that venerable and canonized form of the Mass.
12. The current prohibition of the traditional rite of the Mass is a temporary phenomenon and will cease. The Roman Church is experiencing today a kind of liturgical exile, i.e., the traditional Latin Mass has been exiled from Rome; yet the exile will, for sure, one day come to an end.
13. Since the traditional Latin Mass has been in uninterrupted use for more than a millennium, sanctified by universal reception over time, by the Saints and by the Roman Pontiffs, it belongs to the inalienable patrimony of the Roman Church. Consequently, in the future the Roman Pontiffs will without doubt once again recognize and re-establish the use of that traditional liturgy of the Mass.
14. Future Popes will thank all priests and faithful who, in difficult times, notwithstanding all pressures and false accusations of disobedience, and in a spirit of sincere love for the Church and for the honor of the Holy See, maintained and transmitted the great liturgical treasure of the traditional Mass for future generations.
Source: One Peter Five
Feast of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus - Thursday within the Octave of the Sacred Heart (1921)
by VP
Posted on Thursday June 22, 2023 at 12:06PM in Tradition
Allegory of the Holy Eucharist by Miguel Cabrera, 1750 pd
"Out of devotion to the Holy Eucharist and the Passion of Christ grew the devotion to the Sacred heart of Jesus with its feast and that of the S. Priesthood of Christ (Octave of Corpus Christi), and the more recent feast (1921) of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus on the Thursday following the third Sunday after Easter. (American Ecclesiastical Review V 68, 1923 page 470)
"This devotion does not substantially differ from the ordinary devotion to the Sacred Heart. It merely emphasizes the act of supreme love of the Heart in bestowing the gift of the Holy Eucharist upon us." The Raccolta
On 9 November 1921, Pope Benedict XV instituted the feast of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus to be celebrated on the Thursday within the Octave of the Sacred Heart with a Proper Mass and Office. The feast continues to be celebrated in some places. In instituting the feast, Pope Benedict XV wrote: "The chief reason of this feast is to commemorate the love of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the mystery of the Eucharist. By this means the Church wishes more and more to excite the faithful to approach this sacred mystery with confidence, and to inflame their hearts with that divine charity which consumed the Sacred Heart of Jesus when in His infinite love He instituted the Most Holy Eucharist, wherein the Divine Heart guards and loves them by living with them, as they live and abide in Him. For in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist He offers and gives Himself to us as victim, companion, nourishment, viaticum, and pledge of our future glory." The Raccolta
"122. It is likewise Our most fervent desire that all who profess themselves Christians and are seriously engaged in the effort to establish the kingdom of Christ on earth will consider the practice of devotion to the Heart of Jesus as the source and symbol of unity, salvation and peace. Let no one think, however, that by such a practice anything is taken from the other forms of piety with which Christian people, under the guidance of the Church, have honored the divine Redeemer. Quite the opposite. Fervent devotional practice towards the Heart of Jesus will beyond all doubt foster and advance devotion to the Holy Cross in particular, and love for the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. We can even assert - as the revelations made by Jesus Christ to St. Gertrude and to St. Margaret Mary clearly show - that no one really ever has a proper understanding of Christ crucified to whom the inner mysteries of His Heart have not been made known. Nor will it be easy to understand the strength of the love which moved Christ to give Himself to us as our spiritual food save by fostering in a special way the devotion to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, the purpose of which is - to use the words of Our predecessor of happy memory, Leo XIII - "to call to mind the act of supreme love whereby our Redeemer, pouring forth all the treasures of His Heart in order to remain with us till the end of time, instituted the adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist."(122) For "not the least part of the revelation of that Heart is the Eucharist, which He gave to us out of the great charity of His own Heart."(123). (Encyclical Haurietis Aquas Pope Pius XII May 15, 1956).
Proper Prayers for the Mass in the Extraordinary form for the Feast of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus
Prayer:
Heart of Jesus in the Eucharist, sweet companion in our exile, I adore Thee.
Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, I adore Thee.
Heart solitary, I adore Thee.
Heart humiliated, I adore Thee.
Heart abandoned, I adore Thee.
Heart forgotten, I adore Thee.
Heart despised, I adore Thee.
Heart outraged, I adore Thee.
Heart ignored by men, I adore Thee.
Heart, lover of our hearts, I adore Thee.
Heart desirous of being loved, I adore Thee.
Heart patient in waiting for us, I adore Thee.
Heart eager to hear us, I adore Thee.
Heart longing to be prayed to, I adore Thee.
Heart source of new graces, I adore Thee.
Heart wrapped in silence, desiring to speak to souls, I adore Thee.
Heart, the sweet refuge of the hidden life. I adore Thee.
Heart, teacher of the secrets of union with God, I adore Thee.
Heart of Him Who sleeps yet ever watches, I adore Thee.
Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, have pity on us,
Jesus, Victim, I desire to console Thee,
I unite myself to Thee, and sacrifice myself with Thee. I
I annihilate myself in Thy presence. I adore Thee.
I would forget myself to be mindful of Thee.
I would be forgotten and despised for love of Thee.
And be neither understood nor love, except by Thee.
I will silence myself to listen to Thee, I will abandon myself to lose myself in Thee.
Grant that I may thus appease Thy thirst, the thirst for my sanctification and salvation, and that being purified I am bestow on Thee a pure and true love. I would not longer weary Thy patience; take possession of me, I give myself to Thee.
I offer Thee all my actions, my intellect to be illuminated by Thee, my heart to be guided by Thee, my will to be made strong, my soul and body to be nourished, my misery to be lightened. Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, whose blood is the life of my soul, may it be no longer I that live but do thou alone live in me. Amen. Blessed Sacrament Book Fr. Francis Xavier Lasance. page 676
Resources:
- The Eucharistic Christ: Reflections and Considerations on the Blessed Sacrament By Fr Albert Tesnière (PDF) 1897
- The Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, Readings for the Month of June, by Fr. Albert Tesnière 1928
- A Neglected Gem in the Traditional Roman Missal: The Eucharistic Heart of Jesus by Peter Kwasniewski, PhD
Sunday for Priests
by VP
Posted on Sunday June 18, 2023 at 10:43AM in Tradition
O Holy Spirit, Creator, be propitious to the Catholic Church; and by Thy heavenly power make it strong and secure against the attacks of its enemies; and renew in charity and grace the spirit of Thy servants, whom Thou has anointed, that they may glorify Thee and the Father and His Only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. amen.
Manual of prayers to the Holy Ghost by Very Rev. Fr. Felix of Jesus 1941
Summer Ember Saturday: The Heart of Jesus sending us the Gift of Fear
by VP
Posted on Saturday June 03, 2023 at 12:00AM in Tradition
Meditation for Ember Saturday:
"And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God: whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption." (Eph. iv. 30.)
1st
Point.-Love is the fruit of knowledge, and fear is the golden shield
which protects love. Consider what a holy, beautiful, precious gift is
fear. There can be no deep love without fear. True love must always be
based upon reverence, and reverence is but another word for fear. It is
said of Jesus, in His adorable Humanity, that "He was heard for His
reverence." (Heb. v. 7.) The souls who love most deeply, generally are
most full of fear; but it is the fear of intense reverence, not
the fear of slavish dread, for that fear is "cast out by perfect
charity." He that feareth with the fear of a servant, is not "perfected
in charity" (1 John, iv. 18); but he who fears with the reverence of a
child, has attained its highest consummation. Oh, let us pray for this
golden gift, and give no rest, by our urgent importunity, until we have
obtained it!
2nd Point. This fear manifests itself, when most
perfect, in an interior dread of "grieving the Holy Spirit of God." It
is the fruit of burning love; and in souls who are far advanced in
charity, its manifestations are surpassingly beautiful. They speak in
their hearts all day long to Jesus, and Jesus speaks to them; not always
with evident sensible consolation, but with a distinctness often
accompanied with extreme dryness and darkness, which may perhaps be sent
as a balance to this unspeakable favor. They scarcely commit an
imperfection, ere it is distinctly pointed out to them; and the love
that burns so strongly within them, excites their fear, and they suffer,
as only such souls can suffer, from intense fear, lest they should
grieve their Beloved. To such souls there is no fear like the fear of
grieving the object. of their love; yet, because of their familiarity
with Him, they are often supposed to fear less than those who love less.
3rd
Point. This gift also manifests itself in another form, in souls who
are not so much led by personal love to Jesus. In them it is simply fear or
awe of God and of His judgments; and such souls walk very blamelessly
before Him, but rather from the love of fear, than from the fear of
love. Let us pray to-day, as the octave of gifts closes upon us-let us
pray above all things for holy fear: God will impart the gift to each
soul in the way best suited to promote its perfection. The Spirit is our
"seal unto the day of redemption." Oh, let us beware how we break or
cast from us that blessed seal! Let us begin a new life of prayer to the
Third Person of the ever-blessed Trinity; let us try to convince
ourselves firmly of the importance of His office, and of the immense
importance of invoking His help daily as our Teacher and our Comforter.
Source: Meditations for Advent and Easter, p 280
Hymns, readings and prayers for this Whit Embertide:
Veni, Sancte Spiritus (Come, Thou Holy Spiritus, come)
Veni, Creator Spiritus, (Come Holy Spirit, Creator Blest)
Readings:
Ember Saturday:
Leviticus, 23. 9-11, 15-17, 21
Saint Paul to the Romans, 5. 1-5
Prayers:
An excellent prayer for this purpose is the Litany of the Saints, in which so many bishops, priests, and levites are invoked; or the Rosary may be appropriately said, grouping those for whom we pray into five
classes, corresponding to the five decades.
Prayers for Ember Days:
Listen, Almighty God, we beseech Thee, to the prayers which Thy universal Church offers to Thee at this time, beseeching Thy blessing on those who are about to be admitted to Thy Holy Service of the Altar, in particular on Deacon Nicolas Rapkoch. Give Thy grace to all who are called to any office and administration amongst Thy clergy, and so replenish them with the truth of Thy doctrine, and indue them with innocence of life, that they may faithfully serve Thee, to the glory of Thy great name and the benefit of Thy Holy Church. Amen
O
God, of Whose mercies there is no number, and of Whose goodness the
treasure is infinite, we humbly thank Thee for the gifts thou hast
bestowed upon us. Continue Thy mercy to us, and give us also so much of
Thy temporal blessings as Thou knowest to be for our good.
Grant that
the fruits of the earth may, by Thy holy favor, increase and multiply.
Defend them from all drought, frosts or tempests, or whatever else may
be hurtful to them. It is from Thy hand only that we look for succor,
and to Thee we have recourse in all our necessities. Amen.
Source: St. John's Manual 1856, Archbishop of New York John J. Hugues
Summer Ember Friday: The Heart of Jesus Sending us the gift of Piety
by VP
Posted on Friday June 02, 2023 at 12:00AM in Tradition
Meditation for Friday in Whitsun Week:
"Be ye therefore followers of God, as most dear children and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered Himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweetness." (Eph. v. 1, 2.)
1st Point. The gift of piety is the very soul of devotion. It is an intense filial love of God which leads us to "walk in love, as most dear children.” Oh, blessed gift! Oh, precious gift! Gift which the world cannot know or understand! Gift which is bestowed in the richest abundance on the most saintly souls! "Be ye therefore followers of God, as most dear children." Oh, how the heart of the great apostle burned with love as he wrote these words! "Be ye therefore." Wherefore? Because, as he tells us in the preceding words, "God hath forgiven you in Christ." This is the reason why we are to be followers of God, as most dear children. We are very dear indeed to God, for our purchase has cost Him the life and the blood of His only Son. We slew Him, it is true; but for all that God has forgiven us in Christ, and He only seeks now, in return for all His love, that we should be "followers of God, as most dear children."
2nd Point. Consider how loving children follow their parents. They follow them, by imitating their example. A loving child is firmly persuaded that no one is so good or so wise as his own parents, and considers their conduct as the highest model which he can follow. If they have faults, he does not see them, for love blinds him. He follows them, by keeping close to them. A loving child prefers the society of his parents to that of others. He follows them, clings to them, and weeps when he is separated from them. Are we thus following our Father, as "most dear children"? Children may be deceived by their love, and follow bad and imperfect example; but we never can be deceived when we follow our Father. A child may injure his prospects in life by too great attachment to his parents; but the closer we keep to our Father, the more we shall advance our best interests.
3rd Point. The gift of piety will also enable us to "walk in love." How much is implied in these words: To "walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us." How did He walk in love? The apostle tells us : it was by " delivering Himself for us as an oblation and a sacrifice to God." Are we willing to walk thus in love, to sacrifice ourselves for our Beloved, even as He sacrificed Himself for us? To sacrifice ourselves in every detail of our daily life for the brethren, for those with whom we associate, because they are Christ's representatives to us; this is, indeed, to "walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us." O sweet Spirit, come! Spirit of adoption, Spirit of love, come, and enkindle in our hearts Thy heavenly fire-come and fill us with this blessed gift of piety, that we may indeed "be followers of God, as most dear children "!
Aspiration. "My Beloved to me, and I to Him." (Cant. ii. 16.)
Source: Meditations for Advent and Easter, 1866 p 278
Hymns, readings and prayers for this Whit Embertide:
Veni, Sancte Spiritus (Come, Thou Holy Spiritus, come)
Veni, Creator Spiritus, (Come Holy Spirit, Creator Blest)
Readings for Ember Friday:
Prayers:
An excellent prayer for this purpose is the Litany of the Saints, in which so many bishops, priests, and levites are invoked; or the Rosary may be appropriately said, grouping those for whom we pray into five
classes, corresponding to the five decades.
Prayers for Ember Days:
Listen, Almighty God, we beseech Thee, to the prayers which Thy universal Church offers to Thee at this time, beseeching Thy blessing on those who are about to be admitted to Thy Holy Service of the Altar, in particular on Deacon Nicolas Rapkoch. Give Thy grace to all who are called to any office and administration amongst Thy clergy, and so replenish them with the truth of Thy doctrine, and indue them with innocence of life, that they may faithfully serve Thee, to the glory of Thy great name and the benefit of Thy Holy Church. Amen
O
God, of Whose mercies there is no number, and of Whose goodness the
treasure is infinite, we humbly thank Thee for the gifts thou hast
bestowed upon us. Continue Thy mercy to us, and give us also so much of
Thy temporal blessings as Thou knowest to be for our good.
Grant that
the fruits of the earth may, by Thy holy favor, increase and multiply.
Defend them from all drought, frosts or tempests, or whatever else may
be hurtful to them. It is from Thy hand only that we look for succor,
and to Thee we have recourse in all our necessities. Amen.
Source: St. John's Manual 1856, Archbishop of New York John J. Hugues
