Day 26. Lent with the Cure d'Ars: Catechism on the Sanctification of Sunday
by VP
Posted on Sunday March 15, 2026 at 03:00AM in Lenten Sermons
"You labor you labor, my children; but what you earn ruins your body and your soul. If one ask those who work on Sunday, "What have you been doing?" they might answer, "I have been selling my soul to the devil, crucifying Our Lord, and renouncing my Baptism. I am going to Hell; I shall have to weep for all eternity in vain. " When I see people driving carts on Sunday, I think I see them carrying their souls to Hell.
Oh, how mistaken in his calculations is he who labors hard on Sunday, thinking that he will earn more money or do more work! Can two or three shillings ever make up for the harm he does himself by violating the law of the good God? You imagine that everything depends on your working; but there comes an illness, an accident. . . . so little is required! a tempest, a hailstorm, a frost. The good God holds everything in His hand; He can avenge Himself when He will, and as He will; the means are not wanting to Him. Is He not always the strongest? Must not He be the master in the end?
There was once a woman who came to her priest to ask leave to get in her hay on Sunday. "But, " said the priest, "it is not necessary; your hay will run no risk. " The woman insisted, saying, "Then you want me to let my crop be lost?" She herself died that very evening; she was more in danger than her crop of hay. "Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto life everlasting. " [St. Jn. 6:27].
What will remain to you of your Sunday work? You leave the earth just as it is; when you go away, you carry nothing with you. Ah! when we are attached to the earth, we are not willing to go! Our first end is to go to God; we are on the earth for no other purpose. My brethren, we should die on Sunday, and rise again on Monday.
Sunday is the property of our good God; it is His own day, the Lord's day. He made all the days of the week: He might have kept them all; He has given you six, and has reserved only the seventh for Himself. What right have you to meddle with what does not belong to you? You know very well that stolen goods never bring any profit. Nor will the day that you steal from Our Lord profit you either. I know two very certain ways of becoming poor: they are working on Sunday and taking other people's property."
Source: The Blessed Curé of Ars in His Catechetical Instructions, 1951
Prayer for Lent: O Lord who, for our sake, didst fast forty days and forty nights; give us grace to use such abstinence that, our flesh being subdued to the spirit, we may worthily lament and acknowledge our wretchedness, and may obtain perfect remission and forgiveness of Thee, the God of all mercy, who livest and reignest with the Father and Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen
Source: Lent with the Cure d'Ars Compiled by the CAPGFourth Sunday of Lent: The True Manna, the Bread of Life
by VP
Posted on Sunday March 15, 2026 at 03:00AM in Sunday Sermons
Holy Mass, Saint Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, Wake Forest (Rev. Fr. Parkerson, Rev. Fr. Meares, Rev. Fr.Tighe)
" And whereas it beseemeth, that holy things be administered in a holy manner, and of all holy things this sacrifice is the most holy; to the end that it might be worthily and reverently offered and received, the Catholic Church instituted, many years ago, the sacred Canon, so pure from every error, that nothing is contained therein which does not in the highest degree savour of a certain holiness and piety, and raise up unto God the minds of those that offer. For it is composed, out of the very words of the Lord, the traditions of the apostles, and the pious institutions also of holy pontiffs."
Source: Council of Trent, Session 22
1. The tradition about the Messias.
2. Review of the miracle.
3. Contrast the Manna and the Holy Eucharist.
4. As of old, so many now leave our Blessed Lord.
"THERE existed amongst the Jews a tradition, that, when the Messias came, He should be known and recognized by a miracle that should surpass even those of Moses, their leader and their hero. And amongst the miracles that Moses had wrought, the manna from heaven was reverenced as supreme. If we bear this in mind, we can see that the miracle of our divine Lord, in multiplying the five loaves to feed the five thousand men, was a bold and distinct challenge that they should be struck, remember, and recognize Him as the Messias. "This is of a truth the prophet that is to come into the world."
The manna had unfailingly rained down from heaven to feed the multitude in the desert for forty years. And in this chapter of St. John's Gospel we read how the crowd had followed our Saviour," because they saw the miracles which He did on them that were diseased." Jesus went up into a mountain, and when He saw the multitude that followed Him, He said to Philip: "Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?"
It was out of the question to procure food on the mountain side. Our Lord had arranged the time and the place, "for He Himself knew what He would do." When hunger came upon that crowd, the remembrance of the manna would be forced upon them. Ah! if they could only be fed in the desert!
It is so easy to read of the miracle and pass on; but pause and try to realize the wonder, the excitement, the enthusiasm, when that vast multitude saw and understood what was being done. "Make the men sit down," said our Lord; then He took and blessed the five small loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed to them that were set down. Five small loaves for five thousand men! And the loaves multiplied in those divine hands. A harvest takes months to grow and fructify in the earth, but not in the hands of the Creator, God made man. Ten thousand eager eyes were watching and wondering. Each man was eager to receive his share; each one fearful lest the bread should not suffice for all. Ah! the manna their fathers had laboriously gathered before sunrise, and only that which would suffice for the day; here the bread was ready for them, and they did eat and were filled, and twelve baskets of fragments remained over and above to them that had eaten. No wonder their hearts burned within them; no wonder they recognized Him as their Messias. "This is of a truth the prophet that is to come into the world."No wonder that in their excitement they resolved" to take Him by force and make Him King!"
But Jesus "fled again into the mountain Himself alone." Next day they followed Him again, and were rebuked by our Lord: "You seek Me, because you did eat of the loaves and were filled." They sought to test Him again, whether He were the Messias: "Our fathers did eat manna in the desert," they answered. Alas! when our Blessed Lord would lead them further in their faith in Him, and reveal to them the mystery of the Bread of Life, they murmured at Him because He had said: "I am the living Bread, which came down from heaven." He repeated," I am the Bread of Life," and to show how this Bread surpassed the manna from heaven, He added, "Your fathers did eat manna in the desert and are dead-if any man shall eat of this Bread, he shall live for ever" (v. 49, 50).
Oh! the sad ending of our Redeemer's loving endeavour to win the hearts of men. "After this many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him." Alas! is not all this repeated in the lives of so many, who should know Him far better than these poor Israelites? Our faith teaches us that this Bread of Life is consecrated at every Mass and has been for wellnigh two thousand years! that it is multiplied far beyond the limits of the desert. In every land where there is a church or altar, He becomes present morning after morning, Who said, "I am the living Bread, who came down from heaven."
And how is it effected? By the words of Christ spoken by an ordained priest, "This is My Body." Not one Moses now, but thousands and thousands of priests all over the world bringing down the Bread of Life at the word of their Master-the Messias, Christ the Son of God!
And as of old, so now, many are unwilling and murmur, and, leaving Him, perish of hunger like the poor prodigal sons that they are. And even the good, the frequent, the daily communicants, where is our enthusiasm? Where the resolve to make Him sole King of our hearts? The good Lord is longing for that. He is drawing us, helping us, winning us to do that. Let nothing henceforth keep our hearts back from entire and zealous surrender of themselves to Him, His service and His love." Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Rev. Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey, O.S.B. 1922 (Fourth Sunday of Lent)
Saint Longinus
by VP
Posted on Sunday March 15, 2026 at 03:00AM in Tradition
Confession of Longinus by Tissot
"LOVE YOUR ENEMIES.- The evangelical precept the most difficult, perhaps, to observe, is that which prescribes to us to do good in return for evil and to love those that hate us. Saviour having given us, however, the example simultaneously with the precept, and vouchsafing to us the grace which renders the precept possible, there remains no excuse for our not accomplishing it. This admirable example did not fail to produce speedy fruits; for one of the Roman soldiers present at the time of His suffering-according to some the very one who cried out while he saw the Saviour expire, "Verily, this was the Son of God," while others believe it was the guard who pierced His side with a lance, and on whom the name of Longinus, probably in mere ignorance of his right name, has been conferred- -was converted, and began to announce the Gospel. On learning this, Pilate caused him to be arrested in Cappadocia. Now Longinus, knowing by revelation what the soldiers who were seeking him intended, received them into his house, acted towards them as one does with friends, and ultimately discovered to them who he was. They decapitated him without further ado.
MORAL REFLECTION. Behold the divine precept, which calls for no commentary, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who persecute and calumniate you."—(Matt. v. 44.)" Pictorial Half Hours with the Saints by Fr. Auguste Lecanu
PRAYER TO ST. LONGINUS: O Saint Longinus, you were chosen as the venerable gate keeper and was granted the gift of discernment by the Lord. An eyewitness of God's miracle who glorified the resurrected Christ. To your death, you remained Christ's soldier and for Christ you gave your head. Pray for us, therefore, O St. Longinus so that being inspired by your example and assisted by your prayers, we may live a holy life, die a happy death, and reach eternal life to praise and thank God in heaven with you. I ask you to pray to God this special request if it be His holy will. ( Mention your requests )
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be.
Almighty, Eternal God, You were pleased to make Your Church illustrious through the varied splendor of St. Longinus. As we venerate his memory, may we also follow such shining examples of virtue on earth and thus obtain merited crowns in Heaven. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. St. Longinus Patron Saint of the blind and people with poor eyesight, Pray for us. St. Longinus Patron Saint of Labor and Power, Pray for us. St. Longinus Patron Saint of Good Discernment, Pray for Us. Amen.
A Good Pastor
by VP
Posted on Sunday March 15, 2026 at 12:00AM in Books
A pastor, undertaking, as he does, to purify the hearts of others, and to wash away every blemish, should be chaste in thoughts and clean of hand. He should be foremost in action , operatione praecipuus, lest he refute by his conduct what he preaches by his lips, lest the limpid stream at which he drinks become muddied by his own footsteps. There is no one who does more harm in the Church than he who possesses the rank of the repute of holiness without the reality.
A pastor should know when to remain silent, so as not to disclose what is secret. And he should have the gift of speech, so that he may be able to announce what should be known, to exhort in sound doctrine, and to convince gainsayers. God Himself rebukes those who fly when the wolf appears, who, like "dumb dogs that are unable to bark," close their mouths in the presence of danger...
A pastor should, in a spirit of humility, be on a level with those who are good, taking precedence of them in nothing, and rejoicing, not that he has a position of authority, but rather that he has an opportunity to confer benefit. For the most part, however, one who rules others is swollen with conceit. He sees all things at his service, all his orders instantly carried out, all his subjects ready to applaud, even though he does ill, and non disposed to contradict. Deluded by these things, he grows overweening in his own conceit, the deference by which he is surrounded blinds him to the truth, he forgets himself, lives on the breath of others, and comes to regard himself as what people say he is, rather than as what he ought know himself to be....
A pastor must not grow remiss in the care of his own soul. He must not become engrossed in secular business. For if the head is feeble vigorous limbs avail not; and in vain does an army pursue the enemy if its leader has lost the way. Nevertheless, secular business must be undertaken sometimes, not for its own sake of with aridity, but our of consideration for others. Those who censure the deeds of delinquents, but pay no heed to their temporal necessities, will never acquire much influence. Truth appeals not to a poor man if mercy does not relieve his wants...
A pastor should not strive anxiously to please men, let him rather direct all his energies to those things which ought to please. A desire to please may easily degenerate into cowardice and complainsancy, for a man may be so anxious not to dull the edge of his popularity that he will not correct his subjects, even when they go astray. The love of the people, therefore, must be sought not for its own sake, not for the pastor's sake, but as a means, as a silken cord, by which their hearts may be drawn to the love of their Maker.