Feria

(The Illustraion is of All Saints Church, Earls Barton, Northants, UK, stolen from the Church at the protestant deformation.)

Before the Johannine Reforms, today was the Vigil of All Saints or All Hallow's Eve (Hallowe'en). Now it is simply a Feria with no Commemoration. The Roman Martyrology follows:

At Rome, the Saints Ampliatus, Urbanus, and Narcissus, who are mentioned by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans. They were put to death by the Jews and Gentiles for the Gospel of Christ.

At Constantinople, St. Stachis, bishop who was consecrated first bishop of that city by the blessed apostle Andrew.

At Saint Quentin in France, the martyr St. Quentin, a Roman citizen and senator, who suffered under Emperor Maximian. By the revelation of an angel, his body was found incorrupt after a lapse of fifty-five years.

At Milan, St. Antoninus, bishop and confessor.

At Ratisbon in Bavaria, St. Wolfgang, bishop.

At Palma, in the island of Majorca, St. Alphonsus Rodriguez, a lay brother of the Society of Jesus, whom Leo XIII canonized because of his remarkable humility and constant love of mortification.

At Rome, the translation of blessed Nemesius, deacon, and his daughter, the virgin Lucilla, who were beheaded on the 25th of August.

And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
R. Thanks be to God.

A Black Day in History

It was on this day in AD 1517 that the Reverend Father Doctor Martin Luther, OSA, posted his "95 Theses" on the door of the Wittenburg Palace Church, marking the start of the protestant deformation and the destruction of Christendom. The fruit of his rebellion are all around us to this day. Let us pray for the return of Europe to the Faith!

Feria

Today is a Feria with no Commemoration. The Roman Martyrology follows:

In Sardinia, the birthday of St. Pontian, pope and martyr. In the company of the priest Hippolytus, he was exiled by Emperor Alexander, and achieved martyrdom by being scourged. His body was brought to Rome by blessed Pope Fabian and buried in the cemetery of Callistus. His feast, however, is celebrated on the 19th of November.

At Ægea in Cilicia, in the reign of Diocletian, under the governor Lysias, the martyrdom of Saints Zenobius, bishop, and his sister Zenobia.

At Altino, in the neighbourhood of Venice, St. Theonestus, bishop and martyr, who was slain by the Arians.

In Africa, the birthday of two hundred and twenty holy martyrs.

At Tangier in Morocco, St. Marcellus, a centurion, the father of Saints Claudius, Lupercus, and Victorius. He achieved martyrdom by beheading under Agricola, deputy praetor for Praefectus.

At Alexandria, in the reign of Decius, thirteen holy martyrs who suffered with Saints Julian, Eunus, and Macarius.

At Cagliári in Sardinia, St. Saturninus, martyr, who was beheaded under the governor Barbarus, during the persecution of Diocletian.

At Apamea in Phrygia, St. Maximus, martyr, under the same Diocletian.

At Leon in Spain, the holy martyrs Claudius, Lupercus, and Victorius, the sons of St. Marcellus the centurion. They were condemned to be beheaded by Diogenian, the governor, in the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian.

At Paris, St. Lucanus, martyr.

At Alexandria, the martyr St. Eutropia, who was arrested while visiting the martyrs, and rendered up her soul after being cruelly tortured with them.

At Antioch, St. Serapion, a bishop very celebrated for his learning.

At Capua, St. Germanus, bishop and confessor, a man of great sanctity, whose soul, at the very hour of death, was seen by St. Benedict taken to heaven by angels.

At Potenza in Lucania, St. Gerard, bishop.

And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
R. Thanks be to God.

Christ the King of What or Whom?

As the post below points out, today is the Feast of Christ the King. In the post Conciliar Church the doctrine of the Feast has been seriously weakened from that which our Holy Father, Pius XI, of pious memory taught in his Encyclical Quas primas, introducing the Feast. The NO Liturgy makes it clear that Christ is to reign as King in our hearts, but His Holiness insisted that He was also to reign as King over our families, our schools, our societies and our States. What he taught was that Christ rules by right and should rule in fact over all God's creation. This is the Doctrine of the Catholic Church, no matter what the NO Liturgy seems to imply. It is the duty of every Catholic to use all legitimate means in his power to bring about this Social Reign of our Lord Jesus Christ the King!

The Feast of Christ the King

Today is the Feast of Christ the King. It is important to remember that the post Conciliar liturgy is very watered down from the Traditional doctrine. Our Holy Father Pius XI taught the Traditional doctrine that Christ must reign as King, not only in our hearts, but as King over our families, our schools and, indeed, over our societies and the Breviary Office for the Feast makes this clear.

In pre-Vatican II prayerbooks, there existed "Little Offices" of devotion. I have them for the Immaculate Conception, St Joseph and the Holy Angels. They consisted, basically, of the opening verses of the Breviary Office, a portion of the Hymn(s) of the Feast, a versicle and response proper to the Feast and the Collect of the Feast. I have constructed a "Little Office of Christ the King" along the same pattern and I have posted it on a new blog by the same name. I invite all my readers to check it out, print out the Little Office and use it. It can be reached on the blog by clicking here, a PDF file for printing, prepared by Mr James Sullivan (with the Latin!) can be accessed by clicking here and I have placed a link in my sidebar for future reference.


The Roman Martyrology says simply: The Feast of our Lord Jesus Christ the King.

The Collect of the Feast:

Almighty and everlasting God, who hast exalted thy beloved Son to be King over all worlds, and hast willed in him to make all things new : mercifully grant that the kindreds of the earth which are wounded and dispersed by sin : may speedily be knit together under his gracious sovereignty. Who liveth and reigneth with thee.

From the Roman Breviary.


The Lessons of the Feast taken from the Encyclical Letter of Pope Pius XI:

Lesson iv.

Since the Holy Year hath provided more than one opportunity to enhance the glory of the kingdom of Christ, we deem it to be in the highest degree in keeping with our Apostolic office to accede to the prayers of many Cardinals, Bishops, and faithful, made known to us both individually and collectively, by closing this very Year with the insertion into the ecclesiastical liturgy of a special feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King. It is a long-standing and common custom to apply, in a symbolic sense, the title of King to Christ. That is to say, to refer to him as King because he hath surpassed and excelled every created being by virtue of his sublime perfection in all things. In this sense he is said to reign in the minds of men. By which is meant, not only that the keenness of his mind and the extent of his knowledge surpasseth the rest of mankind, but that he is himself the Truth ; and hence that from him the truth is to be discovered, and also obediently received, by all mankind. Likewise he is said to reign in the wills of men. For in him not only is the human will in exact and precise accord with the holiness of the divine will, but also from him doth come to us the grace and inspiration to conform our own preferences to the divine will, whereby we are moved to the noblest kind of actions. Again, Christ is acknowledged to be the King of human hearts, on account of his love which passeth human understanding, and of his mercy and kindness, whereby he draweth all men unto him. For never hath anyone been loved so much at any time as Jesus Christ is loved, and that by so many different races. Neither will it happen in time to come that anyone shall be so loved. But although all this is true, Christ is also King in the proper and strict sense of the word. For if we ponder this matter more deeply we cannot but see that this title, as well as true kingly power, is rightly claimed for Christ as Man. As the Word of God he is of the same substance as the Father, and hath all things in common with the Father, and therefore in his divine nature he hath the highest and most absolute dominion over all created things. Hence it is only as Man that he can be said to have received from the Father the kingdom and the power and the glory.

Lesson v.


As to the source of our Lord's kingly dignity, it is fittingly indicated by Cyril of Alexandria who saith : He doth possess dominion, if I may use the word, over all creatures ; a dominion not seized by violence, nor usurped from anyone, but possessed by virtue of his very being and nature. In him there is a marvellous union of the divine and human natures which is known as the hypostatic union, and this very union is a glorious manifestation of his dominion. That is to say, as a consequence of this hypostatic union, Angels and men do not only adore Christ as God, but are subject to his dominion as Man, and do obey him as such. For by reason of this hypostatic union, if for no other reason, Christ hath power over all created beings. And now, to explain the import and nature of this headship of his, let us say briefly that it consisteth in a three-fold power, namely, that of Law-giver, Judge, and Ruler. For if this power were lacking, we could scarcely discern wherein he hath any such headship. And, moreover the witness to our Redeemer's universal dominion, which same is not only implied but announced by Holy Scripture, is more than clear, so that it is an article of the Catholic Faith, proceeding from the truth that Christ Jesus was given to mankind as the Saviour of all those who put their faith in him. But this being so, it is clear that he is also to be the Law-giver for those who obey him. Thus, the Gospels not only relate that he made laws, but they also shew him in the act of promulgating them. In several different passages the divine Master is described as announcing in various ways that whosoever keepeth his commandments, doth thereby shew love for him, and the desire to persevere in loving him. As to his júdiciary power, Jesus himself hath told us that the Father hath conferred this upon him ; for at the time when the Jews accused him of having broken the law of Sabbath-rest by his miraculous cure of a sick man, he said : The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgement unto the Son. Thus he hath authority to confer rewards or punishment upon the living, for authority so to do cannot be separated from his authority as Judge. From all this, his executive power (that is, his right to govern) is made clear, since all men must needs obey his rule, and those who disobey are subject to penalties from which there is no escape.

Lesson vi.


But, nevertheless, a kingdom such as this hath a special character, namely, that it is a spiritual kingdom, for it hath spiritual ends and purposes. The words quoted above from the Bible clearly índicate this, and the Lord Christ hath confirmed the same by his actions. On more than one occasion when the Jews―yea, when even the Apostles themselves―falsely imagined that the Messiah would presently free his people from Roman domination, and restore the Kingdom of Israel, he both dispelled and destroyed that fond hope. For he disclaimed the title of King when it was pressed upon him by the admiring multitude which thronged him ; he refused both the name and the honour by fleeing from them and concealing himself ; and he declared in the presence of the Roman Governour : My kingdom is not of this world. According to the Gospels it is a kingdom whose citizenship is prepared for by repentance, and bestowed by Baptism through faith. Although the latter is an outward rite, it doth both signify and produce an inward regeneration. Furthermore, this kingdom hath been raised up in direct opposition to the kingdom of Satan and the powers of darkness. Citizenship therein demandeth detachment from riches and worldly affairs, discipline of character, and hunger and thirst after righteousness ; and even more than this, that every citizen thereof is to deny himself, and take up his Cross. But since Christ as Redeemer hath purchased the Church with his own blood, and as Priest hath offered himself as a sacrifice for sin, which offering abideth forever, is it not evident that as King he is both our Redeemer and Priest? On the other hand, it is a wicked error to deny to Christ as Man the authority over civil affairs, since he hath from the Father such complete jurisdiction over created things that he could say : All power is given unto me in heaven and earth. Therefore, by our apostolic authority, we appoint the feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King, which same is to be observed annually throughout the entire world, on the last Lord's day in the month of October, that is to say, on the Sunday next before All Saints Day ; and likewise we enjoin, that the dedication of the human race to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus be annually renewed upon that selfsame day.

The Encyclical Quas Primas of our Holy Father, Pope Pius XI, 11 December 1925, instituting the Feast.

Jihadist Pigs Rioting Again In France

This time the vile swine have taken to hijacking buses, spreading flammable liquid and setting them alight. Extra riot police have been sent to Marseilles. Riot police? For God's sake, where is the Army? Shoot the swine down in the streets as the beginning of the general expulsion!!

Two stories from the Telegraph, here and here.

And one from The Times.

Muslims out of Europe! Vive la France! De Villiers for President of the Republic!

Ss Simon and Jude, Apostles & Martyrs

To day is the Feast of the Apostles, Simon and Jude, Martyrs.

From the Roman Martyrology:

In Persia, the birthday of the blessed apostles Simon the Canaanite and Thaddeus, who is also called Jude. Simon preached the Gospel in Egypt, Thaddeus in Mesopotamia. Afterwards, entering Persia together, they converted to Christ a numberless multitude of the inhabitants, then underwent martyrdom.

The Collect of the Feast from the Roman Breviary:

O God, who hast granted us to come to the knowledge of thy Name through thy blessed Apostles Simon and Jude, grant us to celebrate their everlasting glory by advancing in knowledge and to improve by this celebration. Through.

The proper Lessons from the Roman Breviary may be found here.

From the Mediæval Saints Group at Yahoo.

You win some, you lose some and some are still undecided

But the battle goes on! A recap of recent news on the battle front. First the good news:

A Danish Court has vindicated Jyllands-Posten, the newspaper that first printed the "Mohammad (may he be damned eternally!) Cartoons". Remember them? The MSM refused to print them, but brave little papers and much of the blogosphere made them readily available to the world and the jihadist pigs went nuts! If you missed them last year, here they are for your viewing pleasure! The story from Yahoo! News.

Nicaragua is set to ban all abortions. While the modern, enlightened, jacobin republics extend the killing ever further, these poor, benighted Catholics of Nicaragua stand up for the rights of the unborn. May God bless them! The story from the L.A.Times.

Now some of the not so good news:

In "Catholic" Quebec, in violation of the rights of parents to be the "primary educators" of their children (see the "Charter of the Family" for the true teaching on this matter,) the "Ministry of Education has told unlicensed Christian evangelical schools that they must teach Darwin's theory of evolution and sex education or close their doors." How low has Quebec fallen? Ste Anne, pray for Quebec! the story from the National Post.

And, again from Quebec, a "pro-abortion" priest (isn't that a contradiction in terms? It would be, if his Bishop had a backbone!) is running for a seat in the Federal Parliament. Not only is he pro-abort, but he's also pushing the envelope on obedience, since Canon Law prohibits priests from holding civil office. The story from LifeSiteNews.

And in "Catholic" Spain, the Red government has approved a plan whereby children are conceived with a plan for murdering them in the womb so that their tissues may be used to help an incurably ill sibling. I have to wonder if the parents will tell them, "Oh, yes, you had a brother, but we killed him so you could live."? The story from the Irish Examiner.

And one that isn't decided yet:

"Catholic" Portugal is going to try to follow the lead of its sister Iberian State, "Catholic" Spain and "liberalise" its abortion law. Whilst Portugal already allows the murder of the unborn, it does have a fairly restrictive law. The new law would make "abortion on demand" legal through the 10th week of pregnancy. The Church has called on all Catholics to vote "no", of course. Two stories from the International Herald Tribune and the Indian Catholic.

Confusing, obscure or unknown Liturgical terms

I have been asked to do a series of posts on confusing Liturgical Terms. On of the first suggested for my attention was "feria". Could this have something to do with the fact that I have taken to heading my first post on ferias simply "Feria"? I don't know, but I'm more than happy to fulfill the request, so here goes.

"Feria" today,simply means "weekday", but originally it meant a day in the Roman Calendar on which slaves were not required to work and on which no court sessions were held. In the early Church it corresponded to our "Holy Day of Obligation", but has since totally lost that meaning.

In the Calendar of the Church, Sunday is "Dies Dominici", the Day of the Lord and Saturday is "Sabbato", the Sabbath. The five intervening days are "feria prima", feria secunda", etc.

In a complete reversal from the Roman usage and the early usage of the Church, the word has come to mean a day on which there is no Feast. There may be a "Commemoration" of a Saint (or Saints) who do not rank even as a Feast of the Third Class, but the Mass is of the preceding Sunday and the Divine Office is recited from the Psalter of the day, with the lessons at Mattins coming from the Proper of the Season.

More information can be found in the Catholic Encyclopædia and at Wikipedia.

Feria

Today is a Feria with no Commemoration. The Roman Martyrology follows:

At Avila in Spain, under the governor Dacian, the Saints Vincent, Sabina, and Christeta. They were first stretched on the rack in such a manner that all their limbs were dislocated; then stones being laid on their heads, and their brains beaten out with heavy bars, their martyrdom was fulfilled.

At Tilchatel in France, St. Florentius, martyr.

In Cappadocia, the holy martyrs Capitolina, and Erotheides, her handmaid, who suffered under Diocletian.

In India, St. Fruméntius, bishop. While he was a captive there he was consecrated bishop by St. Athanasius, and propagated the Gospel in that country.

At Naples, St. Gáudiósus, an African bishop who came to Campánia because of the Vandal persecution, and died a holy death in a monastery in that city.

In Ethiopia, in the time of Emperor Justin, St. Elesbaan, king. After having defeated the enemies of Christ and sent his royal diadem to Jerusalem, he led a monastic life, as he had vowed, and went to his reward.

R. Deo grátias.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
R. Thanks be to God.

Feria

Today is a Feria with a Commemoration of St Evaristus, P&M.

From the Roman Martyrology:

At Rome, St. Evaristus, pope and martyr, who enriched the Church of God with his blood under Emperor Hadrian.

The Commemoration:

V. The righteous shall flourish like a palm-tree.
R. And shall spread abroad like a cedar in Líbanus.

Ant. on Bened: He that hateth his life * in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

Let us pray.

O eternal Shepherd, do thou look favorably upon thy flock, which we beseech thee to guard and keep for evermore through the Blessed Evaristus thy Martyr and Supreme Pontiff, whom thou didst choose to be the chief shepherd of the whole Church. Through.

Feria

Today is a Feria with a Commemoration of Ss Chrysanthus & Daria, Mm.

From the Roman Martyrology:

At Rome, the holy martyrs Chrysanthus and his wife Daria. After many sufferings endured for Christ under the prefect Celerinus, they were ordered by Emperor Numerian to be thrown into a sandpit on the Salarian Way, where, being still alive, were covered with earth and stones.

The Commemoration:

V. Let the Saints be joyful with glory.
R. Let them rejoice in their beds.

Ant. on Bened: Even the very hairs of your head * are all numbered; fear not therefore ; ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Let us Pray.

Let us pray.
We beseech thee, O Lord, that we may in such wise be assisted by the prayers of thy blessed Martyrs Chrysanthus and Daria : that, like as we do here render them our outward honour ; so we may ever feel the succour of their loving-kindness. Through.

The Absurdity of Democracy Update

A post from Catholic Monarchists at Yahoo! A tip of the red beret to Knight4Mary, the moderator and author of this post.

As if we need to be reminded of the absurdity that is universal suffrage and mass democracy a recent article on CNN is worthy of note for those needing evidence against it. According to a poll if the Presidential election were held today Hillary Rodham Clinton would defeat John McCain HOWEVER John McCain would defeat Hillary Clinton.

Let me clarify. When the poll used Mrs. Clinton's maiden name the poll is thus:

Hillary Rodham Clinton 51%

John McCain 44 %

If however her maiden name Rodham is removed the polls show McCain in the lead:

John McCain 48 %

Hillary Clinton 47%

Now some may argue that this does not show the weakness of democracy but in our methods of polling. Even if we concede this point for sake of argument, it does not let democracy of the hook. If our polling methods are serious flawed than what can we but conclude when Modern politicians base their words and actions on public opinion polls? As I say, we should not concede that this poll is necessarily false for while the "results fall within the sample's margin of error" there remains a "good chance, but not a statistical certainty that Clinton's maiden name would help her in a matchup against McCain" at least according to Keating Holland, CNN's polling director.

CNN

A wonderful evening

By God's grace, earlier this evening (it's now Wednesday morning at 00h14!) I was privileged to attend the annual parish dinner of my TLM Community. The food was good, the wine was excellent and our speaker was brilliant! He was Steve Wood, founder of St Joseph's Covenant Keepers. He is a former evangelical protestant pastor who converted, along with his family, in 1990. Check out his website at dads.org. He was a bit delayed in arriving, since he was originally scheduled to speak on 11 September 2001, but he finally made it!

We were also blessed with the presence of a number of Traditional Priests. I know that the FSSP and ICKSP were represented, but I don't know if one of the many cassocks covered an SSPX Priest. A special honour, however, was the presence of His Excellency, the Most Reverend Robert W. Finn, Bishop of Kansas City-St Joseph. When I met him, he was talking with the 82 year old mother of a friend of mine. I dropped to my knee, kissed his ring and said, "Your Excellency is becoming world famous. You have the right enemies." He laughed at that. Then my friend's mother said, "I'm sorry I didn't kiss your ring," and very, very slowly dropped to her knee and did so! His Excellency helped her back to her feet. I'm not sure she could have made it on her own. While it was moving to be able to honour a truly Catholic Bishop in the traditional manner, what was more moving and almost brought tears to my eyes, was the sight of this 82 year old woman, the mother of a large Catholic family and the grandmother and great grandmother of God knows how many, creaking slowly down on one knee to do His Excellency honour and through him to honour our Lord Jesus Christ, whose successor the Bishop is.

New Blog in Blogroll

At the top of my blogroll is a relatively new blog, "The Young and Once Good Pundit" by Crusader888. It bears watching. The young fellow seems to have potential!

St Raphael the Archangel

Today is the Feast of the Archangel Raphael.

From the Roman Martyrology:

The Feast of St. Raphael the Archangel, whose dignity and benefits to mankind are set forth in the holy book of Tobias.

The Collect for his Feast, from the Roman Breviary:

O God, who gavest blessed Raphael the Archangel unto thy servant Tobias to be the companion of his wayfaring : grant unto us thy servants ; that we may ever be protected by the guardianship of this same thine Archangel, and defended by his help. Through.

The Proper Lessons, from the Roman Breviary:

Lesson i

Then Tobias called his son unto him, and said unto him : what can we give to that holy man that is come unto thee? And Tobias answered and said unto his father : Father, what wages shall we give unto him? or what can be a sufficient reward for all the kindness that he hath done? He hath led me, and brought me again in safety, and himself received the money from Gabel, and made me to have my wife, and driven away from here the devil, and made her parents to rejoice , and delivered my myself from being swallowed up by the fish. Thee also he hath made to see the light of heaven, and by him are we filled with all good things. For these things what sufficient reward shall we give him? But, I pray thee, my father, ask him if haply it please him to take half of all that hath been brought.

Lesson ii

So the father and the son called him, and took him apart, and began to ask him if it would please him to take half of all that had been brought. Then he said unto them secretly : Bless the God of Heaven, and confess him before all living, for he hath had mercy upon you. Verily it is a good thing to keep the king's secret, but to shew forth and to acknowledge the works of God is honourable. Prayer is good with fasting, and to lay up alms rather than to lay up stores of gold. For alms doth deliver from death, and the same it is which purgeth away sin, and causeth to find mercy and everlasting life. But they that work sin and iniquity are enemies of their own soul. Therefore I shew you the truth, and will not keep an hidden matter back from you. When thou didst pray with tears, and bury the dead, and leave thy dinner, and hide the dead in thine house by day, and bury them by night, I did bring up thy prayer before the Lord. And because thou wast accepted with God, it was needs that temptation should try thee.

Lesson iii

And now the Lord sent me to heal thee, and to deliver Sara thy son's wife from a devil. For I am the Angel Raphael, one of the seven, which stand before the Lord. And when heard it, they were troubled, and quaked, and fell upon their faces on the ground. And the angel said unto them : Peace be unto you ; fear not. In that I was with you, I was with you by the will of God, bless him and praise him. Unto you indeed I seem to eat and drink, but my meat is a meat which is not seen, and my drink a drink which man cannot behold. It is time therefore for me to return unto him that sent me, but bless ye God, and tell of all his marvellous works. And when he had so said, he was taken away from their sight, and they beheld him no more. Then they cast themselves down upon their faces, by the space of three hours, and blessed God ; and they arose, and told of all his marvellous works.

Lesson iv

The Lesson is taken from the Sermons of St. Bonaventure the Bishop

De Sanctis Angelis Sermo 5, sub fine

Raphael by interpretation is : The Medicine of God. Consider therefore the three remedies bestowed upon us by Raphael which are, as it were, medicines to heal our sickness. First of all Raphael the physician would deliver us from infirmity of soul by inducing within us the bitterness of contrition. This is attested by the Book of Tobit, where we read how Raphael telleth Tobias to anoint his father's eyes with gall ; and how, when it was done, Tobit did see. Could not Raphael have done the anointing himself? Nay, for an Angel cannot give repentance, but only shew the way thither. For by gall we are minded of that bitterness of contrition which is healing for the interior eyes of the soul, as saith the Psalm : He healeth those that are broken in heart : for if we would have spiritual insight, surely contrition is the best eye-salve. In Chapter two of the Book of Judges we are told that the Angel of the Lord ascended to the Place of Weepers, and said to the people : I made you go up out of Egypt ; and I have done unto you thus and thus, naming many great and good things : and all the people wept, so that they called the name of that place Bochim (that is, the Place of Weepers). Dearly beloved, all day long Angels do set before us the good things of God, and put us in remembrance of them, to wit : Who is it that created thee? who is it that redeemed thee? how doest thou? whom hast thou offended? If ye consider these things, ye have no recourse except tears of repentance.

Lesson v

Secondly, Raphael would deliver us from the devil's bondage by putting us in remembrance of the passion of Christ. This is set forth in Chapter six of the Book of Tobit under a figure of the heart of the fish which, when it is burning, driveth away all kinds of evil spirits. And again in Chapter eight, where we are told that Tobias placed the heart on live coals and the evil spirit fled into the utmost parts of Egypt, and the Angel bound him. What is this? Could Raphael bind an evil spirit only when the heart of a fish is set on fire? Did the Angel need a fish to enhearten him with great strength? Not at all! There is nothing worthwhile here except we take it mystically. Now the fish is a long-used symbol of Christ, because its letters in Greek are the initials of these words : Jesus Christ, Son of God, the Saviour. And so we may understand by the heart of the fish that there is nothing today to free us from the bondage of the devil except the passion of Christ, which same proceedeth from the depth of himself, namely, his Heart burning with love. For the heart is the fervent fountain of all life. The Heart of Christ, whence his passion proceeded, is the source of a charity which burneth with love, and so is the cause of devotion in us. But thy memory is often to thee coals of fire. If therefore thou wilt place the Heart of Christ within thee, upon the dead coals of thy memories, and let them burn with the flames of that Heart, at once the devil will leave thee. Yea, he will be rendered harmless, as though he were bound.

Lesson vi

Thirdly Raphael would deliver us from the wrath of God, incurred by sinning against him, and this he would do by inducing in us greater earnestness in prayer. Consider how the Angel Raphael, according to Chapter twelve of the Book of Tobit, said : When thou didst pray, I did bring the remembrance thereof before the Holy One. For in such fashion the Angels do all that they can to reconcile us to God. The devils are the fallen angels who accuse us before God. But the holy Angels excuse us, namely, when they bring before God those prayers which they have already stirred us up to offer more devoutly. Thus Chapter eight of the Apocalypse saith : The smoke of the incense ascended up before God out of the Angel's hand. For those sweet-smelling savours are the prayers of the saints. Wouldst thou appease God whom thou hast offended? Pray with devotion. And Angels will offer thy prayer to God in order to reconcile thee to God. It is related by Luke that Christ, being in an agony, prayed more earnestly, and that there appeared an Angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And all this was done for our sakes, for he had no need of such comfort. Yea, it was done to shew us how the Angels assist those who pray earnestly, and how they freely help and strengthen all who pray, and how they do offer our prayers to God. - The Supreme Pontiff Benedict XV extended the feast of Saint Raphael to the universal Church.

Lesson vii

The Lesson is taken from the Holy Gospel according to John

Chap. 5, 1-4

At that time : There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And so on, and that which followeth.

A Homily by St. John Chrysostom

Homilía 36, alias 35, in Joánnem num. 1

What are we to learn from the healing power of this pool? What mystery doth it signify? For these things are not written without purpose. In figure and type they do shew us something of things to come, so that what was exceeding strange might not, by coming unexpectedly, shock the faith of the hearers. What then is it that they foreshew? A Baptism was shortly to be instituted ; a Baptism of such abundant power and grace as would cleanse all sins, and make the dead to live. These things are therefore set forth under the type of the pool and in many other figures. First of all, there was the use of water for washing away the stains of the body, and for cleansing from certain ceremónial defilements, such as the uncleanness engendered by touching dead bodies, or lepers and the like. Under the old Law, many things were cleansed by water for similar reasons.

Lesson viii

But let us now return to the subject. As we have said, water is chiefly used to cleanse bodily defilement. It is also used to do away with infirmities of different kinds. God would have his people familiar with the benefits of water that the grace of the waters of Baptism might not seem strange to them. To that end he gave water as a means of cleansing, not only from defilements, but also from disease. Now it would seem that as the time of fulfilment drew nigh, the figures given for Baptism, and the passion, and such approaching realities, were clearer than those which had been given in times further back. Just as the king's bodyguard is more carefully uniformed to shew what it is than are the king's men at a distance, so was it done with types. On this wise we are told how the Angel came down and troubled the water, and endued it with a healing power, that is, that the Jews might learn how the Lord of Angels had even more power with which to heal the diseases of the soul. But here it was not simply the nature of the water that wrought the cure, otherwise it would always have done this. Rather it was done by the handiwork of an Angel. So likewise it is not merely the water used in Baptism that worketh in us, but rather the gift of the Spirit, which same it hath received to the end that we may be set free from all sin.

Lesson ix

Around this pool lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. And a certain man who desired to be healed was there, whose very infirmity prevented him from entering the waters. But now everyone that so desireth is able to come unto the water of life. For it is not an Angel that giveth virtue to this water, but the very Lord of Angels, even he that is able to do all things. We cannot now say : While I am coming, another steppeth down before me. If the whole world were to come, grace would in no wise be lacking for each and all. Nor doth its power to cure ever grow less, but is always the same. Just as the sun's rays give light every day, and are not diminished, nor their brightness made less by their lavish supply, so (and much more so) is the working of the Spirit not diminished by the number of them that receive it. The wonders that were worked at this pool were done to teach mankind how that by water bodily diseases could be healed, so that being long-exercised in this belief, they might the more easily have faith in the waters of Baptism for the healing of sick souls.

The article on him from the Catholic Encyclopædia.

The aricle on him from Wikipedia.

St Anthony Mary Claret, B&C

Today is the Feast of St Anthony Mary Claret, B&C.

Given his canonisation in 1950 and the age of my sources, I am unable to post his martyrology entry, his Collect or the proper Lessons for his Feast. However, here are some biographies of him. From Catholic Online, from Catholic Forum and Wikipedia. Please ignore the date of his Feast in the biographies. The NO Calendar keeps him tomorrow!

The XXth Sunday After Pentecost

Today is the XXth Sunday after Pentecost. Since Sunday is traditionally dedicated to the Holy Trinity, the illustration for today is the Icon of the Holy Trinity by Andrei Rublev, a Saint of the Orthodox Church.

There is no Feast on the Universal Calendar for this date, but the Roman Martyrology is as follows:

At Jerusalem, St. Mary Salome, the mother of the apostles James and John, who is referred to in the Gospel as having cared for the burial of our Lord.

At Jerusalem, blessed Bishop Mark, a noble and learned man, who was the first Gentile to govern the Church of Jerusalem. His brief episcopate was rewarded by the palm of martyrdom under Emperor Antoninus.

At Adriánople in Thrace, the birthday of the holy martyrs Philip, a bishop, Severus, a priest, Eusebius, and Hermes. After being imprisoned and scourged, they were burned alive in the time of Julian the Apostate.

Also, the holy martyrs Alexander, a bishop, Heraclius, a soldier, and their companions.

At Fermo in Piceno, the birthday of St. Philip, bishop and martyr.

At Cologne, St. Cordula, who was one of the companions of St. Ursula. Being terrified by the punishments and slaughter of the others, she hid herself, but repenting her deed, on the next day she declared herself to the Huns of her own accord, and thus was the last of them all to receive the crown of martyrdom.

At Huesca in Spain, the holy virgins Nunilo and Alodia, sisters, who endured martyrdom by being condemned to capital punishment by the Saracens for the confession of the faith.

At Hieropolis in Phrygia, St. Abercius, bishop, who flourished under Emperor Marcus Antoninus.

At Rouen, St. Melanius, bishop, who was ordained by Pope St. Stephen and sent there to preach the Gospel.

In Tuscany, St. Donatus of Scotland, bishop of Fiesole.

At Verona, St. Verecúndius, bishop and confessor.

And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.

R. Thanks be to God.

Faith call for Charles coronation

The Prince of Wales, well known for his pro-jihadist swine views has said that he wants to be "Defender of Faith" rather than "Defender of the Faith" when he is crowned. This idiocy is being resisted by Christian groups in England, as well it should be. I have no sympathy for the Anglican heretics, he will be the head of their sect upin his accession to the Throne and it will be his sworn duty to defend the "Protestant Religion as by Law Established".

From the BBC.

Gay Police Association banned from using Christian hate crime advert

The unrepentant sodomites on the London Police Force published an ad claiming that a) there had been a massive increase in "homphobic hate crimes" and b) that Christians were responsible. The ad showed a Bible in a pool of blood, implying that the majority of the crimes were violent. Upon closer inspection, these claims were false. Indeed, they admitted that of those "perpetrators" whose religion could be identified, 25% were jihadist pigs!

With a rare show of sanity, they have been slapped down by the Advertising Standards Authority, but there is still no prosecution of their own "hate crime"!

From ThisIsLondon.

Saturday of our Lady

Today the Office of our Lady on Saturday is recited, but there is a Commemoration of St Hilarion:

In Cyprus, the birthday of the holy abbot Hilarion. His life, full of virtues and miracles, was written by St. Jerome.

From the Roman Martyrology.

The Commemoration:

V. The Lord guided the righteous in right paths.
R. And shewed him the kingdom of God.

Ant. on Bened: Well done, good and faithful servant: * thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.

Let us pray.
Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord, that the prayers of thy holy Abbot Hilarion may commend us unto thee : that we, who have no power of ourselves to help ourselves, may by his advocacy find favour in thy sight. Through.

From the Roman Breviary.

St Jerome's Life of St Hilarion.

His biography from the Catholic Encyclopædia.

The article on him from Wikipedia.

A great post at RORATE CÆLI: One Holy Apostolic Rite

I encourage all my readers to click on the link below to see a pictorial refutation of the arguments from some modernists that the freeing of the Traditional Latin Mass would "fracture the unity of the Church."

RORATE CÆLI: One Holy Apostolic Rite

Pope urges Italians to oppose "deviant" love

Our Holy Father defends Catholic teaching on marriage:

From the Scotsman.

Vive le Pape!

Portuguese to hold abortion vote

To what a pass has Portugal come when the Communists vote against a move to liberalise the abortion law and the Christian Democrats abstain?

From the BBC.

Our Lady of Fatima, St Gabriel Archangel and St George, patrons of Portugal, pray for your people!

Crackdown on Jihadists working at Charles de Gaulle Airprt

There seems to be a bit of sanity left in Republican France. Their police say they are in a state of civil war with the jihadist swine (see my post of 7 Oct. here.), but they're still working in the airports! Let us hope that this is just the beginning!

Vive la France! De Villiers for President of the Republic!

From the International Herald-Tribune.

St John Cantius

St. John Cantius, priest and confessor, who fell asleep in the Lord on the 24th of December.

From the Roman Martyrolgy.

The Collect for his Feast from the Roman Breviary:

Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God : that, after the example of blessed John thy Confessor, we may so advance in the knowledge of the Saints, and likewise so learn to shew mercy to all men ; that by his merits we may be counted worthy to attain thy pardon. Through.

The Lessons for his feat from the Roman Breviary:

Lesson iv

John was the son of godly and respectable parents named Stanislaus and Anne, and was born in the town of Kenty, a place in the diocese of Krakow in Poland, from which he took the Latin name of Cantius. By his gentleness, innocency, and seriousness he gave great hopes even from his childhood. He studied Philosophy and Theology in the University of Krakow, wherein he rose step by step to be a Professor and teacher of those sciences wherein he lectured many years, not only enlightening the minds of his hearers, but stirring up in them all godliness, instructing them by ensample as well as by word. Having taken Priests' orders, he ceased not to busy himself with letters, but added thereto the striving after Christian perfection. He grieved exceedingly that God should be offended on all hands, and offered up to him, day by day, not without many tears, the Unbloody Sacrifice for a propitiation for himself and for his people. He was for some years a faithful Parish Priest at Olkusz, but after a while gave it up for fear of the danger of souls, and accepted the call of the University to take up again his Professorship.

Lessson v.

What time was left him over from his work, he gave up partly to the profit of his neighbour, more especially in preaching, and partly in prayer, wherein he is said sometimes to have had heavenly visions and messages. The sufferings of Christ took such hold upon him, that he sometimes passed whole nights without sleep in thinking thereon, and that he might more keenly realize them, he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. There he was seized with such a passionate longing to be a martyr, that he preached Christ crucified even to the Turks. He went four times to Rome to the thresholds of the Apostles, on foot, and laden with a wallet, partly to do honour to the Apostolic See, for which he had a great reverence, and partly (to use his own expression) that he might clear off the pains of his own purgatory by use of the Pardons for sin which are there daily offered. In one of these journeys he was set upon by highway robbers, who plundered him, and having asked him if he had any more, whereto he answered, Nay, left him and fled. Then he remembered that he had some gold pieces sewn up in his clothes. So he ran after the robbers with shouts, and offered them these also, but they were so amazed at the simplicity and charity of holy man, that they gave him back even that which they had already taken. To hinder scandal-mongering, he wrote up upon the walls, after the ensample of holy Augustine, certain texts, to be an unceasing warning to himself and others. He gave his own bread to the hungry, and clothed the naked, not with bought raiment only, but by stripping himself of his own garments and shoes, himself meanwhile letting down his own cloak to trail upon the ground, lest any should see that he returned home barefoot.


Lesson vi.

He slept very little, and that upon the ground ; his clothing was enough only to clothe his nakedness, and his food to keep him alive. He kept his virgin purity guarded like a lily among thorns by rough haircloth, scourging, and fasting. For about thirty-five years before his death he never tasted flesh-meat. At length, when he was full of days and good works, he felt that death was near, and made himself ready to meet it by a long and careful preparation, and to be the freer, he gave to the poor everything that was left in his house. Strengthened by the Sacraments of the Church, and having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, he took flight to heaven upon the 24th day of December. He was famous for miracles both before and after his death. His body was carried into the University Church of St. Anne, hard by his dwelling, and there honourably buried. The popular reverence and the crowds around his sepulchre grew greater day by day, till he hath come to be held in honour as one of the chiefest holy defenders of Poland and Lithuania. At the glory of more wonders, Pope Clement XIII, upon the 16th day of July, in the year 1767, with solemn pomp, enrolled his name among those of the Saints

His biography from the Catholic Encyclopædia.

St Peter of Alcantara , C.

Today is the Feast of St Peter of Alcantara.

St. Peter of Alcantara, priest of the Order of Friars Minor and confessor, whose birthday was mentioned in the day previous to this.

From the Roman Martyrology

The Collect from his Feast from the Roman Breviary:

O God, who didst vouchsafe to adorn thy blessed Confessor Peter with many excellent gifts of penitence and prayer : grant, we pray thee ; that by his merits and intercession we may be enabled so to mortify all earthly and carnal desires that we may readily attain to things celestial. Through.

The Lessons for his Feast from the Roman Breviary:

Lesson iv

Peter was born at Alcántara in Spain, to parents of good extraction. The holiness of his life was foreshadowed from his earliest years. In the sixteenth year of his age he entered the Order of Friars Minor, wherein he shewed himself a pattern to all. He undertook the work of preaching in obedience to his Superiors, and thereby brought many to turn away from sin to true repentance. He conceived a great desire to bring back the observance of the Rule of St. Francis to the uttermost straitness of old times, and to that end, supported by God's help, and armed with the approval of the Apostolic See, he founded a new stern and poor house near Pedroso, from which the harder way of life, therein happily begun, spread marvellously through divers Provinces of Spain even to the Indies. He was an helper to holy Teresa, with whom he was like-minded, in bringing about the Reformation of the Carmelites. She was taught of God that no one should ask anything in the name of Peter without being heard, and was used to ask him to pray for her, and to call him a Saint while as he was yet alive.

Lesson v

He humbly excused himself from accepting the courtesies of princes, by whom his advice was sought as that of an oracle, and declined to become the Confessor of the Emperor Charles V. He was a very careful keeper to poverty, and contented himself with a single tunic than which none was worse. Purity he carried to such a point that when he was lying sick of his last illness, he would not allow the brother who ministered to him to touch him, how lightly soever. He brought his body into bondage by unceasing watching, fasting, scourging, cold, nakedness, and all manner of hardships, having made it a promise never to allow it any rest in this world. The love of God and his neighbour, which was shed abroad in his heart, somewhiles burnt so that he was fain to run from his cell into the open air to cool himself.

Lesson vi

It was marvellous how his thoughts became altogether rapt in God, so that somewhiles it befell that he neither ate nor drank for the space of several days. He was oftentimes seen to rise into the air, shining with an unearthly glory. He passed dry-shod over torrents. When his brethren were in the last state of need, he fed them with food from heaven. A staff which he fixed in the earth grew presently into a green fig-tree. Once while he was travelling by night in the midst of an heavy snowstorm, and took refuge in a ruined and roofless house, then the falling snow made a roof over him lest he should be overwhelmed. Holy Teresa beareth witness that he had the gift of prophecy and of the discerning of spirits. At length, in the 63rd year of his own age, at the hour which he had himself foretold, he passed away to be for ever with the Lord, cheered in his last moments by a wonderful vision and by the presence of Saints. At the instant of his death, blessed Teresa, then afar off, saw him carried to heaven. He appeared to her afterwards, and said : O what happy penance, to have won for me such glory! After his death he became famous for very many miracles, and Clement IX inscribed his name among those of the Saints.

His biography from the Catholic Encyclopædia.

Artice from Ted Hewitt's Group, with additional links.

From Wikipedia.

San Pedro de Alcantara, pray for Spain, your Homeland.

St Luke the Evangelist

Today is the Feast of St Luke, companion of St Paul and author of the Gospel according to St Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.

In Bithynia, the birthday of St. Luke the Evangelist. He died, filled
with the Holy Ghost, after having suffered much for the Name of Christ.
His relics were translated to Constantinople, and thence taken to Pavia.


From the Roman Martyrology

The Collect for his Feast, from the Roman Breviary

May Luke, thy holy Evangelist, O Lord, we beseech thee, intercede in our behalf, who for the honour of thy Name bore continually in his body the mortification of the Cross. Through.

The Lessons for his Feast, from the Roman Breviary

Lesson iv:

The Lesson is taken from the Book on Ecclesiastical Writers, written by St. Jerome the Priest

Cap. 7

Lesson iv

Luke was a physician of Antioch, who, as appeareth from his writings, knew the Greek language. He was a follower of the Apostle Paul, and his fellow-traveller in all his wanderings. He wrote a Gospel, whereof the same Paul saith : We have sent with him the brother, whose praise is in the Gospel throughout all the Churches. Of him, he writeth unto the Colossians, Luke, the beloved physician greeteth you. And again, unto Timothy, Only Luke is with me. He also published another excellent book intituled The Acts of the Apostles, wherein the history is brought down to Paul's two-years sojourn at Rome, that is to say, until the fourth year of Nero, from which we gather that it was at Rome that the said book was composed.

Lesson v

The silence of Luke is one of the reasons why we reckon among Apocryphal books The Acts of Paul and Thecla, and the whole story about the baptism of Leo. For why should the fellow-traveller of the Apostle, who knew other things, be ignorant only of this? At the same time there is against these documents the statement of Tertullian, almost a contemporary writer, that the Apostle John convicted a certain Priest in Asia, who was a great admirer of the Apostle Paul, of having written them, and that the said Priest owned that he had been induced to compose them through his admiration for Paul, and that he was deposed in consequence. There are some persons who suspect that when Paul in his Epistles useth the phrase, According to my Gospel, he meaneth the Gospel written by Luke.

Lesson vi

Howbeit, Luke learned his Gospel not from the Apostle Paul only, who had not companied with the Lord in the flesh, but also from other Apostles, as himself declareth at the beginning of his work, where he saith : They delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word. According to what he had heard, therefore, did he write his Gospel. As to the Acts of the Apostles, he composed them from his own personal knowledge. He was never married. He lived eighty-four years. He is buried at Constantinople, whither his bones were brought from Achaia in the twentieth year of Constantine, together with the relicks of the Apostle Andrew.

His biography and an introduction to his Gospel from the Catholic Encyclopædia.

From Wikipedia.

From Ted Hewitt's Group.

From Tradition in Action.

His Eminence, Francis, Cardinal George on Conscience and Politics

Some excellent and thought provoking words from His Eminence. Let us pray that they will provoke serious introspection amongst the crowd of "Catholic" pro-death politicians like Kerry, Kennedy, Sebelius, et. al. However, be sure to notice the little modernist aside he feels compelled to slip into what is otherwise an orthodox statement.

The first and most essential principle of Catholic social teaching is the dignity of every human person and one’s basic right to life from conception to natural death.

(Emphasis supplied)

He got the "natural death" bit not from the Social Teaching of the Church, but from his predecessor in the Archiepiscopal See of Chicago's "Seamless Garment" argument, an innovation not in accord with the Traditional Magisterium. In fact the supporters of this little bit of new moral theology would like you not to know that the "Catechism of the Catholic Church" (1992/1997) states:

2267 "Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.

Yes, I know it goes on to say:

"If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.

Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically non-existent."

However, the statement, "as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm," makes me wonder about the colour of the sun on the authors' home planet. As the "social contract" breaks down all around us and senseless violence increases by leaps and bounds, the state becomes less and less able to "prevent(..) crime!"

And the last two paragraphs of section 2267 do not change the Magisterial import of the opening sentence, ""Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty! (Emphasis supplied)

Come off it, Your Eminence! There is no moral equivalency between the murder of the unborn and the just retribution of the death penalty for a cold blooded killer!

From the Catholic New World, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

St Margaret Mary Alacoque, V.

Today is the Feast of Ste Marguerite-Marie Alacoque, the great Apostle of the Sacred Heart of Christ our King.

At Paray, in the diocese of Autun, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. She made her profession in the Order of the Visitation of Blessed Mary the Virgin, and she excelled with great merit in spreading devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and in furthering its public veneration. Pope Benedict XV added her name to the list of holy virgins.

From the Roman Martyrology.

The Lessons from the Roman Breviary for the Mattins of her Feast:

Lesson iv.

Margaret Mary Alacoque was born of a respectable family in a village in the diocese of Autun. From her earliest years she gave signs of holiness. Filled with a burning love of the Virgin Mother of God, and of the august mystery of the Eucharist, while still a young girl she dedicated her virginity to God. Above all else she strove to realize in her life the performance of Christian virtues. She delighted to spend continuous hours in prayers and in meditation upon the things of heaven. She was humble, and patient in adversity. She practised bodily penance. She was charitable towards her neighbours, especially the poor. By every means within her power she strove diligently to imitate the most holy example left by our divine Redeemer.

Lesson v.

Margaret entered the Order of the Visitation. There her life became immediately a shining example to others. God endowed her highly with the gift of prayer. He gave her other favours, such as frequent visitations. The most famous of these was that one when Jesus appeared to her as she knelt in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. Opening his breast he revealed his divine Heart glowing with flames and encircled with a crown of thorns. He bade her in return for his excessive love and in atonement for the insults of ungrateful men, to seek to have established public adoration of his Heart. This devotion he promised to enrich with treasures of heavenly grace. When, out of humility, she hestitated to undertake so great a task, the loving Saviour encouraged her. At the same time he pointed out Claude de la Colombière, a man of great holiness, as one who could guide and help her. Our Lord also comforted her with the assurance that very great blessings would accrue afterwards to the Church from the worship of his divine Heart.

Lesson vi.

Margaret strove ardently to fulfil the Redeemer's command. Vexations, even bitter insults were her portion from some who maintained that she was subject to mental aberrations. She not only bore these sufferings patiently, she even profited by them, offering herself in anguish and reproach as a victim acceptable to God, bearing all things as a more sure means of accomplishing her purpose. Renowned for her religious perfection, becoming each day more closely united with her divine spouse by contemplation of celestial things, she took flight to him in the forty-third year of her age, and in the year of restored salvation 1690. She became famous for miracles. Benedict XV added her to the list of the saints ; Pius XI extended her office to the universal Church.

The Collect of her Feast from the Roman Breviary.

O Lord Jesus Christ, who in a wondrous manner didst make known unto blessed Margaret Mary thy Virgin, the unsearchable riches of thy Heart : grant us, by her merits and example ; that we may love thee in all things, and far above all things, and so find in thy Heart an habitation wherein we may dwell for ever more. Who livest and reignest with the Father.

An Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, by Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

I, N... N... give myself and consecrate to the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, my person and my life, my actions, pains and sufferings, so that I may be unwilling to make use of any part of my being save to honour, love and glorify the Sacred Heart.

This is my unchanging purpose, namely, to be all His, and to do all things for the love of Him, at the same time renouncing with all my heart whatever is displeasing to Him.

I therefore take Thee, O Sacred Heart, to be the only object of my love, the guardian of my life, my assurance of salvation, the remedy of my weakness and inconstancy, the atonement for all the faults of my life and my sure refuge at the hour of death.

Be then, O Heart of goodness, my justification before God Thy Father, and turn away from me the strokes of His righteous anger. O Heart of love, I put all my confidence in Thee, for I fear everything from my own wickedness and frailty, but I hope for all things from Thy goodness and bounty.

Do Thou consume in me all that can displease Thee or resist Thy holy will; let Thy pure love imprint Thee so deeply upon my heart, that I shall nevermore be able to forget Thee or to be separated from Thee; may I obtain from all Thy loving kindness the grace of having my name written in Thee, for in Thee I desire to place all my happiness and all my glory, living and dying in very bondage to Thee. Amen.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Her biography from the Catholic Encyclopædia.

An interesting article on her home town, from the same.

From Wikipedia.

St Gerard Majella

Today is the heavenly birthday of St Gerard Majella, CSSR, patron of pregnant women. I ask my readers to offer him a little prayer for a healthy pregnancy and safe delivery for my gracious Lady Marie-Marguerite, Queen of France and Navarre.

At Muro in Italy, St. Gerard Majella, confessor and professed lay brother of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. Renowned for miracles, he was added to the list of the saints by Pope Pius X.

From the Roman Martyrology.

From the Catholic Encyclopædia.

Vive le roi, Louis XX! Vive la reine, Marie-Marguerite!

Sta Teresa de Avila

Today is the XIXth Sunday after Pentecost. If it were not, the Feast celebrated today would be that of Sta Teresa de Jesus or St Theresa of Avila, Foundress of the Discalced Carmelites.

At Avila in Spain, the virgin St. Teresa, mother and mistress of the Brothers and Sisters of the Carmelite Order of the Strict Observance.

From the Roman Martyrology.

Graciously hear us, O God of our salvation : that, like as we do rejoice in the festival of thy blessed Virgin Teresa ; so we may be fed with the sustenance of her heavenly doctrine. Through.

The Collect of her Feast from the Roman Missal.

There are many more sources of information at Ted Hewitt's Group

(Royal) Navy 'too weak' for big role in Korea blockade

Not only has Red Tony Blair destroyed the British Constitution, created a police state in Britain and given haven to any jihadist who wants it, he has succeeded in destroying the Royal Navy! Sir Francis Drake, Horatio, Viscount Nelson, John, Earl Jellicoe and Sir Winston Churchill, quondam First Lord of the Admiralty, must be spinning in their graves!

From the Telegraph.

Jihadist Pigs Behead Orthodox Priest

The swine can't even get their Churches straight. This man was an Orthodox Priest. The Orthodox are not known for their enthusiastic support of the Papal Office, at least since AD 1053 and AD 1204!

From al-Jazeera, via The New Oxford Review.

Hitler Law upheld by European Court of Human Rights

Germany, under Hitler, outlawed homeschooling, intent that the State, and only the State, be the educator of young minds. This is still the law in Germany (yes, Hitler's law is still on the books!) and it has just been upheld by the European Court of Human Rights, an arm of the anti-Christian, anti-Catholic "Eurpean Union".

For those who would like to know the Church's Teaching on this point, I refer them to The Charter of the Family, especially Article 5, Paragraph b, which states:

b) Parents have the right to freely choose schools or other means necessary (emphasis supplied) to educate their children in keeping with their convictions. Public authorities must ensure that public subsidies are so allocated that parents are truly free to exercise this right without incurring unjust burdens. Parents should not have to sustain, directly or indirectly, extra charges which would deny or unjustly limit the exercise of this freedom.

Of course, the last sentence speaks directly to the United States, where parents are taxed for the public schools whether they homeschool or send their children to Catholic schools, but at least they still have a choice, a choice now denied in Germany with the backing of the EU.

From LifeSiteNews.

St Callistus I

At Rome, on the Aurelian Way, the birthday of blessed Callistus I, pope and martyr. By order of Emperor Alexander, he was kept in prison for a long time without food, and was daily scourged with rods. He was finally hurled from a window of the house in which he had been shut up, and was cast into a well, and thus merited the triumph of victory.

From the Roman Martyrology

From the Catholic Encyclopædia.

From Wikipedia.

St Edward the Confessor, K.C.

Today is the Feast of St Edward the Confessor, King of the English.

St. Edward, king of England and confessor, who died on the 5th day of January. He is specially honoured on this day because of the translation of his body.

From the Roman Martyrology

From Ted Hewitt's Group.

From the Catholic Encyclopædia.

From Wikipedia.

St Edward, pray for England!

India's Untouchables turn to Buddhism in protest at discrimination by Hindus

And where is the Church, whilst over a hundred thousand Hindus become Buddhists? Oh that's right, I forgot, all religions are equally good paths to Heaven and we don't want to impose on anyone!

From the Independent.

Columbus the Christ-bearer

Today is the 514th anniversary of the (re)discovery of America (Hey, I'm a Scandinavian on my Grandmother Weismiller's side!). Let us never forget that Columbus was a Franciscan Tertiary who regularly wore the habit as daily wear and that one of his main motivations for sailing was to spread the Gospel of Christ.

I believe that I have read that his cause for beatification has been before the Vatican for many years. Let us pray for his glorification and in thanksgiving that he brought the Divine and Catholic Faith to the New World.

Online Italian Poll on the Old Mass

Italian poll on the Old Mass

Currently, we're in the lead. This poll might actually be read by the Vatican, since it's being conducted by one of Italy's leading newspapers. Spread the word! Vote! Be sure you click on "Si"!

Latin Mass Poll

QUESTION - Siete favorevoli al ritorno della messa in latino? (Are You in favor of the return of the classical Mass in Latin?)

ANSWERS - Si / No

CHOOSE "Si" (=yes), as No (=no), and click on the [VOTA] (Vote) button.

I suggest all bloggers vote in this poll and oppose the anticlericals, socialists and others in Italy opposed to the return of the Roman Rite Mass of St. Pius V.



Please vote and support Roman Catholic Tradition against Modernism, Liberalism and Socialism, also prevalent in Corriere della Sera.

St Francis Borgia, S.J.

Today is the Feast of San Francisco Borja, S.J., formerly Duke of Gandia.

St. Francis Borgia, confessor, priest of the Society of Jesus, whose birthday is mentioned on the 30th of September.

From the Roman Martyrology

St Francis Borgia, Confessor: St Francis Borgia, one of the most honored nobles of Spain, cut himself off from the chance of dignity or preferment, and entered the Society of Jesus, of which he later became the General. Conspicuous for the holiness of his life, he ended his days in Rome, October 10, 1572.

From Father Lasance's New Roman Missal

More information:

From the Catholic Encyclopædia.

From Wikipedia.

From Tradition in Action.

St Francis Borgia and all ye Jesuit Martyrs, pray for the Church you defended and spread!

Suspect in terror hunt used veil to evade arrest

Jihadist pig disguises himself as a woman complete with veil to hide out! Notice what his fellow swine says:

Shahid Malik, Labour MP for Dewsbury, expressed concern that the issue could create unnecessary tension. “If this is true, then it is the first case of its kind in Britain and an isolated incident. We must not get hysterical about it. There have been many hundreds of cases where robberies have been committed by men wearing women’s stockings on their heads — but no one is talking about banning stockings.

I have a feeling that, even in the UK, if some bloke were walking down the street wearing a stocking over his head, the police might be just a wee bit curious! But they're prohibited from being curious about the jihadists sows who veil themselves!

From the Times.

A Great Cartoon!

From Paul Nichols, the guy who made the shirts I got. Paul has obviously taken the time to read Dignitatis Humanae. It opens up the way to all forms of worship as "legitimate"! Don't believe me? Here it is:

Paragraph 2. This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others within due limits.

The council further declares that the right to religious freedom has its foundation in the very dignity of the human person as this dignity is known through the revealed word of God and by reason itself.[2] This right of the human person to religious freedom is to be recognized in the constitutional law whereby society is governed and thus it is to become a civil right.

This is, of course, a direct contradiction of the Magisterium of the Church as expressed in the Syllabus errorum of Blessed Pius IX:

Paragraph 15. (It is a condemned opinion that) Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true. -- Allocution "Maxima quidem," June 9, 1862; Damnatio "Multiplices inter," June 10, 1851.

John Courtney Murray said when Dignitatis humanae was promulgated that the teaching of the Church had changed 180°!!! and it was up to the theologians to explain it!!!

St Denis, Patron of France

Today is the Feast of St Denis, Patron of France and of Paris.

At Paris, the birthday of the holy martyrs Denis the Areopagite, a bishop, Rusticus, a priest, and Eleutherius, a deacon. Denis was baptized by the apostle St. Paul, and consecrated first bishop of Athens. Then going to Rome, he was sent to France by the blessed Roman Pontiff Clement to preach the Gospel. He proceeded to Paris, and after having for some years faithfully filled the office entrusted to him, he was subjected to the severest kinds of torments by the prefect Fescennius, and at length was beheaded with his companions, thus completing his martyrdom.

From the Roman Martyrology

More information on him:

From the Catholic Encyclopædia.

From Catholic OnLine.

From Catholic-forum.

From Wikipedia.

St Denis, Pray for France! Vive la France! Vive le roi, Louis XX!

Why the Muslim World Can't Think Straight

From a new (just up today!) blog, worth watching, a philosophical explanation of why the gutter religion destroys the logical faculties of the human mind. Excellent!

Brother Christosananda, Sinner: Why the Muslim World Can't Think Straight

Happy Feast of the Holy Rosary! Don John of Austria is Going to the War

Remember, today is the 435th anniversary of one of the greatest defeats we ever handed the jihadist pigs. On this date, AD 1571, the Christian fleet, under Don Juan de Habsburg soundly thrashed the Turkish swine at Lepanto. The victory was attributed to the intercession of OL of the Rosary and, as a result, today is the Feast of the Rosary.

Two notes regarding the Feast with a tip of the red beret to Ted Hewitt:

Knowing that the Christian forces would be at a distinct material disadvantage, Pius V called for all of Europe to pray the rosary for victory. Supposedly, at the hour of victory the pope, who was hundreds of miles away in Rome, stood up from a meeting, went over to a window, and exclaimed: "The Christian fleet is victorious!" The saintly pontiff would later be beatified by Pope Clement X in 1672 and canonized by Clement XI in 1712.

Descriptions of the Battle of Lepanto based on the Catholic chronicles of the time do not mention an important fact found in the Muslim sources. The latter report that at a certain moment during the battle when the Catholic forces were being defeated, the Turkish fleet saw a majestic and terrible Lady in the sky. She was looking at them with such a menacing gaze that they could not bear it, lost their courage, and fled.

From TIA via Ted Hewitt

I'm sure I'm not the only one who will blog this poem today, but here it is:

By G.K. Chesterton

White founts falling in the courts of the sun,
And the Soldan of Byzantium is smiling as they run,
There is laughter like the fountains in that face of all men feared,
It stirs the forest darkness, the darkness of his beard,
It curls the blood-red crescent, the crescent of his lips,
For the inmost sea of all the earth is shaken with his ships.
They have dared the white republics up the capes of Italy,
They have dashed the Adriatic round the Lion of the Sea,
And the Pope has cast his arms abroad for agony and loss,
And called the kings of Christendom for swords about the Cross,
The cold queen of England is looking in the glass;
The shadow of the Valois is yawning at the Mass;
From evening isles fantastical rings faint the Spanish gun,
And the Lord upon the Golden Horn is laughing in the sun.

Dim drums throbbing, in the hills half heard,
Where only on a nameless throne a crownless prince has stirred,
Where, risen from a doubtful seat and half attainted stall,
The last knight of Europe takes weapons from the wall,
The last and lingering troubadour to whom the bird has sung,
That once went singing southward when all the world was young,
In that enormous silence, tiny and unafraid,
Comes up along a winding road the noise of the Crusade.
Strong gongs groaning as the guns boom far,
Don John of Austria is going to the war,
Stiff flags straining in night-blasts cold
In the gloom black-purple, in the glint old-gold.

Torchlight crimson on the copper kettle-drums,
Then the tuckets, then the trumpets, then the cannon, and he comes.
Don John laughing in the brave beard curled,
Spurning of his stirrups like the thrones of all the world.
Holding his head up for a flag of all the free.
Love-light of Spain - hurrah!
Death-light of Africa!
Don John of Austria
Is riding to the sea.

Mahound is in his paradise above the evening star,
(Don John of Austria is going to the war.)
He moves a mighty turban on the timeless houri's knees,
His turban that is woven of the sunset and the seas.
He shakes the peacock gardens as he rises from his ease,
And he strides among the tree-tops and is taller than the trees,
And his voice through all the garden is a thunder sent to bring
Black Azrael and Ariel and Ammon on the wing.
Giants and the Genii,
Multiplex of wing and eye,
Whose strong obedience broke the sky
When Solomon was king.

They rush in red and purple from the red clouds of the morn,
From temples where the yellow gods shut up their eyes in scorn;
They rise in green robes roaring from the green hells of the sea
Where fallen skies and evil hues and eyeless creatures be;
On them the sea-valves cluster and the grey sea-forests curl,
Splashed with a splendid sickness, the sickness of the pearl;
They swell in sapphire smoke out of the blue cracks of the ground,-
They gather and they wonder and give worship to Mahound.
And he saith, 'Break up the mountains where the hermit-folk can hide,
And sift the red and silver sands lest bone of saint abide,
And chase the Giaours flying night and day, not giving rest,
For that which was our trouble comes again out of the west.
We have set the seal of Solomon on all things under sun,
Of knowledge and of sorrow and endurance of things done.
But a noise is in the mountains, in the mountains, and I know
The voice that shook our palaces - four hundred years ago:
It is he that saith not 'Kismet'; it is he that knows not Fate;
It is Richard, it is Raymond, it is Godfrey at the gate!
It is he whose loss is laughter when he counts the wager worth,
Put down your feet upon him, that our peace be on the earth.'
For he heard drums groaning and he heard guns jar,
(Don John of Austria is going to the war.)
Sudden and still - hurrah!
Bolt from Iberia!
Don John of Austria
Is gone by Alcalar.

St Michael's on his Mountain in the sea-roads of the north
(Don John of Austria is girt and going forth.)
Where the grey seas glitter and the sharp tides shift
And the sea-folk labour and the red sails lift.
He shakes his lance of iron and he claps his wings of stone;
The noise is gone through Normandy; the noise is gone alone;
The North is full of tangled things and texts and aching eyes,
And dead is all the innocence of anger and surprise,
And Christian killeth Christian in a narrow dusty room,
And Christian dreadeth Christ that hath a newer face of doom,
And Christian hateth Mary that God kissed in Galilee,
But Don John of Austria is riding to the sea.
Don John calling through the blast and the eclipse
Crying with the trumpet, with the trumpet of his lips,
Trumpet that sayeth ha!
Domino gloria!
Don John of Austria
Is shouting to the ships.

King Philip's in his closet with the Fleece about his neck
(Don John of Austria is armed upon the deck.)
The walls are hung with velvet that is black and soft as sin,
And little dwarfs creep out of it and little dwarfs creep in.
He holds a crystal phial that has colours like the moon,
He touches, and it tingles, and he trembles very soon,
And his face is as a fungus of a leprous white and grey
Like plants in the high houses that are shuttered from the day,
And death is in the phial, and the end of noble work,
But Don John of Austria has fired upon the Turk.
Don John's hunting, and his hounds have bayed -
Booms away past Italy the rumour of his raid.
Gun upon gun, ha! ha!
Gun upon gun, hurrah!
Don John of Austria
Has loosed the cannonade.

The Pope was in his chapel before day or battle broke,
(Don John of Austria is hidden in the smoke.)
The hidden room in man's house where God sits all the year,
The secret window whence the world looks small and very dear.
He sees as in a mirror on the monstrous twilight sea
The crescent of his cruel ships whose name is mystery;
They fling great shadows foe-wards, making Cross and Castle dark,
They veil the plumèd lions on the galleys of St Mark;
And above the ships are palaces of brown, black-bearded chiefs,
And below the ships are prisons, where with multitudinous griefs,
Christian captives, sick and sunless, all a labouring race repines
Like a race in sunken cities, like a nation in the mines.
They are lost like slaves that swat, and in the skies of morning hung
The stair-ways of the tallest gods when tyranny was young.
They are countless, voiceless, hopeless as those fallen or fleeing on
Before the high Kings' horses in the granite of Babylon.
And many a one grows witless in his quiet room in hell
Where a yellow face looks inward through the lattice of his cell,
And he finds his God forgotten, and he seeks no more a sign -
(But Don John of Austria has burst the battle-line!)
Don John pounding from the slaughter-painted poop,
Purpling all the ocean like a bloody pirate's sloop,
Scarlet running over on the silvers and the golds,
Breaking of the hatches up and bursting of the holds,
Thronging of the thousands up that labour under sea
White for bliss and blind for sun and stunned for liberty.
Vivat Hispania!
Domino Gloria!
Don John of Austria
Has set his people free!

Cervantes on his galley sets the sword back in the sheath
(Don John of Austria rides homeward with a wreath.)
And he sees across a weary land a straggling road in Spain,
Up which a lean and foolish knight forever rides in vain,
And he smiles, but not as Sultans smile, and settles back the blade...
(But Don John of Austria rides home from the Crusade.)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Lepanto"

Who is European? This is what we must define

This article is by the cowardly piece of merde "Big Nick" Sarkozy, Minister of the Interior in France's Republican government. I forced myself to read this pathetic, dhimmi drivel only to find this gem of idiocy:

Of all the countries with which the EU should have preferential relations, foremost is Turkey, our neighbour and friend, sharing many of our security concerns and many of our values. These are good reasons for strengthening our ties with Turkey, without going so far as offering full membership.

My God! How ignorant is the man? I write this on the 435th anniversary of our defeat of the jihadist Turkish swine at Lepanto, has he forgotten? Has he forgotten Vienna, 1683? Has he forgotten, or does he prefer to just ignore, that among the "values" Turkey holds are genocide against Christians, killing priests, publishing books encouraging the assasination of our Holy Father and femicide, i.e., killing their own daughters?

How many times must it be said? The Turks are an Asiatic people, speaking an Asiatic language, living in Asia. They are not Europeans!!!

Is the man insane or is he actively working for the destruction of Europe?

No, to Turkey in the EU! Turks out of Europe! Muslims out of Europe! Vive la France! Vive le roi, Louis XX! De Villiers for President of the Republic!

From the Telegraph.

Drive for multi-faith Britain deepens rifts, says Church

My God! The "Church" of England is standing up for Christianity and a Christian England! What may happen next? Actually, despite my honest surprise, I am heartened by this news. There may be hope for England after all! Our Lady of Walsingham, St George and all ye English Martyrs, pray for England. Muslims out of Europe!

From the Telegraph.

From The Devout Life: Never thought it would be worth it

This may be the most brilliant thing Hilary has ever written. Way to go, Hillary!

The Devout Life: Never thought it would be worth it

Update to "Shameless Advertising" Post

I have received the shirts (thanks, Paul, for the priority shipping! A nice touch, but unneccesary). They are great! Heavy duty, 100% cotton, and the graphics are wonderful. I'm not normally a T-shirt wearer, but the Crusade shirt will be a regular! And the Ecclesia Militans is greatly appreciated by its recipient!

Link to "It's Better in Latin" in the sidebar under "Links">