Motu Proprio to be published on July 7

Yes it is confirmed from Catholic World News that the Motu Proprio will be out on July 7. The news came originally from German Catholic News Service kath.net. It stated that yesterday (June 27) Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State introduced the text at the Vatican during a meeting of a group of 30 bishops. According to the article, the Pope made a brief appearance at the meeting.

The document signed by Pope Benedict XVI is three pages long and comes with a letter of explanation which is about 4 pages long.

According to Paul Badde, Vatican correspondent for the German newspaper Die Welt, the letter emphasizes the unity of the Roman Rite, which from now on will have two forms, an "ordinary" and an extraordinary," which was meant to inspire each other. He also added that the ordinary form will still be the post-Vatican II Mass and the extraordinary the Tridentine Latin Mass according to the 1962 Rite.

Whatever the implications of the Motu Proprio let us continue to hope and pray that despite the negative connotations and dire consequences some people think about this document that we may still get some good out of it and that is the eventual restoration of the Traditional Sacraments.

You can read the CWN article here.

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St. John the Baptist, pray for us

Nativity of St. John the Baptist
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
J.M.J.

St. John the BAPTIST was called by God to be the forerunner of his Divine
Son, to usher him into the world, and to prepare mankind by penance to
receive their great Redeemer whom the prophets had foretold at a distance
through every age from the beginning of the world; never ceasing to excite
the people of God to faith and hope in him, by whom alone they were to be
saved. The more the sublime function of this saint surpassed that of the
Jewish legislator and of all the patriarchs and ancient prophets, the
greater were the graces by which he was fitted for the same. Some of the
prophets had been sanctified from their birth, but neither in so wonderful
nor in so abundant a manner as the Baptist. In order to preserve his
innocence spotless, and to improve the extraordinary graces which he had
received, he was directed by the Holy Ghost to lead an austere and
contemplative life in the wilderness, in the continual exercises of devout
prayer and penance, from his infancy till he was thirty years of age. How
much does this precaution of a saint, who was strengthened by such uncommon
privileges and graces, condemn the rashness of parents who expose children
in the slippery time of youth to the contagious air of wicked worldly
company, and to every danger or, who, instead of training them up in
suitable habits of self-denial, humility, devotion, and reasonable
application to serious duties, are themselves by example and pernicious
maxims the corruptors of their tender minds, and the flatterers of their
passions, which they ought to teach them to subdue.

St. John cannot be commonly imitated by youth in his total
retreat from the world; but he teaches what are the means by which they must
study, according to their circumstances, to sanctify that most precious age
of life; what they must shun, in what maxims they ought to ground
themselves, and how they are to form and strengthen in themselves the most
perfect habits of all virtues. Let them consider him as a special pattern,
and the model of innocence and of that fervor with which they must labor
continually to improve in wisdom, piety, and every virtue. He is
particularly the pattern which those ought always to have before their eyes,
who are called by God to the ministry of his altar, or of his word. Let no
one be so rash as to intrude himself into the sanctuary before he has
labored a long time to qualify himself for so high an office by retirement,
humility, holy contemplation, and penance, and before the spirit of those
virtues has taken deep root in the wilderness, conversing only with God,
till, in the thirtieth year of his age, he was perfectly qualified to enter
upon the administration of his office; that being also the age at which the
priests and Levites were permitted by the Jewish law to begin the exercise
of their functions. The prophets had long before described the Baptist as
the messenger and forerunner sent to prepare the way of the Lord, by
bringing men to a due sense of their sins, and to the other necessary
dispositions for receiving worthily their Redeemer. Isaias and Malachy in
these predictions allude to harbingers and such other officers whom princes
upon their journeys sent before them, to take care that the roads should be
leveled, and all obstructions that might hinder their passage removed.

God, by a revelation, intimated to John his commission of
precursor in the wilderness, and the faithful minister began to discharge it
in the desert of Judaea itself near the borders, where it was thinly
inhabited, upon the banks of the Jordan, towards Jericho. Clothed with the
weeds of penance, he announced to all men the obligation they lay under of
washing away their iniquities with the tears of sincere compunction; and
proclaimed the Messias, who was then coming to make his appearance among
them. He was received by the people as the true herald of the most high God,
and his voice was, as it were, a trumpet sounding from heaven to summon all
men to avert the divine judgments, and to prepare themselves to reap the
benefit of the mercy that was offered them. All ranks of people listened to
him, and amongst others, came many Pharisees, whose pride and hypocrisy,
which rendered them indocile, and blinded them in their vices, he sharply
reproved. The very soldiers and publicans or tax-gatherers, who were
generally persons hardened in habits of immorality, violence, and injustice,
flocked to him. He exhorted all to works of charity, and to a reformation of
their lives, and those who addressed themselves to him, in these
dispositions, he baptized in the river. The Jews practiced several religious
washings of the body as legal purifications; but no baptism before this of
John had so great and mystical a signification. It chiefly represented the
manner in which the souls of men must be cleansed from all sin and vicious
habits, to be made partakers of Christ's spiritual kingdom, and it was an
emblem of the interior effect; of sincere repentance; but it differed
entirely from the great sacrament of baptism which Christ soon after
instituted, to which it we, much inferior in virtue and efficacy, and of
which it was a kind of type.

St. John's baptism was a temporary by which men who were under
the law were admitted to some new spiritual privileges, which they had not
before, by him who was the messenger of Christ, and of his new covenant.
Whence it is called by the fathers a partition between the law and the
gospel. This baptism of John prepared men to become Christians, but did not
make them so. It was not even conferred in the name of Christ, or in that of
the Holy Ghost, who had not been as yet given. When St. John had already
preached and baptized about six months, our Redeemer went from Nazareth, and
presented himself, among others, to be baptized by him. The Baptist knew him
by a divine revelation, and, full of awe and respect for his sacred person,
at first excused himself, but at length acquiesced out of obedience. The
Savior of sinners was pleased to be baptized among sinners, not to be
cleansed himself, but to sanctify the waters, says St. Ambrose, that is, to
give them the virtue to cleanse away the sins of men. St. Austin and St.
Thomas Aquinas think he then instituted the holy sacrament of baptism, which
he soon after administered by his disciples, whom doubtless, he had first
baptized himself.

The solemn admonitions of the Baptist, attended with the most
extraordinary innocence and sanctity, and the marks of his divine commission
procured him a mighty veneration and authority among the Jews, and several
began to look upon him as the Messiah, who, from the ancient prophecies was
expected by all the nations of the East to appear about that time in Judaea,
as Suetonius, Tacitus, and Josephus testify. To remove all thoughts of this
kind, he freely declared that he only baptized sinners with water in order
to repentance and a new life; but that there was one ready to appear among
them, who would baptize them with the effusion of the Holy Ghost, and who so
far exceeded him in power and excellency, that he was not worthy to do for
him the meanest servile office. Nevertheless, so strong were the impressions
which the preaching and deportment of John made upon the minds of the Jews,
that they sent to him a solemn embassy of priests and Levites from Jerusalem
to inquire of him if he was not the Christ. True humility shudders at the
very mention of undue honor; and, the higher applause it meets with among
men, the lower it sinks in a deep sense and sincere acknowledgment of its
own baseness and unworthiness, and in the abyss of its nothingness; and in
this disposition it is inflamed with a most ardent desire to give all praise
and glory to the pure gratuitous goodness and mercy of God alone. In these
sentiments St. John confessed, and did not deny, and he confessed, I am not
the Christ. He also told the deputies that he was neither Elias nor a
prophet. He was indeed Elias in spirit, being the great harbinger of the Son
of God; and excelled in dignity the ancient Elias, who was a type of our
saint. The Baptist was likewise eminently a prophet, and more than a
prophet, it being his office, not to foretell Christ at a distance, but to
point him out present among men. Yet, far from pluming himself with titles
and prerogatives, as pride inspires men to do, he forgets his dignity in
every other respect only in that of discharging the obligations it lays upon
him, and of humbling himself under the almighty and merciful hand of Him who
had chosen and exalted him by his grace. Therefore, because he was not Elias
in person, nor a prophet in the strict sense of the word, though, by his
office more than a prophet, he rejects those titles.

Being pressed to give some account who he was, he calls himself
the voice of one crying in the desert, he will not have men have the least
regard for him, but turns their attention entirely from himself, as unworthy
to be named or thought of, and only bids them listen to the summons which
God sent them by his mouth. A voice is no more than an empty sound; it is a
mere nothing. How eloquent does sincere humility render the saints to
express the sentiments of their own nothingness! Like the Baptist, every
preacher of God's word must be penetrated with the most feeling sense of his
own baseness; must study always to be nothing himself and in his own eyes,
whilst yet he exerts all his powers that God, the great All, may be known,
loved, served, and glorified by all and in all; he must be himself merely a
voice, but a voice of thunder, to awake in all hearts a profound sense of
their spiritual miseries, and of the duties which they owe to God. This
maxim St. Austin illustrates by the following simile drawn by the pagan
mythologists: "It is related in the fables," says he, "that a wolf thought,
from the shrillness of the voice, that a nightingale was some large
creature, and, coming up and finding it to have so small a body, said Thou
art all voice, and art therefore nothing. In like manner let us be nothing
in our own esteem. Let the world despise us, and set us at nought, provided
we only be the voice of God, and nothing more."

The Baptist proclaimed Jesus to be the Messias at his baptism;
he did the same when the Jews consulted him from Jerusalem whether he was
not the Messias; again, when seeing him come towards him the day following,
he called him The Lamb of God; also when his disciples consulted him about
the baptism of Jesus, and on other occasions. He baptized first in the
Jordan, on the borders of the desert of Judaea; afterward, on the other side
of that river, at a place called Bethania, or rather Bethabara, which word
signifies House of the Passage or common ford; lastly at Ennon, near Salim,
a place abounding in waters, situated in Judaea near the Jordan. In the
discharge of his commission he was a perfect model to be imitated by all
true ministers of the divine word. Like an angel of the Lord he was neither
moved by benedictions nor by maledictions, having only God and his holy will
in view. Entirely free from vanity or love of popular applause, he preached
not himself, but Christ. His tenderness and charity won the hearts, and his
zeal gave him a commanding influence over the minds of his hearers. He
reproved the vices of all orders of men with impartial freedom, and an
undaunted authority; the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, the profanity of the
Sadducees, the extortion of the publicans, the rapine and licentiousness of
the soldiers, and the incest of Herod himself.

The tetrarch Herod Antipas going to Rome in the sixteenth year
of Tiberius, the thirty third of Christ, lodged in his way at the house of
his brother Herod Philip, and was smitten with love for his wife Herodias,
who was niece to them both. He discovered to her his criminal passion, and
she consented to leave her husband and marry him, upon condition that he
first divorced his wife, who was daughter of Aretas, king of the Arabs. To
this he readily agreed, and being returned from Rome in the following
autumn, he considered how to rid himself of his wife. The princess having
got intelligence of his resolution, made her escape, and fled to her father.
By her voluntary retreat Herod Antipas saw himself at liberty and, by a
notorious infringement of all laws divine and human, married Herodias his
sister-in-law, though she had children by her own husband Philip, his
brother, who was yet living. St. John Baptist boldly reprehended the
tetrarch and his accomplice for so scandalous an incest and adultery, and
said to that prince: It is not lawful for thee to take thy brother's wife.
Herod feared and reverenced John, knowing him to be a holy man, and he did
many things by his advice; but on the other hand, he could not bear that his
main sore should be touched and was highly offended at the liberty which the
preacher took in that particular. Thus, whilst he respected him as a saint,
he hated him as a censor, and felt a violent struggle in his own breast
between his veneration for the sanctity of the prophet and the reproach of
his own conduct. His passion still got the better, and held him captive, and
his flame was nourished by the flatteries of courtiers, and the clamors and
artifices of Herodias, who, like an enraged infernal fury, left nothing
unattempted to take away the life of him who dare impeach her conduct, and
disturb her criminal pleasures and ambition. Herod, to content her, cast the
saint into prison. Josephus says the servant of God was confined in the
castle of Macherus, two leagues beyond the lake Asphaltites, upon the
borders of Arabia Patraen. St. John hearing in prison of Christ's wonderful
works and preaching, sent two of his disciples to him for their information,
not doubting but that Christ would satisfy them that he was the Messias,
that by his answers they would lay aside their prejudices, and join
themselves to him.

Herod continued still to respect the man of God, frequently sent
for him, and heard him discourse with much pleasure, though he was troubled
when he was admonished by him of his faults. Herodias, on the other hand,
never ceased by her instigations to endeavor to exasperate him against the
holy man, and to seek an opportunity to compass his destruction. An occasion
at length fell out favorable to her designs. It was about a year since John
the Baptist had been committed close prisoner, when Herod upon the return of
his birthday, made a splendid entertainment for the principal nobility of
Galilee, in the castle of Macherus. The dancing of Salome and other
circumstances of this banquet are sensible proofs to what an infamous pitch
of impudence debauchery was carried in this impious court. To dance at
banquets was looked upon among civilized patrons which had any regard to
rules of decency and temperance, as a base effeminacy and an excess of
softness and voluptuousness, as it is called by Cicero, who clears the
reputation of king Deiotarus from the aspersion of such an indecency,
because, being a man remarkable from his youth for the gravity of his
manners, he was incapable of such an extravagance. That orator had before
endeavored in the same manner to justify Muraena from a like imputation.
When luxury and intemperance overran the Roman commonwealth, these maxims of
ancient severity still so far prevailed, that Tiberius and Domitian, who
will never pass for rigid reformers of morals, turned patricians out of the
senate for having danced, and the former banished all the professed dancers
and comedians out of Rome, so incompatible with purity of manners was a
passion for dancing looked upon. This reflection leads us to form a judgment
of the extreme degeneracy of Herod's court, in which the mirth and jollity
of this feast was heightened by dancing. Salome, a daughter of Herodias by
her lawful husband, pleased Herod by her dancing, insomuch that he promised
her with the sacred bond of an oath, to grant her whatever she asked, though
it amounted to half of his dominions. From this instance St. Ambrose and
other fathers take occasion to show the dangerous consequences of a passion
for dancing, and the depravity from which it often takes its rise. Salome
having received the said ample promise made her by Herod, consulted with her
mother what to ask. Herodias was so entirely devoured by lust and ambition,
as willingly to forego every other consideration, that she might be at
liberty to gratify her passions, and remove him who stood in her way in the
pursuit of her criminal inclinations. She therefore instructed her daughter
to demand the death of John the Baptist, and her jealousy was so impatient
of the least delay, for fear the tyrant might relent if he had time to enter
into himself, that she persuaded the young damsel to make it a part of her
petition that the head of the prisoner should be forthwith brought to her in
a dish. This strange request startled the tyrant himself, and caused a damp
upon his spirits. He, however, assented, though with reluctance, as men
often feel a cruel sting of remorse, and suffer the qualms of a disturbed
conscience flying in their face and condemning them, whilst they are drawn
into sin by the tyranny of a vicious habit, or some violent passion. We
cannot be surprised that Herod should be concerned at so extravagant a
petition. The very mention of such a thing by a lady, in the midst of a
feast and solemn rejoicing, was enough to shock even a man of uncommon
barbarity.

The evangelist also informs us that Herod had conceived a good
opinion of the Baptist as a just and holy man; also, that he feared the
resentment of the people, who held the man of God in the highest veneration
and esteem. Moreover, it was a constant rule or custom, that neither the
prince's birthday, nor the mirth of a public assembly and banquet, was to be
stained with the condemnation or execution of any criminal whatever; only
favors and pardons were to be granted on such occasions. Flaminius, a Roman
general, was expelled the senate by the censors for having given an order
for beheading a criminal whilst he was at a banquet. Nevertheless, the weak
tyrant, overcome by his passion, and by a fond complaisance, was deaf to the
voice of his own conscience, and to every other consideration; and studied,
by foolish pretense, to excuse a crime which they could only serve to
exaggerate. He alleged a conscience of his oath; though if it be one sin to
take a wicked oath, it is another to keep it; for no oath can be a bond of
iniquity, nor can any one oblige himself to do what God forbids. The tyrant
also urged his respect for the company, and his fear of giving them scandal
by a perjury. But how easy would true virtue and courage have justified the
innocent man to the satisfaction of all persons whom passion did not blind,
and have shown the inhumanity of an execution which could not fail to damp
the joy of the meeting, and give offense to all who were not interested in
the plot! But the tyrant, without giving the saint a hearing, or allowing
him so much as the formality of a trial, sent a soldier of his guard to
behead him in prison, with an order to bring his head in a charger, and
present it to Salome. This being executed, the damsel was not afraid to take
that present into her hands, and deliver it to her mother. St. Jerom
relates, that the furious Herodias made it her inhuman pastime to prick the
sacred tongue with a bodkin as Fulvia had done Cicero's. Thus died the great
forerunner of our blessed Savior, about two years and three months after his
entrance upon his public ministry about the time of the Paschal solemnity, a
year before the death of our blessed Redeemer.

Josephus, though a Jew, gives a remarkable testimony to the
innocence and admirable sanctity of John, and says, "He was indeed a man
endued with all virtue, who exhorted the Jews to the practice of justice
towards men, and piety towards God; and also to baptism, preaching that they
would become acceptable to God, if they renounced their sins, and to the
cleanness of their bodies added purity of soul." This historian adds, that
the Jews ascribed to the murder of John the misfortunes into which Herod
fell. For his army was soon after cut to pieces by Aretas, king of Arabia
Petraea, who, in revenge for the affront offered his daughter invaded his
territories, and conquered the castle of Macherus. When Caligula afterward
conferred on Agrippa the title of king of Judaea, the ambitious Herodias
being racked with envy, prevailed with Herod Antipas to repair to Rome, in
order to request like favor of the emperor. But Caligula had received a bad
impression against him, being informed by Agrippa that he was making a
league with the Parthians, and was provided with arms for seventy thousand
men. Whereupon instead of granting him a crown, he deprived him of his
tetrarchate, confiscated his goods, and banished him and Herodias to Lyons
in Gaul, in the thirty-eighth year of the Christian era, about four years
after Christ had appeared before him at Jerusalem, and been treated by him
as a mock king. Herod and Herodias died in great misery, as Josephus assures
us, probably at Lyons, though some moderns say they traveled into Spain.
What Nicephorus Calixti and other modern Greeks tell us, is not supported by
any ancient voucher, that Salome going over the ice in winter, the ice broke
and let her in up to the head, which by the meeting of the ice was severed
from her body.

The Baptist's disciples came and took away his body, which they
honorably interred. Rufinus and Theodoret inform us that in the reign of
Julian the Apostate, the pagans broke open the tomb of St. John the Baptist,
which was at Sebaste or Samaria and burnt part of his sacred bones, some
part being saved by the Christians. These were sent to St. Athanasius at
Alexandria. Some time after, in 396, Theodosius built a great church in that
city, in honor of the Baptist, upon the spot where the temple of Serapis had
formerly stood, and these holy relics were deposited in it, as Theophanes
testifies. But a distribution of some portions was made to certain other
churches and the great Theodoret obtained a share for his church at Cyrus,
and relates, that he and his diocese had received from God several
miraculous favors, through the intercession of this glorious saint. The
Baptist's head was discovered at Emisa in Syria, in the year 453, and was
kept with honor in the great church of that city; till, about the year 800,
this precious relic was conveyed to Constantinople, that it might not be
sacrilegiously insulted by the Saracens. When that city was taken by the
French in 1204, Wallo de Sarton, a canon of Amiens, brought part of this
head, that is, all the face, except the lower jaw, into France, and bestowed
it on his own church, where it is preserved to this day. Part of the head of
the Baptist is said to be kept in St. Sylvester's church, in Campo Marzo at
Rome; though Sirmond thinks this to be the head of St. John the martyr of
Rome. Pope Clement VIII, to remove all reasonable doubt about the relic of
this saint, procured a small part of the head that is kept at Amiens, for
St. Sylvester's church.

This glorious saint was a martyr, a virgin, a doctor, a prophet,
and more than a prophet. He was declared by Christ himself to be greater
than all the saints of the old law, the greatest of all that had been born
of women. All the high graces with which he was favored, sprang from his
humility; in this all his other virtues were founded. If we desire to form
ourselves upon so great a model, we must above all things, labor to lay the
same deep foundation. We must never cease to purge our souls more and more
perfectly from all leaven of pride, by earnestly begging this grace of God,
by studying with this saint truly to know ourselves, and by exercising
continual acts of sincere humility. The meditation of our own nothingness
and wretchedness will help to inspire us with this saving knowledge; and
repeated humiliations will ground and improve our souls in a feeling sense
of our miseries, and a sincere contempt of ourselves.

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

The above is from "Butler's Lives of the Saints on CD-ROM" (Harmony Media
Inc.)

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Extraordinary Grace

Third Sunday after Pentecost
St. Gregory Barbarigo - Bishop, Confessor
(Father's Day)
J.M.J.

THE STORY OF AN EXTRAORDINARY AND SINGULAR GRACE

In 19th Century France, there was a Jewish concert pianist of great promise. His name was Hermann Cohen. His virtuosity not only made him a bright star in the salons of Paris, but merited for him the honor of being widely recognized as a respected associate of the Hungarian, Franz Liszt (1811-86), one of the greatest pianists of all time. Then suddenly, in the midst of his growing fame, Hermann Cohen, unaccountably and quietly, slipped away from the concert circuit into virtual oblivion.

Several years later, he caused one of the greatest sensations of the hour when he reappeared in the streets of Paris dressed in the garb of a Carmelite monk. He had undergone a wondrous spiritual conversion to the Catholic Faith. On fire with his new found Faith, he quickly applied for admission to the Order of Mount Carmel and was warmly accepted. He was vested in the Religious habit and given the name in Religion of Augustine. In due course he pronounced the solemn vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience, completed his theological studies and was ordained to the priesthood.

Father Augustine's inspired zeal and tireless missionary labors soon became even more celebrated among the Parisians than his masterful keyboard performances of old. As once with unparalleled passion he strove to fill the ears of his audience with the beauty of sound, now with even greater passion, he strove to fill them with the beauty of eternal Truth.

Although the holy Carmelite was unceasing in prayer for the conversion of his beloved mother, she died without being received into the Church. Father Augustine was deeply grieved that his mother should die an unconverted Jewess, but let us see how our merciful Lord, whom he loved so tenderly, consoled him.

The death of Madame Cohen took place on December 13, 1855. Father Augustine was at the time preaching the Advent sermons in Lyons. He announced the sad news to a friend in Cuers in the following touching words: --

"God had just inflicted a terrible blow on my heart. My poor mother is dead,... and I am in uncertainty. Nevertheless, so many prayers have been offered up for her, that we must hope that something special occurred between her soul and God, of which we know nothing. I have been ordered to Paris to console my family."

The sorrow of the son was great; but his hope in the infinite goodness of God supported him. He was to preach on the evening when this crushing news reached him. Many in his place would have been totally unfit for the duty; but he, after weeping and praying much, ascended the pulpit as usual. He preached on death; and, according to the testimony of all that heard him, it was in words that sank into the lowest depths of the hearts of his audience, exciting salutary and durable emotions. And when, toward the end of his discourse, he breathed his own sorrow into the souls of his audience, his words found in every heart a sympathetic echo.

Not long afterward he confided to the holy Cure of Ars his anxiety about his mother's death -- departing this life without the grace of Baptism. "Hope," said the man of God to him, "hope! You will one day, on the Festival of the Immaculate Conception, receive a letter which will be very consoling to you."

These words were nearly forgotten, when on December 8, 1861, six years after his mother's death, a letter was handed to Father Augustine by a priest of the Society of Jesus. The writer of the letter had died in the odor of sanctity. Her letter was as follows:--

"On the 18th of October, after Holy Communion, I found myself in one of those moments of intimate union with our Lord wherein he so sweetly makes me feel His presence in the Sacrament of His Love, that it seems to me as if faith were no longer necessary in order to believe in it. After some moments He made His voice audible to me, and was pleased to give me some explanations relative to a conversation that I had had the previous evening. I remembered then that, in this conversation, one of my friends had expressed to me her astonishment that our Lord, who promised everything to prayer, had nevertheless remained deaf to those of Father Hermann, so often offered up for the conversion of his mother; her surprise amounted almost to discontent, and I had found some difficulty in making her understand that we must adore the justice of God, and not seek to penetrate His secrets. I have the boldness to ask our Lord how it was that He, who is Goodness itself, could have resisted the !
prayers of Father Hermann, and not grant the conversion of his mother. This was His answer:

" 'Why will ____ always seek to sound the secrets of My justice, and try to penetrate into mysteries that she cannot understand? Tell her that I owe my grace to no one, that I give to whomsoever I please, and that in acting thus I do not cease to be just, and Justice itself. But let her know also that, sooner than fail in the promises that I have made to prayer, I would overthrow the heavens and the earth and that every prayer that has My glory and the salvation of souls for its object is always heard, when it has the necessary qualities.

"He also said: 'And to prove this truth to you, I will let you know what took place at the moment of the death of Father Augustine's mother.' . . .I was made to understand, the moment that the mother of Father Hermann was on the point of breathing her last, when she seemed deprived of consciousness, and life was almost gone, Mary, our good, Mother, presented herself before her Divine Son, and prostrating herself at His feet, said to Him: 'Grace, mercy, O my Son! For this soul that is about to perish. Another moment and it will be lost, lost for all eternity! . . . The soul of his mother is what is dearest to him; a thousand times he has consecrated it to me; he has confided it to the tenderness, to the solicitude of my heart. Can I allow it to perish? This soul is mine; I want it, I claim it as a heritage, as the price of Thy Blood, and of my sorrows at the foot of Thy Cross.'

"Hardly had the most holy suppliant ceased to speak, when a grace, strong, mighty, escaped from the source of all graces, the adorable Heart of Jesus, and fell upon the soul of that poor dying Jewess, and triumphed instantly over its obstinacy. The soul immediately turned with loving confidence toward Him whose mercy pursued her even in the arms of death, and she said: 'O Jesus, God of the Christians, God whom my son adores, I believe, I hope in Thee, have mercy on me!' "In this cry which was heard by God alone, and which came from the lowest depths of the heart of the dying woman, there were included sincere regrets for her obstinacy and her sins, the desire of Baptism, the explicit wish to receive it, and to live according to the rules and precepts of our holy religion if she could return to life. This outburst of faith and hope in Jesus was the last sentiment of this soul; as she was uttering it before the throne of Divine Mercy, the feeble threads that still held her in !
her earthly tenement were broken, and she threw herself at the feet of Him who had been her Saviour before being her Judge. "After having shown me all these things, our Lord added: 'Make this known to Father Augustine; it is a consolation that I wish to grant to his long sufferings, in order that he may everywhere bless and cause to be blessed the goodness of My Mother's heart and her power over Mine.'

"An entire stranger to the Rev. Father Hermann, the poor sick woman that has just penned these lines is happy to think that they will bring consolation and balm to the ever-bleeding wound of his heart - the heart of a son and a priest. She presumes to ask of him the alms of his fervent prayers, and she hopes that he will not refuse them to one who, although unknown to him is united to him by the sacred bonds of the same faith and the same hopes . . ."

What seems to add greater authority to this letter is the fact that it had been announced to Father Hermann six years before hand by the saintly Cure of Ars, as above mentioned. (From "Glimpses of the Supernatural," Thomas B. Noonan & Co., Boston, 1884.)

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

Taken from the May 2005 edition of "Fatima Findings" - Reparation Society, I.H.M., 7920 Beverly Ave., Baltimore, Maryland 21234-5308

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Corpus Christi

Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine's

The Church's Year

FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI

Why is this day called Corpus Christi?

Because on this Thursday the Catholic Church celebrates the institution of
the most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. The Latin term Corpus Christi
signifies in English, Body of Christ.

Who instituted this festival?

Pope Urban IV, who, in the decree concerning it, gives the following
explanation of the institution and grandeur of this festival: "Although we
daily, in the holy Sacrifice of the Mass; renew the memory of this holy
Sacrament, we believe that we must, besides, solemnly commemorate it every
year, to put the unbelievers to shame; and because vie have been informed
that God has revealed to some pious persons that this festival should be
celebrated in the whole Church, we direct that on the first Thursday after
the octave of Pentecost the faithful shall assemble in church, join with the
priests in singing the word of God," etc. Hence this festival was instituted
on account of the greatness of the divine mystery; the unbelief of those who
denied the truth of this mystery; and the revelation made to some pious
persons. This revelation was made to a nun at Liege, named Juliana, and to
her devout friends Eve and Isabella. Juliana, when praying, had frequently a
vision in which she saw the bright moon, with one part of it somewhat dark;
at her request she received instructions from God that one of the grandest
festivals was yet to be instituted the festival of the most Blessed
Sacrament of the Altar. In 1246, she related this vision to Robert, Bishop
of Liege, who after having investigated the matter with the aid of several
men of learning and devotion, among whom was Jacob Pantaleon, Archdeacon of
Liege, afterwards Pope Urban IV. made arrangements to introduce this
festival m his diocese, but death prevented his intention being put into
effect. After the bishop's death the Cardinal Legate Hugh undertook to carry
out his directions, and celebrated the festival for the first time in the
year 1247, in the Church of St. Martin at Liege. Several bishops followed
this example, and the festival was observed in many dioceses, before Pope
Urban IV in 1264 finally ordered its celebration by the whole Church. This
order was confirmed by Clement V, at the Council of Vienna in 1311, and the
Thursday after the octave of Pentecost appointed for its celebration. In 13
17, Pope John XXII. instituted the solemn procession.

Why are there such grand processions on this day?

For a public profession of our holy faith that Christ is really, truly and
substantially present in this Blessed Sacrament; for a public reparation of
all the injuries, irreverence, and offences, which have been and are
committed by impious men against Christ in this Blessed Sacrament; for the
solemn veneration and adoration due to the Son of God in this Sacrament; in
thanksgiving for its institution; and for all the graces and advantages
received therefrom; and finally, to draw down the divine blessing upon the
people and the country.

Had this procession a prototype in the Old Law?

The procession in which was carried the Ark of the Covenant containing the
manna, was a figure of this procession.

The Church sings at the Introit the words of David:

INTROIT He fed them with the fat of wheat, alleluia: and filled them with
honey out of the rock. Allel. allel. allel. Rejoice to God our helper; sing
aloud to the God of Jacob. (Ps. LXXX.) Glory etc.

COLLECT O God, who under a wonderful sacrament hast left us a memorial of
Thy Passion; grant us, we beseech Thee, so to venerate the sacred mysteries
of Thy body and blood, that we may ever feel within us the fruit of thy
redemtion. Who livest etc.

EPISTLE (I Cor. XI. 23-29.) Brethren, I have received of the Lord, that
which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which
he was betrayed, took bread, and giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye,
and eat; this is my body which shall be delivered for you: this do for the
commemoration of me. In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped,
saying: This Chalice is the New Testament in my blood: this do' ye; as often
as you shall drink., for the commemoration of me. For as often as you shall
eat this bread, and drink this chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord
until he come. Therefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink of the
chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood
of the Lord. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread,
and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth
and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord.

GOSPEL (John VI. 56-59.) At that time, Jesus laid to the multitude of the
Jews: My flesh is meat indeed arid my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth
my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him. As the living
Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, the
same also shall live by me. This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth this bread
shall live forever.

[The explanation of the EPISTLE and GOSPEL is contained in the following
instruction.]

The Jews, liberated by the powerful hand of God from Egyptian captivity,
went on dry ground through the midst of the Red Sea, whose waters became the
grave of their pursuer, King Pharao, and, his whole army. Having arrived in
the desert called Sin they began to murmur against Moses and Aaron, their
leaders; on account of the want of bread, and demanded to be led back to
Egypt where there was plenty. The Lord God took pity on His people. In the
evening He sent into their, camp great flocks of quails, which the Jews
caught and ate, and on the morning of the next day the ground was covered
with white dew, and in the desert something fine, as if pounded in a mortar,
looking like frost on the earth, which as soon as the Jews beheld, they
exclaimed in surprise: "Man hu?" "What is that?" But Moses said to them:
"This is bread which the Lord has given you." And they at once began to
collect the food which was white, small as Coriander seed, and tasted like
wheat?bread and honey, and was henceforth called man or manna. God gave them
this manna every morning, for forty years, Sabbaths excepted, and the Jews
lived upon it in the desert, until they came to the Promised Land. This
manna is a figure of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar which contains all
sweetness, and nourishes the soul of him who receives it with proper
preparation, so that whoever eats it worthily, dies not, though his body
sleeps in the grave, for Christ will raise him to eternal life.

INSTRUCTION ON THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR

What is the Sacrament of the Altar?

It is that Sacrament in which under the appearance of bread and wine the
Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ are really, truly and substantially
present.

When and to what manner did Christ promise this Sacrament?

About one year before its institution He promised it in the synagogue at
Capharnaum, according to St. John the Evangelist: (VI, 24-65.) When Jesus,
near the Tiberian Sea, had fed five thousand men in a miraculous manner with
a few small loaves, these men would not leave Him, because they marvelled at
the miracle, were anxious for this bread, and desired to make Him their
king. But Jesus fled to a high mountain, and in the night went with His
disciples to Capharnaum which was a town on the opposite side of the sea;
but a multitude of Jews followed Him, and He made use of the occasion to
speak of the mysterious, bread which He would one day give them and all men.
He first exhorted them not to go so eagerly after the perishable. bread of
the body, but to seek the bread of the soul which lasts forever, and which
the Heavenly Father would give them, through Him, in abundance. This
imperishable bread is the divine word, His holy doctrine, especially the
doctrine that He had come from heaven to guide us to eternal life. (Vers.
25-38.) The Jews murmured because He said that He had come from heaven, but
the Saviour quieted them by showing that no one could believe without a
special grace from His Heavenly Father (V. 43, 44.) that He was the Messiah,
and had come from heaven. After this introduction setting forth that the
duty of faith in Him and in His divine doctrine was a spiritual nourishment,
Christ very clearly unfolded the mystery of another bread for the soul which
was to be given only at some future time, and this the Saviour did not
ascribe to the Heavenly Father, as He did the bread of the divine word, but
to Himself by plainly telling what this bread was: I am the living bread
which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live
forever, and the bread that I will give, is my flesh for the life of the
world. (V. 51, 52.)

But the Jews would not believe these words, so clearly expressed, for they
thought their fulfillment impossible, and said: How can this man give us his
flesh to eat? (V. 53.) But Jesus recalled not His words, answered not the
Jews' objections, but confirmed that which He had said, declaring with
marked emphasis: Amen, amen, I say unto you, except you eat the flesh of the
Son of Man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you., (V. 54.)
He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life, and I
will raise him up in the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood
is drink indeed; he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, abideth in
me, and I in him. As the living Father bath sent me; and I live ,by the
Father; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me. This is the
bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are
dead. He that eateth this bread; shall live forever: (V. 55-59.) Jesus,
therefore, said distinctly and plainly, that at a future time He would give
His own Body and Blood as the true nourishment of the soul; besides, the
Jews and the disciples alike received these words in their true, literal
sense, and knew that Jesus did not here mention His Body and Blood in

figurative sense, but meant to give them His own real Flesh and Blood for
food; and it was because they believed it impossible for Jesus to do this,
and because they supposed He would give them His dead flesh in a coarse,
sensual manner, that the Jews murmured, and even several of His disciples
said: This saying is hard, and who can hear it? But Jesus persisted in His
words: My flesh is meat indeed, &c., and calls the attention of His
disciples to another miracle: to His future ascension, which would be still
more incredible, but would come to pass; and by the words: It is the spirit
which quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing, the words that I have spoken
to you, are spirit and life, (V. 64) He showed them that this mystery could
be believed only by the light and grace of the Holy Spirit, and the
partaking of His Bodes and Blood would not be in a coarse, sensual manner,
but in a mysterious way. Notwithstanding this, many of His disciples still
found the saying hard, and left Him, and went no longer with Him. (V. 67.)
They found the saying hard, because, as our Saviour expressly said, they
were lacking in faith. He let them go, and said to His apostles: Will you
also go away? thereby showing that those who left Him, understood Him
clearly enough, and that His words did contain something hard for the mind
to believe. The apostles did not leave Him, they were too well assured of
His divinity, and that to Him all was possible, as St. Peter clearly
expresses: Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.
And we have believed and have known that thou art Christ, the Son of God.

From the account given by St. John, it is plainly seen that Christ really
promised to give us for our food His most precious Body and Blood, really
and substantially, in a Wonderful, mysterious manner, and that He did not
speak figuratively of faith in Him, as those assert who contemn this most
holy Sacrament. If Jesus had so meant it, He would have explained it thus to
the Jews and to His disciples who took His words literally, and therefore
could not comprehend, how Jesus could give His Flesh and Blood to them for
their food. But Jesus persisted in His words, that His Flesh was truly food,
and His Blood really drink. He even made it the strictest duty for man to
eat His Flesh and drink His Blood; (V. 54) He shows the benefits arising
from this nourishment of the soul, (V. 55) and the reason why this food is
so necessary and useful. (V. 56.) When His disciples left Him, because it
was a hard saying, He allowed them to go, for they would not believe His
words, and could not believe them on account of their carnal manner of
thinking. This holy mystery must be believed, and cannot be comprehended.
Jesus has then promised, as the Catholic Church has always maintained and
taught, that His Body and Blood. would be present under the appearance of
bread and wine in the Blessed Sacrament, a true nourishment for the soul,
and that which He promised, He has really given.

When and in what manner did Christ institute the most holy Sacrament of the
Altar?

At the Last Supper, on the day before His passion, after He had eaten with
His apostles the paschal lamb, which was a prototype of this mystery. Three
Evangelists, Matthew, (XXVI: 26-29.) Mark, (XIV. 22-25.) and Luke (XXII.
19-20.) relate in few, but plain words, that on this evening Jesus took into
His hand bread and the chalice, blessed and gave both to His disciples,
saying: This is my body, that will be given for you; this is my blood, which
will be shed for you and for many. Here took place in a miraculous manner,
by the all?powerful word of Christ, the mysterious transformation; here
Jesus gave Himself to His apostles for food, and instituted that most holy
meal of love which the Church says contains all sweetness. That which three
Evangelists. plainly relate, St. Paul confirms in his first epistle to the
Corinthians, (XI. 23-29. ,See this day's epistle) in which to his account of
the institution of the Blessed Sacrament he adds: Whosoever shall eat this
bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, (that is, in a state of
sin) shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord . . . .eateth
and drinketh judgment to himself. (V. 27-29.)

From these words and those of the three holy Evangelists already mentioned,
it is clear that Jesus really fulfilled His promise, really instituted the
most holy Sacrament, and gave His most sacred Body and Blood to the apostles
for their food. None of the Evangelists, nor St. Paul, informs us that
Christ said: this will become my body, or, this signifies my body. All agree
that our Saviour said this is my body, this is my blood, and they therefore
decidedly mean us to understand that Christ's body and blood are really,
truly, and substantially present under the appearance of bread and wine, as
soon as the mysterious change has taken place. And this is confirmed by the
words: that is given for you; which shall be shed for you and for many;
because Christ gave neither bread nor wine, nor a figure of His Body and
Blood, for our redemption, but His real Body, and His real Blood, and St.
Paul could not assert that we could eat the Body and Blood of the Lord
unworthily, if under the appearance of bread and wine were present not the
real Body and Blood of Christ, but only a figure of them, or if they were
only bread and wine. This is also proved by the universal faith of the
Catholic Church, which in accordance with Scripture and the oldest,
uninterrupted Apostolic traditions(1) has always believed and taught, that
under the appearance of bread and wine the real Body and Blood of Christ are
present, as the Ecumenical Council of Trent expressly declares: (Sess. XIII.
C. I. Can. I. de sacros. Euchdr.) "All our ancestors who were of the Church
of Christ, and have spoken of this most Blessed Sacrament, have in the
plainest manner professed that our Redeemer instituted this wonderful
Sacrament at the Last Supper, when, having blessed the bread and wine, He
assured the apostles in the plainest and most exact words, that He was
giving them His Body and Blood itself; and if any one denies that the holy
Eucharist truly, really, and substantially contains the Body and Blood, the
Soul and Divinity of, our Lord Jesus Christ, therefore the whole Christ, and
asserts that it is only a sign or figure without virtue, let him be
anathema."

Did Christ institute this Sacrament for all time?

Yes; for when He had promised that the bread which He would give, was His
flesh for the life of the world, (John VI. 52) and had said expressly that
whosoever did not eat His Flesh and drink His Blood would not have life in
Him, He, at the Last Supper, by the words: Do this for a commemoration of
me, (Luke XXII. 19.) gave to the apostles and their successors, the priests,
the power in His name to change bread and wine into His Body and Blood, also
to receive It and administer It as a food of the soul, which power the
apostles and their successors, the priests, have always exercised, (I Cor.
X. 16.) and will exercise to the end of the world.

How long after the change does Christ remain present under the appearance of
bread and wine?

As long as the appearances remain; this was always the faith of the Church;
therefore in the primitive ages when the persecutions were raging, after the
sacrifice the sacred body of our Lord was taken home by the Christians to
save the mystery from the pagans; at home they preserved It, and received It
from their own hands, as affirmed by the holy Fathers of the Church Justin,
Cyprian, Basil, and others. But when persecution had ceased, and the Church
was permitted to profess the faith openly, and without hinderance, the
Blessed Sacrament was preserved in the churches, enclosed in precious
vessels, (ciborium, monstrance, or ostensorium) made for the purpose. In
later times it was also exposed, on solemn occasions, for public adoration.

Do we Catholics adore bread when we pay adoration to the Blessed Sacrament?

No; we do not adore bread, for no bread is there, but the most sacred Body
and Blood of Christ, and wherever Christ is adoration is due Him by man and
angels. St. Augustine says: "No one partakes of this Body until he has first
adored, and we not only do not sin when we adore It, but would sin if we did
not adore It." The Council of Trent excommunicates those who assert that it
is not allowable to adore Christ, the only begotten Son of God, in the
Blessed Sacrament. How unjust are those unbelievers who sneer at this
adoration, when it has never entered into the mind of any Catholic to adore
the external appearances of this Sacrament, but the Saviour hidden under the
appearances; and how grievously do those indifferent Catholics sin who show
Christ so little veneration in this Sacrament, and seldom adore Him if at
all!

Which are the external signs of this Sacrament?

The form and appearance, or that which appears to our senses, as the figure,
the color, and the taste, but the substance of the bread and wine is by
consecration changed into the real Body and Blood of Christ, and only the
appearance of bread and wine remains, and is observable to the senses.

Where and by whom is this consecration effected?

This consecration is effected on the altar during the holy Sacrifice of the
Mass (therefore the name Sacrament of the Altar), when the priest in the
name and by the power of Christ pronounces over the bread and wine the words
which Christ Himself pronounced when He instituted this holy Sacrament. St.
Ambrose writes: "At the moment that the Sacrament is to be accomplished, the
priest no longer uses his own words, but Christ's words therefore. Christ's
words complete the Sacrament."

Is Christ present under each form?

Christ is really and truly present under both forms, in Divinity and
Humanity, Body and Soul, Flesh and Blood. That Jesus is thus present is
clear from the words of St. Paul: Knowing that Christ rising again from the
dead, dieth now no more. (Rom. VI. 9.) Because Christ dies no more, it
naturally follows that He is wholly and entirely present under each' form.
Hence the council of Trent says: "Whoever denies that in the venerable
Sacrament, of the Eucharist the whole Christ is present in each of the forms
and in each part of each form, where a separation has taken place, let him
be anathema."

Then no matter how many receive this Sacrament, does each receive Christ?

Yes, for each of the apostles received Christ entirely, and if God by His
omnipotence can cause each individual to rejoice at the same instant in the
sun's light, and enjoy its entireness, and if He can make one and the same
voice resound in the ears of all the listeners, is He not able to give the
body of Christ, whole and entire, to as many as wish to receive It?

Is it necessary that this Sacrament should be received in both forms?

No, for as it has already been said, Christ is wholly present, Flesh and
Blood, Humanity and Divinity, Body and Soul, in each of the forms. Christ
promises eternal life to the recipient also of one form when He says,: I f
any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever, and the bread that I will
give, is my flesh for the life of the world. (John. VI. 52.) The first
Christians, in times of persecution, received this Sacrament only in the
form of bread in their houses. Though in earlier times the faithful, like
the priests, partook of the chalice, it was not strictly required, and the
Church for important reasons has since ordered the reception of Communion
under but one form, because there was danger that the blood of our Lord
might be spilled, and thus dishonored; because as the Blessed Sacrament must
always be ready for the sick, it was feared that the form of wine might be
injured by long preservation; because many cannot endure the taste of wine;
because in some countries there is scarcity of wine, and it can be obtained
only at great cost and with much difficulty, and finally, in order to refute
the error of those who denied that Christ is entirely present under each
form.

Which are the effects of holy Communion?

The graces of this most holy Sacrament are, as the Roman Catechism says,
innumerable; it is the fountain of all grace, for it ,contains the Author of
all the Sacraments, Christ our Lord, all goodness and perfection. According
to the doctrine of the Church , there are six special effects of grace
produced by, this Sacrament in those who worthily receive it. It unites the
recipient with Christ, which Christ plainly shows when He says: He that
eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, abideth in me and I in him; (John VI.
57.) hence the name Communion, of which St. Leo writes: "The participation
of the Body and Blood of Christ transforms us into that which we receive,"
and from this union with Christ, our Head, arises also a closer union with
our brethren in Christ, into one body. (I Cor. X. 17.) It preserves and
increases sanctifying grace, which is the spiritual life of the soul, for
our Saviour says: He that eateth me, the, same also shall live by me. (John
VI, 58.) It diminishes in us concupiscence and strengthens us against the
temptations of the devil. St. Bernard says: "This holy Sacrament produces
tow effects in us, it diminishes gratifiation in venial sins, it removes the
full consent in grievous sins; if any of you do not feel so often now the
harsh emotion of anger, of envy, or impurity, you owe it to the Body and
Blood of the Lord:" and St. Chrystostom: "When we communicate worthily we
return from the table like fiery lions, terrible to the devils." It causes
us to perform good works with strength and courage; for be who abides in
Christ, and Christ in him, bears much fruit. (John XV.) It effaces venial
sin, and preserves from mortal sin, as St. Ambrose says: "This daily bread
is used as a help against daily weakness: and as by the enjoyment of this
holy Sacrament, we are made in a special manner the property, the lams of
Christ, which He Himself nourishes with His own heart's blood, He does not
permit us to be taken out of His hands, so long as we cooperate with His
grace, by prayer, vigilance and contest. It brings us to a glorious
resurrection and to eternal happiness; for he who communicates worthily,
possesses Him who is the resurrection and the life, (John XI. 25.) who said:
He that eatheth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life:
and I will raise him up in the last day. (John VI, 55.) He has, therefore,
in Christ a pledge, that he will rise in glory and live for ever. If the
receiving of this Sacrament produces such great results, how frequently and
with what sincere desire should we hasten ~ to enjoy this heavenly banquet,
this fountain of all grace! The first Christians received it daily, and St.
Augustine says: "Daily receive what daily benefits!" and St. Cyril: The
baptized may know that they remove themselves far from eternal life, when
they remain a long time from Communion." Ah, whence comes in our days, the
indifference, the weakness, the impiety of so many Christians but from the
neglect and unworthy reception of Communion! Christian soul, close not your
ears to the voice of Jesus who invites you so tenderly to His banquet: Come
to me all you who are heavily laden and I will refresh you. Go often, very
often to Him; but when you go to Him, do not neglect to prepare for His
worthy reception, and you will soon feel its effects in your soul.

In what does the worthy preparation for this holy Sacrament consist?

The worthy preparation of the soul consists in purifying ourselves by a
sincere confession from all grievous sins, and in approaching the holy table
with profound humility, sincere love, and with fervent desire. He who
receives holy Communion in the state of mortal sin draws down upon himself,
as the, apostle says, judgment and condemnation. The worthy preparation of
the body consists in fasting from midnight before receiving Communion, and
in coming properly dressed to the Lord's banquet.

The holy Sacrament of the Altar is preserved in the tabernacle, in front of
which a light is burning day and night, to show that Christ, the light of
the world, is here present, that we may bear in mind that every Christian
congregation should contain in itself the light of faith, the flame of hope,
the warmth of divine love, and the fire of true devotion, by a pious life
manifesting and consuming itself, like a light, in. the service of God. As a
Christian you must believe that under the appearance of bread Christ is
really present in the tabernacle, and that He is your Redeemer, your
Saviour, your Lord and King, the best Friend and Lover of your soul, whose
pleasure it is to dwell among the children of men; then it is your duty
often to visit Him in this most holy Sacrament, and offer Him your homage
and adoration, "It is certain," says: St. Alphonsus Ligouri, that next to
the enjoyment of this holy Sacrament in Communion, the adoration of Jesus in
this Sacrament is the best and most pleasing of all devotional exercises,
and of the greatest advantage to us." Hesitate not, therefore, to practise
this devotion. From this day renounce at least a quarter of an hour's
intercourse with others, and go to church to entertain yourself there with
Christ. Know that the time which you spend in this way will be of the
greatest consolation to, you in the hour of death and through all eternity.
Visit Jesus not only in the church, but also accompany and adore Him when
carried in processions, or to sick persons. You will thus show your Lord the
homage due to Him, gather great merits for yourself, and have the sure hope
that Christ will one day repay you a hundredfold.

(1) Thus St. Ignatius, the Martyr, who was instructed by the apostles
themselves, rebukes in these words those who even at that time would not
believe in the change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of the.
Lord: "They do not believe that the real body of Jesus Christ our Redeemer
who suffered for us and has risen from death is contained in the Sacrament
of the Altar." (Ep. ad Smyr.) Thus St. Irenaeus who was a disciple of St.
Polycarp, a pupil of St. John the Evangelist, writes: "Of the bread is made
the body of Christ" (Lib. IV adv. haer.) In the same manner St. Cyril:
"Since Christ our Lord said of this bread, This is my body, who dares doubt
it? Since He said, This is my blood, who dares to say, it is not His blood?"
(Lib. IV. regul. Cat.) and in another place: "Bread and wine which before
the invocation of the most Holy Trinity were only bread and wine, become
after this invocation the body and blood of Christ." (Cat. myrt. I.)

What can the unbelievers say to this testimony? Do they know the truth
better than those apostles who themselves saw and heard Jesus at the Last
Supper, and who taught their disciples that which they had seen and heard?
All Christian antiquity proves the error of these heretics:

NOTE. The Blessed Sacrament as a Sacrifice and the Holy Mass and its
ceremonies, are treated upon towards the end of this book.

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

Taken from "The Church's Year" online
(http://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/The_Church_Year/index.htm).

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Sincerely in Christ,

Our Lady of the Rosary Library

"Pray and work for souls"

http://olrl.org

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June, month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

June, the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Trinity Sunday
J.M.J.

ENTHRONEMENT OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS IN THE HOME:
Its Purposes -- Its Rewards
(taken from http://olrl.org/pray/enthrone.shtml - an 8.5" x 14" folded
brochure; 5 cents ea.)

The purpose of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is to make us aware of
His love and to arouse us to respond to that love by offering our love in
return. We do this by the consecration of ourselves to Jesus and by
reparation (prayer and sacrifices in atonement for our sins and sins of
others). The enthronement is a crusade to establish the Social Reign of the
Sacred Heart in society through the family, the social cell. It is the
answer to the question: "What can we do to save the family?"

The enthronement will restore the family to Christ because the family is
putting Our Lord and His interest first. In return the Sacred Heart takes
over the interests of the family. Our Lord Himself has promised that He will
bless and sanctify those families who enthrone Him as King. He asked St.
Margaret Mary, to whom He revealed His Sacred Heart, that He be allowed to
reign over the homes of the rich and the poor; that He be solemnly received
as King and Friend and that His Sacred Heart be honored and loved. Consider
Our Lord's beautiful promises carefully and then full of trust and
confidence, sincerely and devoutly follow step by step the Enthronement
Ceremony.

Promises of Our Lord Jesus Christ to Saint Margaret Mary granted to persons
devoted to the Sacred Heart.

1. For Persons living in the World. "They will find by means of this
devotion all the helps necessary for their state, such as peace in their
families, refreshment in their labors, the blessing of heaven in all their
undertakings, consolation in their troubles, and it is truly in this Heart,
that they will find their refuge during life and above all at the hour of
death. He promised He would reunite families that are separated."

2. For Homes where the picture of the Sacred Heart shall be Exposed and
Honored. "Since He is the source of all blessings, He shall shower them in
abundance on every place where a picture of His Divine Heart shall be set up
and honored."

3. Promise of Salvation for All Who Have Been Devoted and Consecrated to It.
"He then confirmed His assurance that the pleasure He takes in being loved,
known and honored by His creatures is so great . . . that all who will be
devoted and consecrated to It shall never perish."

4. For Those Who work For the Salvation of Souls. "My divine Savior has
given me to understand that those who work for the salvation of souls will
have a gift of touching the most hardened hearts, and will labor with
marvelous success, if they themselves are penetrated with a tender devotion
to His Divine Heart."

5. Promise of a Happy Death for those Who Communicate on the First Friday of
Nine Consecutive Months. One Friday during Holy Communion, He said these
words to His unworthy slave if she is not mistaken, "I promise thee in the
excessive Mercy of My Divine Heart, that It's all-powerful will grant the
grace of final repentance to all who communicate on the First Friday of nine
consecutive months, that they shall not die under Its displeasure nor
without receiving the sacraments, for My Divine Heart will become their
secure refuge at that last moment."

6. Promise of the Reign of the Sacred Heart. "Yes, this Divine Heart will
reign in spite of those who would oppose it; Satan will be put to confusion
with all his followers."

7. For Those Who Promote Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. "Those who
propagate this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart never to
be blotted out." What a perfect blessing! We can easily promote this
devotion to His Sacred Heart by distributing this leaflet among as many
people as possible urging them to enthrone their home to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus.

8. For Communities. "He has promised me . . . that He will spread the sweet
unction of His burning charity over all those communities who honor It and
place themselves under its special protection, that He will turn away from
them all the strokes of divine justice, in order to restore them to grace
when they have fallen from it."

What Must I do to Enthrone the Sacred Heart of Jesus in my Home?

The family makes arrangements with a priest as to date, time etc. It is
important to have a priest preside at the ceremony but it is not essential.
The father or someone else may preside and lead the prayers. In any case,
consult a traditional Catholic priest who is familiar with the enthronement
process. If possible, attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on the day of
the enthronement. The entire family should try to receive Holy Communion at
this Mass. A beautiful picture or statue of the Sacred Heart is procured and
a place of honor or "throne" is prepared (preferably in the most prominent
place of your home) and decorated with flowers and candles. Ceremonial
leaflet and other literature needed for this occasion can be obtained from a
promoter or priest who has responsibility for the enthronement in a
particular diocese. Invite your friends and relatives to be present; thus
you will already begin to be an "apostle" of the Sacred Heart. Have a family
gathering in honor of your Divine Guest.
________________________________

Renewal of the Consecration of the Family
(To be said at night prayers in union with all families in which the Sacred
Heart has been enthroned)

Most sweet Jesus, humbly kneeling at Thy feet, we renew the consecration of
our family to thy Divine Heart. Be Thou our King forever! In Thee we have
full and entire confidence. May Thy spirit penetrate our thoughts, our
desires, our words and our works. Bless our undertakings, share in our joys,
in our trials and in our labors. Grant us to know Thee better, to love Thee
more, to serve Thee without faltering.

By the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of Peace, set up Thy kingdom in our
country. Enter closely into the midst of our families and make them Thine
own through the solemn enthronement of Thy Sacred Heart, so that soon one
cry may resound from home to home: "May the triumphant Heart of Jesus be
everywhere loved, blessed and glorified forever!" Honor and glory to the
Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary!

"Sacred Heart of Jesus, protect our families."
________________________________

Our Lord revealed to Mother Rafols, who belonged to the mother house of the
Sacred Heart in Saragoza, Spain (19th century) that His Sacred Heart is hurt
when It is forgotten, offended and despised by souls consecrated to Him.
They sometimes forget how dearly He loves His chosen ones, how eagerly He
waits in the Tabernacle for them to come to Him for inspiration and
assistance in the great mission of saving souls. He wants them to be humble
and chaste, and to practice true charity towards one another, and thus,
avoid giving scandal. He desires that His priests be living models of
Himself and that they propagate devotion to His Sacred Heart.
He desires that men perform acts of satisfaction to forestall the wrath of
Divine Justice, and that the Feast of the Sacred Heart be made a holy Day of
Obligation and that all the faithful receive Holy Communion on that day. (It
is a Holy Day of Obligation in Spain).

To those who devoutly wear the image of His Sacred Heart [Sacred Heart
Badge - http://olrl.org/sacramental/sh_badge.shtml], He promised great
graces and special protection at the hour of their death. He said that in
times to come, many souls would propagate the devotion to His Sacred Heart.

Blessed Pope Pius IX in 1856 extended the devotion to the Sacred Heart to
the entire world. The whole human race was commended to the Sacred Heart by
Leo XIII in 1899. A special act of consecration was prescribed by Pope Pius
XI in 1929 to be recited throughout the entire world on the Feast of Christ
the King.

The prayer printed below was ordered by Pope Leo XIII to be said after Low
Mass to "restrain" Satan and is followed by the threefold repetition of the
ejaculation invoking the aid of the Sacred Heart for this purpose: "Most
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!"
________________________________

PRAYER TO ST. MICHAEL
Holy Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our safeguard against
the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray;
and do thou, Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God cast down into
hell Satan and all the evil spirits, who wander through the world seeking
the ruin of souls. Amen.
________________________________

A SACRED HEART READING
In an ecclesiastical seminary of the diocese of Rouen, one of the students
was distinguished for his piety and brightness. The day after his first Holy
Communion, he went to his director, to show him his resolution written on
paper. "I am resolved," he stated, "to continue to wear the white necktie of
my first Holy Communion, as long as I do not commit a grievous sin." The
priest said to him: "I cannot take upon myself the responsibility of
allowing you to keep so strange a resolution; you must go to your mother and
ask her permission." This he did, and he was permitted to follow his pious
wishes. George, for such was his name, with his resolution combined a rule
for life to receive Holy Communion on the first Friday, and every Sunday and
on the principal feasts of the year. In 1870 he finished his studies with
the degree as Bachelor of Arts at the age of eighteen. When the war broke
out between France and Germany, he obtained his father's permission to join
the Pontifical Zouaves under General Charette. He had been a model of every
Christian virtue at college, and he was one also as a soldier. In the month
of January, when near the town of LeMans, the Zouaves were ordered to go
into action. George distinguished himself by his bravery and fell mortally
wounded. At once he asked for the chaplain and said to him: "Father, three
days ago I went to Confession and Holy Communion and I have nothing on my
conscience; be so good then as to bring me the holy Viaticum. I ask just a
little favor; in my knapsack you will find a white necktie, and a rosary;
kindly get them for me." When the priest returned, George said: "Put the
white necktie around my neck." This the priest did, and having received the
Viaticum, George added: "When I am dead, take off this necktie and send it
to my mother; write to her and tell her for me, that this necktie of my
first Communion has never been stained." Oh! how beautiful was such a death!
Was it not the result of his frequent Communions?
May the Heart of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament be praised, adored and
loved with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of
the world, even to the end of time! Amen.

A SACRED HEART READING
Father Lacordaire, in a letter addressed to a lady of the world, relates
that a Polish peasant was, at his death, condemned by the justice of God to
the flames of Purgatory. His devoted wife ceased not to pray for the repose
of his soul; but thinking that her prayers were not sufficiently powerful,
she wished to have recourse to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and have Mass
celebrated for the deliverance of his poor soul. Being poor and not having
wherewith to make the usual offering, she went to a rich person, who was an
unbeliever, and humbly asked him to help her; the gentleman felt compassion
for her and gave her some money. The holy Mass was offered in the chapel of
the Sacred Heart, and with great fervor the wife received Holy Communion for
the same intention. A few days after, God permitted that the departed
peasant should appear to the rich man and say: "I thank you for the alms you
gave towards the offering of the Holy Sacrifice; this Mass has delivered my
soul from Purgatory, where it was detained; and now in gratitude for your
charity, I am sent by Our Lord to tell you that your death is near, and that
you should be reconciled to God." The rich man profited by the warning, was
converted and died shortly after, in the most edifying dispositions. Let us
often recall the words of Holy Scripture: "It is a holy and wholesome
thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sins."
May the Heart of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament be praised, adored and
loved with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of
the world, even to the end of time! Amen.

A SACRED HEART READING
A priest relates the following conversion of a great sinner, in which the
goodness of the Heart of Jesus is striking manifested: "A young man, one of
my parishioners, whose parents had given up their practice of religion,
became so impious and lawless that he scandalized even those who led bad
lives. The excesses in which he indulged brought on an infection of the
lungs which, gradually developing, was slowly leading him to the grave. I
visited him and gave him many proofs of the interest I took in him; but he
met all my advances with blasphemies and insults, even refusing to say a
'Hail Mary.' His state filled me with grief. 'My good friend,' said I to one
of my curates, 'go at once to Paray-le-Monial; ask prayers for our poor
dying man, and place his name in the Heart of Jesus.' He set off without
delay, and the next day he was at Paray-le-Monial with the pilgrims from
Dijon. Prayers were said and Communions offered for the lost sheep, and his
name was placed in a silver heart near the altar of the Heart of Jesus. Full
of hope we went again to visit the sick man. 'I prayed for you at Paray,'
said the curate, 'and I have brought you a medal of the Sacred Heart.' 'I
thank you,' replied the dying sinner, and calling his mother he asked for a
ribbon, to which he attached the medal, placed it round his neck, and even
kissed it with respect. 'Now,' said he, 'I wish to go to confession, and it
must be this very day.' He received all the Sacraments of the Church, to the
great edification of all present. Whilst I administered Extreme Unction, he
said: 'Do not hurry, Father, I must follow what you say, and ask pardon for
my sins. Oh, how good is the Heart of Jesus in waiting for and pardoning me;
if I could live longer, how much I would love It.' He died the following
day, blessing the Heart of Jesus."

--------------------------------
Visit our Store (http://www.olrl.org/mm5/merchant.mvc) to purchase copies of
the above brochure and any of the following items we offer related to the
Sacred Heart devotion:
"Prayers and Invocations to the Sacred Heart of Jesus"
(http://olrl.org/pray/shnovena.shtml); "The Way of Divine Love"
(http://olrl.org/books/divinelove.shtml); The Sacred Heart of Jesus and
Immaculate Heart of Mary picture (http://olrl.org/library/pics/sh_ihm.jpg);
The Sacred Heart Badge (http://olrl.org/sacramental/sh_badge.shtml) "The
Autobiography of St.
Margaret Mary" (http://olrl.org/books/margaret.shtml) and "St. Gertrude the
Great - Herald of Divine Love" (http://olrl.org/books/gertrude.shtml).

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Sincerely in Christ,
Our Lady of the Rosary Library
"Pray and work for souls"
http://olrl.org/

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